Who falls for e-mail scams?
posted at 1:36 pm on March 12, 2010 by Ed Morrissey
For those of us who have to use shovels to get rid of e-mail spam, we’re used to seeing get-rich-quick schemes by the hundreds. Whether from Nigerian princes, wealthy widows, estate executors, or soldiers looking to smuggle cash back into the US, these messages all have one thing in common: a plea designed to tempt people to get something for nothing. But of all the sophisticated e-mail targets hit in this shotgun approach to bunko, one might assume that attorneys would be especially difficult to hoodwink. As Houston’s KHOU reports, that’s not the case — and one victim has reacted in a predictable manner:
A successful Houston lawyer says he fell for an elaborate Internet scam that ended up costing him $182,500. …
It all began when Howell received an email from a company, 8,000 miles away, that wanted him to legally pursue four of its U.S. customers who owed it money.
“The email said this is a Hong Kong company and we would like to retain you as counsel,” Howell said. “And they gave me the customers names for a total debt of about $4 million.”
The Hong Kong company he was corresponding with had a Web site, and its customers were all legitimate U.S. companies with Web sites, Howell said.
How did the scam work? The conspirators sent a forgeries of cashier’s checks for over $300,000, supposedly compensation from their creditors. They told Howell to deduct his fee, and then wire the rest back. Now, while attorneys do handle these kinds of transactions, usually they would work directly with attorneys representing the creditors, or the creditors themselves, in handling the cash. The kind of arrangement presented by Howell’s clients should have raised red flags immediately, and Howell should have contacted the supposed creditors to determine the legitimacy of the checks.
Howell wound up wiring over $180,000 back to the scammers before finding out that the checks were forgeries. That amounts to a fee of 50% or more, which seems a little greedy on Howell’s part as well. Does he blame himself for getting scammed? Not exactly:
Now out of $182,000, he has filed a lawsuit against Citibank, and Sterling banks alleging the institutions were negligent.
Howell played back an automated message from his bank stating the check went through.
If Howell’s entire effort at due diligence amounted to checking an automated teller system to see whether the check was genuine, the fault isn’t with Citibank.
Blowback
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I smell a new Nigerian Banking Scamdal (sic) Commission at an annual cost of $204B per year, made payable to the Nigerians for Obama Fund. ACORN will oversee the deposits.
Key West Reader on March 12, 2010 at 1:41 PM
Dumb putz. He should only do business with wealthy, dying widows of Nigerian Oil Ministry officials like I do.
Cicero43 on March 12, 2010 at 1:41 PM
Who wants to bet this is a trial lawyer who voted for Obama?
AUINSC on March 12, 2010 at 1:41 PM
For once a GREEDY lawyer gets the shaft. Maybe he can get some TARP money from Obama.
GarandFan on March 12, 2010 at 1:42 PM
So this deed for the Brooklyn Bridge that I purchased last month isn’t real? Great, just great.
Bishop on March 12, 2010 at 1:43 PM
Epic Fail. This portly dude should have his law license taken back.
Johnnyreb on March 12, 2010 at 1:43 PM
If it sounds too good to be true, it is.
Learned that in kindergarten.
fogw on March 12, 2010 at 1:43 PM
Anyone want to buy a left-handed smoke shifter…?
Seven Percent Solution on March 12, 2010 at 1:44 PM
Obviously he ain’t THAT successful. Idiot gives us Houstonians a bad name.
Doughboy on March 12, 2010 at 1:44 PM
People who aren’t greedy rarely get ripped off by scams like this. Epic Fail is correct.
search4truth on March 12, 2010 at 1:45 PM
It’s great to see a lawyer get screwed for a change.
Mark1971 on March 12, 2010 at 1:45 PM
Bahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha…….
GASP
Bahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!
donkichi on March 12, 2010 at 1:46 PM
A good con plays on the mark’s greed.
ROCnPhilly on March 12, 2010 at 1:46 PM
As a lawyer, I’m making a motion to kick this doofus out of the club. We got an image to protect here!
Cicero43 on March 12, 2010 at 1:47 PM
Reminds me of my Navy days when we would send the new guys down to the pit to get a BT punch, a bucket of steam, or a can of bulkhead remover.
Bishop on March 12, 2010 at 1:47 PM
This guy is a Double Dumb Ass. Not only does he fall for the scam, he allows his stupidity to become public knowledge. I doubt there’s a lot of future business for sucker lawyers out there.
