Cymru Marketing Journal - (CMJUK) - Online Business Journal & Digital Marketing Agency. Business News, Directory, SEO, Social Media Management, Advertising, Reviews, Forum, Market Research, Content Writing & Website Design. Thinking Local, Acting Global.
Ignore unrecognized telephone numbers as they could be spoofed.
What is telephone spoofing?
Telephone spoofing is a technique used by scammers to make their calls appear as though they are coming from a different phone number than the one they are actually calling from. This is done in order to deceive the person who is receiving the call into thinking that it is coming from a trusted source, such as a bank or a government agency.
There are many different ways that scammers can accomplish telephone spoofing. One common method is known as “neighbor spoofing,” in which the scammer makes the call appear as though it is coming from a phone number with the same area code and prefix as the recipient’s number. This can make the call seem more legitimate, as the recipient may assume that it is a local call.
Another method that scammers use is known as “spoofing a well-known number.” In this case, the scammer will make the call appear as though it is coming from a well-known and trusted organization, such as a bank or a government agency. This can make the recipient more likely to answer the call, as they may believe that it is important.
Telephone spoofing can have serious consequences for the people who are targeted by scammers. In many cases, scammers will use spoofed phone numbers in order to try to steal personal information, such as social security numbers or bank account numbers. They may also try to convince the recipient to give them money, either by pretending to be a representative of a legitimate organization or by using a high-pressure sales pitch.
There are several steps that people can take in order to protect themselves from telephone spoofing. One of the most important is to never give out personal information over the phone unless you are absolutely certain that the person on the other end of the line is who they say they are. If you are unsure, it is always a good idea to hang up and call the organization directly using a phone number that you know is legitimate.
Another way to protect yourself is to use a call-blocking app or service. Many phone companies now offer call blocking as a feature, and there are also many third-party apps available that can help to identify and block spoofed calls.
In addition, it is important to be aware of the signs of a telephone scam. If you receive a call that seems too good to be true, or if the person on the other end of the line is asking for personal information that they should not have access to, it is likely a scam. Trust your instincts, and never be afraid to hang up and investigate the call further.
Overall, telephone spoofing is a serious problem that can have far-reaching consequences for the people who are targeted by scammers. By taking steps to protect yourself, such as being cautious about giving out personal information and using call-blocking services, you can help to reduce the risk of falling victim to these scams.
How I overcome scammers
Although it may affect my business I have decided to put my phone on silent calls on the Apple settings. I have also put my phone on do not disturb and only allow calls from my favorite list to come through.
As for my contact forms, I have disabled them as I was inundated with spam mail. This way anyone that has my email already can contact me otherwise they have to contact me through Facebook or LinkedIn.
When I receive a spoofed call it comes as a missed call. I obviously block them and put them in a contact list called (“parasites” 1, 2, 3, etc).
I get these calls every day and the ones which are blocked do not come up at all. It infuriates me that people go to these lengths to make money, by ripping people off. I have had on odd occasions spoken to some of them when I have forgotten to put my settings on and they become aggressive. It is usually the cryptocurrency and trading ones that continue to bombard you with questions if you say you are not interested in counteracting with a question “why are you not interested?”.
For the sake of my mental health, no one can get through to me unless I let them!
More needs to be done to teach people that these entities may spoof real numbers. The best way of knowing if a call is spoofed is not to answer it and then phone it back where there will be a voice message “this number is not recognized” or words to that effect.
Granted it is annoying, but it is better to be safe than sorry and just have incoming calls from your favorite lists coming through.
Hacker using a laptop. Hacking the Internet. Cyberattack.
Threatening Email Demanding Backlinks.
Cyber threats come in all forms from computer viruses, data breaches, denial of service (DoS), blackmail (phishing attacks), to damage ranking and flagging sites causing search engine penalties or ransomware. A cyber attack or cybersecurity threat is a malicious act that seeks to damage data, steal data, or disrupt digital life in general.
Disclaimer.
Firstly I would like to say I do not know this individual or the company this person is referring to and I have not upset anyone enough to threaten me. The only thing I could think of is that I do not outsource my work and I may have disgruntled a Website Designer or two from India thinking I am being awkward. My business is UK-based and I support local businesses. I never outsource my work offshore. Some of my clients have been burnt because either their websites have performed poorly or their domain names have been taken, hostage. Besides with so many people out of work in the UK, why on earth would I give my work to someone abroad?
