Another Text Spammer Found

Here is the typical spam message received from these text spammers

Need some quick cash? You can easily get $1200 wired into your bank account today! For info, just reply back the word "Pay", to cancel reply "STOP"

A search on some of the numbers being used or that had been used in the past shows that the spammer is using AT&T accounts. The following is as complete a list as I can make of all known phone numbers associated with these text spammers, listed in numerical order:

323-208-2212

408-203-3430

408-203-4306

408-427-7743

415-309-7479

415-408-1069 

415-408-1548 

415-408-8106

510-219-7087

510-316-7065

510-378-9423

612-454-9373

714-176-3827

714-251-2595 

714-276-3827

714-330-9748

714-519-1465

714-599-0894

714-625-1458

714-651-4683

714-651-7164

714-679-0140

714-679-1572

714-679-2176

714-679-2456

714-679-2867

714-679-4275

714-679-4969

714-679-7169

714-679-7490

714-697-5848

714-697-5850

714-697-5854

714-757-9209

714-869-4141 

818-519-6960

845-617-4891

909-287-4247

949-463-3715

949-463-5147

949-463-5162

949-463-5163

949-463-5447

949-463-5594 

949-463-5601

949-463-5608

949-463-6435 

949-463-6700

949-463-7436

949-463-7437

949-463-7505

949-466-7139

951-314-8998

Since these all appear to be AT&T numbers, you can use a web-based email account to send them a message directly. I suggest not using your regular email account. Instead, use a Yahoo or Hotmail account to voice your disagreement with their use of text messaging to spam your phone. Here is a list of the email addresses that you can use, corresponding to the order given above:

3232082212@txt.att.net

4082033430@txt.att.net

4082034306@txt.att.net

4084277743@txt.att.net

4153097479@txt.att.net

4154081069@txt.att.net

4154081548@txt.att.net

4154088106@txt.att.net

5102197087@txt.att.net

5103167065@txt.att.net

5103789423@txt.att.net

6124549373@txt.att.net

7141763827@txt.att.net

7142512595@txt.att.net

7142763827@txt.att.net

7143309748@txt.att.net

7145191465@txt.att.net

7145990894@txt.att.net

7146251458@txt.att.net

7146514683@txt.att.net

7146517164@txt.att.net

7146790140@txt.att.net

7146791572@txt.att.net

7146792176@txt.att.net

7146792456@txt.att.net

7146792867@txt.att.net

7146794275@txt.att.net

7146794969@txt.att.net

7146797169@txt.att.net

7146797490@txt.att.net

7146975848@txt.att.net

7146975850@txt.att.net

7146975854@txt.att.net

7147579209@txt.att.net

7148694141@txt.att.net

8185196960@txt.att.net

8456174891@txt.att.net

9092874247@txt.att.net

9494633715@txt.att.net

9494635147@txt.att.net

9494635162@txt.att.net

9494635163@txt.att.net

9494635447@txt.att.net

9494635594@txt.att.net

9494635601@txt.att.net

9494635608@txt.att.net

9494636435@txt.att.net

9494636700@txt.att.net

9494637436@txt.att.net

9494637437@txt.att.net

9494637505@txt.att.net

9494667139@txt.att.net

9513148998@txt.att.net

If you live in the United States, you may file a complaint against the sender of this text spam by going to this webpage
https://esupport.fcc.gov/ccmsforms/form1088.action


I hope this helps.




Duane Browning

Unwelcome Phone Calls from Toll-Free Numbers

EveryCall.US has a list of the most-reported telemarketing calls on their website. Since I had some free time, I decided to do a bit of checking on the list to see who the companies are that these numbers belong.

