Well this is a brand new scam and this one really scares me. In previous articles I discussed how information is gathered from your computer and phone, then used against you. In most cases the stolen information is used to set up custom market campaigns aimed directly at you. It seems rather harmless to think people are using computers to categorize, group people, then market to them. It seems rather harmless to develop a computer program that can take all the information about your personal life, then create ads pointed directly at you. But someone always finds a way to misuse whatever this world seems to invent.
It seems scammers are using this new technology to focus custom scams on people, give them an offer they can't refuse, to at least look into. I just received an email from a scammer posing as another real estate agent from out of state. The scammer tells me, she has a lead on a buyer looking in the area. The emails tell me, this scammer was or is a real estate agent looking for ways to make more money, or someone who collected enough information off the Internet to know how the referral business works.
In the end, the scammer sends an email with the old, open this attachment routine. I'm not about to open an attachment, which is actually a link, to where? I have no idea. It is not a link to any real estate website, or MLS link to show me the home the buyer wants to see. I searched the host, which happens to be located in China. I know China does not deal with any local MLS in the United States. This is some of the information I've been able to dig up on the host.
Top digital marketing agency utlizing predictive analytics and geo-targeting for large B2B and B2C companies.
Notice a few words are not quite spelled right. That is another give away. Another give away is the link ends with php. That is a form file that often contains a virus, or at the very least, spyware, or a combination of both. It is the preferred cyber weapon used in the popular ransom scams.
Now how does a company in China figure out how the real estate market here in the US works? How do they fill in enough details to almost make it seem authentic, but of course, leave off enough major details so I can tell it is a scam?
This is scary because people are using computers to target and script scams. Where is all this leading? I don't think anyone has any idea. I do know, there is no government in this world who is going to do a thing about it. Governments are the biggest users and developers of spyware. They are not going to corner the market, or pass any restrictions. Governments are all trying to stay ahead of one another, and of course, figured out that whatever people invent and perfect on the Internet, can and will be used against the people who elect them.
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