| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Overpayment scam: scammer's reply on hearing of the consequences of fraud Thread poster: Liviu-Lee Roth
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Liviu-Lee Roth
United States
Local time: 00:39
Romanian to English
+ ...
Recently a colleague sent me an e-mail that he fell for the Alan Cox scam and lost over $3000.
He wrote this message to ”Alan Cox” and please read the reply:
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Alan Cox
Date: 2012/7/19
Subject: Re: life and death
To: NK
Person who collected the money doesn't even exist,cos its a fake name
and i.d so don't bother yourself.My partners in crime have hundreds of
WU locat... See more Recently a colleague sent me an e-mail that he fell for the Alan Cox scam and lost over $3000.
He wrote this message to ”Alan Cox” and please read the reply:
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Alan Cox
Date: 2012/7/19
Subject: Re: life and death
To: NK
Person who collected the money doesn't even exist,cos its a fake name
and i.d so don't bother yourself.My partners in crime have hundreds of
WU locations,Moneygram locations and even Small Banks and credit
unions.You have to use what you have to get what you need.Everybody is
corrupt,government is corrupt and even America is corrupt,so nobody is
a saint.Sorry for the loss but i can't help it too.Life goes on..Man!
On 7/20/12,NK wrote:
> you are controling with what you're doing what might happen to different
> people to whom you are having a contact. my family in Serbia lives with 400
> dollars monthly, by destroying me you are also increasing the chances of my
> parents to die or get seriously ill. My sister is unemployed and looking
> for job. I was supporting them with all I had.
>
> Now I have to digg for 3300 dollars. I will probably have to quit my job of
> a chauffeur and start working moving.
>
> If anything bad happens to anyone who is relying on my stability I will do
> everything I can to track you and anyone who works with you. I can promisse
> you that. I will inform every single member of my community and provide
> them with any info that I get about you.
>
> If you want to send another check, this time real one I will forgive you
> for the stress and all frustration and time loss, I won't drop charges
> though cause you have to be imprisoned. But I will let you be. If you don't
> do that thousends of people will look for you and you won't have a chance
> to explain.
>
> I know that you are only about 20 years old and I know that this was a good
> joke for you. I know that you are physicaly weak and that you are afraid of
> your shadow. You'll always walk with the shadow, day and night. Be sure
> about that.
>
> I have your IP and all the locations where you have been using this e-mail
> from.
>
> Person who collected the money was recorded and will be found. I am
> offering you to send real money or just go straight to the nearest police
> department and confess.
>
> When you ruin someone's life you don't walk out easely as you may think.
> ▲ Collapse
| | | | Alexandranow 
Romania
Local time: 07:39
Romanian to English
+ ...
I am sorry to hear about that, some time ago I had an experience with a person John Cole, who claimed that needs a translator some day in Bucharest. I booked hotel and return other job offers, to be able to attend, meanwhile the person sent a check, for the journey...In bank they said was a fake, I was happy I had no trouble with the police...I only lost some time, and patience, but since I am not so easy and worrying whether I will get paid...
| | | | Jeff Whittaker
United States
Local time: 00:39
Spanish to English
+ ...
| This is a sad story... | Jul 20, 2012 |
...but one should never assume a translation job out of desperation. This is the only explanation I can think of to explain why anyone would accept a job from a free e-mail account without first executing an extreme verification process. Assume every e-mail you receive is from a scam artist until you have reason to believe otherwise. If your life depends so much on one unpaid job, translation is definitely NOT the field for you because your desperation will always get you into trouble. Scam arti... See more ...but one should never assume a translation job out of desperation. This is the only explanation I can think of to explain why anyone would accept a job from a free e-mail account without first executing an extreme verification process. Assume every e-mail you receive is from a scam artist until you have reason to believe otherwise. If your life depends so much on one unpaid job, translation is definitely NOT the field for you because your desperation will always get you into trouble. Scam artists love desperation.
What would this person have done if Mr. Cox had not come along? They would still be in the same sad situation. A translator needs to have a bare minimum of 6-7 months of savings, so that you will not be tempted to accept unreasonable job conditions or be tempted not to proper verify potential clients. For example, I generally accept only 1 out of every 100 job offers I receive.
[Edited at 2012-07-20 13:06 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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lee roth wrote:
Recently a colleague sent me an e-mail that he fell for the Alan Cox scam and lost over $3000.
