Fondation de France - Mrs Maria Lazio

The Fondation de France are so desperate to give me an award that they've written to me three times!

"The Fondation De France would like to notify you that you have been chosen by the board of trustees as one of the final recipients of a cash Grant/Donation for your own personal, educational, and business development. "

"We are giving out a yearly donation of US$850,000.00 each to 100 lucky recipients. These specific Donations/Grants will be awarded to 100 lucky international recipients worldwide"

All I have to do is contact "Executive Sec. Mrs.MARIA LAZIO Email:mariasec2008@hotmail.com"

I just hope that no-one is taken in by this scam. If you look on the genuine website for the Fondation de France you will see a message at the bottom of their homepage. It's in French. Even my limited knowledge of French tells me that this clearly states that they only send messages in French and not in any other language - which includes English!

"Enfin, tout courrier ou message émanant de la Fondation de France est établi en français, et non dans une autre langue." (genuine message)

Mr. SONG LI

I mustn't miss out Mr Song Li. Who tells me:

"Greetings of the day to you,although you may be skeptical receiving this email as we have not met before, I am Mr. SONG LI (Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer) of the Hang Seng BankLtd.,nevertheless I have a business proposition involving the sum of $19,500,000.00usd in my bank which I know we will be of mutual benefit to both of us, and I believe we can handle together,once we have a common understanding and mutual cooperation in the execution of the modalities..Should you be interested, please forward the following to me:"

He asks for some details and tells me I should contact him at songlibk18@yahoo.com.hk. Strange that the Chief Financial Officer of the Hang Seng Bank has to use a yahoo email address. You'd think the bank would let him have a bank email address, wouldn't you!!!!

As ever, he's a scammer. Delete the email.

Fake bank emails

Like most of you I get my share of emails supposedly from banks. All seem to have trouble and all want me to reconfirm my details. Here is an example I received today:

"Dear Lloyds TSB Customer, Our Technical Service department has recently updated our online banking services, and due to this upgrade we sincerely call your attention to follow below link and reconfirm your online account details.
Failure to confirm the online banking details will suspend you from accessing your account online.
Please Click Here To Start . *Important Notice*
You are strictly advised to match your Security details rightly to avoid service denial. "

NEVER follow the links in these emails. They all take you to phishing websites, where the scammers are hoping you will give them your account details - username, password, memorable information. In fact everything they need to access your bank account and take your money.

If you do use online banking and you think any of these emails might be real. DON'T click on a link. Phone your bank and ask them. They won't mind, and if the email is genuine they will be able to explain.

I have online banking - and I have the account set so that they do not send me emails. So I know that any emails I do receive must be phishing emails

Shufen

I received this email last week from shufen, who tells me:

"This is to inform you that this e-mail address has won the sumof £1,000,000.00 (One Million Pounds sterling) already insured in your favour,in this year Microsoft/National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) online draws. NO TICKETS WERE SOLD!!"

It goes on to give me instructions to:

"To file in for your claims you are to contact Access Finance Limited in Londonvia e-mail quoting your serial number VB-246819The Claims Processor/Agent:Contact Person: Sir. David EllissFOREIGN DEPARTMENT MANAGERACCESS FINANCE LIMITED UKE-mail:davidelliss@live.co.ukTel: (+44)-701-113-9895Fax: (+44)-700-604-5886"

This email was sent from Taiwan.

Mrs Jeanette Edwards Jr

I started adding spoof emails to this site a few weeks ago. I thought I was wasting my readers' time, so I stopped. But looking at the visitor statistics I see that people are coming here to check out these spoofs. I hope they are reassured that they are spoofs and that no-one gets taken in by these spammers. I've decided to continue adding the spoof here, so more visitors can be get confirmation that these emails are all fakes and should be deleted.

So - today, it's Mrs Jeanette Edwards Jr, who has apparently been trying to contact me about my confirmed able (whatever that is) bank draft.

"I have been waiting for you since to contact me for your Confirmedable Bank Draft of 800.000.00GBP, but I did not hear fromyou for a long time. Then I went and deposited the Draft with FedExCOURIER SERVICE, IN West Yorkshire, UK, I traveled out of the countryfor some Months Course and I will not come back until end of December."