Patrick S on March 12, 2010 at 1:47 PM
Uh wait ..you mean it’s a scam? Oh no, not the Princess. Crap.
faol on March 12, 2010 at 1:47 PM
Who are the people who fall for internet scams?
Greedy people.
Oh! and lawyers who take half of everything you
own as a ‘reasonable’ fee.
thgrant on March 12, 2010 at 1:48 PM
Thanks for posting this. I feel smarter just seeing it.
faol on March 12, 2010 at 1:49 PM
Ed’s vendetta against lawyers continues….
tommylotto on March 12, 2010 at 1:49 PM
No,no, it’s just fine. Put up those toll booth just like I told you. Make sure you have the ones for pedestrians. You’ll do great!
katy the mean old lady on March 12, 2010 at 1:50 PM
Bahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha…….
GASP
Bahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!
donkichi on March 12, 2010 at 1:50 PM
Lemme rush right down and hire this rocket scientist!
lorien1973 on March 12, 2010 at 1:50 PM
So, this “lawyer” did absolutely fk all and thought he would make all that money for doing nothing? I laugh at him… he is a greedy jerk who got caught with his pants down and now is crying… cry cry cry… what a greedy good for nothing. I hope they sue him for greed and stupidity.
PhilipJames on March 12, 2010 at 1:50 PM
They say no-one is as easy to con as a con.
Does it seem at all odd to anyone that a lawyer might fit that description?
Count to 10 on March 12, 2010 at 1:50 PM
His stupidity and greed cost him.
thekingtut on March 12, 2010 at 1:51 PM
My mom does. Send her any attached file and she will run it.
She once threw away all of her desktop icons- including the recycle bin. To this day I don’t know how she did that.
Chuck Schick on March 12, 2010 at 1:51 PM
That’s nothing…in the AF we’d send them to get 75 yards of flightline.
AUINSC on March 12, 2010 at 1:52 PM
silly lawyer -
take thyself to 419 Eater and learn something!
negentropy on March 12, 2010 at 1:52 PM
Don’t forget to pick up that quart of relative bearing grease on the way.
Johnnyreb on March 12, 2010 at 1:52 PM
Thanks, that’s a relief. So where do I send the next payment to you, the usual anonymous P.O. box?
Bishop on March 12, 2010 at 1:53 PM
I’ll be having the last laugh when my friend Seravan Nambuntu from Nigeria and I finally split the 350 million. I just have to send him 100,000 more dollars for the lawyers and a Hooters Girls Calendar.
hawkdriver on March 12, 2010 at 1:54 PM
Yes sir, and I won’t forget the metric hacksaw.
Bishop on March 12, 2010 at 1:54 PM
For those stupid enough to fall for any type of email scam, please remember these simple letters:
T A N S T A A F L
Translation: There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch.
Something to keep in mind the next time some Nigerian businessman happens to send you a surprise email.
pilamaye on March 12, 2010 at 1:55 PM
You should rent Lawyers are P*ssies if you want to see the graphic version of that!
honsy on March 12, 2010 at 1:55 PM
We need to bail out the lawyers.
We could call the program BARF…Boneheaded Attorney Relief Program.
Mr. Bingley on March 12, 2010 at 1:55 PM
ahahaha
blatantblue on March 12, 2010 at 1:56 PM
Thanks to my distant relatives in Nigeria (being from Scotland, you can imagine MY surprise), I’m just a few senior bank executive signatures away from receiving nearly $1.2T US dolars.
I am verry happy to be telling you this thank you God will reward you.
On a serious note, check this out if you’d like to see what payback to these scumbags looks like.
Some of it is NSFW. But it’s all hillarious.
BobMbx on March 12, 2010 at 1:56 PM
Reminds me of my Navy days when we would send the new guys down to the pit to get a BT punch, a bucket of steam, or a can of bulkhead remover.
Bishop on March 12, 2010 at 1:47 PM
We sent them for skyhooks. Hilarious.
faol on March 12, 2010 at 1:57 PM
And a gallon of rotor wash.
donkichi on March 12, 2010 at 1:57 PM
Did he go to Harvard Law?
ladyingray on March 12, 2010 at 1:57 PM
Wouldn’t that be BARP?
BobMbx on March 12, 2010 at 1:57 PM
Take the fall, act hurt, get indignant!
Count to 10 on March 12, 2010 at 1:57 PM
Hahahaha, yes, it should.
