It is one thing to say that you should take care, but what does that actually mean ? How does one take care ? Let have a look at some email with malicious intentions to find the signs.
From: robertmeans
Subject: I miss you
Date: November 2, 2011 11:36:46 PM GMT+09:00
Hello dear I am a good looking young lady. My family think I am reliable and well-balanced.
I am 28 years. I want to meet straightforward man for serious relationship. I have light hair and black eyes. I am looking for a man, who will be the only one in my life, who will be everything for me. Age is of no importance. I think that age is not a number of years but a great experience in life. I'm not married. Maybe it's fate!
My details here: http://innocent.looking.site.con Goodbye!
Well, Robert seems like an interesting fellow doesn't she. There are a few things that you should pay attention to here. The first is the marketing aspects of the email. This email is targeted at a men 35~65 who aren't married. The requirements for that man a deliberately vague and the information is attempting to elicit an emotional response, first good looking then reliable. It is important then to look at grammar and punctuation, spellcheckers have a difficult time with punctuation. There is no comma after 'dear' which should be capitalized. Common phrases in English are difficult to translate directly from other languages, one isn't "28 years", one is human that is "28 years old" Articles in English are difficult for non-native speakers, he should be looking for 'a serious relationship'. That said though, the language used in these emails is improving. Cultural nuance such as describing yourself as 'well-balanced' is another give away, it is technically correct but not something that one would say in this context.
Clicking on the link in the original email (I did change that) would see you on your way to getting malware, some phishing and maybe some dating fraud.
This is the least dangerous type of spam, as it is an amateur attempt. I would guess that it is from Western Africa from the use of the name Robert (they do use that name a lot, I don't know why) and the email hoaxed from mamboo.net, which is a french site.
These emails do get much more complex.
The following is an example of what is called 'spear phishing'. Phishing is an attempt to get information of varying value by casting putting some kind of bait out on the Internet with a method of getting information back. The last email could be attempting phishing if the site you visited had a form for a name, phone number, password etc. Spear phishing is a targeted attempt. Rather than trying to get any fish that swims past it is directed at a particular fish. This doesn't necessarily mean that the perpetrator is personally targeting an individual, the process can be automated. That is a particular feature of the Internet. Consider the following:
From: Marianna Bucci
Subject: Michael Joyce
Date: November 1, 2011 3:38:11 AM GMT+09:00
Good afternoon!
If you see this message this means that you have probably subscribed to mailing lists on one of the job portals.
We've found your email address there, and currently we have a great job offer.
Our company is an international company, specialized in development of complex, leading edge projects in the financial industry.
Due to the expansion of business, currently our company is recruiting personnel in Australia.
No previous experience is required and there are no requirements for this position, almost anyone is eligible.
Should this offer seem to be interesting for you, please contact us asap for more information.
If you provide us with your phone number and your name, and our manager will get in contact with you and answer all the queries you might have.
We apologize for any inconveniences caused concerning direct emailing.
We look forward to hearing from you at you earliest convenience.
______________________________
Local News: gugatan ke paspampres tunggu visum.
This is a level up. The marketing is targeted a lot wider; ages 18~65, male or female. There are a few grammar errors in this one, but the deliberate choice of a non-English name Marianna Bucci, makes it possible for the reader to rationalise the problems. They have used my name as the subject to make sure they get my attention. The marketing is a lot more subtle, they are promising financial industry work, which means larger salaries.
How did they get my name ? Information is harvested and bought and sold on the Internet. They have hinted at the method that they used to get the information. If I have at sometime logged in a job search website and provided contact information for them to pass on to employers, or put my resume at a site then it is possible to log into the website as a potential employer and then harvest the information of all of the job seekers, giving a list of contact information and a good angle for the con. Alternatively they could have bought the information from another group that did something similar.
This con could be pure phishing, they might just be after the phone number, an address and confirmation that the email and name pair is valid. They could then sell that information to other criminal groups for identity theft. It is more likely that they have a small call center to monetize the scam through advance fraud, asking for money for processing visas, government documentation, travel fees and the like often pretending to be multiple companies to keep the individual amounts low enough to avoid suspicion. The worse option is that this could be an opening for using an individual as a 'money mule'. Money mules are used to launder money and make it harder to trace transfers. After replying to the email you do a phone interview, they tell you that you have the job and they will send you a first payment of $250 to help you organise your affairs before starting work. They accidentally send you $2,500 and call you to explain that a secretary put in an extra zero by mistake, and how they really need the money at the moment to organise something urgent today. If you could please send the $2,250 extra to this account, or because of how quickly they need it, it would be better if you transfer it at Western Union to this account. In doing that you have made it nearly impossible for police to trace that money from the illegal source to the recipient, by turning it into cash and then transferring it by systems that aren't very transparent. The company never calls you back, and if the police are chasing that $2,500 of dirty money, they can trace 10% of it back to your account.
This is a very clever email, and if you were looking for work at the time, it might be attractive to you. They alarm bells should ring if you are thinking clearly. What is the likelihood of a finance company offering a position working with complex, leading edge projects to someone with no qualifications or experience. They have to say these things, to keep the net wide and raise your emotional greed response. If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. On the Internet that maxim is even more relevant. This email is probably from Indonesia, the sender didn't take time to adjust some of the settings in hotmail that send localized advertising from microsoft partners, which is in Indonesian in this case. Cybercrime in Indonesia is a growing issue, last month the were more searches for the term 'cybercrime' on google from Indonesia than any other country. That is an indicator of current interest in the issue there at the moment.
The biggest tool that you can use to avoid this kind of thing on the Internet is to treat these things as if it was offered to you by a gold chain wearing, fidgeting, mirrored glasses wearing car salesman who flinches at the sound of sirens. Engage high suspicion, click cautiously, pay attention.
If you are still not sure I recommend that you cut and paste sentences from the email and the word scam into google and see what comes up. There are people working hard to counter the efforts of these scammers.
Using this particular email as an example, I chose the phrase "Our company is an international company, specialized in development of complex, leading edge projects in the financial industry" as it is not likely to be a common phrase in other genuine websites and emails, and the word "scam".
That is a pretty good sign it is a con.
It is interesting to note how the text has evolved over time, with the company changing from an incurance (insurance?) company and a holding company, being used as well as the financial company.
Stay safe, use your head when using the Internet, your common sense is worth real dollars if you use it.
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