E-Mail Scam....This is an Old One

And I'm surprised it's still going around. But there must be some suckers out there who are falling for it.

Greetings,

I am contacting you in regards to a huge sum of money(Seven Million Eight Hundred Thousand British Pound Sterling)only,in an account with my bank for over 10years belonging to a German property magnate,now deceased.He on the 7th of July 2005,had his surviving wife and only son die in the Bomb Blast at Kings Cross underground Station.They were on holiday in the UK for three weeks as tourists.Click link below for more info:

First clue there is a scam: they tell you too much back-story.

Although I know that a transaction of this magnitude might make anyone apprehensive,I would like to assure you that i have contacted you with the best of intensions.

PROPOSAL;
Since his death, none of his next-of-kin or relations has come forward to lay claims to this money as the heir because he never made any one the next of kin to this fund (it was his secret account). We cannot release the fund from his account unless someone applies for claim as the next-of-kin to the deceased as indicated in our banking guidelines. Upon this discovery, we now seek your permission to have you stand as a next of kin to the deceased as all documentations will be carefully worked out by us for the fund to be released in your favour as the beneficiary's next of kin.

It's always a secret. And they will fix things so you are the beneficiary. And what will that require? A bank account number? No, just name and phone number so they can talk to you directly, and convince you to give them more personal information.

It may interest you to know that we have secured from the probate court, an order of madamus to locate any of the deceased beneficiaries. Please acknowledge receipt of this message in acceptance of our mutual business endeavour by furnishing me with the following:

1. Your Full Names and Address.
2. Direct Telephone and Fax numbers.

These requirements will enable us file a letter of claim to the appropriate departments for necessary approvals in your favour before the transfer can be made. We shall be sharing the funds in this mannner 70% to us and 30% for you on final conclusion of this project. Your share stays with you while the rest shall be in an investment for us in your country.

If this proposal is acceptable by you, do not take undue advantage of the trust we have bestowed in you.

God bless,

Mr.Roy Owens.

Roy OWENS? Could he be related to Clem Owens, the purveyor of the Springfield Global Finance Trust Scam?

They want you to either send money (probably through Western Union), or give them bank account numbers so the funds can be transferred to your account. If you are foolish enough to provide them with account numbers, all you'll end up with is an empty bank account.

Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. And don't trust anyone by the name of "Owens." Buck Owens (may he rest in peace) excluded.

Voting in Wisconsin...

Light turnout today, I was Voter Number 264. In the February election, I was 1200 something, and 1400 something in the November election. Both of the earlier elections featured school referendums, so that may explain a higher turnout.

Belling had some good observations today: why are the school referendums passing all of a sudden? Oostburg, my school district, passed theirs in February, 3rd time was the charm. I think they just wore down the voting public, and they would have kept bringing it back until some version would pass.

Election results, especially from some of the Milwaukee burbs who are looking at school referendums upwards of $100 million, should be interesting.

Also will be interesting to see if Linda Clifford's mud slinging campaign will pay off. I don't remember seeing a single ad that extolled her virtues, qualifications, and reasons for being on the Wisconsin State Supremem Court. All I saw was a vindictive character assasination that posed as a campaign. I hope the voters saw through it.

Springfield Global Finance Trust Followup

Welcome visitors from all over the USA, and even all over the world!

I don't get a lot of visitors to my humble blog, but this post, below, brought in a lot of traffic from all over the USA, and even from New South Wales, Australia! Apparently these bogus letters and checks were sprinkled all over the place. States represented:

New York
Kansas
Arizona
Virginia
Washington
Florida
Illinois
Michigan
Arkansas
Maryland
Colorado
Ohio
Georgia
Texas
Minnesota
North Carolina
California
Oregon
New Jersey

It's great that so many people sensed something was wrong, and took the time to do some research into this scam. Spread the word so others aren't taken in.

Next post will be about an e-mail scam I received last week...

New Twist on an Old Scam... A Public Service Post

Imagine my delight to open my mail today to find a "teller's check" for $2,900.00!! Check looks good, watermarks, drawn on a well-known bank. Whoo Hoo!!

