Fake Diversity Visa (DV) Immigration program spam

Spam email is circulating that one has won a slot in the DV immigration program, like in this email message.

You are among those Randomly Selected And Registered For DV IMMIGRATION PROGRAM For This Fiscal Year. Contact the (NVC), Do not hesitate to contact Immigration Department for assistance.

Email: dv.visa@dvlottery.consulate.us.tc
Alternative Email: info@dvlottery.state.us.tc
Tell: +12705944738

Sincerely yours,
Mrs. Maria Antelo De Larrea

Obviously, the United States government does not use a domain name like .tc (Turks and Caicos Islands)....

Here is also the fraud warning from travel.state.gov
http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/types/types_1322.html

Hotel room booking scam again

Another scam of the hotel booking type. Rent hotel rooms, pay with a check with a denomination that is more money than the rooms cost, ask for the difference in cash back, and the check is not covered of course. Don't reply to this. Here the actual message:

HELLO, WE NEED TO MAKE A RESERVATION FOR 21 DAYS HOLIDAY / BUSINESS RESEARCH IN YOUR AREA. AND WE NEED ACCOMMODATION FOR OUR GROUP;
(1) NO OF GUEST : 4 PEOPLE
(2) NO OF ROOMS : 2 DOUBLE OR 4 SINGLE ROOMS/APARTMENT/HOUSE THAT CAN SLEEP 4
(3) NO OF DAYS : 21 DAYS
(4) ARRIVAL DATE : 2ND JUNE 2012
(5) DEPARTURE DATE : 23 JUNE 2012
REPLY ME WITH THE GRAND TOTAL COST FOR 21 NIGHTS AS WELL AS REQUIRED TAXES IF ANY.ENDEAVOR TO CALCULATE THE TOTAL COST. I WAIT TO HEAR FROM YOU SOON. Yours sincerely John Stone 105, Hale Lane, London, NW7 3NU +447741115591

The usual phishing attempt by SPAM email.

The usual stupid SPAM email that tries to phish information from you. Don't reply, delete.

Dear WebMail Internet User,

We are upgrading our database for the year 2012

As part of our continuous effort in providing a higher level of service, we are notifying every web mail account owners about the congestion due to the anonymous registration of accounts. To solve this problem, we are shutting down some unused accounts within 24 hours.

To avoid shutting down your account, verify and inform us if you still want to use the account by completing the form below with the required information.

* E-mail/User-id:
* Password:
* Date of Birth:
* Country Or Territory:

After following the instructions in the above, confirmation link will be sent to you, your account will not be interrupted and will continue as normal. Thanks for your attention to this request. We apologize for any inconveniences it may cost you.

Warning! Account owners that refuse to upgrad his or her account after 5 working days of receiving this warning will loose his or her account permanently.

Thank you for your understanding.

HelpDesk
System administrator

Fake Google Award

More phishing spam, a fake google Award win. Never mind I received this in February...

Dear Google Award Winner.

We wish to congratulate you on this note, for being part of our lucky winners selected this month of December 2011.Please read the Award Notification from the attach file for your Winning details and procedures,do contact the claims manager for claims procedures.

The management,
Google Security Team

----------------------------------------------------------------
This message was sent using IMP, the Internet Messaging Program.

Fake tax office message

A fishing expedition from Germany, pretending to be from the tax office.

Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren,

für Sie wurde von Ihrem Finanzamt bzw. Ihrer Steuerverwaltung über das Verfahren ELSTER eine verschlüsselte Datei
(Einkommensteuerbescheid) zur Abholung bereitgestellt.

==========Ihre Datei finden Sie als PDF-Datei im Anhang dieser E-Mail. =======

Sollten Sie die Daten nicht abholen, so werden diese nach 6 Monaten automatisch gelöscht.

Dies ist eine automatisch generierte E-Mail - bitte antworten Sie nicht an diese Mailadresse.

Mit freundlichen Grüßen
Ihr Finanzamt / Ihre Steuerverwaltung
www.elster.de

HINWEIS:
Sie erhalten diese E-Mail, weil Sie bei der Datenübermittlung z.B. Ihrer Steuererklärung die
Mailbenachrichtigung auf diese E-Mailadresse gewünscht haben.
Bei Steuerbescheiden ist allein die Papierausfertigung rechtlich relevant.

