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Report Phishing Attempts

The nascent Phishing Incident Reporting and Termination project sponsored by CastleCops and Sunbelt Software encourages people to report phishing attempts so they can be tracked down and terminated.

CastleCops calls the project Fried Phish on its website. Expanded information about the project on its wiki described the process for reporting phishing attempts and how the project will help combat them.

"The reason this group was formed is to give consumers direct access to a dedicated task force that will take immediate and aggressive action to shutting down phishing sites," Paul Laudanski, president of CastleCops, said in a statement.

Phishing attempts focus on grifting personal information from people, especially financial information. Thousands of emails that purportedly come from legitimate banking or credit card institutions quietly redirect a user to a lookalike site. The most sophisticated ones capture information and redirect the user request to the legitimate site, where the user is then logged in to the site and probably won't realize what just happened.

PIRT - Phishing Incident Reporting Termination

PIRT gives users the opportunity to report phishing attempts, and have those reports generate action to shut down phishing attempts at their source.

Scam Alert

Most people who use Musicians Buy Line have great stories to tell about their experiences with buyers & sellers, however, we also receive occasional reports of scams and fraud. We've found that one of the best ways to avoid this problem is to keep all transactions local -- whenever possible, don't do business with anyone who is not in your local area.

Use caution and common sense when dealing with any financial transaction:

  • Deal Only With Locals or at least in the USA. Most non-USA inquiries on Musicians Buy Line are scams.
  • Be wary of buyers that want to give you more than you are asking (with a certified check) and want you to wire the excess funds to them and use their own shipper to pick up your item.
  • NEVER wire funds to a distant person, via Western Union or any other carrier.
  • Be wary if the other party wants to use an escrow service such as BidPay or Squaretrade.
  • NEVER give out personal financial information (checking account number, SSN, eBay/PayPal info, etc.)
  • Trust your instincts, and remember the most important rule -- caveat emptor -- LET THE BUYER BEWARE -- applies to any transaction on Musicians Buy Line where money is involved.
If you think you have been scammed, contact the non-emergency number for your local police department -- they may be able to offer advice about your options.

Who you should notify about fraud.

  • FTC toll free hotline: 877-FTC-HELP (877-382-4357)
  • Canadian PhoneBusters hotline: 888-495-8501

    Helpful links:

    Recognizing scams

    Most scams involve one or more of the following:

    • An inquiry from someone far away, often in another country.
    • A proposed transaction includes a cashier's check, postal money order, Western Union, or escrow service (BidPay, Squaretrade, etc.)
    • The inability or refusal to meet face-to-face.

    Types of Scams

    1. Someone claims that Musicians Buy Line will guarantee a transaction, certify a buyer/seller, OR claims that Musicians Buy Line will handle or provide protection for a payment.

    • These claims are fraudulent. Musicians Buy Line does not have any role in any transaction.
    • Scammers will often send an official looking email that appears to come from Musicians Buy Line, offering a guarantee, certifying a seller, providing payment services -- all such emails are fakes!
    2. A distant person offers a genuine-looking (but fake) cashier's check
    • You receive an email (examples below) offering to buy your item, sight unseen.
    • A cashier's check is offered for your sale item.
    • The value of the cashier's check often far exceeds your item - scammer offers to "trust" you, and asks you to wire the balance via money transfer service.
    • Banks will often cash these fake checks AND THEN HOLD YOU RESPONSIBLE WHEN THE CHECK FAILS TO CLEAR, including criminal prosecution in some cases!
    • The scam often involves a 3rd party (shipping agent, business associate owing buyer money, etc)
    3. A distant person offers to send you a cashier's check and then have you wire money:
    • This is ALWAYS a scam - the cashier's check is FAKE.
    4. Distant person suggests use of an online escrow service.
    • Most online escrow sites are FRAUDULENT, operated by scammers
    • For more info, do a google search on "fake escrow" or "escrow fraud"
    • If you must do business with a distant seller, insist on a legitimate service, such as www.escrow.com
    5. Distant seller asks for a partial payment upfront, after which he will ship goods.
    • He says he trusts you with the partial payment.
    • He may say he has already shipped the goods.
    • The deal often sounds too good to be true.

