Fake email from "National Association of Rocketry"

[Johnly]

Just wanted to let others know that another fake fundraiser has surfaced yet again.

John

**********************
From: John Hochheimer [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Monday, June 7, 2021 08:46 AM
To: [email protected]; [email protected]
Subject: National Association of Rocketry

How are you doing? Are you available at the moment? I need your assistance to handle a little project. Can you please handle this for me on behalf of the Association?
The National Association of Rocketry is requesting gift card donations to assist Veterans at hospice care welfare with patients who have been negatively impacted by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Every gift helps provide resources that will stabilize a Veteran and ensure a positive upward trajectory during this critical time.
I have decided to make it a personal duty and I'll be responsible for the reimbursement of cards bought. Kindly confirm if you can help out.

John Hochheimer

President

 

[dr wogz]

you might want to edit your e-mail addy!

yeah, e-mails like this are becoming increasingly popular with the bad guys..

 

[Antares JS]

>hospice care
>stabilize and ensure a positive upward trajectory

I'm not sure this person knows what "hospice" means. I also like how you send the gift cards to him, but don't worry, he'll get them to the veterans. Trust him.

 

[cerving]

Any email with the word "kindly" is pretty much suspect... at least that's been my experience from 40+ years in IT.

 

[Bat-mite]

Gift cards ... even the IRS takes them. At least that's what Agent Robert Smith said. (I never did figure out why Robert Smith had such a thick Indian accent, but I hope he got the gift card for $10,000 I left outside Wal-Mart.)

 

[cerving]

The gift card scam is surprisingly effective, especially when it's a spear-phishing campaign. Go after somebody that reports to a C-level executive, with the message "This is for a company promotion, don't call me because I'm in a very important meeting" and you'd be surprised what the hit rate is. I know that at my previous employer, they had at least half a dozen employees in the past two or three years that actually fell for it... at an average cost of about $1,000 each, charged on their company credit card. All of them had taken the company-mandated anti-phishing education classes... apparently to no avail.

 

[jqavins]

Your assistance: check
Veterans: check
Hospice: check
COVID-19: check
Upward trajectory: check
Kindly: check

Any other boxes we can go for?

 

[Nytrunner]

It'd be even better if NAR decides to get the last laugh and launch a real veteran's fundraiser

"We were subject to this spam email, but then we figred 'Hey, that's not a bad idea!'"

 

[Bat-mite]

Your assistance: check
Veterans: check
Hospice: check
COVID-19: check
Upward trajectory: check
Kindly: check

Any other boxes we can go for?

mispeled wrods and bad gramma

 

[heada]

come on guys...can't we all kindly do the needful?

 

[dr wogz]

"are you available at the moment?"

Uhm, no. But I will reply when I am..

 

[augendoc]

“Impact” twice in the same sentence. “Veterans“ with a capital V. “Upward trajectory” when hospice is pretty much always a downward trajectory with a variable glide slope no matter what anyone does.

I am surprised they didn’t also mention kittens, patriots, small children, Western Union, secret bank funds in an obscure African country, and an extension of your car’s warranty.

 

[Jmhepworth]

Any email with the word "kindly" is pretty much suspect... at least that's been my experience from 40+ years in IT.

One of our IS guys got an email purportedly from me that began with the word “kindly.” He immediately knew it couldn’t be from me. I’m no where near polite enough to begin any email with the word “kindly.” That and the comma splice. I’m old school enough that I care about my English usage. I use actual punctuation and would be embarrassed by an email with a comma splice. (Although, as this post demonstrates, I’m not above using a sentence fragment for effect.)

 

[Ez2cDave]

Any other boxes we can go for?

Asking for Money - CHECK ! ! !

Dave F.

 

[RobertH3]

Gift cards..... : ( : ( : ( Red Flag
Improper conjunctions and misplaced or incorrect adjectives : ( Red Flag
A 'thrilling occupation' sigh.

There are times I wish that William Gibson's attack software from Neuromancer was real. Scammers deserve it. A couple million dead PC's would rapidly solve the problem.

Cheers / Robert