I guess I have the qualifications for Law School!
Mr. Bingley on March 12, 2010 at 1:58 PM
We zoomies would send slicksleeves around the base looking for a bucket of prop wash.
davidk on March 12, 2010 at 1:59 PM
It’s been a long week; change “Program” to “Fund”…
Mr. Bingley on March 12, 2010 at 2:00 PM
I get emails from these scam artists all the time. I send them a link to Dailykos and let them know that if they are looking for suckers, there is an ocean of them on that site, then I wish them luck!
javamartini on March 12, 2010 at 2:00 PM
I’m betting that he’s going to vote for him again…..even if his name is not on the ballot.
Oldnuke on March 12, 2010 at 2:01 PM
I don’t think that lawyer was dumb. Yeah, his fee was too high. But his telling the public about this helps other people from not falling victim.
The problem is with Citibank. They are supposed to be providing a service here, and they didn’t do that. They should cough up the $182K. If even a lawyer can’t figure out whether money has been paid, and the bank is flat out wrong, what the heck are the rest of us supposed to do? Use gold?
pedestrian on March 12, 2010 at 2:02 PM
This guy just screwed his business. Who would want to retain him now knowing just how naive and unsophisticated he is?
Just goes to show you again that education and smarts are two different things.
keep the change on March 12, 2010 at 2:03 PM
Or the left-handed Allen wrench.
davidk on March 12, 2010 at 2:04 PM
Sorry for the guy’s misfortune, but I had to laugh. This IS 2010 and anyone who doesn’t know that probably 99% of the unsolicited mail you get is designed in some way to get money from you, must have been living in grandma’s basement the past 15 years or so. Nobody’s fault but your own, chammp!
scalleywag on March 12, 2010 at 2:04 PM
No, I’ll make it easier. go to youdumbshit.com and click the pay on line feature. You’ve been just great with the payments Since you’ll be rolling in it, it’s time to tell you about the S.J. Perleman gold mine in Erwinna,Pa.Got some Amish miners who work almost for free. We’ll be filthy rich!
katy the mean old lady on March 12, 2010 at 2:04 PM
boneheaded attorney relief fund – fify.
anikol on March 12, 2010 at 2:05 PM
Seriously?!?
I mean…but…I don’t know what to say.
Seriously?!?
donkichi on March 12, 2010 at 2:05 PM
It doesn’t look like he confirmed it via the ATM, but rather an IVR. Not that either doesn’t qualify him for dumb*ss of the year.
mwdiver on March 12, 2010 at 2:06 PM
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! What’s with the bread loaves on their head? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Bishop on March 12, 2010 at 2:06 PM
“Money for nuthin’,
and your chicks for free.”
davidk on March 12, 2010 at 2:06 PM
It’s not just greedy people. It’s also desperate people who are gullible for one reason or another.
I know somebody with schizophrenia, who falls for scams all the time. This person is not greedy, just poor and unsure of how the world works due to living a life full of strange experiences. Scammers are parasites.
sandberg on March 12, 2010 at 2:06 PM
Hah! ALL trial lawyers voted for him. Wait till their LLC’s are considered “rich” by the $250k threshold. I know I’m “rich” by the Obama measure.
Key West Reader on March 12, 2010 at 2:07 PM
The premise of the over payment scam is so patently absurd it is hard to believe anyone falls for it. If his fee is $180K, why does the client send a check for $360K? What client, in the history of law, has ever done that? In fact, what customer, in the history of the world, knowingly pays twice as much, UP FRONT, to a total stranger?
keep the change on March 12, 2010 at 2:08 PM
It’s not that I don’t trust you…but last time I was on my new bridge I tried to keep people from crossing and got myself arrested. The cops claimed it wasn’t my bridge and they openly laughed at the deed you sent me.
Bishop on March 12, 2010 at 2:08 PM
Yes, seriously. This is exactly how business is normally conducted. When people buy and sell real estate, this is exactly what happens. The lawyer waits until the banks says the check has cleared, and then the lawyer wires the balance owed, less his fee. This is a standard, run of the mill fraudulant transaction, except that Citibank f’ed up and won’t fix its mistake.
pedestrian on March 12, 2010 at 2:09 PM
I do some work at a retirement community and THOSE people would never fall for something like this. They’re extra careful about scams and they know you work for your money, nobody hands it to you without something being shady about it…good grief. Sorry, it wasn’t that the guy was dumb, his greed got the better of him. I don’t see why the bank should be dragged into it even if they did make a mistake.
scalleywag on March 12, 2010 at 2:09 PM
Anyone check this Klown’s standing with the TX Bar Association?
