New email scam

New to me, anyway.

Got a scary-looking email last weekend. Mostly a big image:



I did not open the attachment - now, all that remains is to await the feds...

Or not...

Reponse and counter-response

Just recieved this:

 

April 10, 2017

Dear Charles,

We continue to make real progress in our work to repeal and replace Obamacare. The American Health Care Act would bring down costs and increase choices for families. It would reduce the deficit and make the biggest entitlement reform in decades, saving taxpayers $880 billion.    And it would return power from Washington to the states and communities. We want patients and doctors to be making the big decisions—not unelected bureaucrats.  

Visit Speaker.gov for more updates as we continue to work on this critical legislation.  

Sincerely,

Paul D. Ryan
Speaker of the House

My response to him:

Dear Speaker Ryan,

Perhaps you misunderstood my last missive - I want what millions of Americans - many of them Wisconsinites - want. A complete repeal of Obamacare, coupled with federal prosecution of health care organizations that conspire with insurance companies and drug companies to get special treatment under federal law. Any other industry that offered "discounts" based on which insurance company you had a policy with, or refused to give a firm estimate of costs before starting an "operation" would have been before a judge long before today.

Put the health care industry back under the free market. Federal involvement should be limited to ensure that there is no collusion, and actual prices are given to patients in advance of care.

Health care lobbyists have run the show for way too long. We voted in Mr. Trump to change things for the better. What you and CONgress have offered us is still lipstick on a pig if it does not address the root cause of our healthcare "crisis".

Regards,

Chuck Kuecker

Beloit, WI

Update - got this bounce-back:

Your e-mail was sent to a send-only server, and your e-mail has not been received.

If you are a resident of Wisconsin's 1st Congressional District and want to e-mail Congressman Paul Ryan, you may do so by visiting the following web page: http://paulryan.house.gov/Contact/Email.htm.

If you are trying to email Speaker Paul Ryan, you may do so by visiting the following web page: http://www.speaker.gov/.

Thank you

The email address - Speaker@mail.house.gov - was not flagged as "do not reply". Resending via his website.

Job offer

Got this email a while back:

Hello Chuck,

I hope you are doing well! I am emailing you regarding the resume you posted online.  I am currently consulting for a couple small businesses and assisting with several business developments in Madison, WI. After reviewing your resume, I think you would be a good fit for one of the several positions currently available. The primary position currently available is for a full time Benefits Representative, the average starting wage is around $60,000 a year.  I am in the office Friday and was wondering if I could contact you for a five minute phone interview between 1:00-2:00pm? Or is there a better time to call you at 608-361-0277

Also, just so you know, there are no fees for you to use my service, assisting small businesses in finding qualified top-notch employees is included with my consulting fees which are covered by the business. If you find that these positions are not the right fit for you, no worries, I work with a number of other businesses and I may have another client that is hiring in the near future. Are you only looking for work in the 53511 area? Would you consider other areas?

I look forward to speaking to you and please note you are receiving this email because you are registered with us on link.work.php, in the event you are no longer interested in employment please be sure to click the unsubscribe link at the bottom of this email.

JSM Consulting
Michael Mell
Phone: 262-618-7003

I replied:

Hi, Michael,

If you read my resume, you know I have absolutely no experience in 
benefits, nor any business attempting to apply for such a job. $28 / 
hour is less than the job I just was let go from, wherein I was starving 
in slow motion as the bills piled up.

If you have any electrical engineering jobs or mechanical designer 
(Pro-E / Creo or Solidworks) jobs paying at least $50 / hour or $104K / 
year, I would like to hear about them.

Regards,

Chuck Kuecker, BSEE

"He" responds:

Thank you so much for the reply message. I was hoping I would have a few  moments to talk on the phone but looking at my upcoming schedule I 
figured I better get some details out to you right away regarding a 
position one our clients is looking to get filled.  Thank you again for your replied message. JSM is committed to helping small and large businesses with all of their needs, specializing in social media marketing. We are not a staffing agency but from time to time we are asked for help with staffing for everything  from restaurant staff to office managers. 

The company's name is Teyssier and Associates. They are a benefit 
services company that issues out and explains benefits to Labor Unions, 
Credit Unions and other associations. Teyssier and Associates is 
currently hiring full time Diversified Benefit Representatives
 for their Madison office, which is located at 555 D’Onofrio Dr., Ste. 
201 Madison, WI 53719. I checked with their office manager Randy and he 
has an opening on Wednesday at 11:00am to meet in person if you could 
make it? I know it would be worth your time as he is looking for a number of people for all types of positions.

