Last week, I posted a link to an interesting article about a man who lost $150k to a Nigerian Email Scam artist. And low and behold yesterday, as soon as I logged into my Facebook account I got a very strange Facebook chat message from a friend of mine named Doug.
Doug had just got married this past New Year’s Eve and so the message seemed a little believable, at least at first. I put the pieces together fairly quickly though and as soon as the guy hit me up for money I knew it was probably a Facebook scam attempt. The reason being that the last person Doug would have asked for money was me…because he knows I have none. After figuring out this was a hoax I decided to rickroll the scammer.
The scary thing is that whoever is running this facebook scam is somewhat sophisticated. They even went so far as creating another fake email and fake phone number to make it seem legitimate.
I have since emailed Doug and he is trying to get control back of his Facebook account. Facebook is great because it really is people you know and have approved so I am sure these scam attempts are paying out somehow and some unsuspecting people are actually wiring the money.
Let this be a caution to anyone who has a weak or easy to guess password on their Facebook account — change it now.
8:47am Doug
Hi Anthony
8:48am Anthony
Yo! congrats man on the wedding. Sorry I couldn’t make it.
Steph had a little 30th birthday party for me.
8:50am Doug
thanks man..am in London with her
8:50am Anthony
Right now?
8:50am Doug
yea
8:50am Anthony
nuts
8:51am Doug
am standed here
8:51am Anthony
how come?
8:52am Doug
i was robbed here..
infact she’s in the hospital right now..
8:52am Anthony
WTF!!
OMG man I’m sorry to hear that
are her injuries serious
8:53am Doug
i really need your assistace ..
i need your help Anthony..
i need your help Anthony..
8:55am Anthony
what can i do?
8:55am Doug
are you there ??
8:56am Anthony
yah
8:56am Doug
i dont know whats wrong with this computer
can you please loanme some money ??
8:57am Anthony
sure anything
8:58am Doug
thanks man..
i need you to please get me $950
???
8:59am Doug
???
9:00am Anthony
sure how do I get it to you?
9:01am Doug
can you go to a western union..
9:01am Anthony
yah
9:01am Doug
thanks man..
should i wait here
??
how long will it take you ??.
9:02am Anthony
I can leave work right now…
9:02am Doug
ok..so when are you going to send it ???
9:03am Anthony
now
9:03am Doug
???
9:03am Anthony
where do i send it to
9:03am Doug
Name : Doug ****** Jr
Location : old kentish,United Kingdom
London
England..
9:04am Anthony
is that all I need to do?
what is your number there so I can call you to make sure you get it
9:05am Doug
ok..
9:06am Doug
+447024015257
ok..
9:07am Anthony
ok great I’ll call as soon as I wire
9:08am Doug
if you cant reach me..
9:08am Anthony
ok going to leave now, but make sure to check this out ok?
http://tinyurl.com/2g9mqh
9:08am Doug
please drop it in my email : d********@verizonmail.com
or in to my FB
9:10am Doug
whats that suppose to be ???
9:11am Anthony
see ya scammer!
9:13am Doug is offline.
Comments
14 Responses to “How I Rickrolled a Facebook Scam Attempt”
haha go get him! scammers suck. one time this dude hacked into my eBay and yahoo accounts and tried to sell a used truck, also in the UK. maybe they all are using the UK now since Nigeria has a stigma attached?
rofl. well played anthony.
omg! i posted this on fb…you’re smart, and deduced well, but who knows abt all others on fb. i hear abt these types of things, but never happens to those i know…crazy!
awesome. virtual high five, anthony.
@Sophia, thanks!
It has been a long time since I laughed in front of a screen – though this seems to have been a mass attach on a number of accounts
cheers
J
priceless!
OMG – That is crazy – good thing you caught on…
That’s a crazy scam, but love the fact that your Rick Rolled him in response! Hopefully that made him second guess his ‘career’ path.
Thank you for posting this, was being instant messaged by a friend on FB asking for money, and was worried that I was being overly suspicious until I googled the number they gave me and this came up!
Well done, saved another victim!
The folloiwng is the spammer’s email I got today (2/4/2010) sending from an email address of a friend I have not seen for a long time. After I aksed the person to provide me with some personal information and the hotel phone number, He eventually give me a phone number 447024015257, but no answers to my questions. I googled the phone number which lead me to here. I am really glad that my friend is not in trouble.
—-
I’m writing this with tears in my eyes,I came down here to Wales,United Kingdom for a short vacation unfortunately i got mugged at the park of the hotel where i stayed,all cash,credit card and cell were stolen off but luckily for me is that i still have my passports with me.
I’ve been to the embassy and the Police here but they’re not helping issues at all and my flight leaves in less than 3hrs from now but am having problems settling the hotel bills and the hotel manager won’t let me leave until i settle the bills,I’m freaked out at the moment.
Linda
[...] asking him to tell us how we met, he ignored the question but sent this UK number +447024015257 for his “hotel manager.” I searched the number and found a thread proving the scam. [...]
[...] How I Rickrolled a Facebook Scam Attempt Anyone getting an email from a friend stranded in Wales that needs money, as I just did, it's a scam: http://bit.ly/dmG4NE (tags: via:twitter) [...]
I just got an email with the same story about being on vacation in Wales and losing all their money. The person provided the following bank and number to call. Thank god I did not send anything.
447024015257
46 Wellfield Road,Cardiff, CF24 3PB, United Kingdom