She tells me she has paid all of the necessary fees, except for £165

"Let me repeatagain,try to contact them as soon as you receive this mail to avoid anyfurther delay and remember to pay them their Security Keeping fee of165.00GBP for their immediate action."

The email was sent from the Phillippines. Delete it. There is no £800k.

More videos

I've been practicing making a few more videos. It's not as easy as it sounds. It's a bit like phoning someone and finding you are talking to an answering machine. You know the feeling - suddenly your brain turns to mush and you can't think of anything sensible to say!!

Today I made a couple on using features in Word and then a couple showing some sample pages from two of my courses.

Here's one of them - it's some sample pages from my beginner's computing course for Word 2007. The video is part way down the page - click on the triangle to make it play. I think I probably made it too large for the page, so I might remake it at a smaller size.

My first video tutorial - change the appearance of text

I am hoping to develop a series of video tutorials for adult computer learners. I have just recorded the first one. It's far from perfect, but I would be interested in some feedback. Here it is: How to change the appearance of text you have already typed

Do you think this type of video could be useful to yourself or friends/family who want some hints and tips for using their computer?

Hide White Space

It's Tuesday, so it's computer class day. Today the students kept losing the white space at the top of their document. Problems in classes I find are like Mexican Waves. Once someone starts they spread round the class.

It's easy to lose the white space at the top of your document in Word 2003 or 2007. Suddenly your text appears to have jumped to the top of the page and you seem to have lost the top margin. You haven't lost the margin - it's still there, and will be there if you print the document. It just isn't showing on the screen. You have accidentally hidden the white space at the top of the document. Head on over to my website for an illustrated guide to turning the white space back on again.

International bonded courier

Annie's had a reply from a bonded courier about her win on the "British National Lottery". She had three delivery options for her winnings, ranging from £499 for express delivery to £299 for the economy option. She is told that she will have to pay in advance and that when the goods are delivered she must produce a copy of her passport or driving licence. She's replied to the email and confirmed her address at HMP Leyhill. (I should offer my apologies to Leyhill - if they ever read this blog they'll probably be mad at me.)

"Your parcel containing your cheque, original copy of your certificate and security documents alongside your consolation prizes have been picked up and is ready for dispatch. Parcel Description: Certified Bank Cheque, Original Copies of Certificates, A Dell Inspiron 6400 Laptop, A Branded T-shirt, A Branded Baseball cap and Security Documents. "

"You will be required to sign for the parcel as soon as it is delivered to you thus we will need either a scanned copy of your international passport or your driver's license for identification purpose......"

A strange mixture of "prizes". A cheque for £750k and a baseball cap!!!

Mr Kelvin Watson

Mr Watson is so keen to tell me of my winnings that he couldn't even be bothered to hide his email address in the Czech Republic.

"DIRECTOR OF PROMOTIONS, BRITISH NATIONAL LOTTERY, MORTIMER HOUSE ,MORTIMER STREET, LONDON, W1T3JG UNITED KINGDOM.Congratulations,you have just won yourself £750,000.00 in the satellitesoftware email lottery conducted by BRITISH NATIONAL LOTTERY PROMOTIONin which your e-mail address was randomly selected by software poweredby the Internet."

I think my friend Annie Cheater might reply to this one.

"Name: Annie Cheater
Address: HMP Leyhill, wotton under edge, gl12 8bt, UK.

I'm so excited, tell me when I can expect the cheque to arrive

Annie"

Mr McFerrin Phoenix

Mr Phoenix is not a happy man. He feels he has to shout (all capitals) at me. He tells me his email is from the Senate House if the Fed Rep of Nigeria (even though it was sent from somewhere in Russia).