Keep in mind we work with businesses all over the United States. If 
there is a location that would work better for you please let me know.

Please let me know if you are available so I can send you a confirmation and add you to his calendar because it fills up pretty quick. I will also send you a confirmation with directions within 48 hours of you picking a date. 

JSM Consulting

WWW.JSMFIRM.COM <- a="" br="" dead="" is="" link....="" this="">
262-618-7003
 

My response:

Well, I guess you are a computer, so this is the end....

I'll post any reply in an update.

I wonder what the .php link would have done to my computer? Or the "unsubscribe" link with all the encoded information in it?

The email address for "Michael" corresponds to http://msjconsultingofusa.com/ - and they want to send spam for you, evidently.

Job offer!

Just got this:

Vacancy respond for Chuck Kuecker

Dear Chuck Kuecker,

At the moment we are looking to hire a talented manager in your area. And
after reviewing your CV online CV database we belive that you are ideally
fit to this position. Your main focus will be working with customers,
documentation and submission of weekly reports.

We provide services in the field of health insurance. After a long and
successful work we are in the leading place in this sphere. We offer you a
competitive wage and excellent working conditions.

Your responsibilities:
- Work closely with our experts and other managers of our company.
- Providing quality services to all customers.
- Implementation of tasks in the set time-limits.

About you:
- You must be a US citizen.
- Your age more than 21 years.
- You must have a stable internet connection.
- Also, you must have the desire to improve and learn.

After your reply we will provide you a trial period. And after its
completion, you will be able to say if this job is right for you or not.
Your wage will be 3,000 $ each month + 500 $ every week. If you fit the
offered conditions, then we are waiting for your reply as soon as possible.

Best regards.

--------------------------------------------------------------------
mail2web - Проверьте свою электронную почту из сети в

and a link to an email service.The Cyrillic translates as "check your email from the network". 

The sending address is different from the "reply to" address.

I wonder if this is the same outfit that provided the software for Jugearscare - you know, Moochelle's old college buddies...

 

New email scam?

Just received this:

USPS.COM
Notification Your parcel has arrived at May 7th, 2014. Courier was unable to deliver the parcel to you. Print your label and show it in the nearest post office to get a parcel.
Print Shipping Label
Copyright 2014 USPS. All Rights Reserved.

BBC Latest News:
GOP chairman: Chris Christie should remain at RGA
Reince Priebus tells CNN that embattled New Jersey governor best to lead governors' group.
Free school meals plan 'red rating'
Nick Clegg's plan for free school meals in England has been given a "red" rating in a Whitehall risk assessment.
Five texts you should never send
We're texting more than ever, and, like society, the texts themselves are getting worse and worse. Read on to learn just how terrible silent cell phone users are these days.

The link went to "http://92.60.118.68/en.php....."

If the "courier" (US SNAIL?) was unable to deliver, WHY should I have to print out a label?

Only the very naive would fall for this. 

Isn't the USPS' Postmaster General supposed to investigate mail fraud? How about using their initials in vain as a copyright?

Phishing?

Just received this:

From: sophia158@hosttrim.euSubject: Funny baby
Reply to: austin059@hosttrim.eu

Thanks for the gift
julia
067-055-9567

-lots of white space-

(CNN) -- After eluding capture sweetly emotionally actually for more than a dozen years, the legendary boss of one of the world's most powerful defiantly municipals and deadly drug trafficking operations was nabbed in a surprise raid on a seaside hotel-condominium tower hopelessly color depreciation in a bustling Mexican beach resort, authorities said. Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, member overconfidently alienated compare 56, who infamously escaped in 2001 from a high-security prison in a laundry cart, was arrested overnight Saturday unfinished accounting in Mazatlan, authorities said. A U.S. law enforcement official knowing battle mellow encourage told CNN that Guzman, accompanied by a female, was captured bewilderingly in a joint operation of Mexican marines and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents allow profit juicy sympathetically that was in the works for four or five weeks. eventually beam The pressure on Guzman's organization, the Sinaloa cartel, ski economy had been mounting for months, with Mexican authorities killing or capturing flap peel annuity lucrative several of its most brutal lieutenants, nice blue a U.S. law enforcement official said. reliability helpfully important Those operations yielded information, including cell phone and other data, exchange thunder shyly that helped Mexican authorities and U.S. drug enforcement agents bull thoughtfully there thoughtfully track Guzman down. A U.S. Homeland Security official livid fiduciary redemption tire said key intelligence in the capture came from show eminent fetch an Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigation.

