Tag: Scams

Social Security Number Scams

“She then proceeded to tell me that drugs were found in the car and that the addresses were already under investigation for drug trafficking.”

by Prince Of Petworth  October 4, 2018 at 1:45 pm71 Comments

Photo by PoPville flickr user Rich Renomeron

Ed. Note: At this point I assume every single phone call is a scam. When my mom calls, I’m like “Oh yeah mom, what’d you buy me for my 12th birthday? Faster, faster. SCAMMER.” Click. But that’s just me.

“Dear PoPville,

I just wanted to submit a warning to fellow DCers. Today, I received a phone call from a legitimate 202 number (I didn’t know the number and normally wouldn’t answer, but did in case it was a work call). When I answered, they asked me to verify my name (I did), told me that I was under criminal investigation, and asked if I knew anything about it. I said no.

I will preface the rest of the story by saying that I have a very common name and am a bit paranoid about identity theft (it’s happened to several of my family members). I only stayed on the phone as long as I did (12 minutes!) so that I could confirm that my identity was not actually stolen.

Anyway, the woman on the phone told me that they found an abandoned car that was registered under my name. She described the car, gave me two addresses that were associated with it, and asked if I was familiar with any of these. I said no. She then proceeded to tell me that drugs were found in the car and that the addresses were already under investigation for drug trafficking.

At this point, I asked how I could verify that she was calling from a government agency. She told me to type the number into google, and it came up as a DC MPD number. So she “confirmed” that she was legitimate.

She then told me that my information was also used to open several bank accounts and wire money overseas. She gave the names of the supposed recipients and asked if I knew them. I said no. She told me that, due to this activity, my social security number was frozen and that I would be issued a new social security number in 1-2 days. I asked her when these accounts were opened. (I just had a thorough background/credit check done this past month when applying for a lease). She said five months ago. I told her none of these came up during my recent background check.

I then requested to hang up and call the number back to verify that she was calling from the police number, and that I would be happy to talk to her more when I called her back. This is when she started to get really hostile. She told me I was behaving like a drug dealer and asked why I wasn’t willing to cooperate. I told her I was happy to cooperate, but to make sure this was real, I wanted to call her through that number. She proceeded to yell at me, feigning disbelief that I was “accusing” her of not providing real information when I was the one acting like a drug dealer. Then, she somehow called me using 911. I ignored the 911 call, and she said, “Are you getting another call? Because you’re breaking up.” I said yes, but that I wasn’t going to answer it. She asked who was calling (which I was another scammer red flag) and I said “911 but that doesn’t make sense.” So she said, “Now you’re getting a call from 911 and you’re not answering it?!” …and, again, told me I was behaving like a drug dealer. We went back and forth a few more times, with 2 more attempted calls from 911. By the end of the call, she told me that if I didn’t cooperate, the police were coming to my house right now to arrest me. She hung up, and the calls from 911 “magically” stopped.

Just to be sure, I called the number back right away. I told the woman who answered that I had received a call from this number, gave a brief description of what happened, and asked to confirm that the call was a scam. She was very nice, and said that yes, that it was in fact scammers. She said that scammers often call masked as their number to try to get information from people. After verifying that I hadn’t actually given them my information, she said that any official information would come through the mail and that the police would never call and say they were coming before they actually were.

If this happens to any others, I hope my story saves you 10 minutes or so and a morning of stress. Offer to hang up and call them back. If it’s real, they won’t care if you do. If they push back, just hang up so you don’t repeatedly get accused of being a drug dealer!”

Chris Corey

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

Top 3 Types of Bitcoin Scams

 

Top 3 Types of Bitcoin Scams

TheMerkle Bitcoin Scam Types

 

It is not hard to see the cryptocurrency world has successfully attracted a lot of nefarious individuals looking to scam others. In fact, it appears there are more bitcoin-related scams showing up every single day. As one would expect, there are a few different types of scams that are more prevalent than others. Never change a winning tactic, according to criminals.

3. PONZI SCHEMES

Virtually every platform offering bitcoin investment should be treated with a lot of scrutinies. While there is a way for people to make money with other’s money  – trading altcoins, for example — no one has successfully done so on a large scale. Trading itself is a very risky business, yet it is also the most legitimate way to increase cryptocurrency holdings over time.

Unfortunately, there are quite a few large-scale investment opportunities, all of which will eventually turn into a scam. Ponzi schemes in the bitcoin world will always attract desperate people and shills, and there is quite an abundance of these programs available right now. Never trust any online platform claiming to let you earn money without doing anything.

2. MINING HARDWARE

The Cryptocurrency world is home to some great innovation, especially where mining hardware is concerned. Gone are the days of FPGA mining, as it is all about ASICs right now. There are quite a few companies who claim to manufacture hardware, and most of them will offer pre-sale discounts to anyone investing in that company. It is not surprising a lot of these companies offering pre-sales are complete scams, as most of them do not even have any ASIC research and development lab whatsoever.

