This phishing e-mail recently arrived in our inbox. It's suposedly from Hallmark.com and looks just like the e-mails you get from Hallmark when someone you know sends you an e-card. Upon closer inspection, we saw that the link that is included with the e-mail does not go to Hallmark.com but actually goes to:

That file, if you were to click on it thinking you were picking up an e-card, spawns a nasty malware from the "i love you" virus that went around in the late 90's.

More details on this virus e-mail:

Fake Sender: listed as "hallmark.com" or "notifications@hallmark.com"

E-mail Subject: You've received A Hallmark E-Card!

Here's a screenshot of what the e-mail looks like:

If you are a user of Google's email program (Gmail), we have a great tip for reporting those scam emails cluttering up your inbox!

If you are not a Gmail use, we recommend checking Gmail out. It is one of the best email programs for filtering spam, it offers one of the highest limits on disk space so you never have to delete old mail, AND they have great scam email reporting tools like this:

Step 1: Select "Report Phishing" from the Reply dropdown

Step 2: Confirming your report will submit it to Google

This one falls under our textbook scams. Any time you receive something like this from "Nigeria" regarding an attempt to collect personal information from you, delete it or report it as a phishing email to your service provider!

If you use Gmail, they offer an easy to use option to mark a review as a Phishing. You simply go to the "Reply" dropdown and select "Report Phishing".

Z 18 Argungu Road/
Abeokuta street,
Kaduna Nigeria.
DATE:20/12/2008
Phone Number: (+234 80 250 600 71 OR +234 80 355 15 619)
Custormers Service Hours--Monday To Saturdays:
Office Hours Monday To Saturdays:

Attention, Attention,, Attention.

The FedEx courier Service Company are hereby passing an essential massage
to all our valuable customers to be very careful while presenting their receivers

residential address to avoid wrong delivery.

This is the FedEx courier service company mailing you as per your parcel
that was brought to this company to be delivered to you by one Mrs.Sherry
Williams, along the delivery process there came a is understanding between you and
the nicon insurance company in regard of their request as per their insurance

certificate which happens to be course of your parcel pending for the past
one year.

Meanwhile we are hereby happy to inform you that the FedEx Company has
finalized everything with the nicon insurance company of Nigeria’ as
the company organization has also listed 24 valuable parcel’s to
beintact in their
office after the released of the parcel’s from the nicon insurance company. We
are happy to inform you once again that your parcel that contain the sum of $
1.3 million dollars is among the 24 parcel’s listed which is now in our
office and also with your name as the receiver despise that we lost
your private residential address’s, also with your private line which
is an
indication that you can now re-send your residential address to back to the FedEx company
where your parcel can be delivered to without hesitation with this e-mail (larry.moore35@ymail.com)

Meanwhile remember that the sender of this parcel Mrs. Sherry Williams
still owes this company the sum of $190 US DOLLARS before incident occurs, this

company has spend out of their incomes in the process by recovery back
your parcel’so dear costurmer we once again appreciate our patronage in our
favour.

Without hesitations you are to pay for just the balance left by your
sender via western union so that your parcel can be delivered to your residential
address before it accumulate a demurrage after one week only, as you know your
parcel is not just an ordinary parcel but with a huge amount and I think you
understand what I mean by accumulating a demurrage? Which you will not allow to
happen to your recovery parcel that almost gone if not for the love that the good
God have for you by favoring you with his favour because it was God who did it not
by your power but by the spirit say the lord.

We assure you that your parcel will arrive at your country in two days
time and it will get to your door step the third OR fourth day as soon as this
company receive the balance left by your sender’and the tracking number of your
parcel will be sent to you via e-mail immediately so that you can track it
yourself to see your parcel coming on the way and you will also know when it will
arrive at your country because we operate in trust and loyalty in your favour.

And also the FedEx courier Service Company is hereby to inform all
their customers by eradicating all their communication with the scam
mails that
are going all-over the world be careful with their e-mails so that your parcel
will not be in danger with their evil planes. FedEx provides access to a
growing global marketplace through a network of supply chain, transportation,
business and related information
services.

NOTE THAT THE PAYMENT WILL BE MADE VIA WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER TO THE
NAME OF OUR HEAD OFFICE ACCOUNTANT OFFICER MR ISA-BRIGHT IN WEST AFRICA WITH
THIS BELOW PAYMENT INFORMATION.

SENDERS NAME:

RECEIVERS NAME: ISA-BRIGHT

SENDERS ADDRESS:

DESTINATION: LAGOS-NIGERIA

TEXT QUESTION: WHO IS LORD?

