This email scam is really silly but could easily have costly consequences.
In the media world, August is the “silly season”. Nothing much happens. Politics, the courts, business and finance – they are all on holiday. So stories such as the woman who put a cat in a wheelie bin are elevated to major national coverage. Even superannuated Big Brother gets attention.
Of course, things happen in August which are tragic beyond comprehension – the floods in Pakistan and now in Niger.
So this email scam is really silly but could easily have costly consequences.
The psychic scam
In June, an email came from “Tara's Fortune” offering a “free psychic reading”. The only detail was “suite” (usually shorthand for mail-drop) at a Gloucester Road, London address if I wanted to unsubscribe. Six weeks later, came another from “Tara Medium” - same mystic meg looking lady and text but a mail-drop in Buckingham Palace Road.
It was personal – headed “Dear Tony” and promising “ I, Tara, have a mission to help anyone in a difficult situation. Do you have doubt, fear, or difficult times? I am here to help you.”
So I told “Tara” I wanted advice about finances – this is lovemoney.com so she was on to a tough wicket to beat this website's expert team! I sent her my date and time of birth. No mention of payment, so far.
And back came the reassuring answer.
“Dear Tony,
To start with I want to thank you for your confidence. As promised, I will prepare your Confidential Free and Urgent Reading. I agree to send you this In-Depth Study completely Free, within 48 hours at the latest. You can count on my help, Tony.
I send you my best wishes and full support. Your devoted friend.
Tara
Visionary Medium”
The threat
I had to wait four days – not the two promised – for the next instalment.
But Tara explained the delay. She (or the computer) wrote:
Dear Tony,
To start with I want to thank you for your confidence. Concerning your request, your problem seemed so important to me that I did an in-depth study of your case, which took several hours, in order to help you as quickly as possible...”
The next morning, Tara was even more insistent. She wrote:
“Tony,
To my great surprise I see that you still haven’t looked at it, even though it has some very good news for you.”
The link said she had spent “more than 13 hours” on my case and that there would soon be a £300 “check” for me in the post. But there was a threat.
“I ALSO HAVE SOME OTHER NEWS FOR YOU THAT IS A LITTLE LESS POSITIVE. But you shouldn’t worry more than necessary about it.
Because even though something may happen that is not very good for you, I can still be there to help you.
I will show you how you can avoid events that could turn out to be negative for you.”
I had to request “ a dated reading of luck and money” - via a demand for £79 “to cover costs” (reduced from £139!) on a credit card.
Of course, if I sent it, there would be further demands for more cash.
Fear and hope
The tara-medium.com website is registered in Hong Kong. And other than the “unsubscribe” mailboxes in London, that's the only detail I can offer.
Is anyone silly enough to fall for this in any month? Sadly, yes.
The material – and there are many Taras as fortune teller scams are high up on Office of Fair Trading danger lists – is cleverly designed to trigger fear and then offer hope. There are many vulnerable people for whom this is an irresistible combination. Tara will rip off as much as she can as long as she can. Don't let her.