Heh. A shafter getting the shaft. Gotta love it.
Key West Reader on March 12, 2010 at 2:09 PM
Mr. Howell,
Please contact me if you would like to quickly make up your losses. I can offer you a great deal on these carbon credits…
cool breeze on March 12, 2010 at 2:10 PM
Love reading through that site. I think my personal favorite was getting the Nigerians to re-enact the Monty Python Dead Parrot routine. Either that, or actually getting one to wire HIM money to “process the transaction.”
JamesLee on March 12, 2010 at 2:11 PM
That’s what lawyers do. They routinely hold large amounts of money for other people. The check apparently was from a client that was paying money that was owed. That is routine practice, because the lawyer was acting as an agent for the HK company.
pedestrian on March 12, 2010 at 2:12 PM
Dude, Citibank’s “service” isn’t supposed to include covering fraudulent checks. This lawyer was a sucker.
I hear there’s one born every minute.
cs89 on March 12, 2010 at 2:12 PM
Sums it up.
davidk on March 12, 2010 at 2:14 PM
The check apparently was from a
clientcustomer that was paying money that was owed.pedestrian on March 12, 2010 at 2:14 PM
Perhaps his next client could pay him to show up at a townhall meeting as an indignant (but well dressed) constituent…
kringeesmom on March 12, 2010 at 2:15 PM
Yes, that’s why the lawyer called the bank to verify that the check cleared. Citibank made an incorrect report, and so they should be liable.
pedestrian on March 12, 2010 at 2:15 PM
Whether from Nigerian princes, wealthy widows, estate executors, or soldiers looking to smuggle cash back into the US, these messages all have one thing in common: a plea designed to tempt people to get something for nothing.
percysunshine on March 12, 2010 at 2:15 PM
Dang, have to call my accountant to see why that NYPD check has’nt cleared. Just send the Hissus over in something low cut.
katy the mean old lady on March 12, 2010 at 2:16 PM
This one actually probed our law office once, too. Realized immediately it was a fraud. We decided to have a little fun with them.
Us: You’ll never believe this…the bank said the check was a forgery. Looks like someone’s trying to scam you guys. Should we turn this stuff over to the FBI for you, or would you prefer to handle that?
Them: *crickets*
Oddly, we never heard from them again. LOL
This scam targets a lot of small law offices, and you’d be amazed how many lawyers have fallen for this one….
RedMindBlueState on March 12, 2010 at 2:17 PM
*shrug*
I don’t see why a bank should get off the hook – did it not make the same stupid mistake this guy did?
Not only did the bank accept the check(s) for deposit, they *verified* it (they have the processes to do so – a normal citizen doesn’t), told him the check was good, *and* deposited the cash into his account?
Yeah, he was dumb and greedy perhaps, but the bank and it’s systems also failed, and there’s got to be some sense of credibility and fiduciary responsibility on the part of the banks as well.
Midas on March 12, 2010 at 2:18 PM
How To Trick an Online Scammer Into Carving a Computer Out of Wood
thirteen28 on March 12, 2010 at 2:19 PM
Sounds like the bank did its job in that case. If they did not, it would be your firm in the news instead of the guy in the report.
pedestrian on March 12, 2010 at 2:22 PM
This is a classic tactic among scammers–send a big check, ask the victim to take out part and WIRE the rest to someone far away, then the check bounces and the victim has lost what he wired.
The basic problem is that once money is WIRED (via Western Union, etc.), it can’t be taken back, while most banks will “temporarily” credit a person’s account for a check, then debit the payee if the check bounces a few days later.
I have advertised my services on Craigslist, and a few people tried this on me, always wanting to WIRE money (smaller amounts) far out of state, and Craigslist managers have posted explicit warnings AGAINST wiring money.
The crucial lesson is this: don’t wire ANY money until the payee’s bank has confirmed IN WRITING that the funds for a check have been taken from the check-writer’s bank account–that the check has “cleared”, the transaction is CLOSED, never “pending”. If the check-writer gets a little impatient–TOO BAD! It’s easier for a seller to smooth over a client’s ruffled feathers later than recover wired money!
