Posted on 10/20/2007 11:08:15 AM PDT by jdm
Most Internet users have grown sophisticated enough to know that former princes in Nigeria don't really need their assistance to transfer funds to the United States. They sympathize with those correspondents who have just been diagnosed with terminal illnesses but resist the widely-broadcast plea to become executors of their estates -- with the odd requirement to place large amounts of cash in escrow first. With a few exceptions, including a minister's wife who wound up murdering her husband after blowing $14,000 on an e-mail scam, Americans know better than to fall prey to the scamsters.
Unfortunately, that doesn't apply to corporations. Minnesota-based Supervalu sent millions of dollars into fraudulent accounts because of an e-mail scam that the supermarket chain never bothered to confirm:
Supervalu Inc., the Eden Prairie-based grocer, fell prey to an e-mail scam this year, sending more than $10 million to two fraudulent bank accounts, according to federal court filings.
The company discovered the ruse soon after it began and reported it to police, who coordinated with the FBI to recover the money from banks in Arkansas and Miami Beach, Fla., before it could be withdrawn, according to a pair of forfeiture cases filed under seal earlier this year. They were filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho.
The company said it received two e-mails -- one from someone purporting to be an employee of American Greetings Corp. and another from someone claiming to be with Frito-Lay, according to the documents. Both e-mails claimed that the companies wanted payments sent to new bank account numbers.
Supervalu sent more than $6.5 million in nine payments between Feb. 28 and March 6 to the phony American Greetings account at HSBC Bank in Miami Beach. The company also sent nearly $3.6 million during the same period to the phony Frito-Lay account in Arkansas. The recovered money has since been claimed by Supervalu, American Greetings and Frito-Lay. A federal judge will decide who gets it.
I wonder what their Sarbanes-Oxley compliance records look like. Someone gets new bank account numbers for millions of dollars of transfers and doesn't bother to check with the vendors to confirm the change? The scamsters must have laughed all the way to the bank, even if they didn't get there in time.
The Sarbanes-Oxley requirements put in place by Congress directly address this very point in corporate accounting. It forces publicly-held corporations to develop reporting systems and operating procedures that minimize risk of internal and external fraud. At least, that's its purpose, but as we can see, it has about as much meaning as an ISO 9000 certification. All the burdensome SOX machinery does is demonstrate that a company can write procedures and test them, but it doesn't eliminate fraud or stupidity.
In the meantime, expect plenty of e-mails from Nigerian princes and terminal aristocrats to make their way to the Supervalu domain. It seems that they have discovered a fresh market in naivete.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
If someone has 20 million dollars, they don’t have a free email address. If it comes from yahoo.co,.uk or anything else, don’t do it.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
I’m just lucky I got the inside scoop on that Costa Rican real estate deal. Any day now, the deed will be coming in the mail, and I’ll more than triple my $10,000 investment. Meanwhile, you suckers are still getting scammed by phony oil princes!
I have long suspected some of the Nigerian scams originate in the halls of CONGRESS, using a firewall etc. to hide their true origin. Recall how upset Hastert got over the FBI raid of Jefferson, a demo. They all stink to me.
I have long suspected some of the Nigerian scams originate in the halls of CONGRESS, using a firewall etc. to hide their true origin. Recall how upset Hastert got over the FBI raid of Jefferson, a demo. They all stink to me.
ROYAL SPANISH SWEEPSTAKE LOTTERY INTERNATIONAL PROMOTION/PRIZE AWARD DEPT.
REF: RSSL/61-ILGI0509/45
BATCH:RSSL/15/096/WRCS
DATE:19/10/2007
RE: WINNING FINAL NOTIFICATION
Dear Winner
The winnings are in Euros!!
I get em every day.
Naw. They couldn't be back at it again, could they?
My puppy needs surgery - please send me moneys!
do white men drink milk
FAMILY ASSISTANCE (Zimbabwe Scam) #25 Million!
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1913750/posts
Last January, I advertised my boat in Boat Trader. I got an email in stilted English. The writer came in $200 under my asking price, so I said OK. He then replied that his principal had a cashier’s check already written for a boat deal that fell through. He said he’d send me that check if I sent him one for $7,000 to make up the difference. Obviously, this failed the smell test, so I broke off communications with the guys. Then about three weeks later, I got an envelope from the UK, with no return address. It contained a cashier’s check for $38,000. It’s still sitting in my desk. I never heard another word from them. I reported the incident to the USPS Fraud Unit and the local police, but nothing has happened yet.
Dateline followed a case like this all the way around in its destiny but the authorities never really did any thing!
They even interview the various people involved, the victim, the gullible go between, and the folks who enable these acts to be perpetrated!
The way NBC presented it, the viewer could be lulled in by watching the charm of the con men!
Just like being charmed by snakes so there was not a lot of out rage by the viewers.
Do we not live in strange times?
‘Nigerian scams’ keep evolving
How to spot the latest variations and avoid being duped
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8171053/
Everyone please note:
my new bank account # is 0056533450 Bahamas Offshore Bank
Please send your $10,000 payment to that account beginning immediately. Account name is I. Scamdu
Let’s see if it works
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