Skip to content or view mobile version

Home | Mobile | Editorial | Mission | Privacy | About | Contact | Help | Security | Support

A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues.

Hidden Article

This posting has been hidden because it breaches the Indymedia UK (IMC UK) Editorial Guidelines.

IMC UK is an interactive site offering inclusive participation. All postings to the open publishing newswire are the responsibility of the individual authors and not of IMC UK. Although IMC UK volunteers attempt to ensure accuracy of the newswire, they take no responsibility legal or otherwise for the contents of the open publishing site. Mention of external web sites or services is for information purposes only and constitutes neither an endorsement nor a recommendation.

Fake Shipping Company Fronts Slick International Internet Scam

David Roknich | 24.12.2009 17:24 | Analysis | Other Press | Technology

I was shocked to see the original removed from the wire: every details of this news has been verified and related to a reputable UK company that is being used as part of a spoof, therefore, I re-post and hope for a less anal-retentive editor. The spoofed version of the company does use all caps - I hope that doesn't flip your trigger. Original: "Spoofed shipping website FREIGHT DAY collects on Heir Hunters lottery fraud" should NOT be hidden. This is news that I was not able to find when I needed it, and the result of more than trivial research on my part.

Spoofed shipping website FREIGHT DAY collects on Heir Hunters lottery fraud

Cashing in on the fame of the UK "Heir Hunters" lottery is an old idea, but the latest attempt will fool your spam filter. In order to collect your prize, you're instructed to contact a company with a bogus shipping website - one that collects the UK "Value Added Tax" using the identity of a reputable company. It makes use of a complete spoof of a highly reputable UK shipping firm, copied except for the logo, phone numbers, and email. Like so many hack attempts and scams of the past few years, this is a gift of Global Net Access, in Georgia.

The creators of this one have designed it so that it has an identity that appears completely authentic, and it does fool the Yahoo! spam filter, which is overly strict in many instances. Read this and save yourself the time I spent tracking this down. I now have their full details, and I've already informed the freight company they are impersonating.

In October of this year, "The Register" reported a new trend in internet fraud: the creation of fake shipping companies.
"scammers launch shipping sites"
-  http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/10/16/fake_scrows_on_the_rise/

Joe Wein continues his good work exposing similar schemes. He is legendary, in fact, for surviving the wrath of scammers he has exposed - he also warned about this basic approach several years ago:
"Beware of Fraud: fake escrow services"
-  http://www.joewein.net/fraud/fraud-support-escrow.htm

For now, I will be brief. I'm posting the PDF of the prize announcement at indybay. If you respond to it, and are "verified", you'll be put in touch with a company that will ship you your check along with 5 hats and umbrellas - for a tidy fee. The non-existent freight company is "Freight Day Courier", and their website is identical to the website of a real courier service called "SamedayUK".
They have a reputable High Street address:

Express House,
101a High Street,
Newton-le-Willows.
WA12 9SL

The website of the fraud is here:
 http://all.freightday.com/

and the real website is here:
 http://www.samedayuk.com/

You'll notice that the spoofed website even has the same picture of the guy in the truck - they only changed what was needed for the purposes of their crooked game.

The even used a reputable company to provide them with a "spamproof" return email address.

It was this time of year in 2006 when I was on the phone with one of the techies at the webhost for "all.freightday.com/" after (this was 3 years before frieghtday.com was conceived) numerous attempts from their server to hack my home computer. His claim was that they do alot of "legitimate" hosting for eBay images, and I probably got their IP in my firewall as the result of my visits to eBay, which may have exposed me to various malware. All I have to say is beware when you visit the image galleries at eBay, unless your desktop in running Mac OSX or Linux. Most of the alleged malware detectors are just as bogus as the website above.

For now I will leave you with some of the details that helped me root out this fraud. I was very lucky that a google search turned up the real owner of the VAT number - it's similar to an employer ID number issued by the US, and is for the express purpose of collecting the "Value Added Tax". I did a google for "VAT No. 686081705" and found the genuine owner, with a real toll free phone number on their website, unlike the fraud. So it seems that their are illegally collecting payments for the Value Added Tax, as you will see from the information below.