Then I read the accompanying letter, it's a total scam. I'm posting about this because I Yahoo searched and Googled all of the names of the organizations listed in the letter. This way, hopefully someone will Google the names and be directed here and not make the mistake of cashing this bum check.

The letter, from Springfield Global Finance Trust (their motto is "To Improve the Way People Live") reads as follows:

After numerous attempts to reach you by phone have failed, we are pleased to inform you through this letter that our network system shows you as the lucky winner of unclaimed prize money in the amount of $29,500 USD. The system indicates that you were selected as a winner for the North American sweepstakes draws.

This already smells. Sounds like a technically advanced company with its "network system," and how the "system indicates." The grammar just doesn't sound right, even though the company is right here in Nassua Bahamas (another red flag).

We continue:

All participants were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from readers digest publishers clearing house, computer games, sweepstakes data base, are from Australia, New Zealand, Europe, North and South America, South Africa and Asia, as this is our international Promotions Program, which is conducted monthy. CONGRATULATIONS!

That is some computer (probably part of the network system), coming up with its own ballot system. Note that none of the names of the publications are capitalized, except for the "Promotions Program," which must mean that the PP is very important.

Here's the good part:

Enclosed is a check of $2950.00 USD {TWO THOUSAND NINE HUNDRED FIFTY DOLLARS} payable to you and must be deposited into your bank account immediately to pay for your registration with the States Lottery and Gaming Commission Agency, which must be paid before we can release your remaining balance in the amount of $25,222.50 excluding 5% handling charges in the amount of $1327.50 deducted from your total winnings.

Emphasis theirs.

So they send $2900.00 USD for you to pay off the "States Lottery and Gaming Commission Agency." I've never heard of such a commission or agency. Note how they try to make it sound real offical by using both names.

Here's what happens: You cash the check and make the payment to whoever they tell you to when you call them for further instructions. You make the payment via Western Union or some other form of payment that is untraceable and UNRETRIEVABLE and then the check bounces shortly after. In effect, you are out $2900.00 USD, and the "way that these people live" has been improved.

More...

For security purposes and to avoid double claims, we advise that you keep your winning information confidential until your claims have been processed and your money remitted to you.

For further information....contact... Clems Owens or Rose Brown at...

Yes, don't tell anyone about your winning until the check bounces and we have absconded with your money. You don't want anyone to tell you this was a scam, do you?

Clems? I've been around the block a few times, and I've never heard of anyone named "Clems." And Rose Brown? How generic can you get, other than John Smith?

The phone number you are supposed to call (and the postmark on the envelope) is from somewhere in Ontario, Canada and not the Bahamas.

It's a well-done scam, the letter and the check "look good." I fear that someone out there may fall for it. I hope the bad grammar, the need to send them money, and the lack of any reputable search results on the organizations mentioned will make people think twice about cashing the check.

The scammers must think they have the potential to swindle a few people, the stamp on the envelope (assuming it's not fake) cost $0.93 Canadian.

From the Consumer Fraud Reporting Website:

A typical fraud uses these checks to accompany a letter stating that the recipient "won" a lottery. The "winner" is instructed to cash the check and send most of it bank via a Western Union Money Gram or Postal Order, to "pay taxes" or "delivery fees", etc. The victim cashes the check, and wires the money. By the time the fake check bounces, the scammer has receive the money gram (which is irretrievable). The victim now owes his bank for the full amount of the fake check AND may be arrested for passing a bad check and fraud.

If you receive a check in the mail that you are not expecting, DO NOT CASH IT!

Feel free to post a comment if you've received this letter, or another like it. Spread the word!!

UPDATE: Here's another link, and, yes, some people fell for various renditions of the same scam:

From RipOffReport.com

Wisconsin Blog Summit II

The participants for the Wispolitics Wisconsin Blog Summit II have been announced. I'm a bit non-plussed over their selection. Many of the people were on last year's panel, I would think that there are other rising stars in the Cheddarsphere who could have been invited to be panelists...

