Author: Olly

This one was a bit random, I sussed something was up straight away but wanted to get some info out the guy, so played along for a bit. 🙂

It all started with an email;

On 29 October 2015 at 12:05, Aline Faltas <sambornetals1@gmail.com> wrote:
Hello Good day,

How are you doing? Please advice if you do web design and also advice if you accept credit cards.

Thank you and expecting to read back from you

Regards

Aline Faltas

Pretty bad english, and the note about credit cards looked a bit dodgy but I played along 🙂

On Thu, Oct 29, 2015 at 12:52 PM, Olly <olly@X.X> wrote:
Hello,

Yes and yes.

Let me know if you require any more information.

Regards

Olly

Didn’t take him long to respond! Hmm, copy and pasted perhaps? 🙂

On 29 October 2015 at 12:56, SamboMetals <sambornetals1@gmail.com> wrote:
Thanks for your swift response

Here is the job details

I have small scale business which i want to turn into large scale business now it located in TN and the company is based on importing and exporting of Agriculture products such as Kola Nut, Gacillia Nut and Cocoa so i need a best of the best layout design for it. Can you handle that for me ?. so i need you to check out this site but i need something more perfect than this if its possible .http://www.agroamerica.com.… the site would only be informational, so i need you to give me an estimate based on the site i gave you to check out, the estimate should include hosting and i want the same page as the site i gave you to check out and i have a private project consultant, he has the text content and the logos for the site.

Note:

1. I want the same number of pages with the example site i gave you to check excluding videos and blogs.
2. I want only English language
3. I don’t have a domain yet but i want the domain name as yourtopfarmproduce.com
4. you will be updating the site for me.
5. i will be proving the IMAGES, logos and content for the site.
6. i want the site up and running before ending of NEXT month.

My budget is $2000 to $4000

Kindly get back to me with:

(1) an estimate
(2) your cell phone number
(3) And will like to know if you are the owner?

Regards

Aline Faltas

At this point, I was questioning whether or not this was real – his first contact with us was dodgy, but this seemed fairly normal, there were a few bits of the email that I wasnt happy with so rather than answer everything I made him aware of some key points;

On Thu, Oct 29, 2015 at 12:58 PM, Olly <olly@X.X> wrote:
Hello,

It is unlikely we could get this live for the end of next month for a budget of $4000.

Please let me know if there is any room to move the deadlines or budget.

Regards

Olly

Then, they sent me this and it was at this point that it went from a 20% possibility of it being a scam, to a 50% chance of it being a scam. Or maybe the chaps English isn’t too good?

On 29 October 2015 at 13:03, SamboMetals <sambornetals1@gmail.com> wrote:
Thanks for your response,I am okay with the total cost.. everything sound good and I’m ready to make payment now with my Credit card

I replied;

On Thu, Oct 29, 2015 at 1:41 PM, Olly <olly@X.X> wrote:
Hello,

You misunderstand.

I cannot do this job in 1 month for $4000.

Make it $7,500 and we may be able to help.

Regards

Olly

To which I got a response that was a bit confusing, it almost lowered the probability of it being a scam by 10%

On 29 October 2015 at 17:49, SamboMetals <sambornetals1@gmail.com> wrote:
Ok how long will it take you to complete the job if i pay $7,500???

Hmm, thought I would be straight up with the guy just in case it was a paying customer;

On Thu, Oct 29, 2015 at 9:51 PM, Olly <olly@X.X> wrote:
Hello,

Being realistic, it would take us up till the end of the year.

And anyone that promises otherwise is probably lying 🙂

Regards

Olly

Then, BOOM;

On 29 Oct 2015 23:46, “SamboMetals” <sambornetals1@gmail.com> wrote:
Thanks for your response,I am okay with the total cost.. everything sound good and I’m ready to make payment now with my Credit card.

I understand the content for this site would be needed so work can start asap.. but i will need a Little favor from you and the favor is that I will send you my credit card to charge for the sum of $16,500.00 plus 3% Cc company charges, You will deduct $7,500.00 for the design of the website plus extra $100.00 as a tip for handling perfect work for me and you will send the remaining $8,000.00 to the project consultant that has been handling all my consultancy and she has the text content and the logo for my website so once she receive the $8,000.00 she would send the text content,videos and logo needed for my website to you..

