Another version of the Bed&Breakfast check fraud

Here is another email for a Bed & Breakfast reservation by the check fraudsters.

Von: William John
An: xxx
Betreff: RESERVATION REQUEST

Greetings,
I enquire for reservations for 4 couples coming for their honey moon at your property,I would like you to get back to me with the following.
1. The availability of the dates
2. The Daily cost for the required dates
3. The total cost for the lenght of their stay.
4. Do you accept credit card payment.
The arrival date for the couples will be 20th Oct and they will depart on 30th Oct 2008 ,Their stay will last for 10 days.
Do get back to me with the requirements as stated above.
Kindest Regards,
Mr William
Tel: +44 70457 90678
+44 70457 90689

On these websites you have more of these email listed: Gower Holidays, Holiday Cottages Scottland, and the previously mentioned UKAPAS

Check fraud targets Bed & Breakfast and Restaurants

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

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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,

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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:

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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

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

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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.

Scam Busters under attack?

In March it was reported that CastleCops were hit by another serious DDOS attack.
http://www.darkreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=149497

At present, castlecops seems to be down, and at catty shack the whole forum disappeared.

Have they been intimidated to give up?

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.

The number of malicious programs reaches new highs.

BBC reports that the number of malware programs has reached unprecedented highs. More than 3000 new samples are created every day. See the BBC report

wollenberginternational is also down

In case you have not noticed, well, not surprisingly, wollenberginternational.com is also down.

But new HYIPs will always pop up - perhaps the same guy under another name - to collect more money from gullible victims.
Don't fall for it.

ColonyInvest closed down, people loose millions in Thailand/Vietnam

Police have moved in on the ColonyInvest fraudsters, the Nation, Bangkok, reports. Many people have lost millions of baht in this fraudulent pyramid scheme. See The Nation.
Also in Vietnam people have been cheated out of Billions of VND by the pyramid scheme. Police have arrested 15 people. See Thanhnien News.com.

We have warned here against ColonyInvest since June 2007.
This just serves as a reminder that all these schemes that promise exceedingly high interest rates, these so-called HYIPs, are fraudulent. While they may pay some money in the beginning, this money comes from other investors, and not from proper investments, which never have such high rates of interest. The whole thing just collapses whenever the mastermind decides to run away with the money.