He wrote this message to ”Alan Cox” and please read the reply:
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Alan Cox
Date: 2012/7/19
Subject: Re: life and death
To: NK
>
> When you ruin someone's life you don't walk out easely as you may think.
>
Well, hopefully one day, the so-called Alan Cox and his partners will get what they deserve.
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Neil Coffey
United Kingdom
Local time: 05:39
French to English
+ ...
| Usually best not to engage with criminals | Jul 20, 2012 |
It's probably best not to start engaging in e-mail altercations with criminals in this way (I'm actually surprised that they also continued to play the game-- possibly a sign that they're not such a big operation in this case). Remember that you are also revealing information about yourself in so doing.
At least make sure that you have been to the police first and that any dialog/actions towards the criminals that you take is under police advice.
Unfortunately, it is ju... See more It's probably best not to start engaging in e-mail altercations with criminals in this way (I'm actually surprised that they also continued to play the game-- possibly a sign that they're not such a big operation in this case). Remember that you are also revealing information about yourself in so doing.
At least make sure that you have been to the police first and that any dialog/actions towards the criminals that you take is under police advice.
Unfortunately, it is just going to be eternally difficult to convince criminal states to care much about criminal operations to scam citizens of other capitalist states that are being run in their countries. It is probably more productive to focus our efforts elsewhere:
- continuing to warn colleagues on how not to fall for these kinds of scams
- perhaps there could be fundraising efforts to help in the case of particularly tragic cases of colleagues being scammed. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | I am the victim | Jul 20, 2012 |
I am not afraaid of internet criminals and I trust to American society and it's fairness. I did this job cause it made sense, didn't know about the bouncing checks and was sure that once I have the money on my account that the check must be fine.
I was hoping that it will be filtered inside the bank somehow. And when I found that the check has been cleared I lost any doubt of possible scam.
I was fooled elegantly due to my lack of understanding the system of direct dep... See more I am not afraaid of internet criminals and I trust to American society and it's fairness. I did this job cause it made sense, didn't know about the bouncing checks and was sure that once I have the money on my account that the check must be fine.
I was hoping that it will be filtered inside the bank somehow. And when I found that the check has been cleared I lost any doubt of possible scam.
I was fooled elegantly due to my lack of understanding the system of direct deposit. The check wasn't written it was printed out and I had doubt of course but I leaned on the bank's ability to discover the fraud.
Still I don't think that we all should no agree that I was a fool and that it was my fault and accept this real person and his sick mind to keep working on scams. Their huge advantege is that we usually overestimate their abilities and themselves.
He is a liar with one partner or two the most and other (possibly) uninformed and despaired people who collect the money at wu locations.
The problem is that for FBI this is to small amount even to start thinking about investigating and they are probalby the only institution that is able to handle this type of amateurs in criminal activity like this "Alan Cox" guy is.
I am not scared cause this is probably the kid, not older then 25. And I am sure that WU locations all have video survailance and they are able to locate the person who collected the money.
Sick mind is always limited to its anger.
Please give me some positive attitude.
Thanks.
[Edited at 2012-07-20 17:26 GMT]
[Edited at 2012-07-20 17:27 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Might be trouble. | Jul 20, 2012 |
Neil Coffey wrote:
- perhaps there could be fundraising efforts to help in the case of particularly tragic cases of colleagues being scammed.
Cue the scammers posing as victims instead. Due diligence is the best we can do.
| | | | | What is useful and what is not | Jul 20, 2012 |
The best defense against scammers is appropriate risk management done before we commit effort and/or money. Anything done after that is damage control, not risk management.
In general it is not a good idea to communicate with scammers. They are criminals and they know who you are, and you have no idea who they are, nor where they are.
The best way to help others is by spreading the word and by raising awareness, so as many freelancers as possible can learn how to defend... See more The best defense against scammers is appropriate risk management done before we commit effort and/or money. Anything done after that is damage control, not risk management.
In general it is not a good idea to communicate with scammers. They are criminals and they know who you are, and you have no idea who they are, nor where they are.
The best way to help others is by spreading the word and by raising awareness, so as many freelancers as possible can learn how to defend themselves.
Enrique ▲ Collapse
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Edward Potter
Spain
Local time: 06:39
Member (2003)
Spanish to English
+ ...
| What happened? | Jul 20, 2012 |
I don't quite get what happened.
Did the guy send you a bogus check for 3300 dollars when it was supposed to be for less? How much did you send to him? What country did you send it to?
| | | | macimovic
Netherlands
Local time: 06:39
English to Serbian
+ ...
