[conspire] Trolling for fraud victims

[Rick Moen]

Someone I know was _very nearly_ catastrophically taken by one of these.
It's designed to outrage the recipient into calling to 'cancel' the 
overpriced and unrequested alleged billing.  Why?  I'll get to that in a
moment.

First, notice that the alleged "Order Confirmation" doesn't state my
name, or even a partial credit card number of how I allegedly agreed to
pay this alleged billing.  That's because this is the usual broadcast
scam, and they didn't even know anything about me.

The near-victim I was talking about:  I happened to be there when the
near-victim telephoned the scam mail's (in that case) area 866 telephone
number, reaching a boiler-room operator, and complained that he or she hadn't
ordered anything, let alone some outrageously overpriced service.  This 
is where the social-engineering magic occurs:  The boiler-room operator 
_very nearly_ convinced the intended victim to install remote-desktop 
software, which he claimed would be necessary to cancel the "service".

This would have been absolute ruin for the victim, as the bad guys would
now be able to get into absolutely all of the victim's financial,
medical, and personal affairs invisibly as if the bad guys were the
victim.  The victim would have had an epic security meltdown, and 
was _right about_ to do as requested when I said 'NO.  UNDER NO
CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD YOU EVER DO THAT."

The intended victim did not even have any comprehension of what
remote-desktop software does, or why it should be relevant to cancelling
an erroneous billing.  (It isn't.)  And this is how the scam works:  
Anyone who's so inattentive as to call them _may_ be inattentive enough
to hand over total control of the person's computing to malign
strangers.

In this case, the person got to within a few mouse clicks of that.


----- Forwarded message from Billing Team <francinadelessio010 at gmail.com> -----

Date: Tue, 25 May 2021 18:16:56 +0000
From: Billing Team <francinadelessio010 at gmail.com>
To: "rick at linuxmafia.com" <rick at linuxmafia.com>
Subject: Order Confirmation




   Alternate text


   Dear rick at linuxmafia.com,

   Thank you for your purchase through GeekSquad . This email is to inform
   you that your annual subscription with GeekSquad is renewed. Here is an
   overview of your purchase:

   Invoice Details:


   Invoice ID: 87456T147106

   Invoice Date: 25th May 2021

   Payment Method: Online

   [1]Download invoice as PDF




   Your Purchase:



                               Alternate text





   Protection360


   $229.90


   Sub-total


   $229.90

   Sales tax (VAT)


   0.00


   Total


   $229.90


   To upgrade/cancel your subscription, please contact our customer
   service desk given below. (Working Monday-Saturday, 8AM – 8PM EST)

   +1(850)220-0033


   Sincerely

   Team GeekSquad
   [1280px-Geek_Squad_logo_%28old%29.svg.png]


   IMPORTANT: Please do not reply to this message or mail address. For any
   issues, please reach our Customer Contact Centre


   ©GeekSquad Ltd. All Rights Reserved

   [2]Terms & Conditions | [3]Unsubscribe

References

   1. file://localhost/tmp/mutt.html
   2. file://localhost/tmp/mutt.html
   3. file://localhost/tmp/mutt.html

----- End forwarded message -----