The Marriott Pillows Scam E-mail

I just checked my e-mail this morning and received an interesting message that is obviously a scam. The subject line says, "Welcome to Our Marriot Luxury Pillows Survey Zone." The first thing I noticed is that they spelled Marriott wrong as there are 2-T's at the end of the name, not 1. My curiosity drove me to figure out what the scam is.

I am not foolish enough to click on the link in the message and so I typed the subject of it into my usual Internet search engine and came across a nice Reddit post explaining the scam. Unfortunately it is a world-wide scam as people from the UK posted about it as well as fellow Americans. It seems you fill out the survey and then to get the pillows you have to pay a $7 or $8 shipping fee. Later they go back and try to charge you around $60. If you use a debit card, you have to rely on your bank to catch the fraud as credit card companies provide protection from such nefarious individuals.

I am a big fan of Marriott hotels having recently stayed at one during a trip to Orlando with 2 of my grand kids. I hate to see a good company like that associated with such a scam even though they can't control bad actors on the Internet. Hopefully others will see my post and not fall for such an obvious fraud. I also can't believe the thieves are only trying to get $60. That seems like a lot of work on their part for very little reward. I wonder if they think that is the threshold where people don't pursue recourse. Whatever their thoughts, don't click on the link and stay safe online.

Generative Artificial Intelligence

Today I am attending a seminar internal to my company about generative artificial intelligence or GenAI for short. It is very interesting and while I have played with the technology before, today we get to dive into a number of different topics. In my last session, we talked about the ethics of GenAI and acceptable use within my company, Sony, and how bad actors might be able to use it.

Yesterday I wrote about scam websites. I found it interesting that we would cover how someone could use GenAI to scam people. A few years ago my dad got an e-mail from a neighbor traveling in Europe who got into a bind and needed money. Wanting to verify the story, my dad called his neighbor. Yes, the neighbor was in Europe but no, he didn't need cash. Now using GenAI, the bad actor could call my dad using a fake voice that sounds exactly like the neighbor. What can you do to prevent such a scam from happening to you?

The obvious answer is to do exactly what my dad did before: call the neighbor directly. How you get off the phone is up to you. My favorite is faking a disconnection but the important point is to call the neighbor directly using a number you already know and not one provided by the scammer. This is especially important when the person asking for help is a close family member. While you may feel you can tell the difference between a son or daughter and some GenAI tool, the tools are becoming so advanced, it is getting tougher to hear differences.

As with any technology, GenAI can be used for good but it can also be used for harm. You don't have to become an expert in it to keep yourself safe from potential scams. You just need to understand what is possible and use your own common sense to prevent potential fraud.

Beware of Scam Websites

My wife and I have a sailboat that we keep on the Great Salt Lake. Several years ago, the lake level dropped to the point we had to pull our boat out of the water. Fortunately it came up enough last year that we could put it back in. Unfortunately our outboard engine did not survive being out of the water and not getting used. We nursed it along last year but have decided we need a new one. The old engine was a 2000 Honda 9.9 outboard and it is so old they stopped making parts for it. Otherwise I would only need to spend $35 and replace and exhaust gasket.

I called around to a few local marine stores looking for a new engine and then I expanded my search online. I carefully picked a new engine and then found a number of places to get it. My preferred online vendor sold the motor I wanted before I could place my order. I looked around at some more vendors and late one night found the motor I wanted for a great price. Sure it was for a previous year's engine but I was sure I found the engine I wanted. I thought about ordering but decided to sleep on it. I'm glad I did.

The next morning I decided I would give the place a call and ask about warranty information. The number forwarded to a Google Voice line and eventually rolled to voicemail. The person asking me to leave a message had a British accent, which prompted me to do a search to see if it was a scam. It didn't take long to discover the truth and I am glad I never placed an order.

I eventually found another online dealer with great prices and excellent reviews. I ordered a new engine and hope it gets here before the weekend.

Here are some hints to help you avoid a scam website:

• Prices too good to be true
  
• They only accept PayPal or Cryptocurrency
• They list a phone number on the website but nobody answers it
• You find multiple similar sites with locations around the world

One thing that will help should you be tricked by a scam website is to only pay with a credit card. Should it turn out to be a scam, the credit card company will keep you from having to pay thieves.

Avoiding Internet Scams

Back in August my daughter sent me a link to an inflatable stand-up paddleboard (SUP) website that had a steep discount for outdoors enthusiasts. The site listed the retail price for the boards as being around $400 and my price would be around $70. I should have remembered that anything too good to be true usually is. I figured at that price, I should get 2 and so I did. I rationalized that even if it was a scam (it was) that I could afford to lose $140. In hindsight, I really should be more discriminating as I really don't want to lose $140.

After paying for the 2 paddleboards, I immediately got an e-mail from American Express saying that I purchased from a vendor that uses "SafeKey" and I am extra protected when shopping online. That sent a red flag as I do a lot of shopping online and have never received a similar message. If I ever see an e-mail like that again, I will know I am about to get scamed and take some of the cautions I am about to share with you. I have also told American Express that I think their message about SafeKey is a load of garbage and I don't trust it at all.

