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fredbear Jan 7, 2009

Today I received a very long email, which at first I was going to delete. Then decided to read it.
It is a Rev Kathy Howard, who is asking for a 16" jointed teddy bear in exchange for antique laces and other treasures that she has from her grandmother.

She is half blind, the nephew has a health problem bla bla bla,. She lives in
AURORA, COLORADO, and gives a telephone number. I think I am going to call the number as I am quissy. Anyone else perhaps had the same email

Lynette

mickeyflip Jan 7, 2009

I haven't had this exact one, but I have had others like it.  They're ridiculous!  And always seem to be from Reverend something or other...

Yes, it's a scam.  You certainly wont be getting any sort of "treasures" in return 

fredbear Jan 7, 2009

I have also had others that do the rounds, I wonder why they play up with being religious and always have sick family members.

Now they seem to be spending time on your website as they can relate to what you sell. Interestingly she mentions me making a bear that won a place in the 2008TBOC Challenge I was involved in and would like that bear. Only thing is that I was an organizer and did not make that bear. So they seem to be targeting bear artist sites.

Lynette

SueAnn Help Advisor, Banner SponsorJan 7, 2009

I think stressing the religious connection and sick family members will elicit the most sympathy from people who might otherwise not be quick to part with their work.  If a 'religious' person is asking, then it's got to be legitimate.  Humph.  Years ago, I had a phone call from a lady saying that a little girl had seen a bear on my website that she loved.  The lady was "from the Make-a-Wish Foundation" and said would I be so kind as to send the bear to this little girl . . . since this was her last wish.  I asked for more information and sent the lady brochures and other such stuff about my bears.  A few weeks later, I got a call from the FBI saying they were investigating said lady for fraud.  Seems she was using the bears she received to stock her store.           My philosophy now is to be very skeptical of anyone asking for free bears and saying they're for sick kids.

thumperantiques Jan 7, 2009

My gosh, what is wrong with people- using the premise of a sick child -  good grief!!!!!!!  Lynette, there is only one reasonable response - hit the delete button as quickly as possible.  Funny thing is, I have never received any of the popular scam emails - maybe they know that I am a cynic

                                                                                                               hugs,

                                                                                                               Brenda

Us Bears Jan 8, 2009

Get hold of your webmaster and have them look through the server logs of your website to see if there are any hits from suspicious places.  "Forward-All" any e-mails to your webmaster too.  He can use the tracking information in that e-mail to correlate with the server logs.

Many times web-crooks spoof their IP address information or use anonymous e-mail addresses but many times they don't.  If you can track them down you might be able to block the person or persons who are trying to pull this crud from accessing your site.

Further, it might be helpful to share any e-mails among the group so that others who get similar scam requests can use them for comparison.

fredbear Jan 8, 2009

Sue-Ann, stocking her shop, I think that must take the cake.

Lynette

Angela Jan 8, 2009

I would suggest you don't call any phone number you aren't sure about. There are scams out there that when you call the phone numbers, you are billed huge long distance fees. Be real careful...there are many money hungry people with no morals using these kind of scams. The delete button is a friend!!!

Woodbury Park Bears Jan 8, 2009

I just got an email from Dave at Bearpile warning of a scam that is going around bearpile from a hoax email address so far has hit half the artists on the site. They seem to think we are an easy target because of the nature of our product. Take care and don't be sucked in by these leeches.

Hugs
Raewyn

kathytaylor Jan 8, 2009

I just got the same warning from Bearpile, there are alot of predators out there.

puca bears Jan 9, 2009

Is it just me, or is everyone else experiencing a huge increase in spam and phishing-type mails in the last 3 months or so?????????Despite the spam filter, it's never ending........... and the really scarey ones come complete (according to the Virus alert) with Trojan horse bugs and other such nasties. I just delete anything I don't recognise.
But it's horrible to contemplate the mean and malicious people out there...............
huggies
Maria