Thanks

In the spirit of spreading the word, I wanted to share my latest scam. I wanted to find out if the Walmart near me was open today since it was Christmas. Here is my process

I went to google.com and type in “Walmart Holiday Hours”. Without thinking much I clicked on the first result in the organic results (not the sponsered results). That domain showed up as eclipsemagazine.com, which is a entertainment news blog. The site is legitamate, but I think they may be hacked, because I was sent to this exact URL:  http://www.eclipsemagazine.com/?174120219217go=walmart%20holiday%20hours%202009 (DO NOT GO HERE!). That does a web redirect to mypcsecure-advisor.net, which as you may suspect is anything but secure. The domain registration is listed as such.

Registrant Contact:
UIS
Garritt Kooken gkook@checkjemail.nl
+86.592257788 fax:
Rue de Virton 237
Evegnee Evegnee 11111
be

I can’t even determine where that is, but it we’re definitely not in Kansas anymore. The e-mail address in the The Netherlands. Feel free to flame this e-mail address.

Now the magic happens. You are asked to download a file and run it.

Click on the thumbnail to see what it looked like on my computer. The file you are asked to download is called setup_build8_259.exe. I would highly recommend that you not download this file. If you did already, then you are infected.

Hopefully this post will help someone else out and keep the criminals fishing for nothing.

The letter that accompanied the check said that I had won $50,000

Wow I thought, this is creative. The letter instructed me to call a number to “verify” the check, which was to cover the “3.6% government tax”. Well the tax rate was pretty dumb, but I digress.

I did a quick search on the phone number and found that it was a cell phone in Toronto, Canada. That’s odd since the company logo on the check was in New Hampshire. So I called up Wallboard Supply Company at the number on their website, and asked about it. Sure enough they were dealing with the scam on a large scale.

So, here is my conclusion about how the scam works. The check is real, and it goes to a real account. However, that account has a fraud alert on it, and the check will not clear. I never did call the number on the letter, but I suspect that they would have told me to cash the check and then paid “the government taxes” before they would release the remaining funds. I’m sure that they would be helpful in giving me the right account to send the “taxes”. After the victim sends in the money, the check bounces and the money is gone.

So how did I do? If anyone else has seen this, let me know.

If I have learned anything about living in Texas, it is that Texans love their state, but they also love their country and the soldiers who willingingly serve.  The press release reads as follows:

Officials in an East Texas town plan to line the streets with American flags to honor a Marine who died in Afghanistan.

A hearse carrying the body of 24-year-old Marine Sgt. Jay Hoskins is expected to make the six-mile journey Aug. 13 from a local airstrip to a funeral home in Paris, about 90 miles northeast of Dallas.

Hoskins died Aug. 6 with two fellow Marines when a roadside bomb exploded in Farah province.

The city’s Kiwanis Club is distributing 500 large flags on 10-foot poles, and the football coach at the local high school told The Paris News that he expects hundreds of students to line the route.

The funeral procession is expected to include all local law enforcement agencies and Patriot Guard motorcycle riders.

What is incredible, is the amount of support that Sgt Hoskins received in his home town he returned on August 13.  The following video will blow your mind.

May God bless our soldiers.

Very impressive.

Go to see it here.

I remember!

News story here.

On Christmas Eve of 2007, my family went to DFW airport to welcome home soldiers coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan for R and R. It was one of those experiences that will last in my mind as long as I live.

You could say that I have a deep appreciation for our nations military and I am proud to be an American.

What prompted this post was a new video for the Marines that I think is very cool.

Back to Christmas Eve; my wife wrote about the experience better than I could have so I will quote her:

———————-

We arrived at terminal D at 7:45 am. There was a large crowd of people gathering there. Many of the people carried American flags and homemade signs. There were old soldiers dressed in their veteran outfits and young children with sleep still in their eyes. There were women and men of all ages, colors and creeds. Santa Claus was there with his bag full of treats, and an old Nam vet dressed to the hilt in blue Scottish
plaid, holding bagpipes. We found our place in the crowd, against a black belt barricade the airport uses to direct human traffic. All around we were greeted with the sounds of Merry Christmas, and warm handshakes. After a few minutes, a member of the USO got on a bull horn and gave us some instructions. Then she announced that the plane carrying 183 members of the military had just landed. They were home, fresh from the front. 300 People crowded in close, holding their flags and homemade signs high. Patriotic music began playing over the loudspeakers. The doors to gate 22 slid open, and the old Nam vet began playing on his pipes. Santa shook his bells and shouted Ho, ho, ho. And then the troops began to appear. We all started clapping and waving our flags. Members of the crowd were reaching out to shake the hands of the servicemen and women. And the soldiers were reaching back.

It just so happens that Dallas/Fort Worth is the first American soil every soldier touches as he returns home, and the last American soil he
touches as he returns to the front. Every single day a plane brings soldiers here, where they meet flights that connect them to home for two
weeks of R and R. Every single day another plane carries soldiers away to stand between us and evil. And every single day a crowd of American citizens gathers to welcome them home and to see them off. Today, we were able to be a part of that crowd.

As these service members walked through that gate, tired after a day and a half of traveling, you could see the war in their eyes. A small
handful tried to hide the war from us by wearing dark shades. Many stared straight ahead and marched down the gauntlet of people as quickly as possible. For those, we all stepped back and gave them the space they needed, serenading them only with our clapping. There were others, many others, that would step through the gate and see us standing there, and the war would begin to melt from their faces. They would reach out their hands to grasp the hands of the children who were lined up at the front of the crowd. Some, would reach for the hands of the adults, standing behind the children. As they shook my hand, they met my gaze with liquid eyes. I would squeeze their hand tight and say, “Thank You, and Merry Christmas.” They would stare right into my eyes and nod their heads the way only soldiers can.

In those powerful moments, I saw humanity melt the war that had settled into the soldiers hearts. I saw tears run down the cheeks of warriors and citizens alike. I felt tears of gratitude spill from my own eyes as I watched these men and women make their way humbly through the crowd. I saw wives greet husbands, and Daddies greet their children. One Texas soldier was met by his whole extended family. His grandmother turned to the crowd, and with her hand placed over her mouth to hold back the sobs, she raised her other hand to wave at us all and then she mouthed the words Thank You, before sobs overcame her and she was led away by her husband, a veteran of long ago.

This experience was beautiful. It was worth every moment of lost sleep. This week as we celebrate the birth of Christ, remember that we
are able to do so because today, there are men and women standing between us and evil. Remember the price of freedom is real.

Now that I know, I will go back, again and again.