Fake meeting

Another fake meeting invitation came in via Spam. Don't fall for it, they just want your registration money.

The CLINTS Charitable Trust International Multi-Sectoral conference on Women/Youth Empowerment.
Theme: WOMEN/YOUTH EMPOWERMENT AND HIV/AIDS PREVENTION -THE WAY FORWARD Venue: The American Square International Conference Center Newcastle from the 26TH MARCH to 5TH APRIL 2012.

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

Dear Invited Delegates,
You are invited to participate in this international multi-sectoral conference bringing together Leading figures, Governments and Various Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) from across the World to discuss and debate the possible ways and strategies through which the global fight against HIV/Aid Prevention can maximally be attained.

The main Objectives of the Event are given as follows:



Reflection on the scale and manifestation of poverty around the World;
* Practical evaluation of the impact and success of poverty eradication strategies;
* Assessing the role of the International Humanitarian Agencies in coordinating International poverty eradication efforts;
* Highlighting the role of governments, companies, NGOs and the civil society in poverty eradication;
* Considering the formation of partnerships among key stakeholders as a strategic approach to meeting International MDG targets as well as eradicating poverty.


The Conference will also provide an opportunity for participants to share insights and experiences and to network with other colleagues from voluntary sectors, health, education, religious groups, governments, local authorities and other areas. It is also an opportunity to get direct access to loans and grants from participating Humanitarian Agencies.

Speakers:
A comprehensive list of Speakers will be posted on our website in due course. However, the opening address will be given by the Former United States President - His Excellency Mr. Jimmy Carter. Keynote Speakers include Dr Margaret Chan: Director General of World Health Organization, Mr. Ben Bradshaw: Minister of Health in England and the Scottish Minister of Health: Andy Kerr and others. We also expect numerous Top Government officials, scholars and philanthropists from across the world to grace this event.

Proposed Agenda:

* Women empowerment
*Youth empowerment
* HIV and Aids prevention and treatment
* Child development* Employment
* Priority Public Health issues
* Child Abuse * Social exclusion
* Women and Gender equality
* Women and Sex Education
* Health Improvement
* Globalization and Health
* Peace and Security
* Women and Child Trafficking.
* Human Rights Protection.
* Violence Against Women.etc

Side Attraction:

* Book launching
* Artistic and cultural activities
* Exhibitions and Grants Approvals
* Banquets, coffee break services
* Musical and Cultural presentations *Presentation of Grant and Charity Awards
* Humanitarian visits to selected Orphanages and Hospitals
* Opportunities for informal networking and alliance building

There will Interpretations in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian and French languages during the period of this event.



Registration / Participation fee:
Registration is free. All invited delegates are advised to contact the Secretary of the Local Organizing Committee on the contact address supplied below for more information and Registration Forms.

Who can participate:
Entrepreneurs, Businessmen, Industrialists, Economists, Politicians, Company Executives, Health Practitioners, Professionals in relevant fields, Lawyers, Psychologists, Women and Youth organizations, The Clergy, Religious groups, Social Development Groups, Government Officials, Donor Agencies, Non-Governmental Organizations, Voluntary and Social Workers.

I can't afford the cost - Can you help?
The Clints Charitable Trust UK and our co-sponsors (Subsea7 (UK) Ltd London) have set up an Access Fund to support the travel expenses for all qualified participants. This is will be on a first-come-first-serve policy as a result of the large number of delegates who are expected to attend this conference. More than 200 representatives from the NGO sector, development funding agencies, Religious Bodies, Government departments and research institutions are expected at this event.

Accommodation /Reservations:
All Intending Participants are required to book for Accommodation / Reservation at the designated Hotel. A proof of your Reservation qualifies you for participation. At this point we are providing for just 200 participants so certain logistic Provisions like Flight tickets, local transportation to the Venue of the Conference, Banquet, All meals and coffee break sessions will be taken care of by our Foundation. Final Beneficiaries of these logistic entitlements will be selected on a first-come-first processed basis and as a result of this, the sooner we receive your applications, the earlier we can process them.