    Other Resources

    U.S. Postal Service warning

    These scams usually originate from free, anonymous email accounts such as Yahoo, gmail, hotmail, keromail, etc.
    This has been tried on several sellers on this and many other Classified Ad Sites:

    The buyer explains that he or a business associate will mail the seller a cashier's check or money order for the amount of the item plus the cost to transport it. The seller is asked to wire the transportation fees to the buyer once the check has cleared so the buyer can arrange for shipment or to send back the difference with the item.

    But a week or two after the check clears, the item has been shipped, and the excess money has been sent back, victims are notified by their banks that the check was counterfeit.

    The scam has become very widespread because it works.

    Scam victims admit they initially were skeptical when the deal was brokered, but after receiving and depositing a cashier's check that cleared, they assumed all was well.

    The scammers take advantage of a little-known loophole in the U.S. banking system. Many people don't realize that when a bank says funds have cleared, it doesn't mean the check is good.

    Under federal law, depending on the type of funds deposited, banks must give consumers access to the money within one to five days. Longer holds can be placed on deposits over $5,000, but banks are reluctant to inconvenience their customers.

    Unfortunately, it can take weeks for fake checks or money orders to be detected in the banking system. And sellers are out the items they have already shipped and left holding the bag for the money they've withdrawn. It's the depositor, not the bank, who is responsible if a check turns out to be bad.

    For a safe way to conduct business on the internet , we recommend using Escrow.com

    Here are some examples that were tried on sellers.
    
From:  shild john 
Date:  Friday, May 26, 2007 7:06 PM
To:  item4sale@musiciansbuyline.com 
Subject:  XLT-43 speakers and CSX monitor

Hello,
I am interest in purchasing your item with no
delay,but first? What is
the final price of the item? Is the price firm? Will
you be accepting a 
certified Cashiers Check? or money order Contact me
with the present 
state
of the item and your contact information to mail out
the payment to you 
as
soon as possible. Name you want on check: Home
Address: City: State:
Country: Phone Number/Office Number.
Regards

-- 
_______________________________________________
Get your free email from http://www.keromail.com
    From: r. martin <rich_mart06@yahoo.com>
    Subject: Re: Marshall Amp

    Thanks for your response.

    Due to shipping and insurance, and that a shipping company is coming to pick up from you. You will receive a US money order of $1450 then you deduct the cost price $395 which is what I will like to pay for it, then you will assist in forwarding the shipping cost which is the balance/extra via Western Union to the shipper who will be coming to pick up, and this must be done in good faith.

    I will like to read from you concerning this shipping arrangement before processing and sending the payment out to you. Also let me know what name the payment should be payable to.

    Thanks for your co-operation, while awaiting your response.
    Regards,
    Adam

    <<<>>>

    Good Day Sir/Ma,

    I just place a look on your Item and i am interested in immediate purchase of this Item,but before i proceed on this transaction i will like to ask some question as follow,

    1. Do you accept a ( Money Order / Cashier Check ) as a mode of payment?

    2. What is the final asking prize you can go at last?

    3 Will you let our shipping company to come to you house for the pick up of the Item cos we don't want you to worry yourself about the shipping of the Item.

    4 You are to send your NAME AND CONTACT ADDRESS WITH TEL # to mail out the payment today.

    5. Will you be able to follow the instruction on the payment,the leftover with be transfer to the shipping company via western union money transfer same day you recieve and cash the Payment for the arrangement of the home pick up from your house down to my client .

    Regard,
    Jackson.

    <<<>>>

    I have a new email address!You can now email me at: lordscourtmin@yahoo.com

    Hello,

    I read the advert of your Musical Equipment for sale on www.musiciansbuyline.com and would like to know if the equipment is still available for sale.Kindly notify me in your response to my enquiry about the present condition of the equipment and your asking price as i am interested in buying it from you.I would be looking forward to your immediate response thanks.

    - Simeon Williams

    <<<>>>



Remember, we have no control over who responds to ads on this web site.
If it sounds fishy...Hit Delete and Move On.  Please be smarter than them.

Who you should notify about fraud.