Steve Z on March 12, 2010 at 2:23 PM
FIFY.
txsurveyor on March 12, 2010 at 2:23 PM
Who falls for e-mail scams? DEMOCRAT politicians. Thats why they want to regulate. To protect themselves from their own stupidity.
meci on March 12, 2010 at 2:26 PM
Yea, maybe. Sometimes people are just all too quick to blame anyone or anything else for their own mistakes instead of taking responsibility and owning up to the fact that…well, he screwed up.
scalleywag on March 12, 2010 at 2:26 PM
BIRFER! (me too)
davidk on March 12, 2010 at 2:27 PM
This guy took the trouble to make an audio recording of the Citibank computerized system. That doesn’t seem to me to be materially different than a printed report. If he didn’t know how to correctly determine if a check has cleared, then yes he would be a dumbass. But in that case I suspect he would not have alerted the press to publicize it.
pedestrian on March 12, 2010 at 2:28 PM
LMFAO. Are you for real? If so, what Planet do you hail from?
Key West Reader on March 12, 2010 at 2:31 PM
Hmm, so he negotiated checks he should have known were forgeries and he’s attempting to sue the banks to which he submitted the checks…
Should he choose to represent himself in possible criminal proceedings -Citibank probably having more pull in Harris County than he- he certainly will have an ass, a broke-ass ass, for a client.
Doorgunner on March 12, 2010 at 2:32 PM
I would tend to say that genius & smart academic types are the bigeest morons to ever come down the pike.
Common sense is the most valuable knowledge.
Based on RMBS’s account, it seems as though his/her office caught the problem themselves, not their bank.
But then that wasn’t stipulated in the comment.
Badger40 on March 12, 2010 at 2:33 PM
Now if he were a crafty lawyer, or a politician, what he would do would be to start up a non-profit organization dedicated to putting a stop to scalawags around the globe who have profited by using schemes like this to extort money from law abiding, innocent citizens like himself. People will donate in the millions for such a cause and he can pay himself a humongous salary and travel the world searching for the evil-doers while living a life of luxury. He could probably get massive government funding for it too.
scalleywag on March 12, 2010 at 2:33 PM
Umm………. he made an audio recording of an automated anonymus voice? Listen, talk to Bishop about this gold mine thingy I’ve got .
katy the mean old lady on March 12, 2010 at 2:33 PM
How about the latest spam scam with an irs.gov address? How many will be frightened into opening that one?
onlineanalyst on March 12, 2010 at 2:35 PM
Have you ever sold a house?
I didn’t think so.
pedestrian on March 12, 2010 at 2:35 PM
Arghhh.. You smarty smart smart scalleywag. Ahoy with you.
/Smart
Key West Reader on March 12, 2010 at 2:35 PM
You don’t know what you’re talking about. You don’t wire funds overseas until the covering funds are in your account.
Doorgunner on March 12, 2010 at 2:36 PM
Just take this weekend and read the entire story for each scam. The photos in The Hall of Shame are sent by the scammers to prove something the 419Eater has asked them to prove, like “hold up a sign with XXX on it”.
It is hillarious.
ShiverMeTimbers.
BobMbx on March 12, 2010 at 2:38 PM
Yes, I have sold a few but I don’t make a living out of doing so.
I’m only fluent in Tort Law so, I apologize if I overstepped. The only thing we sit on are settlement proceeds.
Key West Reader on March 12, 2010 at 2:38 PM
I’ve sold many. You are talking through your butt.
katy the mean old lady on March 12, 2010 at 2:41 PM
lol. I was only half kidding. Saw today where the CEO of Big Brothers/Sisters thinks he’s worth a million a year. greed. greed. greed.
scalleywag on March 12, 2010 at 2:41 PM
The bank is not supposed to tell you a check has cleared unless it has cleared.
Something similar happened to me when I was buying real estate in the nineties. I deposited a large check at First Chicago about a week before I was supposed to close on a property. I had already spoken with someone about the length of time it would take to clear the check. Two days prior to closing I called in and spoke to someone else who told me the check had cleared then I went to the bank to get a cashiers check and they refused me. After arguing with them and speaking to a manager I left, luckily the bank on the other end of the transaction took a personal check with some finagling by my lawyer.
I think this lawyer has a case.
Bill C on March 12, 2010 at 2:42 PM
And this is the type of person suing medical doctors and insurance companies.
Great. Just great.
Tort reform now.
NebCon on March 12, 2010 at 2:43 PM
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