Are they hoping for a reply to learn if this email address is live?

That's the only reason I can come up with, other than a desire to waste bandwidth.

I've seen a few messages from my email server lately - "can't deliver" - that are for messages apparently attempting to use me as a forwarder.

WTF?

Who responds to this stuff?

From: Vicky951@xxx.xxx


 ***SPAM*** Are you there?

 Reply to: Rosanna069@xxx.xxx

see you soon? Let me know if you are going to be around next Wednesday.
betty
743-548-5077

Update: I keep forgetting that putting comments in angle brackets counts as HTML - I put a comment here about "big white space", and Blogger processed it...

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon felt whip has withdrawn his invitation for Iran to participate stove ate slight lake in Syria peace talks, a spokesman said, after west bridge bank the invite spurred objections from point even smoke the United States and the renew doll Syrian opposition. The secretary-general's sink wet for bride original invitation threatened slave tomato bib to unravel the carefully pride sod darts thud planned meetings later this week in Switzerland, first boo seen smell in Montreux and then in Geneva. Though city fire sped eagle it was Secretary of State John Kerry knot swept who earlier this month floated the possibility of Iranian involvement -- with conditions -- Ban Ki-moon went danny drug day a step further. To the dismay of the Obama administration, he invited Iran without bug verse first demanding that it publicly accept the premise that i'm bait its ally Bashar Assad must leave power
++++++++++++++++++++
The From: and Reply to: addresses were the same domain.

Who gets an email from "betty", who uses an email address of "Vicky951", and wants replies sent to "Rosanna069" and an invalid area code phone number, and would either attempt to call or reply?

I can understand that certain persons - probably our jugeared CINC - would hit "reply" thinking they might get a quick thrill - and the receiving email then knows about a "live" email address they can use to lend verisimilitude to later spam.

I always get a kick out of the text attachment of random phrases. At lest this one put it down far enough that you had to scroll to see it.

Update - a quick Google search on the area code turned up nothing when I posted this - how quickly data gets outdated...

Email exchange

Every so often, I get an email from a friend, discussing gun control and violence. I thought I would share this one:

On 9/17/2013 8:56 PM,  Bill wrote:

Chuck, Jim,  the information that I have so far gleaned from the media is that the D C Shooter was a mentally unstable man who was permitted to own and use guns.  He was legally armed when he killed those innocent victims.  The information seems to be structured to advance an ideology.  It hasn't been easy to get detailed information, so whatever I have has been sketchy at best. I would like to know your opinions on

 

1) what happed, and,

 

 

2) how can this sort of tragedy be minimized, and,

 

 

3) is new legislation necessary?

 

 Mike,

this is big news here.  Did this make the news in the UK, and if so, what is the thinking about it?

 

 

 Please "respond to all"

 

ps:  other comments welcome also

 

Thanks

 

Bill

My response:

 Bill, as far as I can see, the guy came on to the base with a shotgun, attacked and disarmed two security people to get handguns, and proceeded to go shooting. Reports say many of the base personnel were armed - but evidently, not where it mattered.

There is no way to "minimize" this kind of crime unless we allow the government to institutionalize every person who ever showed any signs of anger or instability.

I believe that the proper legislative approach is to repeal all the failed "gun control" legislation, and allow the American people to exercise their rights as per the basic law of the land, the Constitution. Step one.

Next, we must dismantle the painstakingly built up framework of welfare and the dependency on government it fosters. This will be a long bloody fight, as so many Americans are hopelessly addicted to the system.

At the same time, we must somehow instill the values of a bygone era in the children of America, so that they grow up knowing how the system is supposed to work and that no one advances by stealing the bread from another in this country, but only by their own hard work and moral grounding.

I don't see either of these happening in our lifetimes.

One thing that has been ignored by the media and those mental giants in Washington is the fact that most, if not all,  of the perpetrators were either under treatment with psychotropic drugs, or had "gone off their meds" shortly before the incident. As many of these drugs carry dire warnings about suicide and other side effects, perhaps all such treatment should be carried out inside a secure facility until the patient is recovered, or for life if such recovery cannot be guaranteed. I fear this kind of power in the hands of our present "leaders" - remember the Soviet Union routinely used :mental hospitals" for "rehabilitation" of political dissidents.

The rise in violence in this country tracks the dismantling of our mental health infrastructure, the rise of inner-city welfare, and the destruction of family. I know that correlation does not prove causation, but both issues are worth looking into.

