Consumer Scams and Alerts

What the scammers don't want you to know

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Scare ware & Ransom ware

The Scams

Scareware

Commonly referred to as the RCMP or Ukash scam, these highly organized scams first surfaced in the UK and have the following footprint:

locks you out of your computer or your computer freezes and safe modes are disabled on reboot

pop ups warning about discovering child porn on your computer

claims to be from a local government office (FBI, RCMP, or CSIS)

must pay a set amount (usually $100) via Ukash as a fine

What is Ukash?

   Ukash is a UK online payment system. Ukash is regulated by the UK Financial Services authority, so you should treat your Ukash vouchers as you would cash. Ukash  is used primarily to protect your credit card information in online transactions and is not related to the scam.

Ransomeware

Not unlike the scareware scams above, the ransomware scam footprint is slightly different:

encrypts your personal files (music, pictures, documents, etc.)

pop ups giving instructions for payment of a ransom to “get your files back”

Payment is usually requested in bitcoin

Watch For

pop ups on web sites that require a click (”your computer has a virus...”)

links or attachments in emails, especially spam emails or virus emails (”click here to speed up your computer”)

rogue security software (”free antivirus scans from a web site..”)

Remedy

The good news is that these scam have gotten lots of press and attention recently, therefore awareness is up.

For the scareware scam you can usually boot to a repair disk and restore to an earlier version of the OS. Alternatively you can try to boot to a USB memory stick or uninfected CD/DVD from a reputable antivirus company (or one that you created earlier). 

For Ransomware like FileFix there are plenty of free tools from many reputable vendors. For earlier variants like GPcode you can delete the encrypted files and restore from a backup. (see Fireye Labs and Symantec)

[scamsalerter]

Nigerian 419 Scam

Personal Experience

My father sent over $5,000 to these criminals before my mother figured out what was going on. They threatened his life (and a visit to his home from a local gang) if he stopped sending them more money. They even sent him a fake bank draft (which my mom intercepted) from a non-existent bank branch (of a big bank) for him to cash and forward a percentage.

The Scam

Nigerian letter frauds combine the threat of impersonation fraud with a variation of an advance fee scheme in which a letter mailed from Nigeria offers the recipient the “opportunity” to share in a percentage of millions of dollars that the author—a self-proclaimed government official or royalty—is trying to transfer illegally out of Nigeria. The recipient is encouraged to send information to the author, such as blank letterhead stationery, bank name and account numbers, and other identifying information using a fax number provided in the letter. Some of these letters have also been received via e-mail through the Internet. The scheme relies on convincing a willing victim, who has demonstrated a “propensity for larceny” by responding to the invitation, to send money to the author of the letter in Nigeria in several installments of increasing amounts for a variety of reasons, or to cash a bank draft and forward a percentage. (The bank draft will not clear leaving the victim on the hook for the funds)

Payment of taxes, bribes to government officials, and legal fees are often described in great detail with the promise that all expenses will be reimbursed as soon as the funds are spirited out of Nigeria. In actuality, the millions of dollars do not exist, and the victim eventually ends up with nothing but loss. Once the victim stops sending money, the perpetrators have been known to use the personal information and checks that they received to impersonate the victim, draining bank accounts and credit card balances. While such an invitation impresses most law-abiding citizens as a laughable hoax, millions of dollars in losses are caused by these schemes annually. Some victims have been lured to Nigeria, where they have been imprisoned against their will along with losing large sums of money. The Nigerian government is not sympathetic to victims of these schemes, since the victim actually conspires to remove funds from Nigeria in a manner that is contrary to Nigerian law. The schemes themselves violate section 419 of the Nigerian criminal code, hence the label “419 fraud.”

Watch For

Fake Checks or Bank Drafts Request for Money Transfers Anonymous Email Trail Fax Transmissions SMS Messages Invitations to Visit

Variations

Employment scam. Lottery scam. Online rental scam. Pet scam. (rare/exotic pets). Romance scam. Property "For Sale" scam.

Rumors

I have seen documentaries where the Nigerians have dedicated and sophisticated call centers with defined scripts.

I have heard rumors of schools in Nigeria that teach the locals this type of "business" (from a Nigerian).

My family was threatened "to receive a visit" from a local gang (recent Nigerian immigrants) affiliated with the scam. The police would not do anything until "something actually happened". (murder, trespassing, etc.?). The police was NOT interested in the bank draft or emails, since "they receive so many reports/complaints, and do not have the resources".

I have personal experience with this type of email now originating in Spain (Spanish prisoner scam). Europe seems to be a front now, since so many people are familiar with the Nigerians, with the money eventually going to organized crime in Nigeria.

[scamsalerter]

Duct Cleaning Scam

Consumers are getting ripped off by some air duct cleaning services sold by offshore telemarketers. We found many Canadians are facing harassment from foreign telemarketing firms who defy Canada’s do-not-call list. One of the most common services for sale is cheap air duct cleaning.

CBC Marketplace hired multiple Toronto duct cleaning companies from telemarketers using fake, or "spoofed" phone numbers to conceal their locations. It’s a common trick used by some call centres to avoid CRTC penalties for calling numbers on the do-not-call list.

Work raises red flags

In two cases, the cleaners completed the job in approximately one hour and charged $115 and $99 before tax, respectively. That’s a red flag since a proper job should take at least two hours and cost more than $300, depending on the size of the home.

One cleaner said they don’t have time to do a proper job, because the telemarketers schedule too many jobs — as many as eight in one day. Despite the tight time constraint, the cleaners don’t spend all their time working. Hidden cameras captured one man blowing compressed air onto his pants while his co-worker sat and watched.

Upselling Scams (Bait and Switch)

Some duct cleaning services will try to convince you that there are problems with your furnace or air conditioner, or try to increase costs due to"extra" vents or ducts, or unnecessary chemical and mold treatments.