He knows how to butter up his potential scam victims by being really nice to them - telling me I am undertaking illegal actions. What a nice man - not

"OFFICE OF THE SENATE HOUSEFEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIACOMMITTEE ON FOREIGN PAYMENT(RESOLUTION PANEL ON CONTRACT PAYMENT)IKOYI-LAGOS NIGERIAOur Ref: FGN /SNT/STBYour Ref.THIS IS TO OFFICIALLY INFORM YOU THAT WE HAVE VERIFIED YOUR INHERITANCEFILE AND FOUND OUT THAT WHY YOU HAVE NOT RECEIVED YOUR PAYMENT IS BECAUSEYOU HAVE NOT FULFILLED THE OBLIGATIONS GIVEN TO YOU IN RESPECT OF YOUR CONTRACT/INHERITANCE PAYMENT.SECONDLY WE HAVE BEEN INFORMED THAT YOU ARE STILL DEALING WITH THE NONEOFFICIALS IN THE BANK YOUR ENTIRE ATTEMPT TO SECURE THE RELEASE OF THE FUND TO YOU. WE WISH TO ADVISE YOU THAT SUCH AN ILLEGAL ACT LIKE THESEHAVE TO STOP......."

Maybe I should rename this blog - "unfriendly". Then again perhaps I should call it "scam emails". Or perhaps I should just post more hints and tips - which was the original aim of the blog.

UK National Lottery

Another day, another scam lottery email. Mr Butch Stein (how's that for a name girls?) writes to tell me I've been randomly selected to win £500k in the UK National Lottery.

"Your email address attached to ticket no:512-20658001-034 was randomlyselected and drew the lucky numbers: 20-4-11-19-05-1.You you have beenapproved to claim your winning sum ofGBP £500,000.00(Five Hundred Thousand Great Britain pounds) in cash.N:B: This is your reference number;Ref:PRLUK/56POLG/02, Batchnumber;02/78/2010 and this is your Serial Number:0712/04.You are required to fill this form, and contact (Mr. Butch Stein)...."

Strangely, he writes from Australia to tell me this. Anyhow Annie Cheater (who's still residing in HMP Leyhill) has answered him.

"Cool. My name is Annie Cheater. My address is HMP Leyhill, Wotton under Edge, Gloucestershire. My DOB is 22 Jan 1976. We arent allowed incoming phones.Annie"

Clearly I'm the sad sort of person that answers these emails. They're all scams. If you get one, delete it. You haven't won anything (and neither have I).

Mrs Grace Tomalin

Another day - another ATM card. This one is apparently worth $500,000.00. Mrs Grace Tomalin even tells me its pin number. Clearly she keeps more money in the bank account that it is supposed to access than I do in mine.

"Good Day,I wish to inform that I have dropped your ATM MASTER CARD worth $500,000.00 USD with FedEx Delivery Services. Insurance and delivery charges have been paid for, but the only fee remaining is the security safe keeping fee of $230 USD which you will be required to pay before delivery."

All I am required to do to get this card is pay a fee of $230. What a surprise!!

As ever, delete the email. It's a scam. An ATM card is worth nothing. And no-one is going to send you a card which accesses their bank account with half a million dollars in.

Although "Mrs Grace Tomalin" tells me in the email that she has left Nigerial for 4 months to visit her father in Switzerland, she has managed to send me the email from Taiwan. A truly international journey. Perhaps she should keep the money herself to pay for all those air fares.

Changing between upper and lower case

Another Tuesday and another class. Today the students were asking about how to change a sentence if you have mistakenly typed it all in capital letters.

I'm sure you've all done it at some time. You type a whole sentence, or even a paragraph and then realise you had the caps lock turned on by mistake. Your whole sentence is in capital letters. It isn't necessary to delete everything you've typed, you can change the case of the letters from upper to lower (or vice versa).

Head on over to my website where I've just added an illustrated page to show you how to do this. I've included instructions for Word 2007 as well as previous versions of Word and Open Office.

Fletcher Financial Services - episode 3

Mr Fletcher is keen to lend me money - so long as I send him a fee of £100 (no surprises there then).