Here we go:

800-684-8429    In Use since 1995 for a customer of Verizon 800-483-3722


800-669-0102    In Use since 2010 for a customer of AT&T


877-819-6042    In Use since 2005 for a customer of Sprint 800-795-1004


800-395-2274    In Use since 1997 for a customer of Verizon 800-483-3722


800-555-0433    In Use since 2003 for a customer of AT&T


800-733-1116    In Use since 2005 for a customer of Verizon 800-483-3722


800-959-1373    In Use since 1998 for a customer of Verizon 800-483-3722


800-900-1372    In Use since 2010 for a customer of TransNational (TNCI) 800-800-8400


800-848-9380    In Use since 1997 for a customer of Verizon 800-483-3722


800-395-2274    In Use since 1997 for a customer of Verizon 800-483-3722


800-331-0500    In Use since 2003 for a customer of ATT


800-754-0961    In Use since 2002 for a customer of AT&T


800-947-5096    In Use since 2002 for a customer of AT&T


877-874-5811    In Use since 2010 for a customer of Phone People aka Onebox 858-569-4444


877-825-3242    In Use since 2009 for a customer of Mpower Communications 702-310-7994


877-838-4347    In Use since 2001 for a customer of Verizon 800-483-3722




Duane Browning

Unwelcome Phone Calls from 888-729-1134?

Browsing through the various websites dedicated to fighting unwelcome telemarketing calls, I found complaints regarding the number 888-729-1134. The complaints seem to be about unauthorized charges on credit cards, which is pretty serious.

The number of reports on this number on 800notes, everycall, CallerFinder, PhoneOwner, and PostCallNotes got me curious about who these people are. So, I did a search at TollFreeNumbers to see what I could find out about these people and this is what I found:

888-729-1134 In Use since 2010 with TimeShift (aka Onebox) 323-817-3220

The phone number 323-817-3220 is the customer service number for OneBox, which is a company that describes itself thusly:

Onebox is owned and operated by j2 Global Communications (NASDAQ: JCOM), the makers of eFax®. Onebox provides a comprehensive suite of outsourced virtual phone, fax and email services for small businesses and individuals around the world. With nearly 60 stae-of-the-art features to choose from, Onebox is designed to make peoples' lives easier. 

The Onebox virtual PBX phone system enables small businesses to sound like a Fortune 500 company - without the dramatic associated expense. Onebox is your own virtual office assistant that puts you in control of all of your communication needs. It answers your calls with a professional greeting and forwards them to you wherever you are. Onebox also offers the finest in online fax services, voicemail to email, as well as audio/web conferencing.

We pride ourselves on offering five-star customer service and dedicated to our goal of saving your business time and money. Contact one of our representatives today to see what Onebox can do for you.

So, it seems that the people calling from 888-729-1134 recently bought their number from OneBox. Like any company, OneBox should have a customer service department and finding their contact information was easy on their website and this makes it convenient for people to contact them with any complaints they might have about a phone number registered through their company.

Corporate Headquarters

j2 Global Communications

6922 Hollywood Blvd.

Hollywood, CA 90028

323-860-9200 

Sales:

Call 888-OK-ONEBOX  (888-656-6326)

Email: sales@onebox.com

Customer Service:

In U.S., Call 866-761-8108

Outside of U.S., Call 323-817-3203

Email: support@onebox.com

For the sake of full disclosure, I do feel obligated to point-out that OneBox has been accused of corporate misbehavior itself and you can find links to articles discussing those accusations here. I cannot personally vouch for the accuracy of the accusations, but I felt it necessary to provide a link to them.


Duane Browning

Justin Art Gallery Job Offer

I found this job posting on Backpage Honolulu:


We are looking for individuals (Male/Female) Start Making $1,300 Weekday P/T
posted: November 11, 2010, 10:06 AM

Hello,

We are looking for individuals (Male/Female)that have the passion for Delivery to help add to a Delivery team that is second to none.Make an extra income while we reach for the demands of our numerous customers.

The pay $1,300 Weekly.

Work duration:Weekdays

Days Off: Saturdays/Sundays

Must be friendly and good with people.

Get back to me for more information if you are interested.....

