Archive for March, 2010

Facebook Money Transfer Scam

Monday, March 15th, 2010

Here is a Facebook Money Transfer Scam I got hit up with today. Now I know this person from a long time ago. It was completely random early morning chat conversation. I knew something was fishy, and I followed two courses of action.

1. I alerted Facebook that I thought her account was hacked. This link will allow you to report Facebook Scams.

2. I contacted the local police in Cambridge, UK and they said there is not much they could do. There have been a bunch of scams that have been reported to them, so they were well aware of this. But it was difficult for them to pursue it further.

Facebook Scams

I really hope my friend is not in trouble. I could have quizzed more to ask a personal question of how she knew me, etc. But I didn’t do this. She has since emailed me multiple times, asking me to send the details of the wire transfer to an email account. Seems she has access to my friend’s email and Facebook accounts.

Here is the Facebook chat conversation I had with the scammer:

Heather
hey
how are you doing ?
8:48amDerek
Good morning
I’m allright - working - what are you up to?
8:49amHeather
not good at the moment in a deep mess
8:49amDerek
what happened?
8:49amHeather
am stuck in London i went there on a short vacation
8:49amDerek
oh jeez
why are you stuck?
8:50amHeather
I was mugged at a gun point last night all cash on me was stolen my cell and credit card off me
8:51amDerek
omg
that’s terrible
freaky
scary
8:51amHeather
I thank God am still alive and am still with my passport …am freaked out here i need your help
8:52amDerek
what do you need?
8:53amHeather
am having a little problem in settling the hotel bills before leaving i need you to loan me some few bucks
8:54amDerek
how can I get you the money?
8:54amHeather
you can get the money wire to me Via western union on my name
Do you know any western union outlet around you ?
8:55amDerek
yeah there are some close by
just send it to you?
is there some number?
8:55amHeather
all you need is my name and my location
8, Scotland Road Industrial Estate, Dry Drayton Cambridge CB23 8AT , United Kingdom
Heather S*****
8:57amDerek
OK
It may take me a couple hours to get over there -
how much do you need?
8:57amHeather
1450
8:58amDerek
euros or $
8:58amHeather
euros
can you head down there now
8:58amDerek
woah that’s a lot of cash
have a 9 AM meeting
after that I open up
8:59amHeather
I promise i will def refund it as soon as am back home
8:59amDerek
OK - where are you living these days?
9:00amHeather
am in a public library now …am freaked out here
can you head down to the nearest western union around you ..
9:01amDerek
yes
9:01amHeather
how long would it take you ?
9:03amDerek
1 hour or so
9:03amHeather
ok
i want you to get the western union transfer details send to my email address
in case am not online
9:04amDerek
ok
9:04amHeather
*******@yahoo.com
9:04amDerek
what email?
OK
I can do that
9:05amHeather
I want you to send me a test mail now ..

Beware of Facebook Phishing Scams. It’s scary to get hit up for so much money and if you don’t know it’s real, better to be safe than sorry. Certainly don’t send money via Western Union as it’s hard to track, and you could simply lose your money w/o helping anyone. I hope to connect w/ my friend at some point - once she regains her accounts. I am not sure how to reach her now, because I believe all her emails to be compromised.

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Posted in Business Social Networking, Facebook | 5 Comments »

Ignite Ann Arbor part of Global Ignite Week

Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010

March 1st kicked off the beginning of the first Global Ignite Week which is taking place in over 60 cities on 6 continents.

Ignite is a high-energy evening of 5-minute talks by people who have an idea—and the guts to get onstage and share it with their hometown crowd. Run by local volunteers who are connected through the global Ignite network, Ignite is a force for raising the collective IQ and building connections in each city.  And, via streaming and archived videos of local talks, local Ignites share all that knowledge and passion with the world. While Ignite has been around since 2006, this year’s coordinated Global Ignite Week initiative is a first of its kind — with more than 12,000 people slated to attend 72 events spanning six continents — that’s bound to become the talk of the Web over the week, and perhaps after.

global-ignite-week

Ignite got its start in Seattle in December, 2006, as a personal project of Brady Forrest and Bre Pettis. They dreamed up an event where people could share their ideas over beer, and sent word out through their network. From there, it exploded. After the first Ignite, word got out and other communities wanted Ignite in their cities. A little more than 3 years later, we have come to the first Global Ignite Week.

Ignites will be held all over the world, one of these being in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. Ignite Ann Arbor has many topics on the menu for the night but one in particular has a major impact on the area. Derek Mehraban will be promoting A2Fiber, which is the city of Ann Arbor’s movement to be chosen by Google as one of the cities they plan to build and test ultra-high speed broadband networks in. A Google Fiber-Optic network would be a big win for one of the technological hubs of Michigan.

Go to the Ignite website to find a Global Ignite Week event near you.

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Posted in Global Ignite Week, Social Harbor News | No Comments »