Chuck

Email conversation

A snippet of a conversation I've been having on a small list.

The gentleman thinks universal background checks are a good idea.

+++++++++++++++

If “By definition criminals don't obey the law and wouldn't submit to this check. It will only put a burden on the law abiding citizen.” then why have any laws?  We can’t stop all drunk drivers, all burglars, all murderers, all thieves and all those who flout the law.  All we do is inconvenience good people with silly rules the bad guys ignore, so what’s the point?  The point is, we do have laws which we try to enforce, albeit with limited resources (tax cuts don’t pay for police, prosecutors and our court system) and do the best we can to provide for the safety of our citizens.  That is a worthy goal.  If you’re not breaking the law, you have nothing to fear and aren’t we all safer for the effort?

 

+++++++++++++++

This is a common straw man argument. Criminals don't obey the law, so why have any?

The law allows us to punish those who violate it. "Enforcement" is a idea that appeals to the controller, the tyrant. Enforcement requires the police to take an active role in searching out "violators" rather than patrolling and being available to assist when they witness an actual violation.

Laws that prohibit certain items or force certain actions do nothing to ensure the safety of the public at large - they only allow the lawmakers to feel like they are "doing something".

Take laws against driving while intoxicated. No one would argue that allowing people to drink themselves stupid and then go out on the highway is a good idea. So, let's pass a law that you can't drive drunk.

Fair enough. Now, someone who gets tipsy on two beers gets pulled over for weaving. Only problem is - he's got a good lawyer, and convinces the jury that two beers is not "drunk", and the perp goes free.

So - let's pass a law defining "drunk" by blood alcohol content - and pick a number out of thin air.

Now, when someone is pulled over, they have to "blow", and if the detector registers under the magic number, they are let go with a warning. If the number is equal or greater than the magic number, they go to jail. No wiggle room for the guy who is inebriated with BAC under the limit - he goes out and kills someone, and then we have to pass another law lowering the limit.

Or, seeing as many people can function just fine with BAC at almost double the "limit" and never give the cops any hint they are DWI, we now have to have "sobriety checkpoints" where everyone on that road is stopped and has to prove their innocence before being allowed to continue on. Ever hear of freedom? It just got narrower.

Since roadblocks don't catch all the bad guys, now let's put a tester into every car, so you have to prove to your vehicle that you aren't drunk. Of course all the people who are responsible will have to buy one and the price of cars goes up - but we are safer. There have been suggestions that this actually my happen.

When you get to the bottom of it, it is a question of personal responsibility. Freedom has the price that we have to risk something in order to retain that freedom. The risk is that there are people out there who don't care, or actively are evil. They will always be there no matter how many laws we pass, but our freedoms will keep shrinking right up until we reach the Nirvana of the nanny state - where everything that is not required is forbidden.

And people will still commit violent and stupid acts.



By the way - "If you’re not breaking the law, you have nothing to fear" sounds very Orwellian. Do we really want to live in that world? I do not.

 Chuck Kuecker

+++++++++++++++

SOS answered

Back in June, my email and web server, running Ubuntu 11.10, needed to reboot after a routine update - so I clicked "OK".

Bad move - on reboot, the grub bootloader couldn't find the boot code. No amount of effort on my part could fix this - evidently the update stepped on something critical.


So, I reloaded Ubuntu from the CD - thinking I could simply follow the online setup instructions I used last time to recover my web site and email server, The web server came right back - but email?

Bad assumption - the how-to now installs imap in place of pop3, and evidently was not strictly compatible with Ubuntu 11.10. Spent the better part of three weeks fighting with postfix and courier - finally broke down and cried for help on the Rockford Linux users group list.

Got an email from Dan yesterday, who was not otherwise involved with 4th of July festivites. He drove out here and spent half the day and well into the night beating the system into submission.

So, I've now got email back. Next task is to get the backup Ubuntu box running so this never happens again. And, I've made a new friend!

The Nigerian scam comes to the gun shop

Just received this:

Attn:President
Dear Sir
As a matter of urgency, I need a hobble contractor that can be my partner to supply Federal Ministry of De-fence Fire Arm and l make a
research and flexibilities studies of the contract dealer l can work with in which you are one of the pick dealer
, I cannot not handle it alone from here l need an international body for backup because will are going to deal with Senator in house of assemble for assessment
here in Nigeria. That is why I thought it is wise to
seek for  foreign partner that have full idea of the project and to defense it on appointment day . they are going to give us 40% upfront payment for the project,is an close tender offer.
 As soon as l hear your readiness to work with me ,l will open wide my mind to give you more detail.
Indicate your readiness to help by providing to me
your telephone/fax-number for easy communication. More
details will be forwarded to you soonest.
Awaiting your immediate response.
Best Regards,
Bomgo Matho
GUN DEALER, FFL,


Copied verbatim, formatting and all.

