This fake Paypal text was sent to my phone: “Paypal security alert. Did you sign in from Doncaster, DNC, UK at 04.01 AM PDT, 23-Apr-2019? If yes reply 1. If no, reply 2.  Text and data rates apply”. How do I know it’s fake?  It doesn’t say it’s from Paypal – just that it’s from […]

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There is no such thing as “search engine registration”.  This is a relic from the days when the internet was new and you did have to submit your domain name in order for the search engines to find you. Life has moved on just a little (!!) and Google, Bing and other search engines regularly […]

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A fellow member of a small Facebook group received this message from someone who had recently joined the group.  It’s a variation on the classic email scam claiming to come from someone with a terminal illness who wants to send you their money. Don’t get taken in by it.  This scammer doesn’t want to send […]

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Dance Basics are a legitimate company and have absolutely nothing to do with this scammer.  I suspect that their mailing list details have been hacked. The rest is rubbish.  You haven’t made a weekly payment to them (or anyone else whose list has been hacked).  I suspect this hacker wants to infect your device with […]

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Oh yes – brilliant way to introduce yourself.  Tell me you are dishonest, a liar and thief.  And then expect me to believe that you want to share $8.6m with me. Let me think about this………… ………….. oh yes –  I know – you’re a scammer.  Let me guess – you want me to pay […]

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What a load of old rubbish.  Dear “User” – as in, this scammer has no idea who I am.  They very sweetly want to “Avoid Your Domain from being Deactivated from Our server”.  What domain???  Why would any domain that I own (including this one) be on the Microsoft server? If you click on the […]

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What is an Esta? It stands for Electronic System for Travel Authorisation.  It is requirement for entry into the United States for citizens from certain countries who can apply for an ESTA instead of a Visa. How To Apply Apply through the official US government website – https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta/ There is a fee of $14 to apply […]

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This is a cut price bitcoin scammer.  The last one wanted 399$ in bitcoin See Here.  Sometimes these scammers use a username or an old password they’ve found for you from a hacked list.  This one seems to have purchased a dodgy list – that’s not a username I’ve ever used. Just ignore this fool.  […]

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I received this message in my “Filtered messages” folder on Facebook: Free pulse oximeter for my UK friends, ur best personal health monitor or carer. We will full refund after shipped by pp, so if you buy it , maybe you could receive refund in the same day. Or “maybe” you won’t receive a refund […]

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I just received a phone call from 0161 818 7299.  It was a recorded message, claiming to be from HMRC.  Obviously it wasn’t.  It was a recorded message, not a person.  I was told that I should contact my solicitor and phone them back immediately. I was told that if I did not call them […]

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Nice try sunshine.  I don’t have an account with EDF Energy and I’m a private household, so at most my bill would be a few hundred pounds.  Which is what this scammer is relying on.  They are hoping the person receiving this will panic at being told they owe over £27k and will click on […]

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What are you supposed to have submitted?  The scammer can’t be bothered to say.  S/he just hopes you will fall for the scam and click on their link – which will either take you to a page where you are asked to fill in your financial information so the scammer can his/her hands on your […]

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This very (un)convincing bit of ridiculous rubbish arrived in my inbox a couple of days ago.  Somehow I think I might regret asking what the writer meant by saying “you have been flog the dummy”. If you do happen to own bitcoin – please don’t send any of them to this scammer. Just ignore this […]

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This scam warning was posted on a Facebook group that I belong to.  I have the poster’s permission to reproduce it here. Gumtree is a hotbed for scammers.  Anyone can post and anyone can answer.  Do some serious research before parting with your money for anything that you haven’t seen in person. If anyone sends […]

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(The web address on “click here” is http://www.excitingtweet.com/domain/yourdomain.com, which if you click on it takes you to http://maximdomains.com) This domain has not “recently become available”, it has never been registered.  If you would like to purchase the domain suggested to you, DO NOT pay $49 or whatever price is being asked.  Go to your regular registrar […]

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Not many scams make me laugh so hard that I spit my tea, but this one did!   Nice try sunny Jim. Unfortunately bitcoin wallet addresses are virtually anonymous, so there is no way of catching this idiot by trying to find where he is asking for money to be sent. Think about it.  You are […]

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I’m often amazed at how many people will blindly “like and share” a fake giveaway on Facebook.  They rarely even read the original post let alone the legions of comments where people are trying to warn that the post is a scam. There is a repeated one, that I have to say I’ve not seen […]

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This glorious bit of ridiculous rubbish landed in my inbox yesterday.  All I have to do is send money to the scammer’s bitcoin account.  Yeah, right. The email claims they will send proof to 5 of my contacts if I reply, so in the interests of research my online alternative persona has replied to see […]

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What a load of old rubbish.  Don’t open the attached file – it contains a virus. Your “Vehicle registration number” hasn’t been “(protected for your security)”.  This scammer has no idea who you are or what your vehicle registration number is.  They are just trying to infect your device with their malware. Delete this bit […]

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A sneaky Paypal scam – which amounts to total identify theft.  They even ask for a photo of yourself and your ID card – see below.  If you think you have accidentally given your bank details to these scammers, contact your bank immediately. Dear Cutomer We Have Noticed That Someone Tried To Log Into Your […]

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This sounds like a scam that usually happens in the US.  This is the first time I’ve heard of it happening in the UK. A Facebook friend posted this and has given me permission to add it here. Anyone else received a scam call from 01273 917063? Didn’t hear the first part but a female […]

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While I’m on the subject of people impersonating John Caudwell (see previous post), this is directly copied and pasted from his genuine Facebook account. My online, alter ego, has replied expressing interest.  So I will let you know what the scammer says below. “FRAUDULENT USE OF MY NAME WARNING! URGENT- PLEASE SHARE Please do not […]

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I have Lyme Disease so belong to several support groups on Facebook. The millionnaire John Caudwell has done a lot of work recently with raising awareness of Lyme Disease and associated co-infections.  You can read about his work on the website. His charity also has a Facebook page, which you can see here. Note the […]

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This sneaky little email is designed to make you panic and click “here” as instructed to cancel the order. If you click you are taken to a web address that is NOT the apple website. (I won’t add it here as I suspect the scammer has hacked a genuine website). You are then asked for […]

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This DOES NOT come from the Inland Revenue.  They will NEVER email you and tell you about a refund.  To find if you are due for a refund you must log in to your online account and request it from there. DO NOT fill in this form – which is identity theft – stealing not […]

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After I wrote the previous post about a scam email from China claiming that someone wants to register several variations of one of my own domain names, I did some delving into the, so called, domain registrar that emailed me. This is the website/domain name they are using.  Here’s their website: It’s domain is http://cnygdomain.com.  […]

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I haven’t seen this scam for a while.  No-one can register an internet keyword – they are just the words or phrases that search engines use to find your website – and depend entirely on what people searching for your site enter as their search term. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of domain extensions […]

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Don’t open the attachment to this – it almost certainly contains malware.  This scammer doesn’t know who you are, doesn’t say which company they represent or what they are paying you for. Just delete this email. If you accidentally opened the attachment and think your computer might have been infected with malware, download and scan […]

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You’d think that a company to whom you owe money might know your name, rather than resorting to addressing you as “Dear Valued Customer”. The domain name associated with the email address that this was sent from – acm.somerset.sm@aeoncitimart.vn – is Vietnamese. This scam has NOTHING to do with the legitimate restaurant business. I didn’t download […]

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