One of the more recent scams revolving around bitcoin mining hardware goes by the name of Foxminers. The company provides no evidence of their mining hardware or research. Companies like these often trick people into depositing funds in the hopes of getting a cheaper new bitcoin miner. However, they will continue to delay shipping and eventually run off with the money.

1. CLOUD MINING

Perhaps the biggest industry of bitcoin scams comes in the form of companies claiming to run a cloud mining operation. One of the biggest cryptocurrency cloud mining scams to date goes by the name of HashOcean, a company that successfully paid miners for over a year until they finally disappeared and could no longer maintain paying out users accordingly.

Every cloud mining venture should be looked at very closely, as the number of legitimate companies can be counted on the fingers of one hand. Even then, ensuring a return on investment is virtually impossible due to volatile bitcoin prices and mining difficulty increases. Cloud mining can be somewhat lucrative if one is lucky, yet directly buying the cryptocurrency in question and holding onto it for the same duration as the mining contract will usually generate better returns.

Chris Corey CMO MarketHive

   April 28, 2017

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member

Correct Response To Personal Information Fishing Scams

Correct response to people online trying to steal my identity. They want my personal information like my drivers Lic. to send me $26,700,000.00 in USD because someone I have never met with a name similar to mine died wealthy. 

Dear Christopher,

I am Ahmed Ali Al Sayegh Managing Director of First Gulf Bank in United Arab Emirates .I write

you this proposal in good faith hoping that I will rely on you in a business transaction that

require absolute confidentiality and of great interest and benefit to our both families.
 
In 2007,one Mr.Husson Christopher an Emirate Citizen whose surname is same as yours and has your

country in his file as his place of origin, made a fixed deposit for 36 months, valued at

$26,700,000.00 with my bank. I was his account officer before I rose to the position of

Managing Director. The maturity date for this deposit contract was 27th of September 2010.Sadly

Mr. Husson was among the death victims in the September 2009 earthquake in Indonesia that left

over 1,200 people dead while he was there on business trip.
 
Since the last quarter of 2010 until today, the management of my bank has been finding means to

reach him so as to ascertain if he will roll over the Deposit or have the contract sum

withdrawn. When I discovered that this will happen, I have tried to think up a procedure to

preserve this funds and use the proceeds for business. Some directors here have been trying to

find out from me the information about this account and the owner, but I have kept it closed

because, i know that if they become aware that Mr. Husson is late, they will divert the funds

for themselves. Therefore, am seeking your co-operation to present you as the one to benefit

from his fund at his death since you have the same name, so that my bank headquarters will pay

the funds to you. I have done enough insidebank arrangement and you only have to put in your

details into the information network in the bank computers and reflect you as his next of

kin.If you concur with this proposal, I intend for you to retain 50% of the funds while 50%

shall be for me.

Kindly forward your response to me.

Mr.Ahmed Ali Al Sayegh
Managing Director (Head of First Gulf Bank)
Email: sayeghahmedali7777@gmail.com

Me:Ok you need my Drivers Lic Correct

Thanks for your interest in my proposal. My initial proposal to you was to brief you on the

need to assist me so that we take advantage of the death of my former customer in the bank.This

transaction requires utmost trust and dedication from you, since you will be receiving the

funds ($26,700,000) as the Beneficiary Next of Kin to Mr Husson Roni who died on a business trip

to Indonesia in September 2009 earthquake. I am under the believe that my sharing ratio is

accepted by you, 50/50% is a fair deal. I want you to bear one thing in mind, this transaction

is 100% risk free and secured once you follow my instructions. What I have to do is just to

place your information in the bank system database as the Next of Kin to late Mr.Husson Roniand

As the Head of Operation of First Gulf Bank, placing your details in the system as the Next of

Kin to late Husson is an easy work for me. This is a very easy job with me in the bank it will

not last more than 2 to 3 weeks and the funds will be released to you.

As the Accounts manager to him , I have to take advantage of the situation to get the deposit

he has with our bank instead of the bank heads to confiscate it for their selfish use. They are

already rich because they get this type of business often and on

The information I require to commence the process is as follows:

1. FULL NAME
2. DATE OF BIRTH
3. OCCUPATION
4. CONTACT ADDRESS
5. PHONE NUMBER
6. SCANNED IDENTITY CARD

In receipt of the above-mentioned information, I will draft an application letter to you which

you will use to apply to an accredited Consultant to the bank of Dubai whom i shall give you

his contact details, am also sending you my bank identity card the deposit document of the

funds as a proof, But most
Importantly, I will like you to assure me that you will not betray this trust and confidence

that am about to repose on you.

Finally, I am hoping to meet you and your family as soon as we get the fund transferred into

your account for disbursement and investments purpose. I wait for your email.

Best Regards

My Drivers License 

Chris Corey 

CMO Markethive 

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member