News: Another 419er Nicked

It is with great Schadenfreude that I bring to your attention the conviction of another Nigerian swindler, sentenced to a grand total of 376 years. ("Three hundred and seventy six years? I'll never do it!" "Well do as much as you can.") But take note, all ye who feel tempted by offers of Easy Millions: the victim in this case not only lost hundreds of thousands of dollars, but was also jailed for "money laundering and bank wire offences". My advice is "don't get involved in crime", but if you are going to commit crimes nonetheless, then at least don't be a sucker about it.

News: Theives Arrested

I'm pleased to read that a dozen Internet theives have been arrested in Moscow and St Petersburg. These are the kind of people responsible for sending out the job scams which I regularly report here. In this case, they used emails and websites to subtly install keystroke monitoring software on vulnerable computers running Microsoft Windows. This software remained relatively dormant until the user accessed an online banking facility, at which point the keystroke logger started sending back username and password details to its evil master.

Remember, folks, never accept any unsolicited "job offers" you receive by email: they're a con, put about by people who will go to jail when caught. Likewise, be careful when accessing your bank account online. Are you sure your computer has not been compromised? There's only so much you can do if you lack the expertise, but be aware of the problem -- and use something other than Microsoft Windows and Internet Explorer if you possibly can.

Job Scam: Omni Canadian

Well, this is obviously a scam, but it's not 100% clear whether it's plain advance fee fraud or a despicable plot to get people stuck on a ship without proper visas and whatnot, where they are obliged to work for pittance. Whatever -- just don't get involved with unsolicited bulk-mailed job ads like this: they're fishing for victims, not employees. I'll provide more information if I get any. Oh, and I should mention that if there is a real "Omni Canadian Hotels", then these fraudsters almost certainly have nothing to do with them. They're mailing from a free yahoo.ca account, after all.

Dear Sir/Madam Compliments of the day. I Rose C. B. Grand from
the Omni Canadian hotels kindly need your assistance to get some
persons to work in cruise ship and hotel
Canadian. We will help to bring you people
here In Canada hotel as a tourists by making
sure that all your visa processing is followed
up properly because of the new Immigration law.
The Canadian Government does not need more migrants
within a period that is why we have to assist in bringing
you people in as tourists.
If you will accept to work
with us at hotel Canada and cruise ship.
We will also help to process all your
document through the Ottawa Immigration
Bureau Canada. The Chief Immigration
Officer will send to you, all the
necessary documents that you all will
need to obtain visas immediately at the
Canadian Embassy/ Consulate in your home
country without any questions.
IF YOU ARE INTERESTED?KINDLY CONTACT ME DIRECTLY VIA:r_ominihotelscanada@yahoo.ca </ym/Compose?To=r_ominihotelscanada@yahoo.ca
YOUR ENTRY TO CANADA.
THE HOTEL WILL PAY FOR YOUR FLIGHT
TICKETS AND WILL HELP TO SEE THAT YOUR
ENTRY VISA INTO CANADA IS ISSUED AT THE
IMMIGRATIONS DEPARTMENT.
INTERESTED APPLICANTS SHOULD APPLY
WITH THEIR INTERNATIONAL PASSPORT NUMBERS BY
FORWARDING US DIRECTLY BY EMAIL,
THE NAMES AND PASSPORT NUMBERS OF THE
INTERESTED APPLICANTS TO ENABLE US
FORWARD YOU AN APPLICATION FORM.
MS.ROSE C.B.GRAND,
CANADA HOTELS, WEST POINT H5R3 CA.
MONTREAL, CANADA.
TEL:+1 509-752-9208.
FAX:+1 509-752-9209.
EMAIL:info_omnihotel_canada@yahoo.ca

Update 2006-03-08 05:59: I've received a similar email, subject "THIS IS FROM CANADA HOTEL", with contact address "cana_ominihotel@yahoo.ca". I now suspect this is Advance Fee Fraud: an attempt to con you into paying for a bunch of fake visas and other permits on the pretext that you need them to get a job.