Beware Internet Scam Using Milt Larsen's Name!

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Beware Internet Scam Using Milt Larsen's Name!

Postby Richard Kaufman » September 8th, 2010, 10:48 am

I just received this in the mail. It's an internet scam of some type. Note the poor English.

How are you?. I'm writing because i want to ask a little favor from you. I need a loan from you urgently tomorrow to solve some certain problems at hand which has been giving me great worries.
I will reimburse you under a week if given, I also will prefer if we discuss this issue only through email as i am presently in the United Kingdom, some thing urgent, sorry if i didn't tell you, but please try to understand. I will let you know how much am in need of if you are willing to assist.

I await your reply.

Thanks,
Milt Larsen, President
Magic Castles Inc.
7001 Franklin Avenue
Hollywood CA 90028
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Re: Beware Internet Scam Using Milt Larsen's Name!

Postby Magic Newswire » September 8th, 2010, 11:19 am

If you can provide the header info or address from which it came, maybe we can suss out the perpetrator. Never underestimate the power of crowd sourcing!

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Re: Beware Internet Scam Using Milt Larsen's Name!

Postby Richard Kaufman » September 8th, 2010, 11:59 am

Dodd, sent you an email.
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Re: Beware Internet Scam Using Milt Larsen's Name!

Postby Tabman » September 8th, 2010, 12:00 pm

I got one of these a couple of months ago from someone I knew and I knew she wasnt in the UK because I had just seen her. Several of her friends responded. I think they were asking for $2200. In the email I got it said she was in the UK, her passport, credit cards, etc had been lost and she needed the money to get home.

Lots of crooks out there. Even more than before. Fortunately for me I just inherited $12,000,000 from someone in Africa. I'm just waiting for the money to arrive now!

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Re: Beware Internet Scam Using Milt Larsen's Name!

Postby John Lovick » September 8th, 2010, 12:04 pm

I don't think they actually hacked Milt's email account. They set up an almost identical email address but substituted a "1" (one) for the "L".

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Re: Beware Internet Scam Using Milt Larsen's Name!

Postby Richard Kaufman » September 8th, 2010, 12:24 pm

Since I didn't print the email address here, then you must have received it as well, John.
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Re: Beware Internet Scam Using Milt Larsen's Name!

Postby David Alexander » September 8th, 2010, 12:41 pm

The Nigerian scam artists are constantly on the lookout for ways to connect with people that seem legit.

Over the last few months thousands of people have received "emergency" emails supposedly from friends who'd lost a wallet or purse and needed a quick loan, please wire the money to a certain address.

Naturally, it is a scam.

Several years ago there was a booking scam where performers were hired, sent a check for too much and asked to refund the difference. Of course the check turned out to be a fake and the over-payment the scammer's payday. That one seems to have died out.

These are the same people who specialize in what is known as the 419 Scam as well as endless identity theft. There are several Internet sites where people with more time than I have bait the scammers. A simple Google search under "419" will produce a number of results. Some of the episodes are quite funny if not profane. Don't go there if you're easily shocked.

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Re: Beware Internet Scam Using Milt Larsen's Name!

Postby Magic Newswire » September 8th, 2010, 12:45 pm

And, the fake address is being rerouted using an internal proxy to magicmilt@eigbox.net - If you look into eigbox.net, it is a domain notoriously associated with Phishing schemes like this.

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Re: Beware Internet Scam Using Milt Larsen's Name!

Postby Kevin Connolly » September 8th, 2010, 1:01 pm

I think they do hack into the email account. When you reply to them, it comes back with a similar email address, but not the same. Then the original owner of the address is locked out of their own account.

I mentioned this scam in the "Friday the 13th Scam" thread last month. Here is the link:

http://www.geniimagazine.com/forums/ubb ... Post227002
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Re: Beware Internet Scam Using Milt Larsen's Name!

Postby Seuss » September 8th, 2010, 3:46 pm

Indeed Milt's email has been hacked. Someone who knows him should advise him to change that password ASAP
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Re: Beware Internet Scam Using Milt Larsen's Name!