From the Wispolitics site (I deleted the blog addresses, which appeared after each panelist's name, for brevity):

Ed Garvey
Charlie Sykes
John Kraus, Democratic consultant
Brian Fraley, Republican consultant
Jessica McBride
Tim Cuprisin, media columnist
Steve Jagler, executive editor, Small Business Times
Andy Tarnoff, publisher

Jennifer L. Peterson, A Godfrey & Kahn attorney in Madison

Eugene Kane, columnist
Jennifer Morales, Milwaukee school board member, blogger for OnMilwaukee.com
Dasha Kelly, magazine writer, author and poet, blogger for OnMilwaukee.com

Boots and Sabers (Owen Robinson)
Folkbum (Jay Bullock)

Most of the participants are media celebrities or political consultants who, for the most part, seem to be blogging to supplement their day jobs.

Something strikes me about the way they introduce the panelists. Can you tell who the REAL bloggers are? They're the ones identified by their blog's name first, then their real names. Everyone else is identified by name first, then blog.

I'm not saying they're putting together a bad program, in fact most of it looks interesting. And it's always nice to put faces to blogs. My schedule tells me I'll be in Milwaukee that day, so if all works out, I'll probably attend.

Updates:

I guess I'm not the only one who is a little disappointed by the panels...

Sean laments the panel at the summit. I think he would have been a great addition to this year's event. He could have had his own discussion on his adventures at CPAC in Washington DC a few weeks ago.

Aaron also agrees that too few commmoners were empaneled (is that a word?).

Scott thinks that if we wanted to hear radio and TV personalities talk about blogging, we'd turn on our radios and TV's...

Seth has an insightful conclusion to his post on this topic:

This is not to say that the summit won't be a beneficial event for bloggers of all shapes and sizes. The panel topics all look interesting and pertinent. Nevertheless, the main discussions that take place on all of them [the panels] except the last are going to have the distinct perspective of those who really don't need their blogs to have a seat at the table.

Avery Verdict

The jury came back yesterday afternoon, and found Avery guilty on 2 of the 3 charges against him: murder and possession of a firearm. The found him not guilty of mutilation of a corpse.

It's interesting that they found him not guilty on the mutilation charge. I mean, who else could have done it? Hmmmm, maybe they thought that one should be saved for the nephew, whose trial will be starting in the near future.

I think the jury got it right, there's no way this guy will ever see freedom again. It's a shame that he got a wonderful opportunity to start his life over after his wrongful conviction, and this was the course he chose to take.

Avery Trial: Jury In Deliberation

Just a short note.... The trial of the decade is now in deliberation. And they had to excuse a juror, a 41-year old musician who lives on a trust fund (where can I get a gig like that?). The alternate juror has been accepted by both sides, and they are starting over.

If I were the excused juror, I'd be kind of bummed. After all, he sat through the whole trial, the deliberation is the funnest part (I've been on a couple of juries in my time), and now he has to get replaced....

The Press Starts to Get It? Something Smelleth...

Yesterday's Sheboygan Press (Yesterday's News Tomorrow!!) had an interesting editorial concerning the Troha scandal still brewing in Madison. But it was still a tepid tiptoe through what looks like could be a major story:

There it is again. That smell of corruption coming from the Capitol building in Madison.

We recognize it because it was there for so long while four lawmakers and a legislative aide went through criminal prosecutions for illegally using state employees to run political campaigns.

This time the odor comes in the form of allegations of illegal contributions to Gov. Jim Doyle from Kenosha businessman and gambling casino backer Dennis Troha. He was recently indicted by federal authorities for funneling $100,000 to Doyle's campaign through family members. He's also accused of lying about the contributions to the FBI.

The federal indicment says Troha made the contributions in return for support for an Indian casino in Kenosha that he had invested in.

I'm surprised that the only previous examples of "odor" that they used were state employees working on campaigns. These were probably the only scandals that apparently cannot be linked to the governor.

What about Georgia Thompson?

