A Symposium Invitation
This spam with its invitation of free travel to the United States is just too good to be true! And it is!
With Due Respect
We the Human Right And Social Welfare Organization (HRSWO), I Miss Trinity Hayden, a member of the United Association for Global Affairs, invite you to participate in the International Global combine Symposium on Violence and Human Trafficking, which the (HRSWO) is excited to be hosting in November 22nd – 26th 2010, Venue; Sheraton Central Hall (Washington D.C- U.S.A), and from November 29th – 3rd December 2010 (Dakar Senegal West Africa)for the second phase.
The Workshop welcomes paper presentation from any interested participants.
For registration form and other details, write an acceptance letter to be part of this event and send directly to Mrs. Isabella Jacob (HRSWO Secretariat)Note:you will be provided with air tickets, visa assistant, and accommodation for the period of stay in the United States.
Register Now!
Regards
Miss Amelia. Preston
It is just the sort of e-mail, that the Delete key was designed for.
I’m slightly puzzled about how this scam works, but I suspect they’ll ask for some money at some point.
Confusion Over Train Fares, Barriers and Call Centres
The railways are very much the media’s target and a big storm seems to have been kicked up in the last few days over what constitutes off-peak travel. The only off-peak set of rules that bother me are those out of Kings Cross on First Capital Connect, where the cheaper tickets are not available on trains leaving the capital between 16:30 and 19:00. But even that can always be bypassed by taking a Cambridge train from Tottenham Hale. I also think that if I buy an off-peak return ticket from Newmarket or Dullingham, then I can use the ticket on the forbidden trains, as I bought the ticket on National Express East Anglia. It is not too onerous and I haven’t been delayed yet.
One issue I do have is at Cambridge, where if I’m travelling from Newmarket, I can’t pass through the barriers to do my shopping in the Marks and Spencer in the station. You used to be able to do this and it was a reliable way to get my supper. And whilst on the subject of ticket barriers, if I buy a London Travelcard on the train between Newmarket and Cambridge, then it tends not to work the barriers on the London Underground.
Usually though when I book on-line for a long trip, I don’t have any issues with off-peak or not, as I choose the route and time and this then tells me what trains I can catch and what the prices are. The system works well.
One thing that could be done is to make it more obvious on some web sites, where the train I’m going to catch is going. For instance, if I’d known that my train to Crewe was going on to Chester, I might have changed my plans before I left. As it was, it wouldn’t have made any difference to me, but others might want to perhaps go a little further to see great Aunt Emma.
But one thing the web sites don’t do is allow the purchase of multiple tickets.
On Saturday, I’m getting up early and taking a train from Whittlesford Parkway to Tottenham Hale, as I’m going house-hunting in the morning in Islington. I’m then taking a train out of Liverpool Street to Ipswich for the match against Bristol City. Then after the match it’s back home via the train from Ipswich towards Cambridge. I will have to purchase three single tickets, as I can’t buy these tickets on the web and pick them up at the same time at Whittlesford, where there is a collection machine. It is all the more extraordinary in practice as all trains are the same company; National Express East Anglia.
I did try their call centre and because my voice isn’t that good, the guy on the phone couldn’t understand what I was trying to do. He thought I was trying to get from Whittlesford to Liverpool. The answer to that is probably the old one about not starting from there!
So today, when I go into Cambridge to play tennis, I’ll buy the tickets at the booking office.
Looking at Ipswich Town’s fixtures for this season, I can see several of these multiple trips looming. For instance on the eleventh of September I am going to Portsmouth and on the way, I’ll be breaking my journey to Fratton at Micheldever to have lunch with a friend. So it will be a single from say Cambridge, Whittlesford or Dullingham to Micheldever, another to Fratton and then another from Fratton back to home.
The solution to these multiple trip problems already exist. It’s called a OysterCard. But then I’d need to register my Senior Railcard in some way to get the discount on the trains. Alternatively, we could use scannable tickets like they do on Eurostar or Italian trains.
Let’s hope that a new system replaces the current mess soon. I’d prefer some form of scannable ticket, that I can print before I leave. These tickets could also carry additional information. But please not let’s make it a phone app, as these phones are just not robust enough for someone who drops them like I do.
Are Scammers Getting Better?
I received this e-mail this morning.
HM Revenue & Customs
Crownhill Court
Tailyour Road
Plymouth
PL6 5BZThis is to officially inform you that we have thoroughly completed an investigation with the help of our Intelligence Monitoring Network System that your packaged ATM CARD that was received from the Headquarters 1 (HQ1) of the International Monetary Fund, 700 19th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20431 was forwarded to the ATM Issuing Institution for proper verification on the authenticity and it has been confirmed that your ATM CARD is good and ready to be used.
You are advised to forward to our office or via email the following:
1. Identification
2. Electricity bill as proof of address
3. 65GBP for handling and delivery cost.
Joe Amond
For: HM Revenue & Customs
It’s obviously a scam, as it has all the usual elements of a free ATM card, that you really have no right to.
It was also addressed to undisclosed-recipients, which usually means it’s spam. Has anybody ever received an e-mail to undisclosed-recipients, that wasn’t crap?
But :-
- Where are the spelling mistakes?
- There is no expensive phone number.
- The address is genuine, but it’s the Customs Seizure Unit, where you make a claim if they’ve seized your goods.