Thanks and have a lovely weekend...

Best Regards,

Mario Lucas

Salary/Wage: $1,300 Weekly

Education: ANY

Status: Part-time

Shift: Days

• Location: USA

This "offer" looked too good to be true and I figured that it was a likely a scam. So, I logged-into one of my extra email accounts and sent a message asking about applying for the job. I had nothing to lose by sending a message, after all. If it turned-out to be real, I could get myself a top-paying job and if it was fake, I could always blog about it.

From: "Mario Lucas"

Hello,

Thanks for your response to my ad on www.backpage.com regarding the Delivery Position and sorry for the late reply.However, I am Mario Lucas a Branch Manager of Justin Art Gallery and I have been given the task of setting up Justin Art Gallery in the United States to further expand and also meet the high demands of our numerous customers in the United States.More so, I will be arriving on the 26th of November 2010 and you can have the Delivery Application below filled out and sent to me so we can have it added to the company's data base.More so, the start of date as a Delivery Personnel will be on the 30th of November 2010 and you are to work from Mondays through Fridays while you take the weekend off.Your weekly pay will be $1,300.You can also call me on my cell phone +639159275768 ...dial as typed

Introduction to Justin Art Gallery.

Justin Art Gallery aims to provide an innovative forum for contemporary art, presenting work by largely unseen young artists or by international artists whose work has been rarely or never exhibited in the Philippines.

When Justin Art Gallery first opened over Ten years ago it was only those who had a dedicated interest in contemporary art who sought out the gallery to see work by new artists. The audience, however, built steadily over the years and by the time the gallery left its second home at County Hall, visitor numbers reached 300,000 per annum, with over 700 schools organizing student visits.

Justin Art Gallery has worked with media sponsors on a number of shows including The Observer, The Sunday Times, Evening Standard, The Independent on Sunday and Time Out.

Many artists showing at Justin Art Gallery are unknown when first exhibited, not only to the general public but also to the commercial art world. Many of these artists are subsequently offered shows by galleries and museums internationally. In this effect, the gallery also operates as a springboard for young artists to launch their careers.

Challenges we face

The audience for exhibitions of contemporary art has increased widely during the last ten years as general awareness and interest in contemporary art has developed both in the Philippines and abroad, thus making us one of the world's Interactive Art Gallery and now we are face with a challenge of keeping up with our numerous clients in the United States as they sometimes prefer making payments by cashier's check or money order, that's why we are in search of Representatives in the United States that will act as an aid between us and our numerous customers in the United States.We would be happy to receive your resume if you are interested in working for Justin Art Gallery as one of our Representative in the United States.More so, Vacancy for the position of a Driver/Delivery Personnel is now available for an Immediate Appointment with a weekly pay of $1,300.00

Nevertheless, the Van will be will be provided by the Gallery before your 1st Assignment.More so, you are also to act as Justin Art Gallery Payment Representative by receiving payment from our customers in the United States in Cashier's Check ,money order or bank draft.

JOB DESCRIPTION:

You will be making deliveries of our Art Collections bought by our customers to different locations with a Van that will be provided to you.More so, you are to receive the payment for each art works purchased as our Delivery/Payment Representative and have it sent to our Accounts Officer and I hope you can handle this....

BENEFIT IS AS FOLLOWS:

* The averagely income is about $40,300 Monthly depending on your Efficiency.

* No form of investments from you....

* This job takes only 3-5 hours per day....

* You do not pay any form of taxes as it will be paid by the Gallery.

* Weekends will be your days off

Kindly Have the Delivery Application filled out and sent back to me if you are interested in working for Justin Art Gallery as our Delivery and Payment Representative so we can have it added to the company's date base. 

Nevertheless, our website is being updated for a better relationship with our customers and friends. However, you can scroll down for a tour of some of our finest collection.

Best Regards,

Mario Lucas.