Here's the email I received from "All Freight" after being "verfied" as a "winner":

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------(snip)
WELCOME TO FREIGHT DAY UNITED KINGDOM

Reference Number: 049837261791/UK

Tracking Number: 3092979300

Website:  http://all.freightday.com/

At Freight Day United Kingdom we provide a full range of courier services, including international courier services, Europe overnight services and someday courier services.

Our international courier network provides delivery throughout the world on a someday, timed or standard service. What makes us different from the competition is that you can custom fit our service to what you need: When the need arises you can upgrade your delivery simply by notifying us by e-mail, fax or telephone call that you want to change your option of delivery and it will be automatically effected.

We have received the following items below from The Heir Hunters International Lottery:

1. Winning Check (210,000.00GBP) Two Hundred and Ten Thousand United Kingdom Pounds.

2. Heir Hunters International Lottery Branded T-Shirt (5)

3. Heir Hunters International Lottery Branded Umbrella (5)

4. Heir Hunters International Lottery Winning Certificate.

The options together with their associated conditions are presented below. Due to popular demand, we have introduced the overnight delivery service which is only open to clients within some parts in Europe. This practice was introduced by the UK National Lotto Commission to enhance speedy delivery.

You are to advice us on which delivery option we should apply to your parcel

Options: Receive your package via any of the channel below:

OVERNIGHT DELIVERY

Mailing...............................................£350.00

Insurance..........................................£258.00

Vat (5%).............................................£30.4

TOTAL...............................................£638.4



24 HOURS DELIVERY

Mailing...............................................£250.00

Insurance..........................................£258.00

Vat (5%).............................................£25.4

TOTAL...............................................£533.40



48 HOURS DELIVERY

Mailing..............................................£150.00

Insurance.........................................£258. 00

Vat (5%)............................................£20.4

TOTAL..............................................£428.4



72 HOURS DELIVERY

Mailing...............................................£100.00

Insurance...........................................£258.00

Vat (5%)............................................£17.00

TOTAL...............................................£375.9

Congratulations from us here at Freight Day. Thank you and have a nice day.



Regards,

Philip White,



Customer Service,



Freight Day United Kingdom.
(snip)---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The domain name, was registered on December 5, 2009, with an attempt at anonymity:

Domain Name: FREIGHTDAY.COM
Registrar: DIRECTI INTERNET SOLUTIONS PVT. LTD. D/B/A PUBLICDOMAINREGISTRY.COM
Whois Server: whois.PublicDomainRegistry.com
Referral URL:  http://www.PublicDomainRegistry.com
Name Server: NS1-APOLLO.NSWEBHOST.COM
Name Server: NS2-APOLLO.NSWEBHOST.COM
Status: clientTransferProhibited
Updated Date: 05-dec-2009
Creation Date: 05-dec-2009
Expiration Date: 05-dec-2010

And here's what I have so far regarding their network accomplices:

Network Whois record

Queried whois.arin.net with "207.210.125.209"...

