They’re back

On September 9, 2012, I wrote a blog about China Shenhua Energy and their “contest” in which I won a 2012 3-series BMW (value$42,505 – same as this year) and one-and-a-half million US. I keep copies of these emails and the resultant blogs just so I can refer back to them, as in this case.

Today’s spam contained another email from them. This time the extension on the sender’s name showed “ru”, which is Russia. Seems a little odd for a Chinese company wouldn’t you say? There are a few things which stand out in today’s email. They’ve upgraded to a 2013 BMW for one thing.

Amazingly, the number they ask me to quote in my reply is the exact same number they used eighteen months ago. Does that mean I’m going to get a 2012 3-series? Still in the body of the bill, they ask me to contact Doctor Francis Chen. In the previous message, they gave me a London address. This time, while it asks me to contact Dr Chen, the contact information is for Dr Fred Chang, in New Delhi, India. Sloppy editing on their part obviously.

What takes this message from being just plain annoying to hilarious is the note they’ve added to the end of the email. Here it is in its entirety: * NOTE* : If you find this mail in your spam or junk folder, it is due to the service of your internet provider. Wrong. It’s in my spam folder because that is where the gmail filter put it. It has nothing to do with my internet provider.

If you receive this email, don’t give them any information. You aren’t going to get a BMW and 1.5 million. All you’re going to get is a lot of grief because you’ve provided them with enough information for them to set up a phony identity.

The same spam also contained a message from someone purporting to be Fedex telling me they were holding a package containing a bank draft for $750,000 US and if I send then $120 they’ll send it to me. I’ll get right on that.

Not a bad haul for a quiet Wednesday. Both emails, including the value of the car, mean that I’ve picked up about 2.3 million, more if I convert it to Canadian funds, before lunch. Maybe I can conquer the world. But first, I need coffee.

Enjoy your day and remember to hug an artist – we need love too.

Cat.

Ho-hum, another Bimmer

Just when I was hoping for an uneventful weekend, I find the following in my Gmail spam a short while ago:
China Shenhua Energy Company Limited info@csec.com
    
07:51 (8 hours ago)
        
to undisclosed recipients
China Shenhua Energy Company Limited
Headquarters Address: 4th Floor, Zhouji Tower,
6 Ande Road, Dongcheng District,
Beijing, China 100011
Telephone: (86 10) 58160076 or 58160078
Fax: (86 10) 84775107
Website: http://www.csec.com
Email: YOUR EMAIL

Dear Email-User,

                      :::EMAIL PRIZE AWARDS:::

We at China Shenhua Energy global office likes to officially congratulate you
for the draw that was just held by our company which featured you as the
second place winner. Our company holds promotions each year just to promote
our global publicity and reputations as we plan to exploit more corners of
the world with our highly valued products line. This promotion is just one of
various ways we are presently using to achieve this global vision of ours.

Your email address with MICRO ID: PLD-5693-HTY-76254Ul-43FE was luckily drawn
to be this year’s second place winner of a Brand New Gallery 2012 BMW 3
Series model: which is worth $42,505 USD and cash prize of $1.5 Million
United State Dollars.This money and gift we believe will enable you make some
impact in the society and possibly invest in our company in the near future.

You are hereby requested to contact our agent for more details on our
Promotion in particular before taking further actions to claim your prize.
Ensure you inform Dr. Francis Chen who is our fiduciary claims official in
Europe (United Kingdom) and can understand English and some other European
Languages. See

details of him below;

Name: Dr. Francis Chen
E-mail: dr_francischen@w.cn
Address: Embark Lane 23, London. United Kingdom

       Tel: +44701-297-4144
Phone: Tel: +44702-402-6202

When contacting the claims agent you should include the following if you must
get a response from him;
       *** Your Full Name:
       *** Address;
       *** Phone number
       *** Age
       *** Gender;
       *** Occupation:
       *** Winning email and Micros ID:

We know you must be excited and very happy about this news you have just
received from us and the truth is that we are doing this to put smiles into
homes and hearts of people worldwide. The only thing you will need to pay to
this company is to kindly place our company logo on the car (BMW) that you
have just won for a minimum of six (6) months.

On behalf of the entire management and staffs of “China Shenhua Energy
Company Limited, I say Congratulations to you and your family.

Signed,
Mrs. Li Haicang (Sec.)
________________________________________________________
*NOTE** you must be 15years or older to claim. Late response is not accepted,
misconduct and non adherence to instructions leads to prize termination. Do
not fail to keep your winning information personal for security reasons
because the Company will not be responsible for lost of funds.

Again, the first telltale sign is the “undisclosed recipients”.

Notice that while they tell me I’ve won second prize in their draw, they make no mention of when or how I entered this draw.  I suppose the thoughts that I’ve won a BMW 3 Series and one and a half million US are supposed to drive those questions from my mind.

A check of Google shows that China Shenhua Energy is a legitimate company.  There are also several pages of scam reports using this company name, the oldest I noticed from July 2010.

The title of this posting comes from the fact that about six months ago, I was advised by some other scammer I’d won a 5 Series Bimmer.   Hmm, a 3 Series Bimmer and 1.5 mil as second prize.  I wonder what the top prize was?

Look carefully at the information they are asking you to provide.  They want exactly what they’d need to set up an identity using your name.  I know the thoughts of winning a BMW and a pile of money really seem good, but if you don’t remember consciously entering any draw, no matter how tempting the prize, you ain’t gonna win a thing.  Take a look too at the note after the signature: **NOTE** you must be 15years or older to claim. Late response is not accepted,misconduct and non adherence to instructions leads to prize termination. Do not fail to keep your winning information personal for security reasons
because the Company will not be responsible for lost of funds

“Late response is not accepted” but nowhere does is specify a date by which to respond. I would suspect I blew all chances of claiming my prize anyway by writing this blog about it.  Oh well, I couldn’t afford the insurance and fuel, even with the 1.5 mil.

Enjoy your weekend and remember to hug an artist – we need love too.

Cat.