The Email.
The email I received today was a demand to give this individual a backlink.
The said individual should have asked nicely and in most cases I oblige, but I do not think this was their ulterior motive.
The entity that wrote the email said if I do not give a backlink he will spam my site and damage my ranking. He did have a clickable URL in the email and I did not open it as it could have been a virus. I do not recommend anyone else typing it into their browser either as it could be malicious.
Ahh, Bless he said Best Wishes!
Investigation.
I did a Google search for his name and came up with someone working in LinkedIn but the entity may not be using a real name, so I am not going to contact this person as the name in the email could be fake.
I also did a Google search of the company the entity is referring to:
Bizcope | SEO, Web Design & Digital Marketing Company
Website: https://www.bizcope.com/ (I am not giving a backlink here as this company could be the victim or the instigator (no one knows for certain), although they firmly deny ever using such low-blow tactics in the reviews).
This email threat could be a malicious and elaborate way to damage this companies reputation. Maybe the entity is a disgruntled employee but reading the Google reviews the company seems to have never have heard of this person, again Ireiterate he/she/it may not be using a false name.
Google Reviews.
It clearly shows I am not the only person being contacted by this individual also with the same jargon… I am not going to give a review as this company could well be the victim to getting one-star reviews.
(“A WORD OF CAUTION – DO NOT EMAIL THIS PERSON OR TYPE ANY OF HIS LINKS INTO YOUR BROWSER”).
IP ADDRESS:
185.128.26.101
Through the email source, I managed to find the IP address but if the entity is using VPN then this location may not even be accurate.
FINAL THOUGHTS.
The said individual did get his/her 5 minutes of fame and gave me a post to write about but as for backlinks ask nicely.
I believe this person is a hacker and wants to ruin someone’s life and business. This tells me this person has a very sad life if they want to hurt other people. Imagine if the same thing happened to their family or friends would they be so eager to cause anguish and distress to another person?
I believe that search engines should do more and blacklist these people off the internet altogether. I think search engines should also make people show photo id to prove they are who they say they are so that they can eliminate fake accounts and websites and stop these idiots in their tracks. As an example, I am connected with some very important people and you would be amazed how many fake accounts add me every week near enough claiming to be the real person in question.
I believe in:
“What Goes Around, Comes Around”.
If you give out bad vibes then the UNIVERSE will pay you a visit but will punish you ten times harder.
Who ever this person is knows who I am and is continuingly trying to scam me and break me down. I suspect who it might be but at the same time it could a coincidence of multiple people that may not be associated with one another. Either way I know enough about hacking to stay alert. Obviously either I am a hot commodity or someone is doing it out of spite. One way or another although I must admit it has played its toll on my mental health, I find that everytime someone tries to hack or scam me they have inevitabily created content for me to write on my blog.
So today I get a phone call and it is automated message that says my credit card associated with my Amazon account has had suspicious activity and it was prompting me to press options to either agree I made the transaction of over £1000 or decline or speak to an operator.
My gut feeling told me if this was really Amazon they would not be phoning from a mobile phone. My second gut reaction was not to say anything and not to press any buttons. This then made the caller hang up.
I did a reverse call lookup to see who called me and this is the screenshot of what I found (May I point out anyone can buy a telephone number from a different location / country and pretend to be phoning from th location they are targeting) Obviously this person forgot to hide his ip location:
Report Suspicious Emails, Phone Calls, Text Messages, or Webpages
We take fraud, scam,phishing and spoofing attempts seriously. If you receive correspondence you think may not be from Amazon, please report it immediately.
Suspicious Emails or Webpages To report a phishing or spoofed email or webpage:
Open a new email and attach the email you suspect is fake.For suspicious webpages, copy & paste the link into the email body. If you can’t send the email as an attachment, forward it.
Send the email to stop-spoofing@amazon.comNote: Sending the suspicious email as an attachment is the best way for us to track it.
Note: Amazon can’t respond personally when you report a suspicious correspondence to stop-spoofing@amazon.com, but you may receive an automatic confirmation. If you have security concerns about your account, please contact us.
Suspicious Phone Calls or Text Messages
Report any suspicious phone call or text message to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
To report a phone call or text message visit ftc.gov/complaint and follow the onscreen assistant.
