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Newest Scam: Fake Escrow Accounts
MImeKillEr writes "MSNBC is running an article warning about the latest auction site scam: Fake escrow accounts. The article claims scam artists are tricking Net users into wiring thousands of dollars to fraudulent bank accounts. The criminals do this by setting up a trap auction and when the winner asks how to make a payment, the criminal tells them to pay into an escrow account. One legit escrow account who had a criminal mimic their site said that as many as 50 users had lost and average of $10,000 with at least one being conned out of $30,000 in such a way. There are reportedly at least 150 fake escrow accounts. The FBI is currently investigating the matter."
What in an Escrow account?
Escrow services suck, and nobody should use them; here's why.
I buy something at an auction. I pay the escrow, and the seller sends the item and I receive it. However, I tell the escrow that I haven't received the item. I get my money back, and the item for free!
Escrows still rely on the truthfulness of the buyer.
And there's this fake escrow thing, too.
== Jez ==
Do you miss Firefox? Try Pale Moon.
Part of the article:
The criminals build elaborate fake escrow Web sites, with convincing names like Simple-Escrow.net and WhyEscrow.com.
Is it just me, or are simple-escrow.net and whyescrow.com still up? Were they using them as examples of legit or escrows or not? They're chock full of grammar and spelling errors ("simple-escrow.net, the most powerfull escrow service available on the net..." is their first claim, and whyescrow has a really bad flash intro...). Were these sites taken down? Did others take their place? Did some people read the article and decide to take those domains? So confusing...
Danish != nationality
I don't think that would solve the problem. I know of a scam where people would get a phonecall where somebody would claim to work for a bank, and ask them their PIN-code (4-digit auth. code for ATM-machines...), because some administrative error had occurred. A lot of people fell for it because the guy sounded sincere, or make up your own excuse here...
It's easy to trick people into doing stuff like this. If John Doe had recently transferred a large amount of money to a 'known good' escrow service, and he received a call from that escrow service, or his bank that something had gone wrong during the transaction, and please could he send the money again, how big do you think the chance is that he actually would?
It all comes down to the amount of trust you can generate with the person whose money you're trying to steal. Claiming to be calling on behalve of eBays Escrow service will probably give you a head start.
If you're smart, then you open the box before accepting it.
If you're so lazy that you don't take every precaution against being scammed, then don't come and complain afterwards... Sad but true.
I have to disagree. Why is it so wrong to trust people? I'll admit that $30,000 is a lot to spend on an ebay auction but with ratings, feedback, etc., it's very easy to get a lapse in judgement and trust a complete stranger.
I hardly think that assuming an escrow service isn't a fake site would make someone an idiot. There are plenty of very intelligent people out there who wouldn't know that faking an escrow site is even possible. You would realize this if you ever spent time around a hospital where you have brilliant people (Doctors), who don't know all that much about computers and/or the net.
Thank you Mario! But our princess is in another castle!
They still don't seem to understand that poor spelling and grammar are a tip off, even aside from the lack of SSL etc. It is extremely difficult to find any sort of scam on the web that is completely sound, from an English standpoint. The first person singular pronoun "I" is always capitalized in English. The capitalization on this site is inconsistent even across the front page (look in the FAQ box, top right.) In their FAQ, they have used the non-word "acceptation". Oooh--so close to plausible, too. Bummer. I'm sure that with a little more effort they could develop a really first-rate scam. Why can't scammers ever hire a proofreader?
By the way--has anyone turned them in to Western Union? They're using WU's logo on the front page.
~Idarubicin