NB. Prospective Participants must apply in groups of 2-4 persons

Visas and Letters of invitation:
Special arrangements have been made by our foundation through our travel consultants for professional immigration assistance to be given to participants who will require a Visa into the United kingdom. The Conference Organizers will arrange for the Letters of Invitation to be sent to appropriate Embassies as soon as we receive a Proof / Confirmation of Hotel Reservation via email.

Presentation Proposal:
Participants wishing to make speech presentations on topical issues during the conference are also encouraged to indicate their interests to enable us enlist them in the Programme Time table which is being drafted. You should submit a one page presentation Abstract and your Curriculum Vitae which should be less than 4 pages.

For more Information and Registration Forms, please contact the Local Organizing Committee using the contact information given below:

Rev. Steve Ken. (PhD)
Contact EMAIL: clintcharitable@yahoo.co.uk
Website: clintscharitytrustuk.co.cc

We look forward to meeting you here in Newcastle.


CLINTS CHARITABLE TRUST (Registration No: 279615)

Vallis House, 57 Vallis Road,

Frome, Somerset, NEWCASTLE, BA11 3EG,ENGLAND.

TEL: +44 704 579 2701

FAX: +44 700 594 7275

EMAIL: clintcharitable@yahoo.co.uk

Website: www.clintscharitytrustuk.co.cc

Criminal suits against ColonyInvest and Blue Ocean Siam

According to a report from Nov 11, 2010 in the Nation (Bangkok), the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) filed cases against two pyramid schemes, one the ominous Colony Invest (colonyinvest), see the report.

Fraudulent meeting invitation

Spam email, advertising a meeting. It's a fraud, the meeting does not exist, they get your personal details, and ask for fees.

Dear Sir/Madam.

We are inviting you to participate in the upcoming international conference meeting on Importance of national economic integration and health security. The international conference will commence from 20th to 24th February 2012 here in United States of America. It is our great privilege to invite you to attend this conference meeting with us.

The meeting will contain various discussions and mini workshops related to the issues of national economic integration and importance of health security as it affects our society. For more information regarding the conference meeting please contact the conference secretary via email indicated below.

Head of secretariat
International Affairs Director
Email: secretarydesks@postakutusu.org

Note: you will be provided with visa assistant by the organization here in United States to attend the meeting with us, along with air round trip tickets.



The Workshop welcomes paper presentation from any interested participants willing to present papers during the meeting. Your accommodation here in United States will be your own responsibility for the period of days you are to stay. Do contact the conference secretary for guidance regarding your registration immediately to avoid delay.

I look forward to hear from you.

Yours Sincerely,
Ms. Jose. Pedro

Director of Public Relation.

Email phishing

Yet another example of a fraudulent email that is going around, claiming to be from your IT services, asking for all your personal information. Simply DO NOT reply to that.

Ignore this type of email:

---

From: © XXXXXXX

Subject: Dear XXXXX Webmail User,

To: undisclosed recipients: ;

Reply-to: maintainance-dpt@w.cn

Dear XXXXX Webmail User,

We wish to inform you about our recent development on our web database and upgrade process which every subscriber must take part on.

We will be shorting our website down within the next 24hours and we need you to verfy your account information with the us for security reasons.

This is to help us recover your email account after this upgrade process has been carried out, we promice that you will not loose any information from your email and we shall not temper with your private informations.

You are required to provide the informations below for verification.

1) Full Name:

2) Email Address:

3) User ID:

4) Password:

5) Date of Birth:

Faliure to patiipate in this upgrade will automatically shortdown your email account with us.

Thank you

Webmaster Service

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

---

Adobe Acrobat Reader phishing attack

Fake emails pretending to come from Adobe guide you to a Web site, where you supposedly can download a new version of Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Alas, this is a phishing attack.
When you look up adobe-acrobat-upgrade.com, you will find that it is running on a Russian server, and the registrar is an address in London that is probably hijacked, since Google maps/street view shows the address to be a single residental house. This is certainly not Adobe's headquarters....

