Spam: P.P. Bankcard Services
Here's a slightly interesting thing. This is spam, straightforwardly enough: it was sent to my Gmail account, and I have never corresponded with this party, let alone sent mail with the subject to which this is supposed to be a reply. So what's the motive behind the scam? Is it an actual business just trying to drum up custom through spam? More likely it's a kind of phishing, because the scammers are only interested in companies that do at least $300,000 a year in credit card or check sales. If anyone replies to this with an expression of interest, they've just marked their network as worth compromising, and they'll likely receive a reply containing attachments with malicious payloads, designed to leave back doors into the system for these miscreants to use.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: John Tucker <bancardoffice@gmail.com>
Date: 26 Sep 2007 04:10
Subject: Re: Phone Call For Merchant Account
To: Owner <ideceive@gmail.com>
Hello this is John Tucker with P.P. Bankcard Services, we help businesses setup, reduce, and clarify credit, debit, check, and atm processing costs. Our company even works with businesses that are considered "high risk" by other Processors.
I'm not sure if it would make sense for a phone appointment at the moment so I sent this email to see if you had any of the following situations:
>> Are you currently seeking to setup processing?
>> Are you currently processing and are dissatisfied with your Processor?
>> Are you receiving bad checks?
>> Are you having issues with Accounts Receivable and aren't receiving payments on time from customers?
>> Or, are you seeking to setup an ATM or receive a higher surcharge income from your ATM Machine?
If you have any of the above situations give me a call at: 1-866-543-6268 to discuss creating a potential solution. You can also send me a fax to: 1-866-553-8246.
*** Very Important, due to the popularity of our company and our programs we can only see businesses who will do at least $300,000 a year in credit card sales or check sales.
(To comply with marketing regulations, if you are fine and would not like to be included in future emails give me a call or send me a email and our office will gladly comply.)
Thanks alot and I look forward to speaking with you.
Sincerely,
John Tucker
Account Manager
P.P. Bankcard Services and Systems
Direct Extension: 1-866-543-6268
Direct Fax: 1-866-553-8246
2 comments:
A correspondent informs me that there is a real Mr John Tucker, and that he really does operate a business of this sort. This may well be true, but it will still serve you well to treat all spam (including this one) as though it is a dangerous scam. In the rare case that the sender is not a dangerous scammer, he's still an obnoxious spammer, and responding to spammed advertisements is tantamount to endorsing spam.
The following mail came to me, and it appears to be from the John Tucker who sent the original spam. Like most spammers, Mr Tucker doesn't think he's a spammer: he blames someone else for purchasing a list of "opt in" email addresses. Sorry, Mr Tucker, I'm not going to remove you from my website as per your request. You may not be a scammer of any sort, but you have made some unwise choices with regards to how you advertise your services, and the stain isn't going to wash quite that easily. You should also be aware, Mr Tucker, that this message was sorted into my spam folder by Gmail, so it appears that you really do have something of a reputation in that regard.
For those of you wondering whether John Tucker's operation is a scam, my current evaluation suggests not, but his activities do not exactly inspire confidence given how similar they are to those of known scammers.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: John Tucker <[redacted]@yahoo.com>
Date: 3 Jan 2008 08:56 UTC
Subject: Regarding Email That Was Sent
To: ideceive@gmail.com
Ideceive,
Hello this is John Tucker and I was recently referred to ideceive.blogspot.com by a client and I noticed that an email sent out to prospective businesses had been reviewed by your website as deceptive.
I apologize for the inconvenience, however I am a real person and I didn't mean to give off the perception of being either a spammer or a person involved in deceptive practices. I am an Independent Contractor working for a number of different large Merchant Processors and each company is currently in great standing with the BBB.
My Assistant purchased a list of potential business email addresses that were told to us to be "opt in" respondents. My Assistant then sent out email letters to all of the "opt in respondents" to see if they would accept a phone call from me to discuss cutting costs on Merchant Account Services or establishing a Merchant Account.
Obviously the list that I purchased were not all "opt in respondents" and I apologize for the miscommunication.
I wanted to clear the air with you and the viewers of ideceive.
If perhaps the information could be removed from the ideceive.blogspot.com that would be appreciated, as again our intention was not to send out unsolicited "spam," as we had been previously told that the list were "opt in" respondents.
To further add, I think the general overview of your website is a need in the online community to warn consumers of potential fraud and I believe more websites such as yours should exist.
Thanks alot for your time,
John Tucker
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