I'm sorry to hear about it and I hope he'll get back on his feet soon!
Edward Potter wrote:
I don't quite get what happened.
Did the guy send you a bogus check for 3300 dollars when it was supposed to be for less? How much did you send to him? What country did you send it to?
This is something I'd like to know too.
| | | | | I can't believe to myself what I did | Jul 21, 2012 |
This was the intro with the offer.
Subject:
Translations..ENGLISH_SERBIAN
Inbox
Alan Cox [email protected]
Jun 20
to me
Greetings!
My name is Alan Cox from Macon,Georgia and i'll be leaving for the United Kingdom on a business trip tomorrow morning.I'll be making a presentation to some groups of serbian speaking people in Belgrade on the 3rd of August,2012... See more This was the intro with the offer.
Subject:
Translations..ENGLISH_SERBIAN
Inbox
Alan Cox [email protected]
Jun 20
to me
Greetings!
My name is Alan Cox from Macon,Georgia and i'll be leaving for the United Kingdom on a business trip tomorrow morning.I'll be making a presentation to some groups of serbian speaking people in Belgrade on the 3rd of August,2012.However,i will need you to help me translate some documents from English to Serbian,so each of my audience can have a copy in their local language and they can follow through.The deadline for the delivery of translations is July 31,2012.Please,let me have an estimate for the documents(see attached).I look forward to hearing back from you soon.
Kind Regards,
Alan
678-701-9193
+447924007140
2 attachments — Download all attachments
Mgmt..docx
8K View Download
Foreign Exchange Markets.docx
20K View Download
I DID EVERYTHING WITHOUT A DOUBT THAT THIS MIGHT BE A SCAM. I thought that it is possible in the part of my brain but I guess I was too impressed with the content and what's worse I googled Alan Cox and found out that there is a guy who I thought I am speaking to ever since the begining.
I am not doing interpreting/translating for too long here in US. I actually live here less then two years and I didn't quite understood how those scam masters work their way to scam a person for real money. Now I know.
I am not going to try to explain why I was so terribly naive, I will just tell you what happen. After this e-mail I offer the rate to him of 0.15/word and I promissed to finish translating the document by July 15th. He said he will send me the check even before. I said fine. Like I said I am new in this field and I was open for all kinds of versions. I knew that scams are happening and what I figured to be my guaranty that this is not a scam was that banks must filter checks before they make it appear as money. It was cashier's check made from US Bank for Jan Quinn, and with my name printed as reciever for the amount of $3900. I have send the rest after deducting $617 which is $3283 for his associate:
I hope you had a great day.I just want to let you know that the refund should be sent to my associate tomorrow via western union with the details below as Mrs. Quinn's assistant has gone on vacation today.My associate will handle everything for me once she receives the money.I look forward to hearing back from you soon.Have a wonderful evening.
My Associate's info:
Evelyn Chan
4954 Wilton Pl,
Riverside,California 92504
I thought I am so smart and that I got everything covered. But this was terribly wrong. I can't believe how stupid is what I did. I was thinking whether I will translate the document good enough so his presentation goes well. I am simply ashamed of myself right now.
But like my wife have told me I didn't do anything wrong. And I will try to find this idiot and get back my money.
It's not an organized group it is just one pathetic person with few other guys who are playing video games in network and that is it. Those who are collecting money don't even know why, they just get payed to take cash and they are his weak spot. Cause they exist.
[Edited at 2012-07-21 01:44 GMT]
[Edited at 2012-07-21 02:03 GMT]
[Edited at 2012-07-21 02:04 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Liviu-Lee Roth
United States
Local time: 00:39
Romanian to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | it is a little more complex than it seems | Jul 21, 2012 |
Nikola wrote:
"It's not an organized group it is just one pathetic person with few other guys who are playing video games in network and that is it. Those who are collecting money don't even know why, they just get payed to take cash and they are his weak spot.".
This operation is a little more complex:
- by "phishing" or "spear phishing" they are able to "highjack" e-mail accounts belonging to individuals or small entities; most of the time they send the... See more Nikola wrote:
"It's not an organized group it is just one pathetic person with few other guys who are playing video games in network and that is it. Those who are collecting money don't even know why, they just get payed to take cash and they are his weak spot.".
This operation is a little more complex:
- by "phishing" or "spear phishing" they are able to "highjack" e-mail accounts belonging to individuals or small entities; most of the time they send the scam from these accounts.