---

The whois entry:

Domain name: ADOBE-ACROBAT-UPGRADE.COM
Name Server: ns3.nic.ru
Name Server: ns4.nic.ru
Name Server: ns8.nic.ru
Creation Date: 2010.06.25
Updated Date: 2010.06.25
Expiration Date: 2011.06.25

Status: DELEGATED

Registrant ID: MYWBV2V-RU
Registrant Name: Emily Johnson
Registrant Organization: Emily Johnson
Registrant Street1: 11 Uxbridge Road
Registrant City: London
Registrant Postal Code: W7 3ST
Registrant Country: GB

Administrative, Technical Contact
Contact ID: MYWBV2V-RU
Contact Name: Emily Johnson
Contact Organization: Emily Johnson
Contact Street1: 11 Uxbridge Road
Contact City: London
Contact Postal Code: W7 3ST
Contact Country: GB
Contact Phone: xxx
Contact E-mail: xxx

Registrar: Regional Network Information Center, JSC dba RU-CENTER

---

Here the phishing email:

From: Adobe Acrobat Reader
Subject: Download New Adobe Acrobat Reader For Windows
......

HTML clipboard

Dear valued customers,

We are pleased to announce new release of Adobe Acrobat Reader 2010 which will give you more options to view, create, edit, print and share PDF documents.

+ 50% of your daily office works requires document handling.
+ 70% of your documents requires extra processing.
+ 15-20% of your documents requires exchanging with your peers, customers or partners.
+ 30% of such documents are in PDF format, and you need to view, edit, print and share them.

To learn more about new features and install Adobe Acrobat Reader 2010, please:

+ Go to: http://www.adobe-acrobat-upgrade.com/
+ Choose your options, download and start to improve your works.

A full version of Office suite is also available for your download.

Download Today: http://www.adobe-acrobat-upgrade.com/

Best regards,

Adobe Acrobat Reader 2010
--------------------------
Copy rights PDF Pro 2010 © All rights reserved
Website: http://www.adobe-acrobat-upgrade.com/

Plenty of fraudulent phishing emails that try to get your username and password

There are plenty of SPAM emails going around these days, claiming to come from the support desk of your email provider, or some other place such as ebay or paypal. Usually, in one form or another, they ask that you reply to them with your username and password to take care of a problem, or they provide a link to a dodgy web site. DO NOT CLICK on the links, or DO NOT REPLY to the email. This is phishing, they simply want your account to abuse it. NEVER give out account information, without verification.
Examples:

---

Dear PayPal User,



We are currently under maintenance and we will like you to Update your account in other for you to be able to Send Money, Receive Money, and also Shop online with your PayPal account Click on this Link Below to Update Your Account.

CLICK HERE
Thanks For Your Co-Operation,

PayPal Account Department.

---

Your mailbox quota has been exceeded the storage limit which is 20GB as set by your administrator, You are currently running on 20.9GB.



You may not be able to send or receive new mails until you re-validate your mailbox.



To re-activate your account please click the link below:

http://www.acc-central.com/


Thanks and we are sorry for the inconveniences

Local Host.

---

Your mailbox quota has been exceeded the storage limit which is 20GB

as set by your administrator, You are currently running on 20.9GB.

You may not be able to send or receive new mails until you re-validate
your mailbox.

To re-activate your account please click the link below

http://www.icebrrg.com/Public/ViewForm.aspx?formID=44302

Thanks and we are sorry for the inconveniences

Local host

---

We would like to inform you that we are currently carrying out scheduled maintenance and upgrade of our webmail service and as a result of this; our e-mail client has been changed and your
original password will be reset. We are sorry for any inconvenience caused.

To maintain your e-mail account, you must reply to this email immediately, and provide the the following details of your account:

Account Name:
Current Password:
Contact Phone:

Failure to do this within the next forty-eight hours will immediately render your email account deactivated from our database.

For Help and Support, contact the Technical Support help desk at:technicalsupportteam20009@gmail.com

Thank you for using our webmail.

Webmail Service,
Technical Team.
©Networks All Rights Reserved.

---

Dear Webmail Account User,

This message was sent automatically by a program on Webmail admin center
which periodically checks the size of inbox, The program is run
automatically to ensure no user inbox grows too large. If your inbox
becomes too large, you will be unable to receive new emails. Just before
this message was sent, you are currently running on 20.9 GB, You have has
exceeded the storage limit which is 20GB.

