Haven't seen this scam before

[5thDragoons]

I've recently been getting email about an "ACH Payment for you - document attached!" The big tip off is the return address is some obscure email and a different name each time. Like they REALLY want me to open it. Ha! I'm not touching that one! So I block the sender, and it soon returns from a different sender with a different email address - same ACH payment doc I'll never open.

Nigerian princess scams are so last month - time for a new one! SW

[Allen]

Like most of us I have caller ID. A few years ago when I was receiving so many telemarketing and robo calls I got some calls from MY number. I don't see that any more but I thought if someone can enter my own number into my caller ID most anything can be hacked.

Now, when I get emails even from banks I do business with I don't respond to them even though the sender email address looks to be correct (as in FROM that bank). I remember the hacked phone calls and figure THIS might be just one more thing that can be hacked or faked in order to get personal info.

In short, I don't respond to any of it. If I feel my bank needs to contact me I contact THEM instead.

[Johnny P]

The scammers have a console where they can enter any telephone number they want which will show up on your caller ID. I too have received calls from my own land line, and in our small town the last four digits of the phone number don't go up to 5000, and receive calls above the 5000 number. Most use the same area code I am in, and will occasionally use a number in a town near me. I tell them I am ony about 15 minutes away, and will just run by and see what they have to offer. CLICK!

If I am busy I just tell them to F-off and get a real job.

[barretcreek]

Rack a Model 97 when you do that.

Every banker/investment rep/finance type I have ever told I do not do any financial stuff online has agreed with me.

[Johnny P]

Mujibar probably doesn't know what a Model 97 is.

There was a post on U Tube where some guys hacked into the scammers closed circuit TV. It drove the scammers up the wall until they figured out what was going on and turned off their CCTV.

[Mark in Ottawa]

Not a scam but pretty frightening all the same. We have been having problems with our burglar alarm system. I called the provider and a technician told me that he was sending a link to my cell phone and asked me to press the link. When I did that, he was able to see what the camera on my phone was showing. He asked me to point it at the alarm keypad and walked me through the necessary remedial steps. All perfectly legitimate in this case but the idea that an outsider can control your phone's camera is pretty scary. Big Brother is really here. By the way, the technician was located over 1,000 miles from me.

In a similar vein, last year I got an e-mail informing me that some hackers had taken control of the camera on my computer, had taken personal videos of me and wanted a ransom to destroy the videos. This was clearly an international scam since one of the addresses was from France and the other was from some other, now forgotten country. The interesting thing was that the subject line that they used in the email was the password that I used for unimportant websites. Obviously I should have been more suspicious and simply deleted without opening but I was curious. My solution was to change all my passwords and make sure that the camera lens was covered unless it was being used

[dryheat]

When I get scam emails I used to click to report it. I don't even do that anymore, just delete. Here is one I got just this morning. It looks pretty good(I'm not showing the whole post) but first; I am not expecting a package from fex and secondly the more you read the more you realize it's junk.

-Please kindly be informed that your shipment with the below-mentioned tracking number
requires further information for Costums clearance purposes.
Please refer to the attachment for details.-

What is the flaw in this paragraph that is a tip off? Besides the fact that I'm not expecting a shipment from any foreign countries right now. But sometimes I am.

I immediately sent this email to Trash because I knew it was BS without even opening it. I hope re-opening now for this post doesn't encourage them.
Another point; at the bottom you can Unsubscribe if you like. Don't try that, it never works and again now they know you have read it. I have gotten a couple from fex and one from chase that concerned me enough that I visited my branch to double check. They told me I wasn't the only one to visit that day about it.

[Allen]

Big Brother is really here.

Yes he is. Through our computer cameras (as noted), our emails, smart TV's and all phone calls (line and cell). Phone calls are all recorded and stored. In many cases during a criminal investigation previous phone calls can be retrieved for evidence. How long these calls stay stored, I don't know.

My TV's are dumb, not smart, and have no cord connecting them to the internet. My computer is not a laptop and has no camera.

1984 is here and we're paying and helping for the spying.

[Allen]

What is the flaw in this paragraph that is a tip off? Besides the fact that I'm not expecting a shipment from any foreign countries right now.

When you get an email from FedEx, UPS, USPS, Home Depot, etc...... stating they are holding your package and can't deliver till you provide additional info look at their email address.

FedEx should look something like FedEX@fedex.com or so NOT FedEX@sallyloveskittens@gmail.com.

I don't respond to any of them even if I'm expecting a delivery. They always have all the info they need. If, after time, a package isn't delivered I will contact THEM or the sender. So far that hasn't had to happen.

[Allen]

On a side note:

Is the government pushing for paperless money so all transactions can be tracked? Any time, any thing purchased using a CC can be traced.

The Post Office just announced that the cost of a stamp would go up to .66. After robbing the USPS retirement funds for the past 30 years is the government trying to force the USPS out of the letter business and force everyone to use emails, twitter and Facebook? All of which can be tracked and stored.

https://www.linns.com/news/us-stamps...-30-years.html