I would have love to make the payment directly to her,but she dont have the credit card facility to accommodate.so work can start asap,Sending of funds would be after my payment clears into your account.
Kindly get back to me so we can proceed with payment as soon as you ready to make a start.

Best Regards.

As if by copy-and-pasted magic, here came the payload!

Ive seen similar scams before, but not heard of them targeting UK based web design companies!

Hopefully no one will fall for this as its clearly a scam, they have probably stolen a credit card or bought a number off the internet and i would bet my years salary that the “Consultant” is actually him with a wig on.

Please let me know in the comments below if you have received an email enquiry like this, and ill publish the comments to hopefully help other people avoid being ripped off by Aline Faltas, with the email address;

BTW I did reply after his last email;

To: SamboMetals <sambornetals1@gmail.com>

Hi,

No thanks, scammer.

Kind Regards

Olly

Until next time! 🙂

EDIT: 10/08/2016 – Our Sambo metals scammer has struck again!

I was emailed by an individual who was on the receiving end of this scam but via a slightly different angle – Read here!

I dont know whats happened recently, but the Gmail spam/scam filters seem to be letting lots through that would normally never grace my Inbox – some of them are the usual Macro scams that historically i’ve ALWAYS had to find by trawling through my spam folder, and others are admittedly a little harder to detect and block but we are talking about google here – the company that has more money and resources than anyone else in the world ever.

The following email appeared one day;

From: John <accessbhanu@vsnl.net>
Date: 23 September 2015 at 02:09
Subject: PURCHASE ORDER

Good day,

Please confirm price and availability for the PO attached.
Let us know if you need any additional information to quote.

Your prompt response will be appreciated.

John h
(Purchase Director)

Straight to the point, spelled correctly, word document with no Google warning flags – this is what the attachment contained;

Ok, not the prettiest email, they could have spent some more time on this to make it more convincing but to many users they would buy it. I haven’t clicked the link, but it goes to here;

Which is obviously not an official Adobe link!

This kind of approach is worrying as the scammers could even target you based on the device you are on when you open the link, launching a desktop threat on a PC and some mobile threat when on a phone or tablet all when the page loads after that link has been clicked.

Google need to step their game up a bit and take into account these kinds of emails and if a link points to something that is obviously dodgy then spam the email and notify the host that there is a problem!

I’ve blogged about Resume Scams before, it all starts when you receive an innocent looking email;

NB: I forwarded this to my personal email from my work email as that is where I originally received it – and when it was in my work email (Google Apps for Work) the “Virus Found” message was not on it and there was no indication there was anything wrong.

I could tell it was dodgy straight away, but noticed in the Google Preview icon there was some content, so this was a document of some sort. On  clicking to see a larger preview;

A novice user would do as it suggests and launch some kind of Macro which would then either directly infect your PC with something or start a download and bring something in that could wreak havoc on your computer and cause you no end of grief.

The troubling thing about this is Gmail took a while to notice there was something wrong – so that means many people who received something like this in their email may have downloaded and actioned it.

I hope they had anti virus!

Yeah that’s right. The UK government has replied to the 208,000 strong signed petition that wants the Production, Sale and Use of Cannabis legalised in Britain and the rest of the UK. And their reply is a SCAM! 

Ok, so its not the traditional scam that im used to covering, but the justifications they are using to argue their point are based on the incorrect info and subsequently the message they deliver is misleading and therefore its a SCAM!

And in my usual style, I’ll explain why.

“Substantial scientific evidence shows cannabis is a harmful drug that can damage human health. There are no plans to legalise cannabis as it would not address the harm to individuals and communities.”

Caffeine, Sugar, Nicotine, Alcohol…. all “damage human health” and all “cause harm to individuals and communities” – and i’m not saying that because these things also cause harm, then its ok to legalise Cannabis, but if they are keeping Cannabis illegal then shouldn’t we now be looking to do the same to everything else that is A LOT more harmful to humans? Im a firm believer in one rule or no rule. Not different rules for different things depending on how much money the .gov’s can make from them.

“The latest evidence from the independent Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs is that the use of cannabis is a significant public health issue (‘Cannabis Classification and Public Health’, 2008).”

Latest? 2008? Err…. Thats like 9 years ago. We have practically changed the world in the last ten years or so. Im pretty certain science has found out a lot more about Cannabis in the last 9 years. We’ve invented self driving cars in the last 9 years for gods sake, we’re living in the future!