Hello, Your funds was sent to an online wiring service so that you will receive your loan as soon as possible.The Transfer Agent in charge of the Transfer of your loan said that the Transfer charges for the loan sum ofGBP5,000.00 will cost you GBP100, I want you to take this payment as a challenge so that you will receive your loan Asap. Just make the payment, and I assure you that you will receive this loan. If I were you, I will take this fee to be a challenge. If you should take this fee you are about to pay to be a challenge to you,it then means that you will receive this loan. The ultimate measure of a man is not where he/she lies in times of comfort, but where he stands in times of controversy and pressure. I am a matured man, and I will help you since you are in need of the loan urgently. Believe in me, I assure you that you will receive this loan as soon as you make this payment.I want you to believe that you will get this loan. I told you before, I have tasted the bitter side of life so i will never want to hurt others. You are to try as much as you can to send this Transfer fee and you will be glad you did because i will never disappointed you in this transaction,You are to send the Transfer fee through MONEY GRAMTransfer with my accountant's information listed bellow. Receiver's Name: Sadoh Ehis Country: Nigeria. State: Abuja. Text Question: Which school did you go? Text Answer: Oxford. Amount to be sent: GBP 100 After you have sent the payment you will send us the following informations so that the money can be picked up for Transfer of your loan to take place Asap. Full Sender's Name: Sender's Address:Refernce Number: I want you to know that I Mr Fletcher Crowley will never let you down in this transaction, I will make sure i fulfill my promises to you. please your approval certificate is been attached to this mail for your notice and should be kept confidential. Please note: The Fee can not be deducted from the loan amount, It is Against the Nigeria Loan Lenders Association to deduct a fee from a that is already insured and Approved for Transfer . You will receive your loan as soon as the Transfer payment is received. Thanks and God BlessFletcher Crowley

Fletcher Financial Services - episode 2

I haven't heard from Fletcher FS for a couple of days. Remember I'm in Leyhill prison and I need money fast. So I sent this a few hours ago:

Mr Fletcher - I getting well worried. It three days since I hear nothing from yu. Plese tell me when i will get cheque.
Annie

He doesn't want to let me down, so this is his reply.

Hello,We received your email and want to inform you that we like like to know with which bank you have account.Before we can proceed further.Thanks

Good. Last time I told him I wasn't allowed to use a bank account. Now I'll tell him I have an account, but I've been told I have a code mismatch. (He must get those spam bank emails too, mustn't he?)

I bank with Lloyds TSB but i get lots of emails telling me my code dont match.
Annie

Bankruptcles and ball-outs

Couldn't resist that title. Yet another gem from my spam folder and no - it isn't an advert for "medicines". That is the subject from the email though. Apparently all I have to do is make phone calls for a few days a week and I will generate between $3k and $5k a week.

"OneHour ADay For BigDough Would you take an hour out of your day, 3or4 daysaweek to generate$3000to$5000 perweek ormore Return phonecalls to people that are waiting for your call and give them some information...That's it NoSellingNotMLMNotNetworkMarketing This is realand so is theCASH!
SeeCashFlow to your door in as soon as 24-72 hours
Ringup 8OO.249.9442 to hear more"

Clearly someone who doesn't know me from the proverbial Adam isn't going to pay me for making random phone calls, so either:
a) that isn't a freephone number (I'm not going to try it to see)
b) they want my bank account details (how unusual)

As ever, delete it. If you are really desperate for cash try your local credit union or try your local supermarket or factory to see if they have some casual work available.

Fletcher Financial Services

Time to come clean and tell them I'm in prison and I don't have a bank account.

Dear Mr Fletcher
In these times is good to knowyou are God fearing person. I am member of Church of Heavenly Values here at Leyhill. They is supporting me through my troubles and helping me as can.

I have big problem. You see from my address I am living in one of Her Majesty's housing schemes. We not allowed to use bank accounts. You have to send cheque to me so I can give to my husband, God bless him, to cash for me. I know you will be able to do that as you are trusty God fearing man.

Annie

I await his answer. Any suggestions for what I should say next? Perhaps I should ask him to open an account for me?

Fletcher Financial Services

Mr Fletcher Cowley has replied to me. He assures me he is a God fearing person. This is his reply.

