Scammers Target Pet Lovers

[Jeff]

How much is that doggy?

By John Leyden → More by this author

Published Wednesday 8th August 2007 18:27 GMT

Mobile computing: Opportunities and risk - Free whitepaper

 

Email con-men are targeting animal lovers in new variants of advance fee fraud scams.

 

Bogus offer that began circulating earlier this week typically pose as hunts for a new home for a puppy called Timi. The purported owners don't want any money themselves, or so they claim, but there's the small matter of export costs, inoculations and other "incidental expenses". Inevitably, the value of such expenses escalate with little sign of the doggy concerned as the scam reveals its true colours.

 

Net security firm MessageLabs, which began intercepting mails ppromoting the scam over the last day or so, said it has the potential to bypass anti-spam filters simply because they don't resemble typical junk mail messages. "The return address is real, and there is no mention of the typical 419-type content," according to MessageLabs.

 

Scam emails preying on the vulnerable,in contrast to those targeting high-rollers with more money than sense, are relatively new. But MessageLabs expects to see more variants along the same lines as 419 fraudsters expand their repertoire of 419-lite scams beyond the fictitious lottery wins. ®

 

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/08/08/shaggy_dog_scam/

[DaisyDoodle]

Jeff--what does "419" mean/stand for?

[Guest Che_mar_Cody]

A 419 scam is an attempt to steal money from people based on the premise that a person will gain extra money if they advance a small amount

[ahicks51]

Specifically, the "419" comes from the pertinent section of the Nigerian Criminal Code.

 

http://www.met.police.uk/fraudalert/419.htm

 

It's an ancient scheme- probably dating back to the 1800s and maybe much, much earlier- that has reached its logical conclusion by having been melded with spam.

 

The current iteration on "Craigslist" consists of puppies- usually English or French bulldogs- or rare parrots being offered for the price of shipping, almost invariably from some obscure African nation. Once one is found, it is possible to Google the email address or specific blocks of words in the ad, to find the exact same ad offered at some distant site. I found one parrot offered on the Phoenix Craigslist; I googled up another one in DC. Exact same parrot being offered several thousand miles apart? It's a scam. As many originate from Cameroon, they're referred to as "Scameroons."

[DaisyDoodle]

Thanks, AJ. I didn't know if '419' referred to an area code, or what....

[MarcR]

For more on 419 advance fee scams, see http://www.419eater.com/