Scam email

[Ian McVickersParticipant @ianmcvickers56553]

Received an email from Nigel McBurneys email this morning asking for some help, replied sure if I can.

Next email asked me to buy an Amazon gift card for him and he would pay me back.

1st email looked to be from the correct address but the second one is from a proton.me account.

[DalboyParticipant @dalboy]

I have just watched Rustinox on u tube, and he had the same type of e-mail, but a different address, so looks like one for people to look out for

[Ian McVickers]

On 25 April 2025 at 17:08 Ian McVickers Said:

Received an email from Nigel McBurneys email this morning asking for some help, replied sure if I can.

Next email asked me to buy an Amazon gift card for him and he would pay me back.

1st email looked to be from the correct address but the second one is from a proton.me account.

Thanks for posting; I had the same message and stupidly replied despite a little bell in my head saying it doesn’t sound like a native English speaker, so probably a scam. Fortunately my reply was returned undelivered as it was marked as spam by my ISP. I’ve had no message asking for Amazon gift cards. With a bit of luck no damage has been done. I’ve now set up a filter on my ISP to divert anything from Nigels email address to a holding folder that I can look at later.

Julie

[mark costello 1Participant @markcostello1]

Had the same from D Gray from Hobby Machinist.

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

Have had similar E mails at various times.

Looking at the E mail address, it is never that of the supposed sender (How long have UK residents had E mail addresses that are unusual and end in .de, .nz. ru, or ,sv?

Have just had a spate of messages, supposedly from friends; with unusual addresses, inviting me to click on photographs that they have sent

NOT ****ing likely.  Delete, then delete from Trash!

Happens every so often, so the “sucker lists” are being circulated every few months in the hope of catching us unaware

Howard

[halfnutParticipant @halfnut]

I had the gift card scam email from a friend’s address. It was preceded by one saying he had laryngitis and could not speak on the phone, which fooled me enough to reply get well soon etc. Both seemingly from his address. Take care.

[D.A.GodleyParticipant @d-a-godley]

As per halfnut , I was asked if I could do a favour, sent under a co members email address .   Of course , I replied , “ how can I help ? .” , then came the , My friend has cancer , I have Laryngitis etc etc

Thats when I caught on all was not right and ignored the request , and blocked the contact .

[Chris GunnParticipant @chrisgunn36534]

I have had some scam emails this week that behave a bit different to the run of the mill. I religiously forward all scams to report phishing, but these, which all seem to have 3 attachments cannot be forwarded. When I try to forward them, i get a message saying sorry this service is unavailable. However as soon as i move on to the next “standard” scam, i can forward the message as usual. it seems the scammer has inserted something that disables the forwarding function. I am guessing that one of the attachments is doing this, has anyone had the same, I am surely not alone, and does anyone know how to forward these to report phishing? I am very reluctant to mess about with them, but on the other hand they need stopping.

Chris Gunn

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

That’s worrying, Chris … but it appears there is a helpful little feature in Micro$oft Outlook that makes it easy 🙁

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook_com/forum/all/how-do-i-prevent-my-emails-from-being-forwarded-by/b2745887-a77b-429c-bb20-9f3704a2f565

MichaelG.

[DellParticipant @dell]

I get lots & I mean lots from something or other rottentomatoes & sometimes total gobbledegook email address usually saying your account is blocked or payment declined or something of that nature, I also get them from supposedly ME no not model engineering but ME saying note to self saying hello pervert , how do they know I am a pervert 😂 & how the hell can they send an email from my account 🤷‍♂️

[Chris GunnParticipant @chrisgunn36534]

Michael, thanks for that link, I suppose it is a legitimate option if you want to keep your own emails secure, but not in the hands of the scammers.

Chris Gunn

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

I’ve noticed some of the liars’ addresses are now incredibly long lists of random letters. I don’t know if is to circumvent some types of spam-traps, but it does make their fraudulent nature more obvious, and they can still be forwarded.

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

Dell, and everyone else.

Keep am eye on your “Downloads” file.

If these odd balls manage to hack into your computer, they will download “Anydesk” onto your computer.

This gives them the ability to operate your machine remotely.

Delete it, and them go to the Recycle Bin, and delete it from there.

Then follow up, by tightening security, and changing passwords.

Howard

[HowiParticipant @howi]

Anydesk is a legit program and can’t be used to access your pc unless you have given someone the access code.

[Dell]

On Dell Said:

… how do they know I am a pervert 😂 & how the hell can they send an email from my account 🤷‍♂️

The sender email address is just data that can be changed to anything the sender wishes.  It’s equivalent to writing a return address on the back of a paper envelope.  Doesn’t mean it comes from your account.  The actual sender address is buried in the source, along with a mass of routing and other information.

They guess you’re a pervert in hope you might have a guilty conscience!

Or, as happened to me, because a friend of a friend has poor internet hygiene.  He subscribes to a bunch of porn websites with dirty joke services that email him smutty humour for free!  He’s invited forward these emails to all his friends, which he does.  Unfortunately the emails contain a Blind Copy address so that everyone forwarded is reported back to the website.  They use the information to build a database of people interested in dirty jokes…

I was extra annoyed because despite being asked not to, my friend kept sending me these emails.  In his bonehead it was harmless fun.  Presumably because he didn’t understand the mechanism, there was no threat.  Meanwhile I got lots of spam!  So did he, but he thought it was normal!  In the end I brutally I told him our friendship was over unless he stopped.  He was grievously offended!  This is just one example, there many ways of sussing out what web users are interested in.

Dave

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

Someone DID download Anydesk onto my PC, and I had NOT given anyone access! So somehow, I had been hacked. Resulting in security upgrade and passwords changed.

So it can happen.

Yes, Anydesk is legit, but can be misused (Like most things, in the wrong hands)

Even now, I am receiving spurious E mails, supposed from a friend of long standing, but with wrong E mail addresses, suggesting opening pictures. Not F Likely! They get the double delete treatment.

Eventually they’ll realise that they are wasting their time and look for some other victim!

Howard

 

 

Howard

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Please forgive the Topic-Drift, but Participants might be interested to read the short  piece about Scattered Spider, in today’s news.

MichaelG.

[Howard Lewis]

On Howard Lewis Said:

Someone DID download Anydesk onto my PC, and I had NOT given anyone access! So somehow, I had been hacked. Resulting in security upgrade and passwords changed.

So it can happen.

Yes, Anydesk is legit, but can be misused (Like most things, in the wrong hands)

Even now, I am receiving spurious E mails, supposed from a friend of long standing, but with wrong E mail addresses, suggesting opening pictures. Not F Likely! They get the double delete treatment.

Eventually they’ll realise that they are wasting their time and look for some other victim!

Howard

 

 

Howard

If someone had access to your computer, they would not need Anydesk

Anydesk and all similar remote access programs are useless unless somone(You!) give them the access code.

Having Anydesk on your pc means nothing in itself.

No need to be paranoid just aware.

Howard 2 😉

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

Just had another, purporting to be from my ISP, but for about 5 times the usual monthly amount, which immediately arouses suspicions.

BUT the E mail address is wrong!

Delete to “Trash” and delete permanently.

Howard

[Bernard WrightParticipant @bernardwright25932]

I repeadly get ‘TV Licensing’ failed payment emails, which is comical really as the TV License is in the wife’s name and free as she’s over 75…

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

BBC are currently emailing a survey out and about. Just double check the link is not someone riding on the back of their publicity to slip in a nefarious connection.

[Bernard Wright]

On Bernard Wright Said:

I repeadly get ‘TV Licensing’ failed payment emails, which is comical really as the TV License is in the wife’s name and free as she’s over 75…

I’m glad you mentioned that, I’ve just turned 75,  but licence is in  SWMBO name. Tomorrow’s job is to change it.

[John HinkleyParticipant @johnhinkley26699]

I’m under the impression that the UK TV licence is only free if the applicant is over 75 years old AND in receipt of Pension Credit or their partner, with whom they live, is a recipient.  It is not just an age-related benefit.

John

 

[Neil LickfoldParticipant @neillickfold44316]

You just need to be very vigilant with email and messages these days. If in doubt delete. At work I marked a helpdesk request for access to teams as spam. Never heard of that person, nor the address of where the person was from doing the pc problem solving. They called me, and then explained who they were and  from the contacted IT department. She was annoyed that I marked her as spam. But in the message, did not introduce herself, nor did she explain that she was from the company thats contracted to be doing the computer work.

I maybe paranoid, but so far have not been caught with scams to date.  I am very warry of emails from people that I do not know, especially if the way of writing is not how they would normally say things.

The delete button is a great feature.

[John Hinkley]

On John Hinkley Said:

I’m under the impression that the UK TV licence is only free if the applicant is over 75 years old AND in receipt of Pension Credit or their partner, with whom they live, is a recipient.  It is not just an age-related benefit.

John

 

Ah well  it was s nice thought while it lasted, at least it prompted me to update my email either them

[Author]

Posts