e-BAY SCAM

     You’ll note it was a lady who thought she knew the ropes at eBay who got robbed this time. So, even if you know the ropes, do check it out:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/
10/26/AR2007102602156.html?hpid=moreheadlines

     Other scams I see in my e-mail inbox: warnings about my eBay and PayPal accounts, which accounts I do not have. These e-mails lead to fake eBay and PayPal websites that look like the real thing. I just delete them, but, as you probably know, these people will infect your computer and clean out your bank account if you get involved with them. I’m also e-mailed announcements that I have won a lottery – sometimes I win several lotteries, worldwide, per day. And of course I get LOTS of mail about enhancement of body parts I do not happen to have.

AN E-MAIL FROM THE IRS? NO WAY!

     If you’ve received an e-mail that claims to be from the IRS or any other U.S. government agency, it’s a scam! The U.S. government does not e-mail people. It sends them paper letters through the U.S. mail.

     For more fascinating information on this and other scams, try SNOPES. They’ve got especially good material under “Phishing”:

http://snopes.com/fraud/fraud.asp

ANOTHER FRUITFUL SCAM

     This scam has been around for several years, so it must still be bringing in the suckers. The version below is more florid than most, but the basic thought is that someone loves you and would like to get inside your bank account:

     “A friend has sent you an ecard from 123Greetings.com.

“To: Dear darling,

     “Message: i hope you like this card that i have made only for you.

     “Send free ecards from 123Greetings.com with your choice of colors, words and music.

     “Your ecard will be available with us for the next 30 days. If you wish to keep the ecard longer, you may save it on your computer or take a print. To view your ecard, choose from any of the following options:

     “Click on the following Internet address and open your greeting card.”

     Hallmark card scam. Lately I’ve been getting e-mail “Hallmark cards.” If you look at one, it has the Hallmark logo duplicated in pale, innocent pink, yet it never names the friend who has supposedly sent this e-card. And, you know, even though I know any e-card that doesn’t give a name to the sender has to be a fake, so great is my trust of the Hallmark name, going back to childhood, that I always feel uncomfortable deleting it. I do delete it, of course. If it doesn’t name the friend, it’s a “spam scam.”

     So let me say again, the only safe thing to do with an unsolicited e-mail from an unnamed “friend” or from someone you’ve never heard of, is to hit your delete key and wave it bye-bye.