Postby Jim Maloney » September 8th, 2010, 4:52 pm

There's no need to hack into the account or lock out the original owner for this.

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Re: Beware Internet Scam Using Milt Larsen's Name!

Postby John Lovick » September 11th, 2010, 8:03 pm

Perhaps the recently locked thread of Alan Bursky's would have been a better place for this, but here are Nick Lewin's comments from the most recent Magic New Zealand newsletter, which were sparked by his response to the scam e-mail:


Everywhere you see magicians gather in Las Vegas now the centerpiece conversation is how can I sell my submarine (they used to be called houses but are now so deeply underwater that submarine is more accurate) and where shall I move to. Los Angeles is way less attractive now that the Castle is making its transition from magic clubhouse to whatever it now is.

That was a surprisingly tactful statement compared to what I really think! My phone call to the Castle office yesterday to make sure Milt knew that his Facebook account had been hacked and was being scammed; I was treated with such disdain and rudeness I had to pinch myself to make sure I was awake. Maybe I should have identified myself as an unknown cabaret singer to get a little courtesy!

[end quote]

There are two issues here. One is how the Castle is now perceived, and the other is the way he was dealt with by the office staff. Bev Bergeron had a similar experience. He said that when he called the Castle office about the email, he was spoken to "in a very condescending voice".

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Re: Beware Internet Scam Using Milt Larsen's Name!

Postby Kevin Connolly » September 11th, 2010, 8:38 pm

quote Jim Maloney "There's no need to hack into the account or lock out the original owner for this.

-Jim"

Maybe not, but it that was the MO in my experience. The account was hacked and the owner locked out.

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Re: Beware Internet Scam Using Milt Larsen's Name!

Postby houdini's ghost » September 11th, 2010, 8:45 pm

The Castle, Milt and Dale, actually all concerned, got at least a hundred calls yesterday morning alone. Apologies to Bev, Nick (it's actually more of a club than it was in the days when Nick used to live in L. A. and come in very often, folks) but I stumbled upon a conversation among Mark Felicetti, Milt Larsen and what's-his-name, that fellow who redesigned the Close-Up Gallery to have 8 fewer seats; and these guys were all busy with other things like Castle business--you know that trivia that pays the bills--and concern about the email scan had really jammed the lines and interrupted business.
I don't think anybody meant to be rude.

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Re: Beware Internet Scam Using Milt Larsen's Name!

Postby Seuss » September 11th, 2010, 9:06 pm

I assume if people like Richard (who I assume are in Milt's email contact list) are being contacted then the scammers had access to Milt's account.
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Re: Beware Internet Scam Using Milt Larsen's Name!

Postby Bob Cunningham » September 11th, 2010, 11:33 pm

The prudent thing to do is assume that the e-mail account has been compromised and take appropriate actions to protect against further exploits.

Having said that, there are many other ways of obtaining e-mail addresses for a scam like this. Facebook security is notoriously poor. A group e-mail sent to Milt and others could have come into the possession of the scammers. The e-mail account of one of Milt's associates or friends could have been hacked - theoretically even the Castles own database. With a public personality, in a distinctive field, it is even possible to glean e-mail addresses of others from the web who would likely know of Milt.

However, if I were advising Milt (or anyone else in a similar situation) I would have him change his login information just to be safe!

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Re: Beware Internet Scam Using Milt Larsen's Name!

Postby Dave V » September 12th, 2010, 1:49 pm

I got the same email, and I'm pretty sure I'm NOT on his list. It is easy though to build a mailing list just by surfing a few sites such as these and hitting as many addresses as you can find that are even remotely related.

It looks very much like the whole thing was faked externally, and nobody needed to have access to his account to do this. Changing password info is still a good precaution nevertheless. Just be absolutely sure you're doing it from the authentic site, and not in reply to an emailed password change request.
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Re: Beware Internet Scam Using Milt Larsen's Name!

Postby Shawn Farquhar » September 13th, 2010, 2:21 pm

I would believe the email account was hacked as my wife, Lori, received this email from Milt just days after sending him an email. She would not be on any list they would troll and her email is not listed anywhere on any type of magic site. The email she sent was her only contact ever with Milt.

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