September 2008 Archives

The Russians are coming. No, seriously. That's the word among email security and spam experts. A flood of malicious email from Russia is turning up in inboxes all over the world, most notably in the US.

We have more details in this week's roundup of the scam headlines. Plus, talking of floods, we're sorry but not surprised to discover that the Hurricane Ike scams we recently warned about are already adding to the misery of storm victims in a big way.

Also in this week's Scamlines, we report on new laws to hit back at identity thieves, a sneaky camera trick to capture PIN numbers and, staying with the camera theme, a conspiracy in Italy that leads to thousands of motorists being photographed driving through stop lights.

And how about being tricked into paying for someone else's soda? We've got that covered too.

Americans could be paying $30 billion a year to scammers, if recent crime reports from Britain are anything to go by.

There's a big item in our review of this week's scam stories that also points a finger at the most likely tricks people fall for.

Plus there are a whole rash of blatant phishing and virus infection attempts among this week's scam news headlines. Some of them are convincing; others are simply outrageous.

And for a cheek-of-the-week scam, read about the mom who pretended she was her daughter so she could go back to school.

The hitman scam is certainly one -- if not the -- scariest scam out there. This week, a new version has surfaced that installs malware on victims' computers. And in this week's roundup of the scam headlines we have news of six other con tricks to be on the lookout for.

It's a possession prized by many but, as this week's Scamlines report demonstrates, the coveted iPhone is also the target of scammers stretching from Singapore to Nigeria.

Plus, in this week's roundup of the scam headlines, we bring news of a return of the widespread hitman scam, a con in which fake winning lottery tickets are sold to victims, and a sneaky trick to make you pay for something you don't want.

And, for a sting in the tail, we report from Canada on how over-enthusiastic police officers condemned a fund-raising effort on their behalf as a scam -- when it wasn't!

Three unusual angles on the world of Nigerian scams emerge in this week's roundup of the latest fraud and hoax news. There's the Nigerian diplomat who wants scam victims arrested alongside the crooks. And then we have news of two cons inside Nigeria itself -- something you rarely hear about.

Our scan of the scam headlines also turns up two cases of well-known names used to con people out of money, a new rash of concert ticket scams and a warning about phony investment deals in the UK.

Plus, just to balance things up a bit, we thought it'd be worthwhile making the point that scammers -- or alleged scammers -- don't always get away with it. We take a quick look at some of the latest arrests and convictions.