Just thought that I would share. This morning I received an Email that purported to be from Jim & Peg Jeffcoat of SINGING OAKES GARDEN.

IT IS NOT!

It is one of those Emails asking for money. Here is the text:

Sorry to bother you with this but i had a sudden trip out of the country to (Kharkov Ukraine). Am here to see my ill cousin she is suffering from Kidney disease and must undergo Kidney transplant to save her life the condition is critical. Kidney transplant is very expensive here, so i want to transfer her back home to have the surgery implemented. I really need to take care of this now but my credit card can't work here. I traveled with little money due to the short time I had to prepare for this trip and never expected things to be the way it is right now. I need a loan of 2,850 USD from you and I'll reimburse you at my return. I will really appreciate whatever amount you can come up with, if not all get back to me. I'll advise on how to transfer it.

Let me know if you can be of help.

Best regards,

SINGING OAKES GARDEN
Jim & Peg Jeffcoat
1019 Abell Rd
Blythewood SC 29016-8129
(has what looks like the correct Singing Oaks web site listed here, but did not include it just in case)
803-786-5131 (This is not the correct phone number, but it is close)

I am sure that no one here would fall for this, but best to let people know. It looks like their Email list was hacked.

On a different note, there is a phone scam going around that happened to us last week. Someone saying they were from the IRS called and said that we owed the IRS money and must take IMMEDIATE ACTION! They even spoofed the caller ID to make it look as if it were from the IRS. The scam is to say that you own money and to threaten legal action (things like having your drivers license revoked) if you do not pay. However, if you agree to pay a lesser amount right then over the phone with a credit card the debt will be forgiven.

This is a current scam and is on SNOPES: http://www.snopes.com/fraud/ta...

One last thing: It is a bad idea to give out your credit card information to someone who calls you. Get the contact information, then make sure that the information is correct (real company, correct phone number, etc.; you can check a current bill/bank statement/ etc. to get this info). Then call the correct number to inquire about the matter.

I had a call from "Microsoft" saying something about my IP address and proublems.
I asked "well what's my IP address" she spouted off some numbers" I laughed and said that's not my IP" and she hung up on me

I received the same email.

We received this email this morning, too. For those who may not know, Jim Jeffcoat died very recently. Real BAD timing!

Scams are part of the internet I guess. Over the years I have lost at least 3 HDs to viruses. Last one that got me this spring was the FBI Moneypak Virus. Kinda the same thing as the IRS phone scam that you talk about Laura. Locks up the computer and claims to report you for doing all sorts of Very bad things to the FBI or Homeland Security ( unless you pay them a small amount ). Very official looking screen comes up and Bam they got you.
Its hard to get rid of, but my point is Dont pay them. I picked it up @ a shopping site. Doing nothing wrong.
+**%6$% Jerks

Those can also be in Email attachments so be careful what you open.

Someone got ahold of the Email list at my DH's company several months ago and sent out official looking Emails from "administrator" (ie administrator@ "his company's name".com) to all the employees. There was no such Email address there. If you opened the Email the virus tried to load itself. If it did, it would encrypt the hard drive information and you would get an Email saying that you would get the key if you sent money. (Even if you do you never get the key.)

http://www.snopes.com/computer...

Fortunately, most Email scams depend on us being gullible, greedy, compassionate or some combination of those to get you. It is always best not to respond. Do we really think that someone wants our help to get 2 million dollars out of Uganda?

Here is a list of many computer viruses that you can get: http://www.snopes.com/computer...

Oh my, that certainly is a lot of different viruses.

I got a call a few months ago, supposedly about "health insurance."
The caller had my name, address, phone number, etc. so when he wanted to know the name of my bank,
I told him didn't he already have that since he had the other info.

He told me "go to hell for "asking" such stupid questions.

Made me feel guilty for sure.

All of the above make me glad that I did away with my land line nearly a decade ago.
Cell phone numbers aren't immune to this crap, but they certainly insulate me from a
great deal of it.

