This morning I got a strange e-mail and it was from someone ______@atozteachersomething or another. I deleted it so I forgot the exact address. It said it was from another country and they need to transfer funds here. They said they will e-mail me again to get my info to complete this transaction. I know it is a hoax and will not be giving them any info at all and I won't even open another e-mail from them. The only reason I opened it was because it said atozteacherstuff. Has anyone else received one of these e-mails?
No I didn't think about it. I am going to try to retreave it from my trash to get the exact address and let her know.
I know that in our school email network we get lots of emails from others in the system, but they are actually viruses. They pick up on names in our mailbox and use them to send the virus or spam. It might be something like that as well. I get emails from some "lawyer" in Africa about 3 times a week stating about the same thing, some one needs to transfer money and they want me to assist. Most people that I know get it as well. The sad thing is I doubt they would keep sending it if someone wasn't buying into their plan.
My sister and her hubby had identity theft happen to them about three years ago..........they had over 30000 stolen from their accounts..........they traced it back to Africa~!!!!! They are still running into issues with it today.....they had all their banking info, accounts, social security numbers, etc. It is horrible. Glad you deleted the email..They had their check numbers stolen(the computerized numbers that are on the bottom of your checks) Goes to show you it can happen anywhere, on the internet or at your local grocery store. Don't know if that is what you encountered, but you just never know, and you can't be too careful!! YIKES!!!!
I get weird emails once in awhile, but my pop up blocker and safe list on my email are really doing a great job. Sometimes I get an email from A-Z in my hotmail and will read it. It has always been a teacher, "supposedly" who will say something like, " I think you are a really great teacher from the way you post on A-Z and would like to communicate more with you...etc." I never answer those because I know they are just out to get my email address and other info.
Just an update - Rosieo forwarded the email to me. That user had joined on Dec. 22, had sent the email on Dec. 22, and was banned on that date. If you receive those types of messages, please forward the entire email to me so I can investigate. I have put new restrictions in place so it is harder to get those types of messages through, but they do get through sometimes. It was a classic African money transfer scam. Not a virus risk, but they do that for a living waiting for someone to believe their story and send them money, bank account numbers, etc. You can find out more about these scams here: http://abcnews.go.com/International/CSM/story?id=1406923 http://www.secretservice.gov/alert419.shtml An interesting quote from one of the scammers in the article, "419 is just a game. You are the loser, I am the winner. White people greedy. … I take your money and disappear. … You be the fool, I be the master." As Grammy Teacher noted, you should ignore messages if you don't want to communicate. If the person is legitimate but you want to keep your email private, just use the private message system instead. If they send an email to you through the forum, they don't have your email address unless you reply.
it seems like a lot of this is being traced back to Africa............that is where they traced my sister's theft as well. Creepy!
Any idea how someone got his credit card number? I have used mine online to order clothes, but only with very familiar stores. Still, it bothers me.
Watch out if you have a paypal, ebay or msn email those are frequently targeted to send funds and chnage peronal info emails that are scams too... I try never to open anything that I do not know the owner/originator!
The bank said whoever got his number probably used a computer to generate his number since it was out of the country. They said it was just a random pick of numbers.
I thought Pay Pal was the safest way because you don't keep giving your credit card number out. Hmmmm...
Papal has hijackers too they send out false emails telling you to verify your credit card and info then when you click the link they bring you to a site that looks exactly like paypals and that is how they steal your info and you money!
I have one credit card that I asked for only a $200 credit limit. This is the card that I use when I buy anything over the internet. That way if anyone steals it they don't have much money to steal -- hopefully.
Thank you very much, teacherchick. I keep meaning to dedicate a card just for internet use but haven't gotten around to it. I still prefer to order on the phone but have used Pay Pal.
I like that idea...a card with a smaller credit limit. I might look into that. I have heard of that problem with Paypal and there is a way to identify if it is truly Paypal you are dealing with, but I can't remember what they said. I bet if you look it up online it will say.
I thought they said to delete the email. Open your internet browser and go to the paypal site. Then login that way.
One way to check is to look at the header information on the email. If the Reply-To line doesn't include PayPal's correct Internet domain, the email almost certainly isn't from PayPal. In any case, I think Jaime's advice about just going to the Web site is well taken.
