News: 111 suspected 419ers arrested in Amsterdam

I'm pleased to say that the Netherlands is still taking Nigerian organised crime seriously, even if the UK has decided to slack off. As reported in The Register (among other places), police in Amsterdam last weekend arrested 111 people of West African nationality (primarily Nigerian). They are suspected of running lottery scams.

Spam: Job Scammer does OEM Soft too?

A few days ago, I received a short blast of identical spams (other than the "from" address, which was totally different for each instance) promoting dubious vacancies at a "company" called SunFx. For detail, see the SunFX Online Inc scam report at my Suckers Wanted blog. This particular instance of the spam stood out because it's mangled: it blends an OEM Software scam with the job scam. I suspect that this is either the same scammer running more than one scam, or at least the same spammer, possibly sending spam on behalf of more than one dodgy client.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: James Nelson <[redacted]>
Date: 09-Jun-2007 19:45
Subject: Re: Hi
To: [redacted]


OEM Soft Store 80% Discounts

  We are glad to present You this online software store with maximum lowest prices on the Internet. You won\'t find software anywhere else on the Internet with prices lower than here. All the programs we have here for sale and available for Download Only.

http://www.best-soft-download.hk/

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MS Windows Vista Business Edition at ......ONLY $49.95

MS Office 2007 Professional .......................ONLY $49.95

ADOBE Creative Suite 3 Design Premium ..ONLY $37.95

SystemWorks Premier 2007 Edt .................ONLY $19.95

And many more...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Come and check out by yourself
http://www.best-soft-download.hk/
SunFx Online Inc. customer service department is currently offering employment for 10 Australia residents and 15 United States residents in order to provide it's new branch with qualified personnel.
The private client support desk is responsible for following up client enquiries, helping the clients to understand how SunFx Online can save them money on foreign currency transactions, and developing new business through referrals.
If you're a customer service fanatic, and enjoy working in a challenging and rewarding environment, please see below for our current list of opportunities.

Position: Customer service officer.
Salary: Your starting salary will be $2300 - $4500, which will be paid to you in accordance with our standard payroll procedures.
In addition, you will be eligible for monthly and annual bonuses.
Relevant Work Experience: Will be an advantage.
Location: Australia / United States.
Education Level: College degree will be an advantage.
Insurance: 1 month after you begin work, you will be covered under our group health insurance policy, unless you advise us that you do not desire such coverage.
Information regarding our health insurance, as well as other group benefit plans, is enclosed
Keywords: Telecommuting, flexiplace.


Should you have any questions regarding this letter, our offer of employment or anything else, please write me an e-mail.
We are excited to have you join our organization and look forward to working with you.

Please forward your full resume, contact information and questions to HR dept. e-mail: sunfxcareers@ssl-mail.com

You will be contacted within 1 to 4 business days.

Best regards,
James Nelson
Employment Manager
SunFx Online Inc.
sunfxcareers@ssl-mail.com

Spam: ship4love

This scam is funny. I don't know what the exact details are -- it looks like advance fee fraud, but I'm not going to bother digging up details. However, here are a few suspicious points.

• Does this whole thing reek of "bait" to you? Someone is trying to lure desparate males with some very tall tales here.
• A beauty pageant called, "The Beauty and Intelligence of Russia"? Oh really? Seems like nobody else on the Internet has heard of it.
• They advertise by spam. That's a good way to get victims, not customers.
• The domain name is freshly registered.

Speaking of domain registration...

   Domain Name: SHIP4LOVE.COM <-- scam
   Registrar: ENOM, INC.
   Whois Server: whois.enom.com
   Referral URL: http://www.enom.com
   Name Server: NS1.SLAVHOST.COM
   Name Server: NS2.SLAVHOST.COM
   Updated Date: 10-apr-2007
   Creation Date: 10-apr-2007 <-- recent
   Expiration Date: 10-apr-2008

That's about all the effort I'm going to waste on this scam. Here's the original spam text for reference, though.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: [redacted]
Date: 01-Jun-2007 16:17
Subject: ship4love
To: [redacted]


Hello,

If you do not want to loose your money and to talk to girls who does not
even exist there is new wonderful opportunity to meet Russian girls in
person and to spend 7 days on cruise with them. On the 25 of July a
beautiful ship " St. Valentine " will sail from Sochi (Russia) and will
go around the Black Sea. There will be 50 Russian beauties who want to
meet a foreigner in order to make a family and they are ready to leave
Russia. These girls are disappointed in Russian men and they will be
happy to find the man abroad. All their pictures are placed on the
website. On the ship will be created such an atmosphere that will help to
start romantic relations. There will be invited only 30
foreign men on that cruise. And you can be one of them!
If you are interested, go in a site: ship4love.com

ship4love.com

Best regards.