Attn:Annie Cheater , The terms of the Amount which you requested as a loan is listed below, I am giving out this loan amount to you, with the duration of 36 Months and I believe that you can be trusted. You have come to the right place were you can get your loan fast and easy, I am a God fearing person and I hope you are a legitimate borrower, I want you to be faithful and truthful in this transaction, So that we can have a good business relationship ahead, I can be able to offer you the loan of sum GBP5,000.00 I have stated the terms of the loan below for you to see and tell me if you are in agreement with the loan terms and condition or not. HERE ARE THE TERMS AND CONDITION. APPLICANT'S DETAILS* Name of Applicant:Annie Cheater * Amount: GBP5,000.00* Loan Duration:3 years (36 Months) LOAN TERMS AND REPAYMENT SCHEDULE: The loan repayment is based on a monthly basis which consists of the loan capital and interest rate together. Like it’s written, the loan duration period is for 36 Months. So find the interest rate and payment schedule below: Principal Loan: GBP5,000.00Loan Interest Rate: 2%Loan Term:3 yearsMonthly Loan Payment:GBP 143.21 Number of Payments: 36 Cumulative Payments:GBP 5,155.67 Total Interest Paid: GBP 155.67 Note: The monthly loan payment was calculated at 35 payments of GBP 143.21 plus a final payment of GBP 143.32. These are the terms above, if you are in agreement with the terms and ready to proceed, i want you to get back to me with your banking information. I will forward your information’s to the Money Laundering Monitoring Council, for the approval of the loan, and also send the Loan to the insurance company so that the loan can be insured immediately. The Approval and the insurance charges is going to be paid by me the lender. If al l things being equal, this loan will be insured and Approved before the next 1 Hour for transfer. Meanwhile you are also require to send your banking information if you agree to the terms and conditions. I do take the responsibility of paying the Approval charges and insurance charges for any legitimate borrower, and not the beneficiary of the loan in order to have a smooth transaction and a better business relation ahead all you just have to be responsible of is the transfer charges to transfer the money to your bank account. I will send my Attorney to the insurance company, to go and insure the loan soonest.If you Agree to the Terms of the loan I want you to get back to me as soon as possible, and make sure you send your bank account, bank name, the user name, so that I can contact my bank so that they can transfer the money to your bank account, and also once I make the transfer to your bank account my bank will inform you immediately so that you can withdraw the money from your bank account and the monthly payment will start there after. Note that once I make the transfer I will give all your information to my bank so that they will contact you once the money is transferred to your bank account.As soon as you receive your loan you will be informed on how to make the Monthly repayment. Extend my greetings to your family and may the Almighty God grant you and your household. Amen. RegardsFletcher Financial Service+234 80565 20283

As I thought he wants my bank account details!! (What a surprise) Well I'm in prison, so I can hardly nip down to my local bank to open an account.

Fletcher Financial Services

I didn't take my own advise. I replied to Fletcher Financial Services. I used an old email address and changed the name it displays. It's not the address that the original email was sent to. This is what I sent them:

"I much need loan. £5000. I'm very credit worthy. My salary is £1000 a month and I am boss at work. I am located in UK. I need loan for 2 months. My name Annie Cheater. Address hmp Leyhill, Wotton under edge gloucestershire. My phone isn't working . send me yur tems and conditions so ican get loan fast."

Ok - so clearly I'm a cheater and I'm in prison. Will they notice?

Fletcher Financial Services

Nobody wants to just give me money today. Fletcher Financial Services want to give me a loan.

"Welcome, You are welcome to FLETCHER FINANCIAL SERVICES, we are legitimate lenders registered and approved to lend money to members of the public in need of loans. You are to provide us with the following personal data if interested. Our offering rate is 2% 1. How credit worthy are you to repay back this loan if granted? 2. What is your salary like in a month / year? 3. What position are you currently holding in your place of work? 4. Where are you located? 5. What is your marital status? 6. How much loan do you need? 7. Loan Duration Also you have to provide the following info; 1. Full names: 2. Address: 3. Country of Residence: 4. Phones (Home) (Work) (Cell): 5. Marital Status: 6. Name of next of kin: 7. Fax: 8. City: 9. State: Once your response is received we shall forward you our terms and conditions of loans amount you are applying. So we can proceed ASAP with the loan. Contact us at:fletcherfinancial@gmail.com Regards Fletcher Financial Service."

I don't doubt they are after your identity, or bank details or both. Just delete the email. If you need a loan approach a reputable bank or credit union.