I received several messages from the paddleboard vendor about what I purchased and received shipping confirmation. Unfortunately the confirmation didn't match what I expected. When I made the online purchase I could only select shipping from DHL. When I looked up the shipment on DHL, they had no record of it. The shipping confirmation I received came from the Chinese postal service. By this point I knew I had been scamed and saved all e-mails.

I figured it was a scam early in the process as I told my oldest son I got a great deal on some paddleboards. When he looked at the manufacturer's site, he saw a retail price of $600. I looked at it and saw that it looked exactly like the site I used to order from but it also contained a warning about not to purchase $70 paddleboards as it was a scam. The difference in web address of the fake site and the real sight was very subtle and required careful reading. Naturally I called my credit card company (American Express) and immediately disputed the charge. I also put a block on the company so they cannot charge my credit card again for the next 4 years.

One of the e-mails I got early in the process told me that my credit card would be charged by Laycouture of Toledo. Interestingly enough, DON'T ever buy anything from them either. They have a website that appears to be selling women's underwear. Not lingerie but actual every-day underwear. When you click on any of the links though, they don't work and that is a huge red flag. The site looks very professional though as did the place I bought the paddleboards from.

About 2 weeks later I got a small package in the mail from China. It contained a set of Apple AirPods. I hate AirPods as they don't fit my ears and I think they are plain awful. Remember I do work for Sony and may be a bit biased. In any event, I had no idea who sent them. They could have been a birthday gift as they arrived just before that special day. I had also recently purchased an Apple Mac computer and AirPods were being sent as a gift for free. Ultimately it turns out that the fake paddleboard company had sent them so that when I disputed the charge to my credit card company, they had a record of me receiving something from them. It wasn't what I ordered but I did actually receive something. In hindsight I should have taken a picture as evidence. Instead I had my daughter sell them. If this happens to you, take a picture of the address label and what came in the box. Fortunately the US postal service has a record that they delivered the package into my mailbox. There is no way that 2 inflatable stand-up paddleboards that each weight 17.5 pounds will fit into my mailbox with paddles and a floor pump. So I had to document that.

Ultimately I have to document all of this with my credit card company and provide them the documentation saying that I did not receive what I purchased. I am still waiting to hear back from them as to whether or not I gave enough evidence of fraud. American Express has treated me well in the past and so I have no reason to believe I will have to pay the $140.

Always remember if something is too good of a deal, beware. The fake paddleboard company did an excellent job of making a believable website. It looked exactly like the real manufacturer's and I fell for it. Hopefully you can learn from my experience and avoid something like it in the future.

Your Actions May Come Back to Haunt You

Last week one of my coworkers asked if I had ever done anything when I was younger that has come back to haunt me. I told him that I had. After all I am a father and those little people you helped create will haunt you the rest of your life. He had a chuckle and then said that is not what he meant.

I didn't want to know too much about what he had done but figured it out fairly quickly. He may have taken some pictures that would now be considered less than flattering. I had to laugh as the person that has them is trying to blackmail my friend.

A little while ago I posted a message about someone trying to blackmail me. The person supposedly had compromising pictures of me at my computer. One of my thoughts was that nobody would care enough to look at those pictures. If they did, I doubt it would embarrass me enough to pay any ransom. I shared this insight with my coworker and then asked who he didn't want to see the pictures. He gave me the classic response, his mother. I have to admit that there are probably a number of pictures you don't want your mom to see. Then again, your mother has probably seen you at your worst. I think changing a dirty diaper is as bad as it can get.

I don't think I helped my coworker much but it did remind me that you need to be careful about what you do electronically. Those Friday-night pictures may eventually come back to haunt you. Rants about your previous coworkers could keep you from getting your next job. So be careful about what you do online, you will be glad you did 10 years from now.

The Humor in Spam E-mail

I have a pretty good filter that eliminates a lot of unwanted e-mail. Unfortunately it may be a little too good as I have to go through my filter list daily to make sure I am not missing any important messages. I quickly skim the subjects and the sender. If there is anything that I think might be important, I can view it without having it sent to my inbox.

Weird Al Yankovic did a song about a decade ago making fun of the absurdity of horoscopes and so with a little creative license, I would like to add my thoughts about all of the Spam e-mails I see on a daily basis.

Lose 20 pounds overnight - As someone who has lost about 30 pounds in the past 3 months, I know what it takes to lose weight. It really is a simple trick: eat less food and exercise more. Unfortunately the only way to lose 20 pounds overnight is to have one of your legs amputated. I've grown attached to mine and want to keep them so I won't be trying to lose 20 pounds overnight.

Reverse diabetes with this one simple trick - For a lot of people there really is one simple trick for reversing type 2 diabetes and that is to lose weight. However I think those that have type 1 diabetes are offended by such claims. Losing weight also doesn't guarantee you will reverse diabetes, but you may keep it at bay for a while. I'm sorry as I really do want there to be a magic cure for diabetes. Unfortunately it is not that simple for everyone. If you do have diabetes, please see your doctor and get help.