To help us re-set your Account SPACE on our database prior to maintain
your INBOX, you must reply to this e-mail providing us your the Below
information:

E-mail ( ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... )
Username/ID ( ... ... ... ... ... ... )
Current Password ( ... ...... ... ) Retype Password: ( ... ...... ... )

From this point you will be unable to receive new email as it will be
returned to the sender, Provide the above information to enable us help
reset your webmail immediately.

NOTE: Your Webmail Account Expire in Three (3) Days. After you read this
message, it is best to REPLY with the required information to upgrade
MailBox. Reply to this message immediately to Re activate your Account.

Thank you for your cooperation.
Webmail Help Desk. System Administrator
--------------------------------------------------

---

Confirm Your Webmail Identities.

Your Webmail Quota Has Exceeded The Set Quota/Limit Which Is 20GB.
Your Are Currently Running On 23GB due to hidden files and folder on your
Mailbox.Please you are to follow the Below information to Validate Your
Mailbox And Increase Your Quota.

First Name:
Username/ID:
Password:
Confirm Password:

*Important*
Please provide all these information completely and correctlyotherwise due
to security reasons we may have to close your accounttemporarily.We have
been sending this notice to all our email accountowners and this is the
last notice/verification exercise.

Thanks
HELPDESK SUPPORT.

---

Dear Webmail User,
This message was sent automatically by a program on Webmail which
periodically checks the size of inboxes, where new messages are
received.
The program is run weekly to ensure no one's inbox grows too large. If
your inbox becomes too large, you will be unable to receive new email.
Just before this message was sent, you had 18 Megabytes (MB) or more of
messages stored in your inbox on your Webmail. To help us re-set your
SPACE on our database prior to maintain your INBOX, you must reply to
this e-mail and enter your

Current User name (_________)
and Password(________ )

You will continue to receive this warning message periodically if your
inbox size continues to be between 18 and 20 MB. If your inbox size
grows to 20 MB, then a program on Bates Webmaiwill move your oldest email
to a
folder in your home directory to ensure that you will continue to be
able to receive incoming email. You will be notified by email that this
has taken place. If your inbox grows to 25 MB, you will be unable to
receive new email as it will be returned to the sender.
After you read a message, it is best to REPLY and SAVE it to another
folder.

Thank you for your cooperation.
Webmail Help Desk

The conference scam

I haven't seen this one yet, but it has all the hallmarks of a scam:

PARTICIPATION IN THE UNITED STATES AND UNITED KINGDOM EVENTS OF (IWCO) 


Greetings, 



We at Ideal World Concept Organization (IWCO) send our warm greetings to our entire

members worldwide. And with great enthusiasm, we wish to invite groups, youths, women

and youth focused organizations to be part of our forthcoming combined international
conference on child labour, abuse and neglect taking place in the United States and the
United Kingdom respectively. The combined conferences are of two segments.



The first segment shall commence in Andalusia, Alabama USA on 16th till 19th June, 2009.The venue is BLUE LAKE AUDITORIUM, 8569 Oakwood lane, Andalusia, Alabama 36241, USA.



The second segment shall take place in London from 22nd till 25th June, 2009 at FLOSSIES CONFERENCE CENTRE Station Road, East Tisted, Near Alton, Hampshire, GU34 3QP, United Kingdom.



THE OBJECTIVES:



1. To discuss the root causes of child labour, abuse and neglect in order to help in
eradicating these social ills.

2. To re-educate and enlighten the youths and adults about these social vices and
also promote community organizing as a tool to re-connect people to each other with
a common goal of building safe, supportive and good communities.

3. To create spaces for the youths of the world to acquire the power of collective action,
critical dialogue and community organizing to undermine child labour, abuse and neglect.

4. To equip the youth and adult participants with vital tools and know-how.
This will aid them in conducting such workshops amongst youths and women in their various
countries.



We have noticed that this is an incredible means of interacting with different organizations
of the world on a particular issue as it affects youths, women and adults. Moreover, funding may
be provided for individuals from qualifying organizations. Provisions have been made for
all delegates to this event, all round tickets, feeding and accommodation in USA by our sponsors.
Please note that all delegates will take care of their feeding and accommodation in the UK as the resources of (IWCO) do not cover that.