Branch Manager

Justin Art Gallery

24 EDSA AVENUE MAKATI

PHILIPPINES 4114

Delivery Application:

Contact Details:

First Name: ________________________________

Last Name: _________________________________

License Class: _____________________________

Address Line:_______________________________

City: ______________________________________

State: _____________________________________

Zip code: __________________________________

Telephone: _________________________________

Mobile: ____________________________________

Email: _____________________________________

2 Years Employment History (Most recent first)

Employer's name and any further details that may aid your application

Employer’s Full Name (1):________________________________

Start Date (1): _________________________________________

End Date (1): ___________________________________________

Start Date (2):__________________________________________

End Date (2):____________________________________________

Employer’s Full Name (2): _______________________________

Start Date (1): _________________________________________

End Date (1): ___________________________________________

Notice how this art gallery is located in the Philippines and not in the United States? Right away, this should make people wonder. As far as I know, when works of art are shipped overseas, they are usually handled by professional shipping companies, such as the US Postal Service, United Parcel Service, FedEx, DHL Express, etc. By itself, UPS has branches in most countries around the world and could easily ship and deliver paintings without the gallery having to hire its own people and supply them with vehicles. Furthermore, why have the delivery driver responsible for collecting payments?


Since this gallery is supposed to be in the Philippines, I assumed that the email would have come from there, but I was wrong. Running an IP trace, I discovered that the email had been sent from Nigeria.


I was already convinced that this post is a scam, but I decided to search for a "Justin Art Gallery" in the Philippines, with the intention of reporting to them that their company was being used as a front for a scam. I found nothing that matches, aside from other people posting about this job offer. There are a lot of people named "Mario Lucas" to be found on the Internet, but none in the Philippines.


The "EDSA Avenue" mentioned is a real place, however. The full name of the street is "Epifanio de los Santos Avenue" (often simply shortened to EDSA) and is the main road in Metro Manila. Google Maps couldn't locate the specific address, but it's reasonable to assume that the address is nonexistent. Formerly known as Highway 54, the avenue was renamed in honor of Epifanio de los Santos, a very famous Filipino writer, in whose honor schools, a printing press, a college and a hospital were also named.


The phone number really is a phone number in the Philippines. However, a search for the number shows that it is a mobile phone, which is not surprising since a mobile phone is easier to run a scam with and gives less information to law enforcement to use for tracking down the scammers. So, both the phone number (63-915-927-5768) and the email address this message was sent from (mariolucas24@yahoo.com) are easily disposed-of and replaced.


So, this job posting is yet another scam posted on Backpage. I really wish that Backpage had some way to report this sort of thing to administrators. If they did, we might not have to worry about this sort of thing.


Duane Browning

Text Spam Made Its Debut on My Cellphone (Part 3)

I probably should have done this shortly after I received the text spam I blogged about before. But, I sent a test message to the email address given in the spam text, optout4@yahoo.com, to see what kind of response I would get.

I didn't use my regular email address. Instead, I used a throwaway account that I keep expressly for that kind of thing. I simply posed a question, asking how they got my unlisted number.

This is the response I received:

Sorry, we were unable to deliver your message to the following address.

<optout4@yahoo.com>: Remote host said: 554 delivery error: dd This user doesn't have a yahoo.com account (optout4@yahoo.com) [-5] - mta1276.mail.ac4.yahoo.com

Essentially, this means one of several things:

1. the email account was shutdown due to reports to Yahoo! that the account was being used for spam;
2. the email account had been active, but was shutdown by the owner for reasons unknowable to me at this time;
3. the email account was hacked by persons unknown to me and they deleted the account; 
4. the account was never active in the first place and the email address was a ruse. The reply via text would have been the only way the spammer could have any contact from their intended victims;

The last option makes little sense, since using the cellphone/telephone text replies as their only means of receiving opt-in or opt-out messages would have left the spammers with an unreliable means of communication. Complaints from individuals against the phone companies would have repeatedly resulted in those accounts getting closed and the spammer having to establish new communication lines with a new number. Spamming is all about acquiring information and/or money. If your operation constantly has to move from one account to another on a regular basis, the cost versus benefit doesn't add-up in their favor.

