Scams like these

[Warks]

As a side note every time I click the link from the weekly email that takes me to the story I get a "SUSPICIOUS CONNECTION BLOCKED!" warning from my antivirus. Wonder what triggers it.

 

[MrGalaxy]

I'll take it!!!

 

[Major]

Hello,

We are interested in purchasing your product in Bulk, but before making a final decision, I would like to know more about your company's policies and warranty. Could you please provide me with a detailed explanation of your warranty coverage, including its duration, limitations, and procedures for claims?

Additionally, I would appreciate it if you could provide me with information on your return policy, shipping options, and other relevant guidelines.

Have you exported to Malaysia before?

Best regards.
Mrs Anna.
Sales Manager.
Gulf Investment Service Company.

 

[Warks]

Hello,

We are interested in purchasing your product in Bulk, but before making a final decision, I would like to know more about your company's policies and warranty. Could you please provide me with a detailed explanation of your warranty coverage, including its duration, limitations, and procedures for claims?

Additionally, I would appreciate it if you could provide me with information on your return policy, shipping options, and other relevant guidelines.

Have you exported to Malaysia before?

Best regards.
Mrs Anna.
Sales Manager.
Gulf Investment Service Company.

My friend runs a business where he produces a specific line of products and he often gets these requests from the Middle East - Qatar, UAE, Bahrain. Not exactly like this but they always have a list of products they want supplied and he provides a quote to supply and never hears from them again. I am never sure if they are actually legitimate but there's no way they could get anything supplied from Australia they couldn't get for a third of the price out of India or China. So I don't understand the motivation. You'd think they'd go further and try and get the products shipped and cancel the payment or some such scam.

 

[Mr_Tee]

My friend runs a business where he produces a specific line of products and he often gets these requests from the Middle East - Qatar, UAE, Bahrain. Not exactly like this but they always have a list of products they want supplied and he provides a quote to supply and never hears from them again. I am never sure if they are actually legitimate but there's no way they could get anything supplied from Australia they couldn't get for a third of the price out of India or China. So I don't understand the motivation. You'd think they'd go further and try and get the products shipped and cancel the payment or some such scam.

Well if nothing else, the recipient of the quote is now in possession of the format and letterhead of the quote, and possibly the signature of an "authorised person" at the company so they can now use that to commence forging company documents on your friends business letterhead if they are indeed sketchy.

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

Maybe ask friend to do reverse image search on his product line, because it could be that the other person, or company, just wants the info, or just the photo of the product, or confirmed contact details, and ABN #.
There was that Philippino lady, or I think it was, and that some org or person use used her bank account, and she was naive to obey, $1.1m or so went into her bank account, she took a lot of it out in cash, and transferred the rest to others in cash.
Money mules, etc.
Name of contact person might also be the info they want.
Not to mention now that AI is used so often, its like watching Sora on youtube, which we all know is AI.

 

[Jacques Vert]

I received an email purporting to be from ANTAI (the French agency that handles payment of fines such as traffic violations). As I leased a car in France last year it was possible that it was genuine. I hovered over the sender's address and it looked authentic. However, I was suspicious as:

1. I last drove in France in December;
2. this was the first I had heard of the fine;
3. it claimed that as the fine had remained unpaid for many months, the penalty was to be increased but if I paid within a couple of days the additional penalty would be refunded.

This last bit about a refund seemed particularly strange but anything is possible in France. Other than the above concerns, the scammer had done a particularly good job and everything else looked legit.

So I contacted the agency (ANTAI) directly (not via the link provided in the email) and received a reply confirming that scammers are impersonating ANTAI and sending fake fine reminders via SMS, email and letter. If you have driven in France, BEWARE!

More information here: Attention aux SMS, courriels et sites frauduleux ! | ANTAI.gouv.fr