If you’re concerned about your account security, go to Protect Your System for tips and recommendations.
So now this entity has been reported, hopefully I have helped to stop someone else from being scammed.
What concerns me is that these entities that try to scam people out of money or ruin their businesses do not give two monkeys about the knock on effect it will have on a victim.
Not all people are internet savvy or cyber security astute. Imagine if the victim was someone who had mental health issues and this unlawful act pushed them over the edge.
People who scam need to find a real job that other people would be proud of them for, not be low life bottom feeders not thinking two pennies for someone elses downfall or situation if the domino effect happened.
All I can say is:
“What goes around comes around” !
If you only do good then only good things will happen but if you do bad then do not blame anyone other than yourself for the consequences of your actions.
“If people had empathy there would not be any wars”.
When something is too good to be true it most probably is.
I would not call my self a sceptic but I would call myself as astute.
So when I received the following email I proceeded to type in the recipients name into Google. Any person that is anybody worth knowing has a carbon footprint and if they do not they are hiding something or are not real.
So after I typed this person name in alone I did not get any results but when I typed the words “scam letter” after her name this is what I found.
Now the person that contacted me word for word wrote exactly what is in the link above.
Even though I want to have millions in my bank, I know I will do it legally and without being entangled in some sort of web of lies.
I feel sorry for the next victim that actually believes this nonsense. It is called money laundering and cyber crime.
Salaheldin Nancy – salahekldinnans244@outlook.com
Tue 03/11/2020 21:26
renata@cymrumarketing.com
The letter is as follow:
My name is Mrs Nancy Salaheldin and I am a staff of Union National Bank of Egyptian. I am contacting you concerning a customer and an investment placed under our banks management; as a matter of fact it was roughly 7 years ago. I would respectfully request that you keep the contents of this mail private and also to kindly respect the integrity of the information you come by as a result of this email. I contacted you independently and no one is informed of this communication; I would like to intimate you with certain facts that I believe would be of interest to you and benefit the both of us. At the very beginning of 2012, the subject matter came to our bank to engage in business discussions with our Private Banking Services Department. He informed us that he had a financial portfolio of $20 Million United States Dollars, which he wished to have us turn over (invest) on his behalf. I was the officer assigned to his case; I made numerous suggestions in line with my duties as the de-factor chief operations officer of the Private Banking Services Department, especially given the volume of funds he wished to put into our bank. We met on numerous occasions prior to any investments being placed, and however I encouraged him to consider various growth funds with prime ratings. The favored route in my advice to customers is to start by assessing data on 600 traditional stocks, bond managers and 200 managers of alternative investments. Based on my advice, we spun the money around various opportunities and made attractive margins for our first months of operation, the accrued profit with interest included, stood at this point at over US$27, 712,068.00, this margin was not the full potential of the fund but he desired low risk guaranteed returns on investments and in trading market the lower the risk the lesser the profit. Towards the end of 2013, he asked that the money be liquidated because he needed to make an urgent investment requiring cash payments in Europe. He directed that I liquidate the funds and have it transfer to a firm in Europe. I informed him that our bank would have to make special arrangements to have this done and in order not to circumvent due process, the bank would have to make an 8.9% deduction from the funds to cater for banking and statutory charges. He complained about the charges but later came around when I explained to him the complexities of the task he was asking of us. Cash movement across borders has become especially strict since the incidents of 9/11 but nevertheless I contacted the firm in Europe and had the funds transfer to mainland Europe, I undertook all the processes and made sure I followed his precise instructions. He told me he wanted the money there in anticipation of his arrival from Norway later that week. This was the last communication we had. After about a week I got a call from the security firm informing us of the inactivity of that particular portfolio. This was an astounding position as far as I was concerned, given the fact that I managed the private banking sector, I was the only one who knew about the deposit, and I could not understand why he had not come forward to claim his deposit. I made futile efforts to locate him; I immediately passed the task of locating him to the internal investigations department of our bank. Four months later, information trickle in from British homeland security, that he was apparently dead, a person who suited his description was declared dead of a heart attack in Norway; we were soon able to gather more information and the cause of death was confirmed. With this information at hand I inform the security firm to return the transfer back to our bank in Egyptian. Then my bank immediately launched an investigation into possible surviving next of kin to alert about the situation and also to come forward to claim his estate. If you are familiar with private banking affairs, those