The first two options seem to be the most likely to be correct, though I will not discount the third choice out-of-hand. Given that a simple Internet search reveals that the email address is strongly associated with a wave of text spam would have given weight to any complaints sent to Yahoo!.

So, Round One goes to the General Public, for now.

If you live in the United States, you may file a complaint against the sender of this text spam by going to this webpage
https://esupport.fcc.gov/ccmsforms/form1088.action


Duane Browning

Text Spam Made Its Debut on My Cellphone (Part 2)

I've decided to add a blogpost with a collection of all the available information I have about the recent text-spammer who contacted me.

Typical Message: "Eliminate up to 90 percent of your debt today - Really! Text Yes if you would like to know more. TXT No to opt out or Email your # to optout4@yahoo.com
-Survey"


Email address: optout4@yahoo.com (account not active)


Website: cuturdebt.com (now closed)

Phone numbers

(According to a very helpful operator and a search using Intellius, all of the numbers listed below are T-Mobile cellular phone numbers. While the lines may belong to Verizon or Paetec, they are rented from them by T-Mobile)

310-622-2077

310-622-2637

310-866-0239

310-866-1846

310-866-1856

310-866-2043

310-866-2097

310-866-2368

714-331-1692

714-331-6925

714-399-6873

714-833-3386

949-276-1968

949-310-0727

949-310-8551

949-335-2291

949-335-2496

949-335-2706

949-502-1083

949-502-2108

949-573-6338

949-973-1645

949-973-1648

949-973-1651

949-973-1654

949-973-1656

949-973-1658

949-973-1661

949-973-1664

949-973-1665

949-973-1667

949-973-1668

If you want to send them a message, you can use a spare email account you might have and send it directly to their cellphone by sending it to (phonenumber)@tmomail.net. Using the email address, the above list of numbers would have the corresponding email addresses listed here:

3106222077@tmomail.net

3106222637@tmomail.net

3108660239@tmomail.net

3108661846@tmomail.net

3108661856@tmomail.net

3108662043@tmomail.net

3108662097@tmomail.net

3108662368@tmomail.net

7143311692@tmomail.net

7143316925@tmomail.net

7143996873@tmomail.net

7148333386@tmomail.net

9492761968@tmomail.net

9493100727@tmomail.net

9493108551@tmomail.net

9493352291@tmomail.net

9493352496@tmomail.net

9493352706@tmomail.net

9495021083@tmomail.net

9495022108@tmomail.net

9495736338@tmomail.net

9499731645@tmomail.net

9499731648@tmomail.net

9499731651@tmomail.net

9499731654@tmomail.net

9499731656@tmomail.net

9499731658@tmomail.net

9499731661@tmomail.net

9499731664@tmomail.net

9499731665@tmomail.net

9499731667@tmomail.net

9499731668@tmomail.net

If you live in the United States, you may file a complaint against the sender of this text spam by going to this webpage
https://esupport.fcc.gov/ccmsforms/form1088.action

Duane Browning

Text Spam Made Its Debut on My Cellphone

On 26 October 2010, at 4:44pm, I received a text that appeared to come from 949-573-6338 that said:

"Eliminate up to 90 percent of your debt today - Really! Text Yes if you would like to know more. TXT No to opt out or Email your # to optout4@yahoo.com
-Survey"

My cellphone number is on the National Do Not Call List, which I believe also covers text messaging. So, these people violated that by sending me this unsolicited text.

There are many different ways they could have gotten my number. It could have simply been randomly-generated; they could have gotten it from a poor security set-up on my Facebook page; they could have illegally acquired it from stolen records from a financial institution I have dealt with in the past, etc.