- They have put a reasonable fee in to the e-mail. But that of course is only the start.
- The e-mail address it was sent for seems OK on a first look. I think it actually came from Russia.
So I believe this e-mail might be good enough to fool some vulnerable or gullible people. Perhaps the Russian education system is better than that of Nigeria?
I must say I’m very tempted to send a cheque for £65 payable to HM Revenue and Customs to Joe Amond in Plymouth and see what happens. THe trouble is I don’t have a cheque book, as I always transfer money directly.
Beware the Copycat Websites
There would appear to have been a rise in the number of copycat websites that get you to pay for things that should be free or cost a lot less. The story is here on MoneySavingExpert, which is always a good place to check on financial misbehaviour.
So be careful, you are actually getting the right site and not one that doesn’t just have the first paid-for position in Google!
This practice may not exactly be fraud, but surely there is an element of dishonesty here?
Fake Facebook and www.feetspicy.com
I’ve no idea what this scam is about. I get masses of messages saying that someone on Facebook has sent me a message. As I always check links before I click them, I don’t follow them as they point to www.feetspicy.com.
This web site is registered and hosted in China, so I suppose it’s up to no good.
I just don’t have the time to follow it through, but I suspect it’s some sort of scam to collect Facebook logins.
Have Intel Bought a Pup?
I notice that the chip-maker Intel has just bought the anti-virus software company McAfee.
Now I have nothing against Intel and have used PCs powered by their chips for a long time. In fact except for the odd one powered by an AMD processor, I suspect it’s almost an exclusive relationship. I used to have the same relationship with McAfee, partly because I was an indirect investor in the company through a venture capital firm, but mainly because I knew I could trust their products. But recently they have tried and in some cases forced me to buy and/or install software that I have no need for, such as Site Advisor. So when my subscription to McAfee ran out, I searched for other software that was free to install and use. I now use ClamWin and I’m very happy with it.
There is other software too, that can do the same or a better job at a lower price than McAfee.
I hope Intel took note of these facts, when they worked out what they should pay for McAfee!
Travel, Hotel Web Sites
This is just a general observation really, as I’ve just booked an evening in Crewe to see Ipswich play.
I have a feeling that the general shenanikins I have with my left hand has put my computer into some sort of alien mode, as the mouse sometimes doesn’t seem to response in the way I want it to! Anyway I sometimes seem to select the wrong thing and have to restart. This happened on the excellent Virgin Trains web site, when I was booking for Crewe and I got the wrong train back. No problem, as I was able to just select another, but on the hotel web site for some reason I ended up with two rooms and had to change my reservation. I suspect it was my problem, but there was no way on the site to remove one after I’d booked without going through a full change procedure. Not too annoying, but web designers should impose more validity checks.
Two things often annoy me.
- Sites which don’t allow me to select my address by entering a post code and then choosing from a list. Virgin does this address lookup and it makes things so much easier, as I usually make at least two miswtakes, when I type my full address.
- Why can’t sites ask you simple questions, when you do things like forget to check the “Do I accept the Terms and Conditions?” box. Often forgetting this means that tou have to retype a lot of information. All they need to do is bring up a check dialog.
Religous Spam
I hate spam with a vengeance, but if it has a fake religous bent, it really gets my goat. Does anybody know why we use goats in this context?
Look at this loan spam from someone called Margaret Nicholas.
We are Christian Organization formed to help people in need.So if you are in financial difficulty or you need a loan,contact us today via email holytrinityfinancialhome2009@gmail.com for the bible says””Luke 11:10 Everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened”.So do not let these opportunity pass you by because Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever more.Please these is for serious minded and God fearing People.
* Refinance
* Personal Loans (Secure and Unsecured)
* Business Loans (Secure and Unsecured)
* Consolidation Loan
* Combination Loan
* Individuals Loans
* Companies LoanBORROWER’S INFORMATION
I have treated it with the utter contempt it deserves and applied the Delete key.
The stupid woman, who supposedly sent the e-mail, couldn’t even spell her name the same twice.
Your Wife Photos Attached
Over the last few weeks, I’ve been getting several e-mails every day with a title of “Your Wife Photos Attached” and just a zip file enclosed. My ISP marks them as spam and as I’m careful, I have never opened the zip, so they have been no threat to my computer until now.
As a widower though, who sorely misses his wife, I don’t like theses messages.
So finally curiosity got the better of me and I this morning I decided to find out what the zip files contain.
I don’t recommend doing this, but if you are careful it is a perfectly safe procedure. I copied the zip file on to an SD card and then transferred this to an old laptop, which is unconnected to the network and the Internet The laptop also has nothing of value on its hard drive, except gigabytes of nothing.
So what did the zip file contain?
Just an image containing a Russian web address, that if you typed it into your browser would give you access to cheap Viagra-type drugs. They would probably be cheap, but useless fakes.
So from a computing point of view they would appear to be safe at present!
But never take the chance of clicking on one of these zip files. Someone will start distributing ones, that are dangerous rather than just annoying!
Java Problems
I’m having a few problems on web sites that run a lot of Java. Nothing serious, but my computer tends to lock and I find that I have to reboot once a day or so. What worries me though, is that friends have also reported problems. There also seems to be threads in web site forums saying that some flavours of Windows, add-ons and Java have interaction problems.
I think that it is livable with, but I have stopped updating to the latest version of Java.
The Anonymous Widower 