CRITERIA FOR PARTICIPATION:



Only groups with member delegates between the numbers of five (5) minimum and ten (10) maximum selected would be allowed to participate from each of the selected countries. Also individuals who do not belong to any of the organizations but are sincerely interested to participate should form a group of at least five and then apply as group. Please note that all participants MUST be part of the two segments (U.S.A. and U.K.) or their registration forms will not be processed by the IWCO secretariat.



MODE OF APPLICATION:



Interested organizations should forward the following information about their organization.

1. Aims and objectives of their organization.
2. Organization profile.
3. Achievements so far.

N.B. Intending participants are expected to direct their responses to the coordinator Wilson Divine at willsondivine.iwco@gmail.com for more details. The deadline for application is as set by the Organizing Committee of (IWCO). Also note that (IWCO) will only respond and attend to the applications forward to the above contact email address. 

Yours Faithfully,



WILSON DIVINE.

(Coordinator-IWCO)

willsondivine.iwco@gmail.com

MS word document appended.

This text looks like a copy from the ICO web site
This web site about ICO looks also a bit funny, could find any information that this is a legitimate NGO.

In any case, there are a lot of similar conference frauds listed here.

Pyramid scam leader convicted.

The BBC News reports today on a Chinese man, who masterminded a pyramid scheme. Investors lost a total of ~250 Million US$, and the man was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Any investment opportunity that promises unrealistic returns, such as HYIPs etc. are simply a fraudulent pyramid scheme.

The biggest pyramid scheme of them all... 50 Billion dollars gone

This is arguably the biggest con of all times: It is the pyramid scheme of former stock exchange chairman Bernard "Bernie" Madoff. Over 50 Billion U$ have disappeared, see these BBC reports: 1, 2.
The old adage holds true: If it's too good to be true, it's not true. This should be a wake-up call to all people investing into HYIPs, and other investments that promise high returns. These things are just plain fraud. In case of Madoff, he got away with it for so long, because he "only" offered 10% in return. But as can be seen, even in this case it was a scam.

Telephone and mobile phone SCAMS

Telephone and mobile phone scams are going around.
For example, you may get a phone call saying you won a cruise, and to claim your prize you have to press a number on your phone. This will pass you to a line for which you have to pay dearly - and no prize.
Or you get a short phone call (they don't really wait for you to answer) from some number (e.g., +88213229003) on your mobile. The hope is that you call back - for a hefty fee, of course. These 88213 calls are usually a scam. 88213 is a virtual country code to Telespazio S.p.A. in Italy, see this link. The 88213xxx callers try to lure you to call back, and you would have to pay quite a lot for it (e.g., 9 Euro/min). See also this list of suspicious numbers:
whocallsme.com

Thousands of Columbians defrauded in pyramid scheme

Defrauded investors have rioted in several cities in Columbia. They were cheated out of their savings in a pyramid investment scheme, and now the crooks have closed shop, though some have been caught.
See the BBC News for the full report.

Crooks make $5m a year from fake Windows security software

Criminals can make as much as US$5 million a year by planting nearly-worthless security software on PCs, said Joe Stewart, director of malware research at SecureWorks Inc.
Read the full report.

Spam and Malware sites receive a hit

A commentary on the Register.co.uk revealed that Directi provides the PrivacyProtect service. Behind this service many fraudulent web sites were hiding. The service itself (Privacyprotect.org), when a whois is performed, is hiding behind a mail box in New Zealand - with a note that all mail is rejected. The contact phone number given is in Denmark. A call to that number results only in an answering machine, telling you that nobody answers the phone. The service is provided by Directi, and they promise now to suspend abusive services within 24 hours.
The article revealed also other sites, such as Knujon (no junk backwards), which has a large list of junk email. Further, there is TeMerc Internet Countermeasures (a forum for adware, malware, spyware), Hostexploit, and Scaminvestments. Catty Shaq, mentioned in a previous post, has closed down, but the information was transferred to $caminvestments$.
In a joint statement from Sept. 7., 2008 from Directi, HostExploit and Kunujon, they promise collaboration in suspending fraudulent services.

Check fraud targets Bed & Breakfast and Restaurants

The following email was received by a Bed and Breakfast in Switzerland:

---

From: Waston Brown <waston_brown@yahoo.com>

TO: xxxx
RE:: Reservation...