"Bomgo" even got my title right!

Is the "Federal Ministry of De-fence" in charge of removing barriers to open-range grazing?

Highly intelligent and sneaky spam artist

Got six "PayPal" emails all in a row in the spam folder that I just couldn't pass up:

RE:You just sent a payment to Teddy Peterson
FW:You just sent a payment to Allan Peterson
RE:You just sent a payment to Ulysses Peterson
RE:You just sent a payment to Harrison Peterson
RE:You just sent a payment to Darrell Peterson
RE:You just sent a payment to Robin Peterson

All for $80 to $140. The amount due and the amount paid were both randomly different.
All the sending email addresses were of the form "wcFIRST_NAME22@hotmail.com"
All show the same shipping address.
All refer to "Thad Peterson".


The links all go to a non-functional URL. So - what was the point?

If you want to get someone to click on your spam email's links, perhaps you ought to write the robot script so it sends only ONE email to each recipient - and perhaps you could make it look like the charge actually was paid by the person receiving the email.

If you are smart enough to write the script that generates this, how much extra work would it be to make it less obviously a scam?

Duh.

I wonder if PayPal bothers to attempt prosecution of these idiots if they are ever caught. It would be a slam-dunk copyright infringement, not to mention interstate fraud.

Update:

This morning I got two more:

FW:You just sent a payment to Deirdre Peterson - paid $60 toward the $100 billed.
FW:You just sent a payment to Shawn Peterson - paid $100 toward the $120 billed.

What's the point, if the links don't turn up someone's Viagra store or try to phish for your data?

Email receipt

Yet another  URGENT email:
+++++++++++++

-------- Original Message --------

Subject:	Order confirmation
Date:	Tue, 17 Apr 2012 04:13:48 -0800
From:	yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
To:	xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

You've just ordered pizza from our site

Pizza Meat Lover's with extras: - Ham - Jalapenos - Extra Cheese - Extra Sauce Pizza Super Supreme with extras: - Bacon Pieces - Black Olives - Extra Cheese - Extra Sauce Pizza Triple Meat Italiano with extras: - Pork - Green Peppers - Extra Cheese - Extra Sauce Pizza Veggie Lover's with extras: - Beef - Bacon Pieces - Beef - Pineapple - Jalapenos - Green Peppers - Easy On Cheese - No Sauce Pizza Pepperoni Lover's with extras: - Pepperoni - Diced Tomatoes - Diced Tomatoes - Easy On Cheese - Easy On Sauce Drinks - Schweppes x 4 - Bacardi x 4 - Diet Pepsi x 3 - Mirinda x 4 - Cherry Coke x 4 - Lift x 3 Total Due: 201.77$

If you haven't made the order and it's a fraud case, please follow the link and cancel the order.

CANCEL ORDER NOW!

If you don't do that shortly, the order will be confirmed and delivered to you.


Best Regards
Pizza by EUSTORGIO
+++++++++++++
Duh.

Know any stupid CPAs?

Better warn them about this email scam:
+++++++++++++++

You're receiving this email as a Certified Public Accountant and a member of AICPA. Having trouble reading this email? View it in your browser.

Cancellation of Public Account Status due to tax return fraud accusations

Dear AICPA member, We have received a complaint about your recent involvement in income tax fraud  for one of your clients. According to AICPA Bylaw Subsection 730 your Certified Public Accountant status can be cancelled in case of the event of filing of a false or fraudulent income tax return for your client or employer. Please find the complaint below below and provide your feedback to it within 14 days. The failure to provide the clarifications within this term will result in withdrawal of your Accountant status. Complaint.pdf

The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Email: service@aicpa.org Tel. 888.777.7077 Fax. 800.362.5066 +++++++++++++++ The "pdf" was a link to some website - probably selling erection aids. It was "sent" from some guy at Intuit - from which company I've gotten a slew of spam lately. Somebody got phished.

Email trouble

Re: lack of posting - my Ubuntu email server got bollixed after an upgrade, and my email and web server stopped working.

Ended up reloading Ubuntu 11.10 from a CD, and rebuilding from scratch. Got the web pages back up, but email is still FUBAR. I am learning about stuff I never dreamed I would have to know.

I hate computers...