MI5 have a logo?
MI5 undercover spies: People are falsely claiming to be us
British spook hive MI5 has taken the unusual step of placing a front-page warning on its website about a financial scam carried out by people pretending to be spies or the agency's director general. The online alert was prominently posted on mi5.gov.uk, and occupies more space than the UK security threat level indicator, which …
-
-
-
Friday 29th March 2013 06:35 GMT Shannon Jacobs
Logo doesn't matter, but the warning is good and should be widespread
The spammers are glad to abuse ANY organization's or company's credibility if they think it might help them con one more sucker. However, in the spam I see, most of the fake references are to the American FBI or various agencies of the United Nations. There are a scattering that point at news websites, and even some that point at Wikipedia, which strikes me as a target with especially high credibility. Hey, if the spam cites Wikipedia, it must be true, right?
Wrong.
I think that all such websites should immediately add a warning with appropriate links to any webpages cited by the spammers. If the potential suckers are systematically routed AWAY from the spammers, that will hurt their business models--and making money is the ONLY think the spammers are interested in.
I'm not saying we can convert such sociopaths into decent human beings. I'm saying we need to break their business models in every possible way. If they can't find suckers with money, then they will crawl under less visible rocks.
-
-
-
-
-
-
Thursday 28th March 2013 13:15 GMT Anonymous Coward
When I was at university, I was once approached by a secretive man. He wouldn't tell me exactly what he wanted, but he kept asking me strange questions about flat-pack furniture and grilling me on my knowledge of cheap kitchen units.
Eventually I realised that he was trying to get me to join MFI.
-
Friday 29th March 2013 20:23 GMT Anonymous Coward
When I was at university, I was once approached by a secretive man. He wouldn't tell me exactly what he wanted, but he kept asking me strange questions about Mormon "religion". Eventually I realised that he was trying to get me to suck his cook. We all have bad memories from university too, and M15 would not have helped him, I think.
-
-
-
-
Thursday 28th March 2013 13:33 GMT Rampant Spaniel
Is Nigeria still at it? I thought they turned legit and started a stock exchange to fleece people out of their money. No more having to send pictures of yourself with a melon on your head and getting Janet Street Porters face tatoo'd on your arse just to get a cheque.
Hillarious that they are pretending to be MI5 now, not people to piss off unless you want their friends to take you on a surprise holiday to their Romanian chateau. What does the email say? Since the Tories got elected our budgets got slashed, you can adopt a spook for just 20p a day?
-
-
-
Thursday 28th March 2013 12:33 GMT JimmyPage
I've fallen victim to this scam
The caller identifies themselves, and then tells about a system called "government" which you have to pay into, and you can get the most fabulous prizes. They then threaten that if you don't pay them, they'll lock you up.
Despite me sending off over £15,000 last year, I haven't seen a bean.
-
Thursday 28th March 2013 12:42 GMT Steve Knox
"...the warning is not specific and therefore difficult to act upon..." !?
How much more specific does it need to be? The only "acting upon" we need to do is to not give money to people claiming to be from MI5.
The only way the supposed lack of specificity would make it more difficult is if one regularly receives legitimate financial requests from heretofore unknown MI5 operatives by phone or e-mail, thus having need for information to distinguish the legitimate requests from the illegitimate ones. Does this happen to you? If so, I would suggest you visit (a) the police, to give them the details of all of the requests, (b) a library or dictionary website to research the meaning of "legitimate", and for good measure (c) a psychiatrist to diagnose a set of delusions whose symptoms include believing that MI5 agents would regularly ask you for money.
-
-
-
Thursday 28th March 2013 12:52 GMT DayDragon
Bad English?
"If you receive such a communication, please do not respond to it and report it to the police."
Anyone else think this is bad English?
I know they probably mean report the scam to the Police and don't send the scammers any money but to me it seems to read "don't tell the police and don't send any money to the scammers"
-
-
Thursday 28th March 2013 17:56 GMT dssf
Re: Bad English?
Lol...
I, too, was going to comment. I was going to suggest:
"Please do not respond to it. However, report it to the police."
That unassailably removes all doubt.
But, in the name of economy, Western Haiku, and authoritarian language, all too many directives or instructions hurt my brain when I parse them as I I were a lawyer looking to help a client weasle out a corner though crafty exploitation of misplaced commas, missing commas/comma splices, faulty sentence structure.... Usually written by the brightest in society, hehehe...
A shcool... Umm, school I walk by every few days has posted on one of its doors a similarly grammatically confusing message to parents, something about not parking in the street and somesuch. I'll have to photograph the note. It would have been handy had I done so just 3 days ago... Sigh...
-
-
Thursday 28th March 2013 15:51 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: Bad English?
> "If you receive such a communication, please do not respond to it and report it to the police."
> Anyone else think this is bad English?
No because the word 'nor' is used to make explicit the meaning you are suggesting: "If you receive such a communication, please do not respond to it nor report it to the police."
-
-
-
Friday 29th March 2013 07:41 GMT david 12
Re: I've often wondered
..why some of these terror organisations don't rebrand themselves. It would cause much confusion.
Jemaah Islamiya. (In Indonesia). The phrase is both the name of an organisation, and a simple descriptive phrase.
Imagine a terrorist group called "The Christian Church". It's not specifically branded as anti-terrorist, but yes, it does cause confusion. The police and government would say things like:
/ "The Christion Church" is a terrorist organisation that must be stopped/
-
-
Thursday 28th March 2013 14:56 GMT Anonymous Coward
419 v MI5, tier 1
and they ripped their logo two?! They're DOOMED!!!
Dear Col X,
I am a director of the MI5, carently on vaction in the Orkney Ilands and I got robbed by thos Scandinavian pirates. Please, I besech you, do NOT send any mony, but DO send me [the bankers / the politicians / the press / delete as appropriate] to help me get out of this f... hole.
Eternally oyurs,
Ivan Al-shakya
Head of MI6
-
Thursday 28th March 2013 15:15 GMT Schultz
Substantial Threat
So this full-page threat advisory puts the UK security threat level corner nicely into context.
I always wondered how serious a 'Serious' terrorist thread threat really is (apart from seriously threatening some career when the shit does hit the fan). Just some percent (real-estate wise) as serious as subclass MI5 of a Nigerian 911 spam, it appears. Thanks for the clarification!
-
Thursday 28th March 2013 17:20 GMT bag o' spanners
This?
brrrring brrrrring!..."I can't reveal my identity, or who I work for, but if you don't send me large bundles of used fifties, there's a sports holdall with your name on it"......click!
(later) brrrring brrrring!... "Isn't it about time you got dressed and made your way to the bank?"....click!
(later still) brrrring brrrring!.... "Don't say I didn't warn you" ....click!
I returned home about 5:30 pm this evening to find my dead housekeeper neatly folded up in a sports bag in the bath. The answerphone volume appeared to have been set to "off". A tragic, but very preventable accident has occurred.