OrgName: Global Net Access, LLC

OrgID: GNAL-2

Address: 1100 White St SW

City: Atlanta

StateProv: GA

PostalCode: 30310

Country: US

ReferralServer: rwhois://rwhois.gnax.net:4321

NetRange: 207.210.64.0 - 207.210.127.255

CIDR: 207.210.64.0/18

OriginAS: AS3595, AS16626

NetName: GNAXNET

NetHandle: NET-207-210-64-0-1

Parent: NET-207-0-0-0-0

NetType: Direct Allocation

NameServer: DNS1.GNAX.NET

NameServer: DNS2.GNAX.NET

NameServer: NS1.GNAX.NET

NameServer: NS2.GNAX.NET

Comment: ADDRESSES WITHIN THIS BLOCK ARE NON-PORTABLE

Comment: ********************************************

Comment: Reassignment information for this block is

Comment: available at rwhois.gnax.net port 4321

Comment: ********************************************

RegDate: 2005-04-12

Updated: 2007-06-01

RAbuseHandle: ABUSE745-ARIN

RAbuseName: GNAX ABUSE

RAbusePhone: +1-404-230-9150

RAbuseEmail:  abuse@gnax.net

RNOCHandle: ENGIN7-ARIN

RNOCName: GNAX ENGINEERING

RNOCPhone: +1-404-230-9150

RNOCEmail:  engineering@gnax.net

RTechHandle: ENGIN7-ARIN

RTechName: GNAX ENGINEERING

RTechPhone: +1-404-230-9150

RTechEmail:  engineering@gnax.net

OrgAbuseHandle: ABUSE745-ARIN

OrgAbuseName: GNAX ABUSE

OrgAbusePhone: +1-404-230-9150

OrgAbuseEmail:  abuse@gnax.net

OrgNOCHandle: ENGIN7-ARIN

OrgNOCName: GNAX ENGINEERING

OrgNOCPhone: +1-404-230-9150

OrgNOCEmail:  engineering@gnax.net

OrgTechHandle: ENGIN7-ARIN

OrgTechName: GNAX ENGINEERING

OrgTechPhone: +1-404-230-9150

OrgTechEmail:  engineering@gnax.net

# ARIN WHOIS database, last updated 2009-12-22 20:00

Let's hope they are tracked down and busted, as they well deserve.

This is only one of many scams and hacks brought to you by GLOBAL NET ACCESS. It is time for them to clean up their act, or pay the consequence of the criminal acts they have helped facilitate over the years.

David Roknich
Editor,

DOGSPOT

David Roknich
- e-mail:  roknich@electromagnet.us
- Homepage:  http://electromagnet.us/dogspot/

David Roknich
- e-mail: roknich@electromagnet.us
- Homepage: http://electromagnet.us/dogspot/

Comments

Display the following comment

  1. Please re-read the original — David Roknich
Upcoming Coverage
View and post events
Upcoming Events UK
24th October, London: 2015 London Anarchist Bookfair
2nd - 8th November: Wrexham, Wales, UK & Everywhere: Week of Action Against the North Wales Prison & the Prison Industrial Complex. Cymraeg: Wythnos o Weithredu yn Erbyn Carchar Gogledd Cymru

Ongoing UK
Every Tuesday 6pm-8pm, Yorkshire: Demo/vigil at NSA/NRO Menwith Hill US Spy Base More info: CAAB.

Every Tuesday, UK & worldwide: Counter Terror Tuesdays. Call the US Embassy nearest to you to protest Obama's Terror Tuesdays. More info here

Every day, London: Vigil for Julian Assange outside Ecuadorian Embassy

Parliament Sq Protest: see topic page
Ongoing Global
Rossport, Ireland: see topic page
Israel-Palestine: Israel Indymedia | Palestine Indymedia
Oaxaca: Chiapas Indymedia
Regions
All Regions
Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World
Other Local IMCs
Bristol/South West
Nottingham
Scotland
Social Media
You can follow @ukindymedia on indy.im and Twitter. We are working on a Twitter policy. We do not use Facebook, and advise you not to either.
Support Us
We need help paying the bills for hosting this site, please consider supporting us financially.
Other Media Projects
Schnews
Dissident Island Radio
Corporate Watch
Media Lens
VisionOnTV
Earth First! Action Update
Earth First! Action Reports
Topics
All Topics
Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista
Major Reports
NATO 2014
G8 2013
Workfare
2011 Census Resistance
Occupy Everywhere
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands
G20 London Summit
University Occupations for Gaza
Guantanamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
COP15 Climate Summit 2009
Carmel Agrexco
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Stop Sequani
Stop RWB
Climate Camp 2008
Oaxaca Uprising
Rossport Solidarity
Smash EDO
SOCPA
Past Major Reports
Encrypted Page
You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.
If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

Global IMC Network


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech