I was all set to work for this local network storage company when I got this in my inbox! I’m moving to Geneva to work for the United Nations!!!11!!1oneone!!!

There is one aspect of the job (highlighted below), which might, um, be a little fishy. But its the UN, right? So they’ve got to be trustworthy!

Reply-To: unaidjobs@gmail.com
From: “United Nations” metogiles@unitedkingdomonlinenet.com
Subject: Part-time job offer from the UNITED NATIONS
Date: Wed, 24 Dec 2008 07:14:13 -0800

UNITED NATIONS PROGRAMME ON HIV/AIDS [UNAID]
www.unaids.org

20, Avenue Appia
CH-1211 Geneva 27
Switzerland

JOB VACANCIES

The United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS [UNAIDS], in conjunction with UN AFFILIATES, has very limited vacancies and is recruiting Representatives for a two year General Service employment [2 years] with the United Nations to assist the Organization in the funding of its projects in the USA and other parts of the world which includes humanitarian assistance to victims of HIV/AIDS, research and training, grants, medical teams and equipment, medicines, tents, food, various kinds of emergency equipment, etc.

Job location is in all States of the USA, Canada, UK and Europe.
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I did some more poking around the Police Protective Fund and discovered more.

The state of Missouri tipped me off that the “charity” is incorporated here in North Carolina, of all places, and lists a corporate services company on Hillsborough Street as its registered agent.

Its also licensed charity number SL000978 in North Carolina, with a number of documents available online from the North Carolina Secretary of State’s website.

I found the Filing Amendment dated 22 August 2008 to be notable. PPF’s law firm states PPF does not use professional solicitors or fundraising counsels in the state of North Carolina. Yet I have been unable to determine any presence the firm may have in North Carolina. So the question remains as to why did I receive a call from a Charlotte-area telephone number? Is PPF falsifying the CallerID of its solicitation calls?

I’m embarrassed that this charity exists in North Carolina. There is more digging to be done here, to be sure.

Today’s paper mentioned sketchy fundraisers posing as the highway patrol, so that was on my mind when I got a call this evening from a 704 area code. A man claimed to be calling on behalf of the Police Protective Fund (PPF) and looking for tax-deductible donations. As soon as he said “tax-deductible,” I asked him “can I get your tax id?”

The folksy caller didn’t skip a beat, saying he’d have to get up from his desk to get it. After he got up, I heard a number of other telephone solicitors calling folks as the “North Carolina Police Protective Fund.” The main I talked with never said “North Carolina,” so I became a little more suspicious. He came back to the phone a minute or so later and dutifully read his organization’s tax id number: 74-2864446.
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An article in the Coastal Federal Credit Union’s Beacon magazine [PDF] alerted me to an interesting scam involving gift cards.

In essence, the thief walks into a store where the gift cards are displayed openly. The thief makes note of the card numbers – either with a portable barcode scanner or a simple notepad – then returns the gift cards to the rack. At some point in the future (say, the day after Christmas) the thief calls the phone number to check the gift card’s balance. If there’s a balance on the card, the thief goes shopping online with the stolen card number, draining the card of its balance. They can only use the stolen number online because they don’t have the physical card, though with a mag stripe programmer a legit card could easily be reprogrammed with the stolen number.

This scam can be defeated by buying only gift cards that are held behind the counter. Also, gift cards with scratch-off PIN numbers are also relatively safe.

You can read more about the gift card scam at Scambusters.

I saw a “pulic” notice in the N&O’s classifieds today (link may not work as N&O web stuff is sometimes broken). It involves a minor change in the license for WRVA-FM 100.7, a.k.a. “The River.”

I generally don’t pay much attention to these things but this ad stood out its sheer length. Here’s the most interesting part (my emphasis):

The general partner of Capstar TX Limited Partnership is AMFM Shamrock Texas Inc., and its limited partner is Capstar Radio Operating Company. AMFM Shamrock Texas is a wholly owned subsidiary of Capstar Radio Operating Company, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of AMFM Texas Broadcasting, L.P. The general partner of AMFM Texas Broadcasting, L.P. is AMFM Broadcasting, Inc., and its limited partner is AMFM Texas, LLC, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of AMFM Broadcasting, Inc., which is wholly owned by AMFM Radio Group, Inc., which is wholly owned by AMFM Operating, Inc., which is wholly owned by Capstar Broadcasting Partners, Inc., which is wholly owned by AMFM Holdings, Inc., which is wholly owned by AMFM Inc., which is wholly owned by Clear Channel Communications.

Got that? Think the taxman does? Anyone still doubt that lawyers have ruined the entertainment industry?

For the next RDU Barcamp (which will be my first, as I have yet to participate in any), I thought it might be fun to teach a mock class on how to scam people. You know: pretend I’m a big-time con artist showing the ropes to wannabe Nigerian scammers. The class will include critiques of sample scam emails and suggest easy ways to get important information. The take-away from it all would be to educate my “students” in how not to get taken.

I might not wait for Barcamp but might package this as a TriLUG presentation for a slow night. I bet it would be a lot of fun!

Here’s another scam email, stealing the identity of a legitimate business in an effort to hoodwink folks out of their hard-earned money. This one’s been floating around since May.

Return-Path: angel2@t-email.hu
Date: Thu, 04 Dec 2008 05:17:06 -0800
From: “Applied Metal Technology Ltd. ” angel2@t-email.hu
Subject: Payment Agent Needed (Earn $5500 + $500 Bonus Monthly )
Reply-to: appliedmetaltech.ltd@live.com
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
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Remember the Bullet Motorsports scam I mentioned earlier? Seems there is a legitimate Bullet Motorsports Speedlab in Santa Ana, California that had its name and website copied by the scammers. The owner of the legitimate site popped up on a fraud-fighting message board to ask for advice. Thus, while the email claiming to be offering a job with BMS is a fraud, Bullet Motorsports Speedlab itself is legitimate.

Got this scam email today. I suppose it fools many people.

I’ve highlighted the interesting parts below.

From: “Bullet Motorsports Speedlab” Stratton_2492@arkansas.net
To: markt@ blah blah blah.net
Subject: part time job for you
Date: Fri, 28 Nov 2008 23:22:53 -0400

BMS, Bullet Motorsports Speedlab, was originally founded to turn “ordinary” BMWs into the fastest race cars possible. BMS race cars have won numerous national championships over the past four years and BMS continues to promote club racing through its driver development program. From their intimate knowledge of the inner workings of BMWs, and countless hours of track time testing products in a high-stress environment, BMS technicians are highly skilled in tuning BMWs and Minis for street applications. There are many misconceptions in the aftermarket tuning industry. Our job is to separate the truth from the hype, for the benefit of our customers. Of course, tuning by itself is insufficient without full knowledge of servicing not only BMW components, but also the full range of aftermarket equipment from superchargers to stereos. There is nothing on your BMW or Mini that BMS can’t fix – or if you desire, improve.
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