I am Mr Waston Brown of Accessmarts,London,Uk.I need to book reservation in your Hotel or arpartment for 6 Adults coming for a vacation between the month of Setember or October 2008.Get back to me with the total cost in Euro of what it will cost them for 21 NIGHTS in EURO 6 single/ 3 Double rooms or Apartment including their breakfast,also the best available dates OR call : +447031846295.

Regards,

---

A google search with some of the sentences led to two other web sites listing numerous similar and related emails: marcproost and UKAPAS - Scams. As UKAPAS (and here) also explains, the principle of the SCAM is to pay with a check made out for much more than the actual costs, and ask for the difference back in cash. The check is false, of course.
A google search with the phone number reveals that "Waston Brown" has been active recently also in Hungary. This one is a reply to a positive answer, making the check fraud clear:

---

Hello,

Thanks for your prompt reply and update on price. Moreover we have resolved to use your spaces. We are also glad to infom you that we have concluded payment arrangements with our sponsor,who volunteered to sponsor us.
Thus,the sponsor promised to send a Certified Bank Cheque of 8,000 Euros, that will cover your accomodation expenses and other services needed by the delegates (like cars,flight tickets etc).
I have now been instructed to send you the cheque payment,because the logistics agent that will provide cars and flight tickets the delegates will use during their stay in your place requires his fund through credit card while payment will come through certified cheque.
from now on So when you receive the certified cheque you will cash it deduct the cost of your services 1,890 Euros and send the balance 6,110 Euros to the logistics agent whose information will be forwarded to you once you confirm this payment method.
This payment method will not cause you any extra cost because all the bank charges will be deducted from the certified cheque. So, confirm by providing me with the following information:

(1) YOUR FULL NAME (name on cheque)..............
(2) ADDRESS (for cheque delivery)................
(3) PHONE NUMBERS............., for payment to be delivered to you.
The company will highly appreciate your prompt response and cooperation. I also hope that the stay of our staff will be made memorable.

FYI; PLEASE THE ATTENTION OF THE MANAGER/OWNER SHOULD BE DRAWN TO THIS MAIL

Waston Brown
3 Rawsthorne Close,
Sliver Town,E16,2JR ,London UKT
elephone:+447031846295
Fax:+448704715180

---

Mr. "Waston Brown" seems to go also under the name "Harry Gardon", same address...

---

From: harry gardon
Sent: Monday, May 19, 2008 9:42 PM
Subject: Payment Details...

Hello,

Thanks for your prompt reply and update on price. Moreover we have resolved to use your spaces. We are also glad to infom you that we have concluded payment arrangements with our sponsor,who volunteered to sponsor us.
Thus,the sponsor promised to send a Certified Bank Cheque of 8,500 Euros, that will cover your accomodation expenses and other services needed by the delegates (like cars,flight tickets etc).
I have now been instructed to send you the cheque payment,because the logistics agent that will provide cars and flight tickets the delegates will use during their stay in your place requires his fund through credit card while payment will come through certified cheque.
So when you receive the certified cheque you will cash it deduct the cost of your services 1,890 Euros and send the balance 6,610 Euros to the logistics agent whose information will be forwarded to you once you confirm this payment method.
This payment method will not cause you any extra cost because all the bank charges will be deducted from the certified cheque. So, confirm by providing me with the following information:

(1) YOUR FULL NAME (name on cheque)..............
(2) ADDRESS (for cheque delivery)................
(3) PHONE NUMBERS............., for payment to be delivered to you.
The company will highly appreciate your prompt response and cooperation. I also hope that the stay of our staff will be made memorable.

FYI; PLEASE THE ATTENTION OF THE MANAGER/OWNER SHOULD BE DRAWN TO THIS MAIL
3 Rawsthorne Close,
Sliver Town,E16,2JR ,London UKT
Telephone:+447031846295

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Email Scams are Fun runs a blog posting various such scams.

1 in 1000 web sites are "evil"

Google finds that out of the billions of web sites out there, 3 Million are malicious and try to inject worms or viruses onto your computer, or try to steal information, such as credit card numbers etc., from you.
Read a report in MacWorld.