Current Status

This blog is not frequently updated because most case-by-case scam reports are now listed in subordinate blogs. At this point in time, most of my efforts are targeted at documenting employment scams in the Suckers Wanted blog.

2006-11-21

Spam: bennicetravelandtours@yahoo.com

Sometimes a spam comes along that defies classification. This is one of them. No doubt I could get a clearer idea of what's going on here if I interacted with the sender, but life is too short for detail like that when there are so many scams to report.

This has "Nigerian Modus Operandi" written all over it: it was sent through a webmail system using drop-boxes at Yahoo! and Netscape for replies, and the originating webmail system reports the originating IP address as 62.56.140.83 which WHOIS in turn reports as Nigerian. So what's the scam? Well, the traditional Nigerian speciality is "advance fee fraud", so presumably that's it. Still, I haven't seen it done on this pretext before. If anyone has more detail on the scam, please post it.

Date: Tue, 21 Nov 2006 00:06:30 +0100 (GMT+01:00)
From: BENNICE  TRAVEL AND TOURS <bennicetravels@virgilio.it>
Reply-To: universaleinc@netscape.net
Subject: Bennice  World  Tours

 Hello  
Bennice U.K Travel and Tours  offers  a  wide  range  of  
services.
Do you  intend  to  get Visa  to any part  of  the  world?
We 
operate  a  travel  agency  that has  a  difference,
service delivery 
and  customer satisfaction is our Goal.
We Facilitate in procurement of 
Canadian Visa,[Students  and Working Visa.]
U.S  Visa  [Tourists,
Working  and  Students]
United Kingdom.
Schengen.
Japan  [Business and 
Tourists]
South America-Brazil,Venezuela Mexico  and Argentina.
Australia  and  New  Zealand.[Students]
South East  Asia-China ,
Malaysia ,Singapore and Thailand[ Working and tourists]
We  also  
specialize in procuring  Visas  and  other  travelling   document  for  
nurses  and
other  professionals in Nigeria.
There  are  limitless  
opportunities for Nigerian Nurses to work abroad.
We  have  ongoing  
application  within  France and  Spain.
The  visa  is  processed  
within  nine  days  to  two weeks.
Call  me  on   +44 70 40 11 2703
Our  Prices  are  relatively  cheap  and  you  have  value  for  money 
spent.
Regards
Edwin Oken
Email bennicetravelandtours@yahoo.com

1 comment:

Unknown said...

This is indeed an advance fee fraud variation. Instead of promising big money, however, they're promising you can immigrate into a major Western country (such as the UK, Canada, or the US). This is usually targeted at residents of third-world countries rather than Westerners, and is unfortunately very successful -- which may be partly because there are many human smugglers who really will take you to those countries for a hefty fee.

If you followed up with the scammer, you'd get a form to fill out, a brief congratulations that your application was accepted, and then an address to which you should send your fee (via Western Union or Moneygram, of course). If you were really unlucky, they'd keep dinging you for more fees (processing, government paperwork, plane tickets, whatever) until you wised up or went completely broke.

Another infamous example of this scam variant is Mrs. Rose and the Omni Hotel in Canada (like you got recently).