Since I was out of the house when I got the text, I couldn't do an Internet search to find out who owns the number, but it was one of my Top Priorities when I got home.

As I discovered when I fired-up the old laptop, I wasn't the first recipient of this spam text. I found online posts about this on 800notes, Whocallsme, MrNumber, PhoneNoInfo and Callwiki.

Using the search engine at FreePhoneTracer, I discovered that this phone is registered as a landline through T-Mobile in Orange County, specifically San Juan Capistrano, CA.

According to T-Mobile Customer Service, this phone is registered to a business called "24 Hour Messenger Service". However, as the number does not show-up with the registrants' name and address in any Internet search I did, this seems to be a dead end, as messenger companies that actually want business would not have unlisted numbers. It could be that the phone does belong to this company and the phone is used by a courier while they are out on their rounds. Since there are a number of courier companies in that area offering 24 hour courier service, actually finding the responsible party would be time-consuming and cost me a bit of money in long distance charges.

There are also the possibilities that the number has been spoofed, so it isn't really coming from this number or the phone may have been stolen and is being used by spammers.

The email address given optout4@yahoo.com has been linked to other text spammers in the past. I found that the same email address has been used in text spam sent from 949-973-1664, 949-973-1668, 949-310-0727, 310-866-2097, 310-866-1846, and others. I also discovered that the website URL cuturdebt.com (now closed) has been referenced in past text messages associated with this email address.

Judging from these past examples, the spammers are physically located - or wish to appear to be physically located - in Southern California.

• 310 is the area code for Malibu, Torrance, Beverley Hills, Santa Monica, Catalina and Western Los Angeles suburbs, California 
• 949 is the area code for Laguna Niguel, Irvine, El Toro, Newport Beach, Corona Del Mar and Southern Orange County, California 

They also don't seem to stick to just one cellphone provider, as the numbers are each registered through a different company:

• Registered through Paetec Communications, Inc. - Ca were 949-973-1664, 949-973-1655, 949-973-1659, 949-973-1668 and many others;
• Registered through T-Mobile were 949-573-6338 and 949-310-0727;
• Registered through Verizon were 310-866-2097 and 310-866-1846;

This list is by no means complete. I found more numbers registered through other companies, but I didn't want to write an encyclopedia today.

There are two possibilities I can think of:

1. the individuals who are doing this are spoofing different phone numbers. Using one for awhile and then switching to another. However, it doesn't explain why the phone numbers all come from California. One would think that a spoofer would switch the area codes to appear to come from different states as they switched.
2. these are real cellphones being used (likely registered to different people) that have been stolen and resold to the spammers to use. Either that or they registered to real people to use for the scam and switching to new ones when the old ones get their accounts pulled. Like the first example, this doesn't seem to make sense either, since it provides a name and address for law enforcement to track or for people to file complaints against.

So, there are problems with either of those choices and there could be a third possibility that didn't occur to me.

I wish I had more information, but I'm hopeful that this blog posting will find its way into the search engines, so people who receive these text messages will understand what is happening.

I tried to call the number (I blocked my number using *67, so he wouldn't know what number was calling him) and tried to speak to somebody to see if this was an innocent person whose phone number was being spoofed. I got their voice-mail, but their in-box was full and could not accept new messages. This may be the result of too many people trying to call the number to complain about being textspammed. By itself, that doesn't mean that the account-holder is innocent or guilty. However, if they were innocent, it would make sense for them to call T-Mobile and have their number changed, rather than draw the wrath of pissed-off spam victims. If they are guilty, they might be thinking that if they let the voice-mail fill-up and ignore the complaints, they can get away with it as long as they wish. But, that will only work unless some one decides to send a text to that number.

If you are on the National Do No Call List, you can file a complaint here.

You can file complaints to the Federal Communication Commission here.

If you live in the United States, you may file a complaint against the sender of this text spam by going to this webpage
https://esupport.fcc.gov/ccmsforms/form1088.action

Duane Browning