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Rikkitic

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#255828 2-Sep-2019 12:04
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I just received an unusual piece of snail mail from a Malaysian travel company called Northern Hill Tour. They used an old Spark phone directory listing for my physical address. The mail included a glossy brochure that was likely expensive to print and was mainly promotional in nature, celebrating the company's 16th year in business. Included were two scratch cards. One just said thank you when I scratched it. The other said I had won a second prize of USD $220,000! It wants me to return the card to a Malaysian address with my name, age, occupation, 'client number'(?) and address. 

 

The materials look very professional and well-produced. They include the company's contact details. So I tried the web site and got a 522 error. Maybe this is because so many big winners have crashed the site? 

 

Of course I don't believe for a moment that someone picked me out of an old phone book to send me $220,000, but I am intrigued. If this is a scam, it is a little different from the usual. Like I say, the materials are well-produced and they don't actually seem to be asking for anything. So has anyone else received anything like this, or does anyone know more about it? What is their angle here?

 

 





Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

 


 


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freitasm
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  #2309370 2-Sep-2019 12:18
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Scam.





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sidefx
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  #2309371 2-Sep-2019 12:19
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"I was born not knowing and have had only a little time to change that here and there."         | Octopus Energy | Sharesies
              - Richard Feynman


freitasm
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  #2309372 2-Sep-2019 12:19
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  #2309413 2-Sep-2019 12:26
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Have the scratchy cards got ISBN book numbers, like the last Malaysian scam I saw had,    :),


networkn
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  #2309419 2-Sep-2019 12:39
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They aren't asking for anything YET, (and actually they are asking to confirm you exist, and for additional details so you go on a list of "confirmed targets".

 

If you followed this through, eventually they would be asking you to cover "legal fees and transfer costs".

 

 


Rikkitic

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  #2309421 2-Sep-2019 12:49
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Seems like a lot of trouble to go to. Maybe they should just get honest jobs.

 

 





Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

 


 


 
 
 
 

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networkn
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  #2309422 2-Sep-2019 12:51
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Rikkitic:

 

Seems like a lot of trouble to go to. Maybe they should just get honest jobs.

 

 

 

 

You would be surprised how incredibly lucrative these scams are.


Rikkitic

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  #2309424 2-Sep-2019 12:58
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I have to say it looks very professionally presented, not at all like the grammatically challenged Nigerian princes. I can easily see someone less cynical than I am falling for this. I hadn't seen this particular one before so it was new to me. I think these people are disgusting low-lifes, preying on the weak and vulnerable, and I wish there was some way to round them all up and dump them in nettle-filled bush.

 

 





Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

 


 


eracode
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  #2309431 2-Sep-2019 13:11
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Rikkitic:

I have to say it looks very professionally presented, not at all like the grammatically challenged Nigerian princes. I can easily see someone less cynical than I am falling for this. I hadn't seen this particular one before so it was new to me. I think these people are disgusting low-lifes, preying on the weak and vulnerable, and I wish there was some way to round them all up and dump them in nettle-filled bush.


 



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  #2309469 2-Sep-2019 14:08
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Hi,

I received them as well. Two scratchy card. One is thank you and another one is cash usd 220,000.

networkn
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  #2309471 2-Sep-2019 14:12
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Wow, at this rate of giving people $220K they are going to struggle to make any money!

 

 


 
 
 
 

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Goosey
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  #2309666 2-Sep-2019 20:05
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just reply and give them the deets for the relevant authorities. 


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  #2360578 25-Nov-2019 18:20
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Rikkitic:

 

I just received an unusual piece of snail mail from a Malaysian travel company called Northern Hill Tour.

 

 

 

 

This was featured on a TV NZ  news item in November 2019.

 

 

 

This "Malaysian 16th Anniversary Promotional Event" fraud is tracked in detail at various links, including

 

* https://www.scam-detector.com/article/malaysian-lottery-brochure-fake

 

* https://fraud-reports.wikia.org/wiki/Malaysian_Travel_fraud

 

* https://forum.mywot.com/reputation-discussions-f5/travel-site-fraud-in-kuala-lumpur-t87765.html

 

 

 

Over 150 fake web sites have been set up, as well as a similar number of fake finance company web sites.

 

They operate a phone service from temporarily hired Malaysian phone numbers to take calls, and print off literally millions of brochures and scratch cards.

 

 

 

The operation as known as an Advanced Fee Fraud - where you are tempted to make an initial payment so be entitled to receive a much larger one - in this case US $220,000.

 

Once you make an advance payment of "taxes" you have been scammed. Obviously there is no $220,000.

 

 

 

The mail that they post has multiple Malaysian stamps, which is an instant sign of the scam. 


elpenguino
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  #2360633 25-Nov-2019 20:57
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Surely we can get our police friends can get their malaysian police friends to pop round and give them a telling off.

 

Youd think theres going to be a trail of bread crumbs. For starters, find out whos buying lots of stamps





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  #2360646 25-Nov-2019 21:35
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To name a few.. https://www.dia.govt.nz/Services-Anti-Spam-Postal-Scams

 

The reason it made the news, was NZPost posties want to stop it. But are powerless.

 

They can Identify the likely ones given they deliver many of them at once. But as they can't be 100% sure, current legislation means their hands are tied to intervene.

 

However if the postie sees you at the gate, they'll tell you.

 

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12257606 


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