TEXT ANSWER: HELPER

AMOUNT SENT: $190 US DOLLARS

M.T.C.N: (10 DIGITS GIVEN BY WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER OUTLET)

FedEx is one of the world's great success stories, the start-up that
revolutionized the delivery of packages and information. In the past 30
years, we've grown up and grown into a diverse family of companies -a
FedEx that's bigger, stronger, better than ever.

WAITING TO READ YOUR E-MAIL. YOURS AFFECTIONATLY.

LARRY MOORE
FEDEX COURIER MANAGING DIRECTOR.
FedEx offers Global Shipping, Logistics Management, Supply Chain
Management and more.

We received this consumer scam alert from our reader cdavis. There are a number of warning signs in the email below that can help tip you off regarding the scam.

1. The "From" address appears to be HSBC BANK LONDON BRANCH, but it points to an non-HSBC email address (earthlink.net).

2. The "To" field is generic (ie - Attn: Beneficiary). Always a sign of a potential scam.

3. The content of the email relates to a "lottery" award. 10 times out of 10 these are scam emails!

Thanks again to our reader cdavis for alerting us to this scam:

From: "HSBC BANK LONDON BRANCH" <44764543@earthlink.net>
Subject: NOTIFICATION LETTER
Date: Monday, January 12, 2009 7:59 AM

HSBC BANK LONDON
LONDON NW1 3AN U.K.
TEL: +44 702 402 7735 EXT 113
www.hsbc.com

Attn: Beneficiary

We saw your email ( in the Central Computer among the list of unpaid
contractors,inheritance next of kin and lotto beneficiaries that
was originated from Africa, Europe, Asia Plus Middle east, Americans )
among the list of individuals and companies that your unpaid fund has been
located to the HSBC BANK LONDON BRANCH, UNITED KINGDOM.

Your email appeared among the beneficiaries, who will receive a
part-payment of your contractual sum and has been approved already for
months.
You are requested to get back to me for more direction and instruction on
how to receive your fund.

However, we received an email from one Mr. Virgle Lee Samples who told us
that he is your next of kin and that you died in a car accident last
week. He has also submitted his account for us to transfer the fund to him
including his International passport, we want to hear from you before we
can make the transfer to confirm if you are dead or not.

Note you are to Re-confirm this form below for your claim

FULL NAME.:
ADDRESS:
DATE OF BIRTH:
MARITAL STATUS:
SEX:
AGE:
NATIONALITY:
OCCUPATION:
TELEPHONE:
PRIVATE EMAIL:
DATE:
FAX:

Once again, I apologize to you on behalf Of IMF (International Monetary
Fund) for failure to pay your funds in time, which according to records
in the system had been long overdue.

Yours Sincerely,

Mrs. Arin Adams

Be wary of any e-mails from Paypal. This latest scam involves the use of Paypals OWN redirection service.

The URL you receive via e-mail looks some this:

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr/cgi-bin/

webscr?cmd=_ssr&return=http%3A%2F%2Fpaypal-us.6s.[removed]/

?cgi-bin.webscrcmd=_login-run.webscrcmd=_account-run.CaseIDNumberPP-046-631-789

Note the embedded URL "paypal-us.6s.pl" is used to have Paypal redirect to the phishing site, making the link a valid, official Paypal link!

Be VERY careful when you receive any suspicious links via e-mail for any Paypal correspondence.

Our latest scam alert comes to us from our reader Debra. What happened to Debra is an important reminder to everyone to never give money to anyone you meet online, and particularly someone you have never met in person:

I met a man on Match.com and loaned him $5,000 to purchase hardwood flooring with a promise to pay me back in 2 days when he received the P.O.for payment.

This was in April 2007 and he took out bankruptcy, but promised to pay me back in an email.  Because of the bankruptcy I can no longer call him or ask about the money he owes me!!!!

Scams such as these are rampant in online communites like Match.com.  If you are presented with a request for money from someone you met online, be very wary of their intentions.  If you do give your money away, be sure you understand that you may lose it, and make sure that you can afford to lose it.  Chances are it is a scam.

Thanks again Debra for the scam alert!

We received the following scam alert from our reader, Kara:

I received a letter and a check in the amount of $3977.65 advising that we were the winner of $57,000.00 USD, and to contact Justin Green at 514-569-5763 to claim the prize. When I tried the number it gave me the message that the mailbox could not hold any other messages. The check looks real. The letter is from Carn Financial in 3655 NW 87 Avenue Maimi, Florida 33178. Check is from Carnival (tel 450 751 0076) and is from Carnival Cruise Lines Inc.

This scam seems like a variation on our previous scam alert.  Both scams use a phone number from the (514) area code.  Both also seem to originate from Florida, so be on the lookout.

With these check scams becoming more and more popular, everyone needs to be sure to second-guess any suspicious postal checks like these. The scam involves you contacting them, and they then ask that you provide them with your bank account information so they can "wire" the rest of the funds. They attempt to make you feel comfortable with it by giving you a check (which is a fake).

If you receive one of these "checks", and want to make sure, simply take it to your bank and have them verify the check. Our guess is 10 times out of 10 it is going to be a fake. So watch out!

We received the following consumer scam alert from reader Justina:

We received a letter and a check in the amount of $4797.47 advising that we were the winner of $57,000.00 USD, and to contact Yolanda Fisher at 514-576-4312 to claim the prize. Yolanda advised to deposit the check and that the remainder will be wired transfer to the account. I have shown the check to the bank and they confirmed it was a scam. The check looks real letter is from Star Financial in 100 SW 75th Street Gainesville, Florida 32607. Check is from Oneonta Daily Star (tel 450 751 0076) and is from JP Morgan Chase Wilmington DE.

Justina did the right thing by asking her bank about the check before doing anything. In this case, the scammer is attempting to lure you into thinking it is okay to give out your bank account information since you already have this check for $4797.47 in your hands.

The truth of the matter is that the check is bad, and if you were to give out your bank account information, the scammer would then use it to wire money directly out of your account into theirs.

Thanks for the warning Justina!

We received the following scam alert from one of our readers:

I received an email saying I had won £500,000.00 five thousand pounds. They
then asked me to send them Money. Express delivery £700.00 Premium Service
£500.00 Regular Service £380.00. This was sent from a City Link Couriers
Service.

When I enquired they could not help about a package for me.

Thanks for the warning Carol! If you have an e-mail you think might be a scam, send them our way! We'll investigate and post a warning to help protect others who may also be receiving the same scam messages.

We received the following scam warning from one of our readers (Joseph). Thanks for sending it in Joseph, and let's hope it helps others avoid this scam.

Joseph has been receiving numerous e-mails from this same person, he forwarded the two examples below. Note the "From" e-mail address has the word "ambasador" spelled incorrectly. That is the first sign of a scam. Never reply to an unsolicited e-mail from someone you do not know asking for private or personal information!

Here are the example scam e-mails:

FROM THE DIPLOMAT WITH YOUR PARCEL CALL ME AT NEW JERSEY UNITED STATES
973-878-0466‏ From: DIPLOMAT ADAMS FRANK (ambasadorfrankadams at yahoo.com) You may not know this sender.Mark as safe|Mark as unsafe Sent: February 20, 2008 9:25:57 AM To: [snip - removed]

Dear John
I am diplomat Frank Adams, I was directed to deliver this consignment to
you, I am in airport now and I have been called your phone number but it
wasn’t going through. Please do send me your house description and
your new phone number where I can reach you because I have other people's
consignment with me here. Please call me 973-878-0466 now at Newark New
jersey
Regards,

Dr Frank Adams

2nd scam e-mail:

RE: FROM THE DIPLOMAT WITH YOUR PARCEL CALL ME AT NEW JERSEY UNITED STATES
973-878-0466‏ From: DIPLOMAT ADAMS FRANK (ambasadorfrankadams at yahoo.com) Sent: February 20, 2008 3:44:02 PM To: [snip - removed recipient information]
Dear Thanks for your response , i am now at New jersey USA and trying
to book airline with US airways , i arrived last night and will be
departing as soon as i get flight ticket to your destination but i have a
little problem as i used all the money with me last night for hotel as i
was unable to locate you , the air ticket now will cost $430 as US
airways will depart today , please i will advice you to send me the little
fee to buy air ticket i will be glad to hear from you
Regards,

Dr Frank Adams

The first e-mail above attempts to cause confusion by not clearly stating what this person's intent reall is. They want you to reply with your personal contact information so they can then attempt to further the scam.

In the second e-mail they go as far as to ask for money to help them out. Again, not clearly stating any real reason for their contact with you.

The scam attempts to portray a sense of authority by using terms like "diplomat" and "ambassador". We cannot stress this enough, if you receive an e-mail like this, either delete it or report it to your ISP as a Phishing scam. Some ISP e-mail programs have a flag/button right on the page where you can report scams like this.

Thanks again Joseph for the warning!