Brand new pump and dump scam hits email inboxes
February 20, 2014
I was wondering when they'd make a comeback? Well, they're here! I'm referring to the good old pump and dump penny stock scams, promoted by fraudsters, via spam email messages.
The last time I saw any of these email scams was briefly in December, 2013. Before that the last serious scam run for penny stocks petered out at the end of the summer, 2013. Each one of those pump and dump scams listed a 4 letter stock symbol with a very low valuation, along with grandiose subjects and body text proclaiming that it was about to explode, or was releasing huge news, etc. Recipients were urged to buy in quickly, in huge quantities, which drove the prices up. As soon as those artificial prices peaked, the fraudsters running the scam sold off all of their shares at a profit, leaving all of the later investors holding the bag.
After disappearing for a few months, the penny stock scam has just returned, today, February 20, 2014. This time around, the stock being pumped up is PRFC. The emails are all using the exact same language and template. All have the subject: Very important information. Please read, although this is likely to change by tomorrow. All are sent from botnetted computers. The goal is the same as before. Scammers have purchase huge blocks of super-cheap penny stocks for PRFC and are now using spam messages to pump them higher. If they succeed, it will be at the expense of the people who are fooled by their new newsletter and plain language format.
However, I did find some humor in this batch of scams. Every one of them so far has been signed at the bottom with this text: "Your favorite friend and only broker :)" But apparently, my favorite friend and only broker has multiple personality disorder and is confused as to who he or she is with any given email. Each email has a different name in the From field! So far, my "only broker" claims to be: Noemi Cooke, Markus Robertson, Jasmine Suarez, Arlene Adkins and Leandro Kinney!
I've said it before and will say it again: "A fool and his money soon will part!" Don't be a fool. Never buy anything spamvertised, especially penny stocks. The game is stacked against you by true con men and women. You will not beat them at their own game. Delete pump and dump messages on sight.
BTW: I have updated my MailWasher Pro spam filters to detect and delete these messages for you, if you are also a registered MailWasher Pro user.
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