These women want to date you - If I was living below the poverty level of some 3rd world country and you offered to fly me to the United States or some other equally wealthy country, I'd want to date you to. There are much less expensive ways of getting a date though. Besides, this is most likely a scam.

Have an affair tonight - No, I like my wife and wouldn't want to do anything to hurt her. I suppose there are some that might find this e-mail entertaining, but I'll pass.

Find out if he is cheating on you - I think this e-mail is sent by the same people that sent the previous e-mail. Anyone who responds to the previous e-mail is put on a list and all they have to do is check to see if your name is on the list.

I will pay you $2 Million if you help me deposit this money - I get something like this on a daily basis. Remember that if something is too good to be true, it generally is. This is a good way to have someone give up bank account information that bad guys use to clean out savings accounts.

You've won a prize - Ok, I'll admit that once I really did win a prize and they notified me by e-mail. However they provided information that I had given them when I signed up for the contest and so I knew it was real. Generally speaking though, you didn't win anything and it is just another scam.

Repayment of the money lost in a scam - This one is just sad even if it is a bit clever. If someone was gullible enough to get scammed once, they just might fall for it again in the hopes of getting their money back. Too bad it doesn't really work that way. 

I'm stuck in a foreign country and need your help to get home - I actually almost fell for this one. I got an e-mail from someone I barely know claiming that he was stuck in some foreign country and needed me to wire him some money so he could buy a plane ticket home. I didn't know him well enough to just call his family and ask if he was traveling and so it was tempting to respond and send him a few bucks. However I travel enough internationally to have seen the holes in his story and figured it was a scam. I was tempted though.

I wish there was something I could do to keep people from sending me so much junk e-mail. Unfortunately that is just the price we pay for being able to exchange messages so easily. Every once and a while I do crack a smile as I read some of these unwanted messages. Perhaps I just need to view them as entertainment and humor. After all, that is what the small print says about horoscopes.

Windows Technical Support

Lately I have been getting phone calls from a company claiming that my computer is sending messages to their server and indicating there is a problem. When the phone calls first started, they claimed to be from "Windows Technical Support." I promptly informed them that I don't have any computers running Windows and that they should stop calling me. Did that stop the calls? Nope.

Two weeks ago I files a complaint with the Do Not Call registry as this company was not smart enough to mask their number from caller ID. Did the calls stop? Nope. The company continued calling with a "Blocked" caller ID number. Normally I wouldn't answer such calls but the marina in California where I keep my sailboat also has a "Blocked" caller ID number and so last week I answered the phone thinking it was them. My wife was lucky enough to be in my home office when the call came and it went something like this:

I answered, "Hello, this is Matt."

The female voice replied, "May I please speak with Matthew Bennett?"

"This is him."

"Hello, this is Susan with Computer Technical Support."

I noticed they had changed the name of the company somewhat but thought I would try to be polite. "Yes, and why are you calling."

"We noticed that your computer is sending us data that indicates it is having some problems."

I was intrigued but knew it was the same people that have been bugging me and so I asked a very important question, "Oh really, what kind of computer do I have?"

"It is a computer running the Microsoft Windows operating system."

While that would account for most of the computers in the world, I don't have a single computer that has booted into Windows over the past 2 months and so I replied, "You are a liar. My laptop is a Mac and my desktop runs Linux." I may or may not have said a few more things before I rudely hung up on her.

I was relaying this story to one of my work colleagues and he responded that it is a scam and they got his mother recently. While they only billed her credit card for $90, there is a chance they will use the credit card number for other purposes and so my colleague had his mother cancel her card. After all, you can't really trust a crook to only steal $90.

If you take a step back and think about it, Microsoft technical support wouldn't bother calling you if it noticed a problem. They have much quicker ways of taking your money and don't need to rely on telemarketers posing as technical support. Besides, you might just ask them about a real problem you are having because there are so many.

Secret Admirer

A few weeks ago I received an e-mail from an alleged secret admirer. I was pretty sure it was some sort of a scam and so I immediately deleted it. Then I started thinking about the e-mail a few days later. The fact that it made it through my spam filter had me questioning if it was a scam or not. It didn't take long for another e-mail to arrive elaborating on the original secret admirer message. I have to say that it was a bit flattering even though I am happily married. Deep down inside we all want to be admired by other people, even if they can't have us.

This second message got through my spam filter again and so I thought I would look into the anonymous e-card service to see if it was real. I confirmed my original suspicion as it didn't seem to exist. So I deleted the e-mail and went on my merry way.

Today I received a 3rd secret admirer e-mail and made a note of the pseudo name of the person who sent it. Then I did an Internet search on "lovebug1136" and discovered I am not the only one getting these e-mails. To see the same e-mails posted on sites just confirmed what I knew all along.

So what is the scam? You are asked to sign up for an online-dating service. Once you sign up, you can then search the pseudo name to see who "likes" you. The last thing I need is an online dating account. So if you get an e-mail from someone claiming to be a secret admirer and are not interested in creating an online dating account, you can probably delete it.