What about the odor that wafted around the sale of the Kewaunee nuclear plant?

What about the contracts awarded for the UW-MKE buildings?

There are many examples where the odor appears to emanate directly from the governor's office. But the Press' ringing endorsement of Doyle last November seems to have put a clothespin on the editorialist's nose, or at least given him/her a very selective sense of smell.

Posted Potted Pot Plant Pics Put Perp in Pokey

Another tip for those who want to break the law: Don't post pictures of your wrongdoing on your MySpace page...

From today's Sheboygan Press (Yesterday's News Tomorrow!!):

The district attorney says a Sheboygan teen is learning the hard way that posting pictures of your potted marijuana plants on MySpace.com is a bad idea.

That picture, labeled, "My Mary Jane thats growin in my closet right now," also gave police a road map to the alleged stash.

According to Sheboygan County District Attorney Joe DeCecco, that's why Moua Yang, 18, was charged Wednesday with two felonies and two misdemeanors following a police raid of his south-side apartment.

Lamentably...

we say so long and best of luck to Kevin and Kurt at Lakeshore Laments. Kevin is moving to Washington DC for a new job.

Kevin was/is a great voice for the Sheboygan and Manitowoc County area. His insight into local politics was always thoughtful and thought-provoking.

Now I'll have to start blogging again so someone from this area is making a little noise. Kevin is leaving behind some mighty big shoes to fill...

Good luck to Kevin and Kurt!!

Is It Spring Yet?

Let's see...

Robins back... check.
Red-wing blackbirds... check.
Canada geese... check. No, wait, those damn things never left.
Great blue herons... check.
Kildeer back... check.
Meadowlarks... check.
Snow melted, the Mighty Onion River flooding... check.
Sump pump running almost continuously... check.
Temperature in the 60's 50's 40's 30's 20's...close enough.

Pelosi's Push for Plane Prompts Partisan Pettiness

This article in the Washington Times is just hilarious. It's about Speaker Pelosi's efforts to obtain an Air Force jet to shuttle herself, staff, and family wherever Madam Speaker wants to go. Some highlights:

Meanwhile, Republican Conference Chairman Adam Putnam of Florida said Mrs. Pelosi's request represents "an arrogance of office that just defies common sense" and called it "a major deviation from the previous speaker."

Minority Whip Roy Blunt of Missouri called it a "flying Lincoln Bedroom," and Rep. Patrick T. McHenry, North Carolina Republican, labeled the speaker's plane "Pelosi One."

"This is a bullet point to a larger value -- Pelosi's abuse of power continues," Mr. McHenry said yesterday. "It began when the speaker denied minority rights to Republicans, continued with her 'TunaGate' scandal, and now she's exploiting America's armed forces and taxpayers for her own personal convenience."

A "flying Lincoln Bedroom." Now THAT is funny.

More...

The source said the Pentagon will likely give in to Mrs. Pelosi's requests for a large plane and travel entourage, given her and Mr. Murtha's power over defense spending.

Mr. Raimo argues that Mrs. Pelosi needs a military aircraft, as opposed to commercial flights, for security reasons.

The defense source, who asked not to be named, termed her request "carte blanche," saying she wanted a plane that could carry an entourage just like President Bush, who flies on Air Force One, and Vice President Dick Cheney, who also always flies on military planes.

Just like the President and Vice President. Who does she think she is? Do they have to butter her head to get her through the front door at the Capitol?

Looks like she will get her way, but it appears that there may be some subtle blackmail involved, given Pelosi's and Murtha's "power over defense spending."

Mrs. Pelosi wants a larger aircraft that can fly to her home district of San Francisco nonstop.

Non-stop? Heaven forbid having to set down in "Flyover Country" to refuel.

I don't begrudge her having use of a military plane, especially since her predecessor had one. But it appears that she is getting just a might greedy with the "scope of services" she is expecting the Air Force to fulfill.

And where are the global warming folk on this one? A huge airplane to fly a handful of people cross country on a regular basis? I feel it getting warmer outside already.