23rd Jul 2004
New PayPal Spam Scam
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Take heed. I just discovered a seemingly new scam. I have to hand it to them, it’s original.
I logged into my PayPal account today and noticed in my recent activities folder a bill from a company called Signature Networks out of — guess where? — Florida, invoicing me for $200 for supposedly sending them spam.
Failure to remit the ammount [sic] due, in full, may result in further collection proceedings, up to and including actions taken before the courts for collection of outstanding debt. …Florida Law provides Civil and Criminal Penalties for Unlawful access to Computers within the State of Florida, including the unlawful access and use of e-mail servers located in the State Of Florida.
Just to be clear on this, I am not a spammer. I suppose it’s possible that this was an honest mistake; for example, some real spammer spoofed my address, and these folks responded in good faith. But I doubt it. I tried calling the number, and it’s only a voice mail account. I left a message telling them that I reported them to the Better Business Bureau (which I did), and that I was posting a warning about the scam to my web site. I gave them my phone number to follow up, so I’ll let you know if I hear back. The email address of the reporting party had the domain Bondage-Radio.com, which doesn’t look completely scary but certainly a bit dubious.
Anyway, if anyone else has had a similar experience with these folks or something along the same lines, I’d love to hear about it.
UPDATE:
I just got this email today:
This letter is an automated reply to the rejected invoices returned to us from paypal.com, however, please do not believe that the sentiment here is insincere.Beginning Saturday, July 17, 2004, someone using a corporate paypal account began sending out invoices for Spam to lists of individuals. Over 5,000 invoices were distributed … THESE INVOICES ARE NOT VALID.
Most, if not all of the rejected invoices have come from upstanding Net Citizens. I am unaware of any correspondence that originated with those individuals.
Action is being taken by myself and my staff to track down the individual as well as protect all corporate accounts with paypal.com.We sincerely apologize for our failure to safeguard corporate accounts and passwords and will endeavor to better safeguard such information in the future.
No information about the rejected invoice is being saved or collected. No e-mail lists are operated or maintained by Signature Networks, or any of it’s subsidiary operations. We specifically deal with INTERNET RADIO, and the proven and accepted radio advertising methods we ourselves supply.
Our policy on the issue of SPAM in our own promotions has been ZERO TOLERANCE specifically for our DJ’s, Staff, Promoters, and Advertisers.
The Invoice is being treated as a Spam, and reports have already been made to PayPal.Com, FTC.Gov and the Internet Anti-Spam Groups and Lists we are aware of.
Sincerely,
Paul Coates, Owner CEO
Signature Networks
www.Bondage-Radio.com
Well, so maybe these aren’t the bad guys after all (even if they are a bit pervy, but whatever), but someone out there is perpetrating a fraud.
YET ANOTHER UPDATE:
CEO of Signature Networks Paul Coates has since found this blog post and left a further comment, basically to the effect that they tracked down the culprit to a former employee. Most remarkably, Coates comments on my restaint! I must be getting soft in my blogger dotage.
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Bondage-Radio is a real web site, billed as “The first fetish station on the web.” They offer free email using the bondage-radio.com domain, and so it’s possible someone is using that as a front for their fraud. I suggest you contact, by email, someone at bondage radio and also at Paypal.
http://www.bondageradio.com/contact.html
The address on your invoice is identical to the address of Bondage Radio. Phone number, too. Postmaster is generally an administrative account at a domain, the person in charge of email.
Billing you for $200 is totally bogus, even if somehow you did break a Florida law, which I highly doubt. If I were you, I’d write directly to the owner of the place listed on their contacts page.
And if they are really trying to collect this from you, you can tell them you’d be happy to tie them up and shove it up their ass.
C’mon Rick. You know they’ve been bad. Very, very bad.
So, since I drive a Dodge Neon could I be considered to be driving a Neon Vagina?
I just got a google alert by e-mail about your blog.
I’ve read it and I must say, you have shown more restraint in receiving the spam invoice, than I did when the notifications came to my e-mail box on Monday. (along with a couple thousand flame mails.)
For the record, we have tracked down the disenfranchised employee who perpetrated the fraud. They will not be bothering you again.
To answer your reader’s questions, yes we are a real radio station and a real company. Possibly not the most glamorous business I’m sure, but we do provide adult audio entertainment, via the internet.
We are licensed by the music associations of ASCAP, BMI and RIAA and play adult stories, music, comedy, and other programming via MP3 stream that is specifically designed to be accessible even on a slow or low rate, dialup connection.
We gear our topics towards “Alternative Lifestyles” and in that we include gay, lesbian, bisexual, BDSM, fetish and polyamorous groups.
Stop on by and have a little thrill
Paul Coates Owner/CEO
Signature Networks
http://www.bondage-radio.com
Paul, thanks for your note. That’s the first time I’ve ever been accused of restaint on this blog!
But you haven’t! You were restraint on check your spelling.
I must say, they are getting clever, these scammers. I have received messages in the past with a footer that informs me that if I spam them, I must pay them a fee, or face a lawsuit. Odd thing is, they spammed me with offers and a stern warning about the terrible dangers I face if I spam them.
I always write back offering them my crap, trinkets and folderol. Never got a bill. I figured that if they spam me, we have prior relationship. Spammers really can’t complain about spammers, can they?
Then again, I look forward to another fight of some magnitude, as it has been awhile.
Bobbo
HI,
I had the same thing happen to me. I was surprised to have received this in my Paypal account. When I did the research I found your Blog. I am not a spammer either, but I do notice people spoofing my email or email like mine in order to send spam. I even received the spam myself. I am very surprised that they were unable to get this bil posted on Paypal. I would have thought Paypal would have been more secure. I never received any notice from Paypal and I am peeved to say the least.
I hope this new scam doesn’t become popular where we see our Paypal accounts as targets for future fraud.
Best Wishes,
Allan