who patronize our services usually prefer anonymity, but also some levels of detachment from conventional processes. In his bio-data form, he listed no next of kin. In the field of private banking, opening an account with us means no one will know of its existence, accounts are rarely held under a name; depositors use numbers and codes to make the accounts anonymous. This bank also gives the choice to depositors of having their mail sent to them or held at the bank itself, ensuring that there are no traces of the account and as I said, rarely do they nominate next of kin. Private banking clients apart from not nominating next of kin also usually in most cases leave wills in our care, in this case; he died Intestate. What I wish to relate to you might be a smack of unethical practice but I want you to understand something; it is only an outsider to the banking world who finds the internal politics of the banking world aberrational. The world of private banking especially is fraught with huge rewards for those who occupy certain offices and oversee certain portfolios; you should have begun by now to put together the general direction of what I propose. On this moment there is US$27, 712,068.00 deposited, I alone have the deposit details and my bank will release the deposit to no one unless I instruct them to do so. I alone know of the existence of this deposit for as far as the finance firm is concerned, the transaction with our deceased customer concluded when the funds was return back to sender (my bank), all outstanding interactions in relation to the file are just customer services and due process. This bank has spent great amounts of money trying to track the family of the deceased; they have investigated for months and have found no family but however the investigation has officially come to an end in 2014 and since then the portfolio have remain dormant and it is now on the edge of been turned to the Egyptian government. My proposal; I am prepared to place you in a position whereby an instruction is given to officially release the deposit to you as the closest surviving associate, and all etiquette shall be done in accordance with the rule of banking law, I certainly can guarantee you that, by the common law, the power of bequeathing is coeval with the first rudiments of the law, and this power has been extended to all. There is no ruling which prevents an inheritance from being so exhausted by legacies as to render it unworthy of the heir’s acceptance; basically all persons of sound mind are competent to bequeath and devise real and personal estate, excepting infants, with all this I would say we have the clear advantage to carry out a smooth and perfect operation whereby the paper work shall be coordinated in such a way that your status as a sole beneficiary is confirmed. Upon receipt of the deposit, I am prepared to share the money with you in half and no more; that is: I will simply nominate you as the next of kin and have them release the deposit to you; afterwards we share the proceeds in two equal parts. I would have gone ahead to ask the funds be released to me, but that would have drawn a straight line to me and my involvement in claiming the deposit, but on the other hand, you as a foreigner would easily pass as the beneficiary with the rights to claim, I assure you that I could have the deposit released to you in a few days. I cannot let this chance pass me by and I hope you understand, because for once I found myself in total control and face to face with my destiny. These chances won’t pass me by, I ask that you do not destroy my chance, if you will not work with me, please let me know, and hence move on with my life, but do not destroy me; I am a woman with family and this is an occasion to provide them with new opportunities. There is a reward for this project and it is a task well worth undertaking, I have evaluated the risks and the only risk I have here is from you refusing to work with me. If you find yourself interested to work with me, please do respond to my email positively, then I will initiate this process towards a quick conclusion. It is necessary to inform you that i do not want you contacting me through our official lines neither do I want you contacting me through my official email account. Contact me only through this email address; I do not want any direct link between you and me. My official lines are not secure lines as they are periodically monitored to assess our level of customer care in line with our Total Quality Management policy, do observe this instruction religiously. Please note that I am a woman; happily married with Kid. I send you this mail not without a measure of fear as to what the consequences might be, but I know within me that nothing ventured is nothing gained and that success and riches never come easy or on a platter of gold, this is the one truth I have learned from my private banking clients; do not betray my confidence. If we can be of one accord I shall have the pleasure of meeting you, after this task has been completed. I await your response with interest, to enable us proceed with the project. Yours Sincerely,Mrs Nancy Salaheldin.
I’m sorry but I am angry that you have to go to these lengths to deceive people.
There are better ways and easier ways of making money and it is not by committing fraud and stealing from people.
Guaranteed these people will say there is a transfer fee of about $100K that you have to pay to release the funds.
Do not think I am new to this I once had someone try to scam me and I told him to send me the money to release the funds in which communication then stopped.
These people are professional scam con artists.
MAKE MONEY LEGALLY!
If you want to make real money start a YouTube channel and start vlogging, be an influencer or blogger and do affiliate marketing.
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