As for e-mails, I seldom open one, unless I know the sender.

You can't bee too careful, in this the age of scams.

John, if you don't open your emails, how will you know that you inherited a fortune from the Prince of Iberia?

I once got one of those and offered to keep money they were trying to get into a USA bank here on the farm
where it would be safe with all my Rottweilers and guns. Never heard back and I've never received another "opportunity."

Xenacrockett said:
John, if you don't open your emails, how will you know that you inherited a fortune from the Prince of Iberia?

I

Actually, I got one of those "Nigerian" scams this morning. My finger pressed the delete key. LOL

On the other hand, it does happen in real life. The year before he died my paternal grandfather got a letter from a lawyer. A distant cousin he'd never heard of had died, and the lawyers had put together a family tree. She was a spinster schoolteacher and left no will. It wasn't a large estate, and I don't know how many distant cousins were contacted, but about the time he died, he got a check for $600 and change. Six hundred dollars went a long way in 1967.

http://philadelphia.cbslocal.c...

Im beside myself. I usually open NOTHING, even when Im suppose to. This morning, this email got me. I only opened it for a second, but I dont know what to do to protect myself. I am so upset with myself I cant see straight. It would have normally gone straight to the trash, but it just so happens that this weekend my daughter was over in orlando, using the e pass expressways. I thought there might be a problem with our passes and damned if I didnt open it.
How did this person know someone in my family was driving on a toll road....they must have???People who werent on a toll road recently would of course never open it, or I wouldnt think so. Freaky

Most likely if you delete it, then go and dump your temporary internet files, you should be OK. Do you have any Spy ware on your computer that will search out anything questionable. If so run that too check.

Thanks! I got one for every time my daughter went thru a toll booth. All are deleted. I could still shoot myself for opening that. They were really clever on the timing of those. I guess thats the point

As a computer professional I can tell you that these scams having been going on for years. I have a private blocked land line and don't get them but I do get them on my cell phone and via email.

Anyone that you have ever sent email to can potentially become a victim of these viruses. This includes people from large well-known organizations.

Pam, when in doubt just go directly to the website yourself without using a link in the email. I delete everything.
They are trying to get info from you in this case your credit or debit card info. DELETE!!!

what really scares me is, when you click on the download invoice link, it doenst take you to something that ask for your credit card, it takes you to some guys personal website, I clicked out of it so fast I cant remember anything specific, but I feel they wanted access to my computer and lord knows what they can get.
Im still furious with myself.

The IRS one was on our local News a month or so ago. They said the IRS would not contact you by email or phone if you really owed money. The things people do to try to steal others money! If they spent half as much energy in finding a real profession just think how much better the world would be...Geesh!

coldlime said:Scams are part of the internet I guess. Over the years I have lost at least 3 HDs to viruses. Last one that got me this spring was the FBI Moneypak Virus. Kinda the same thing as the IRS phone scam that you talk about Laura. Locks up the computer and claims to report you for doing all sorts of Very bad things to the FBI or Homeland Security ( unless you pay them a small amount ). Very official looking screen comes up and Bam they got you.
Its hard to get rid of, but my point is Dont pay them. I picked it up @ a shopping site. Doing nothing wrong.
+**%6$% Jerks

Do you have Norton Internet Security up and running on your computer? We've had it on two laptops and a desktop for years. It seems to do its job just fine.

Xenacrockett said:
John, if you don't open your emails, how will you know that you inherited a fortune from the Prince of Iberia?

I once got one of those and offered to keep money they were trying to get into a USA bank here on the farm
where it would be safe with all my Rottweilers and guns. Never heard back and I've never received another "opportunity."

I think my all time favorite e-mail scam landed a few months back.
It was supposedly from Barrister Wang Wong in Hong Kong or something like that.
I cracked up at the name, and made a note. One of these days, I will name a character
in one of my books either Wang Wong, or Wong Wang!