Scam Money Transfers -
Fake Grants
Example - The Russian Foundation for Basic Research
-
www.rfbr.ru
Mr.Vikki Malcom, Barr.Brian Millavic,
russia
Here's a variation on the basic scam money transfer email. You received a a check in the mail from "The Russian Foundation for Basic Research", possibly using a name "Mr.Vikki Malcom" (there's a Russian name for you!)or website www.rfbr.ru, of which you are supposed to return 10% to them (at this point you should be asking yourself, why they didn't just keep the 10%!)
Now, apply just a small amount of common sense: why would any organization in RUSSIA be giving money away to westerners, saying
"Do ensure you spend this donation wisely on something will last you a long time. Recipients are only eligible to be awarded this donation once."
Their government hates, fears, loathes and tries to undermine us - they're certainly not going to give us money!
In some cases, the alleged organizations, like "The Russian Foundation for Basic Research" do exist and may be legitimate. But unless you read Russian, how would you know? And how do you know the email really came from them and the contact works for them? The scammer has nothing to do with them; the email and the grant are all nonsense. If you believe that there are organizations randomly handing out money like this, then we fear you may have been scammed already!
If you need more tangible proof, ask yourself this: why would an substantial organization with a website ask you to reply to a yahoo (or hotmail or other) generic, free email address, unrelated to the organization, which ANYONE could get?
In the specific case below (The Russian Foundation for Basic Research) there are quite a number of inconsistencies that add up to "scam" to us. See the email below and a review of the available facts following it.
And if you were crazy enough to write back to them, click here to a typical response the scammers send.
Sample actual scam letter from "The Russian Foundation for Basic Research":
THE RUSSIAN FOUNDATION FOR BASIC RESEARCH
The Russian Foundation for basic research ( http://www.rfbr.ru ), would like to notify you that you have been chosen by the board of trustees as one of the final recipients of a cash Grant/Donation for your personal,educational,and business development.Kindly note that you will only be chosen to receive these donation once,which means that subsequent yearly donation will not get to you again.
Do ensure you spend this donation wisely on something will last you a long time. Recipients are only eligible to be awarded this donation once.
You are required to contact the Executive Secretary below, for qualification document you will be given your donation pin number,which you will use in collecting the funds. Please endeavor to quote your Qualification numbers ( N-222-6647, E-910-56 ) in all discussions.
You are required to assist in the documentation of your donation by filling the requested information stated in the form below.
Kindly provide all required information.
DONATION DOCUMENTATION FORM:
FULL NAMES:
ADDRESS:
NATIONALITY:
STATE:
COUNTRY:
TEL:
FAX:
AGE/DATE OF BIRTH:
SEX:
MARITAL STATUS:
OCCUPATION:
IN A BRIEF EXPLANATION, HOW DO YOU INTEND TO USE YOUR DONATION FUNDS IN IMPROVING YOUR STANDARD OF LIVING.
Executive Secretary: Barr.Brian Millavic
Email: barr.b.millavic01@live.com
Regards.
Mr.Vikki Malcom
And please let us know about any suspicious calls or emails you receive. We look for patterns so that we can alert the authorities and victims to new scams, before it is too late!
For a comprehensive list of national and international agencies to report scams, see this page.