- these crooks have their own data-base with lists of potential victims and with names to be used for scams (Alan Cox, Daniel Reyes,Theresa Collins and so many others) and the texts to be sent : "and i'll be leaving for the United Kingdom(Egypt,Spain,Libya,etc) on a business trip tomorrow morning.I'll be making a presentation to some groups of serbian speaking people in Belgrade". (At one point in time, I received 3 such "offers"simultaneously- two for my language pairs + Mongolian ?!?)
- they have the reply text, since most of the replies are the same.
- they are in an organized group that uses "arrows" in order to launder the money, so nobody can track the source and the real destination of the money.
- in many cases, they recruit less-than-honorable owners or employees of Western Union, Moneygram, etc. who would cash the money without proper identification.
- they set up fake bank accounts in foreign countries (mostly in Europe) in order to transfer, deposit and collect the illegally obtained money.
Keep in mind that it is not a singular or an unsophisticated group. It is a well organized international criminal group that shares the same data base.
Most probably that the FBI would not take an individual case, but I think that if we notify the FBI through ATA and gather the names of all the victims (I know a couple in the GE-EN community), then,
maybe something could be done.
Stay safe,
Lee
[Edited at 2012-07-21 14:51 GMT]
[Edited at 2012-07-22 03:20 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Jean Chao
United States
Local time: 21:39
English to Chinese
+ ...
| Now Raul Acosta (a.k.a. Alan Cox) wants these documents translated into Chinese | Jul 25, 2012 |
[quote]NikolaKovacevic wrote:
This was the intro with the offer.
Subject:
Translations..ENGLISH_SERBIAN
Inbox
Alan Cox [email protected]
Jun 20
to me
Greetings!
My name is Alan Cox from Macon,Georgia and i'll be leaving for the United Kingdom on a business trip tomorrow morning.I'll be making a presentation to some groups of serbian speaking people in Belgrade on the 3rd of August,2012.However,i will need you to help me translate some documents from English to Serbian,so each of my audience can have a copy in their local language and they can follow through.The deadline for the delivery of translations is July 31,2012.Please,let me have an estimate for the documents(see attached).I look forward to hearing back from you soon.
Kind Regards,
Alan
678-701-9193
+447924007140
2 attachments — Download all attachments
Mgmt..docx
8K View Download
Foreign Exchange Markets.docx
20K View Download
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now Alan Cox becomes Raul Acosta and wants these documents translated into Chinese. He's using the exact same phone number and attaching the exact same articles. However, the website www.moentaryspec.org doesn't seem to exist.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Raul Acosta [email protected] via mandarin4biz.com
6:46 AM (3 hours ago)
to jean
Greetings!
I'm Raul Acosta from Macon,Georgia and i'll be leaving for the United Kingdom on a business trip tomorrow morning.I'll be making a presentation to some groups of Chinese speaking people in Beijing,China on the 3rd of September,2012.However,i will need you to help me translate some documents from English to Chinese,so each of my audience can have a copy in their local language and they can follow through.The deadline for the delivery of translations is August 31,2012.Please,let me have an estimate for the documents(see attached).I look forward to hearing back from you soon.
Kind Regards,
Raul
678-701-9193
2 attachments — Download all attachments
Mgmt..docx
8K View Download
Foreign Exchange Markets.docx
20K View Download
| | | | John Fossey
Canada
Local time: 00:39
Member (2008)
French to English
+ ...
| A familiar story | Jul 26, 2012 |
Indeed a very unfortunate story, but one which I think almost all of us have fallen for in one form or another at least once. It seems that most of us are too trusting to begin with, until we learn the harsh realities of what's out there.
| | | | | Very naïve indeed | Jul 26, 2012 |
NikolaKovacevic wrote:
I am not going to try to explain why I was so terribly naive, I will just tell you what happen.
YES! Your rate is immediately and gladly accepted (first red flag; nobody who is really willing to pay will accept a high rate without some negotiation), you get paid in advance by someone who does not know the quality of your work (second red flag; nobody does that), the check is for a much higher amount (third red flag; nobody makes such a gross mistake, most especially with a new supplier), and you are asked to send the money to a DIFFERENT PERSON and not to the sender because some clerk is on holidays (a BIG red flag; just so absurd!).
Having being scammed twice in the past (not in my work, however), I know that these things happen and that we often learn the hard way.
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