“Cannabis can unquestionably cause harm to individuals and society. Legalisation of cannabis would not eliminate the crime committed by the illicit trade, nor would it address the harms associated with drug dependence and the misery that this can cause to families.”

The thing that pisses me off here is that that Cannabis is already on the streets, it’s already in our communities, but it’s made into a problem for society because the people that sell/consume/deal with it have to do it in dodgy areas or alleyways/car parks and it then creates “antisocial behaviour” which causes members of the public to feel unsafe walking through said alleyways and car parks. If it was legalised and commercialised like in many many other countries across the world, this “antisocial behaviour” that stems from the Cannabis community would vanish.

“Legalisation would also send the wrong message to the vast majority of people who do not take drugs, especially young and vulnerable people, with the potential grave risk of increased misuse of drugs.”

Actually, young people are bloody intelligent now and you may find that if you lot put your big boy pants on and actually legalised Cannabis, the respect you would get from the younger generations would be staggering. They all think the political system is run by old irelivant toffs that have no grasp of what’s actually going on – so prove them wrong! 🙂

Also, studies in Countries like the Netherlands show that the uptake of things like Cannabis in youngsters is actually significantly lower, because its not “Cool” to do it when it’s legal. True story.

“Despite the potential opportunity offered by legalisation to raise revenue through taxation, there would be costs in relation to administrative, compliance and law enforcement activities, as well as the wider costs of drug prevention and health services.”

What. A. Load. Of. Bollocks. What about the fact that apart from criminal damage, simply being caught in possession of Cannabis, not “Drugs”, just Cannabis, is the 3rd highest “Offence” listed in publically available Government statistics;

What about all the money that would be saved if that was no longer an offence? Anyone think of that at any point?

“The UK’s approach on drugs remains clear: we must prevent drug use in our communities; help dependent individuals through treatment and wider recovery support; while ensuring law enforcement protects society by stopping the supply and tackling the organised crime that is associated with the drugs trade. The Government will build on the Drugs Strategy by continuing to take a balanced and coherent approach to address the evolving challenges posed.”

You cannot prevent drug use. Its not something that you are able to do. Stop trying.

Yes, help dependent people if they no longer want to be dependent and if its having a detrimental effect on their lives, well done. (You should be doing that anyway.)

*sigh*

They had to mention the organised crime bit didn’t they. That one always grinds my gears.

How about this one you morons, if it’s legal, there would be no “organised crime” as Cannabis production and distribution makes up a huge portion of the profits for many underground distribution networks, and if you take that away they’ll start to crumble…

Ask any drug dealer, they DO NOT want Cannabis (or any drug for that matter) legalised!

“There are positive signs that the Government’s approach is working: there has been a long term downward trend in drug use over the last decade, and more people are recovering from their dependency now than in 2009/10. The number of adults aged 16-59 using cannabis in the last year in England and Wales has declined over the last decade from 9.6% to 6.7%, with cannabis use amongst young adults aged 16-24 and young people aged 11-15 following a similar pattern.”

It was this last paragraph that did it for me. This is the one in which they are scamming the crap out of us.

If you spend 5 minutes looking into drugs like MCAT, Spice and synthetic cannabinoids, you will soon realise that those kind of drugs appeared out of nowhere about ten years ago, and have significantly risen in popularity over the last 5 years to the point where many people are opting for the synthetic drugs over traditional drugs like Cannabis, because they are VERY CHEAP (and very, very dangerous!)

So maybe that is what has contributed to the apparent decline in Cannabis usage? Is it worth maybe factoring that into your investigation, rather than simply getting the tea boy to create a response to this petition that insults the intelligence of every supporter this cause has had behind it?

---

I’ve honestly never read something from an organisation the size of the UK Government that is so poorly researched and written – its actually pretty upsetting to think thats how our Government saw fit to respond to so many of the people they were elected to serve.

Im sure its not over, as the US Government has finally admitted that Cannabis does have beneficial properties for Cancer suffers and people with many many other different types of illnesses. It can’t be ignored forever.

So I shall continue to watch with interest with the hope that one day the UK .gov will finally grow a pair and join the rest of the world in progressing our nation rather than clinging on to the Reefer Madness mentality from the 1930’s.