There is a new scammer in town. Mr. Muhammad Ramzan is the Chief Executive of Global Development Corporation. He claims that Global Development Corporation is registered and is paying tax in Pakistan. According to him, Global Development Corporation is a subsidiary of Bait Al-Mal Al-Islamic Al-Alami/Muslim World Finance (an associate of Sachee International Corporation, a UK Government Licensed Lender.
Mr. Muhammad Ramzan claims that he is giving interest free loans to individuals and is soliciting deposits and investments in Faisalabad. He plans to start the biggest Islamic Bank in the World and the Bait-al-Maal, the Islamic Central Bank of the World. When I contacted State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), they denied having issued any license to Mr. Muhammad Ramzan or any of the entities like the Global Development Corporation, Bait Al-Mal Al-Islamic Al-Alami/Muslim World Finance, Sachee International Corporation or any other entity owned or controlled by Mr. Muhammad Ramzan.
Surprisingly, when I read the Loan Agreement provided by Mr. Muhammad Ramzan, it turns out that it is governed exclusively by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California, USA! This got me thinking. I did some searching on the internet and guess what? Mr. Muhammad Ramzan is a fraud! He is a scammer and has looted Muslims in UK and USA in the name of Islam!
Mr. Ramzan has already defrauded Muslims living in UK. He is wanted by the Bradford, West Yorkshire Police in UK in the Muslim World Finance Company fraud amounting to more than £2 million in 1992. West Yorkshire Fraud Squad was investigating this scam when Mr. Ramzan disappeared from UK and is absconding ever since. A news report in “The Independent, UK” has reported the fraud in Bradford by Mr. Muhammad Ramzan at:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/muslims-threaten-revenge-over-their-lost-investments-1580488.html
Then Mr. Muhammad Ramzan appeared in California, USA. He has also committed similar fraud in California and was on an INS hold. In the state of California, the California Department of Corporations, in their Investor Education Digest - Winter 2006 available at:
http://www.corp.ca.gov/Education_Outreach/pdf/winter06.pdf
reveals that criminal charges were filed alleging violations of the Corporate Securities Law against Mr. Muhammad Ramzan, promoter of M/s World Link Trading Corporation. He was on an INS Hold there and the charges were filed to prevent Mr. Ramzan from fleeing to Pakistan. Mr. Ramzan distributed flyers at mosques to solicit investment for making interest free Islamic Loans. He collected US$ 600,000/- but no loans were given. Somehow, he managed to flee USA and land in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan!
With inadequate laws and Law Enforcement Agencies handicapped due to many reasons, he seems to be having a blast at scamming unsuspecting Pakistani citizens. Now he has started his scam house in Faisalabad and is set to spread like wildfire all over Pakistan.
Mr. Muhammad Ramzan is an established fraudster and has made a career out of cheating Muslims in the name of Islam! Someone in the relevant Law Enforcement Agency should place Mr. Muhammad Ramzan under arrest before it is too late. His last known address is:
Global Development Corporation
Chamber No: 213-B, District Courts
Faisalabad.
He is an expert escape artist and will run fast once he has scammed enough people and made millions out of our poor people.
Showing posts with label frauds. Show all posts
Showing posts with label frauds. Show all posts
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Saturday, May 29, 2010
MOBILE PHONE FRAUDS IN PAKISTAN
The scammers are very much active in cheating the mobile phone users in Pakistan. Perhaps the most important factor which encourages scammers is the fact that they are protected by the telecom companies. I myself reported a telephone scam and asked them to reveal the identity of the caller. They flatly refused and said that they will take appropriate action themselves. For some reason, they are not at all willing to unmask the fraudsters and our legal system is too complicated. Litigation is also time consuming and in some cases takes as long as 20 years! Not to mention that an ordinary citizen cannot afford the expenses. So awareness is our best bet to safeguard against scammers. The three most common mobile phone frauds in Pakistan are:
SMS BALANCE TRANSFER FRAUD
This is the most common type and has been there for some time now. But it is still popular and effective. The number of complaints about this fraud suggests that people are still falling in this trap and there is a lack of awareness. Consider the following SMS (All the numbers are REAL; actual SMS reproduced, including the spelling mistakes!)
• From: +923036634543
Date: 10/11/09
BEGIN:VCARD
N:A Shazia
TEL:*100*923052492603*33#
END:VCARD
• From: +923317008692
Date: 10/01/10
BEGIN:VCARD
N:A A NADIACALLME
TEL:*100*923056960740*30##########
END:VCARD
• From: +923317008692
Date: 19/01/10
BEGIN:VCARD
N:A A NADIACALLME
TEL:*100*923056766798*30##########
END:VCARD
• From: +923317108651
Date: 01/02/10
BEGIN:VCARD
N:A Shzaia=@LOVE@
TEL:*100*923053901997*33##########
END:VCARD
Basically, these SMS use girl’s names to entice men to call back these numbers. In reality, the sender is asking you to transfer Rs. 100 from your account balance to the number in the Balance Transfer Code written after, TEL:. In the last example, it is made to look like the number of, “Shzaia=@LOVE@” is as given at, “TEL:*100*923053901997*33##########”. If a gentleman makes the mistake of calling this number, he will end up transferring balance of Rs. 100 to the telephone number in the code, which is, “03053901997”. It is amazing that a lot of people still fall prey to this scam. Not to mention those who knowingly call back such numbers, assuming that there is a girl on the other side!
JAZZ MALAMAL SMS BALANCE TRANSFER FRAUD
This is basically the same as above SMS Balance Transfer Fraud, but instead of using girls names to trap gentlemen, it uses the appeal of a real scheme being run by Mobilink in Pakistan to entice everyone naïve enough to fall prey to their scam. Being skeptic is not a good quality in general but my skepticism has served me well when it comes to scams. Consider the following SMS (exact SMS reproduces, including the spelling mistakes):
From: +923072264837
Date: 09/02/10
*JAZZ*
Ki tarf say aap
ko MALAMAL
main 500 rupes
“MUBARIK” ho.
Aap ye code
Milaen*100#923072263133*030#YES
Aap k balance main 500
Rupes ka azafa ho ga.
This is really creative and more convincing. People are conned into believing that the SMS is from Mobilink and end up transferring Rs. 100 instead of receiving Rs. 500 as promised.
IMSI BALANCE TRANSFER FRAUD
Most of the people I talked to did not know what IMSI was. It is common knowledge that the scammers are smarter than an average person. They are always looking for convincing ways to make people believe them so that they can con them into parting with their hard earned money. In the latest scam frenzy to hit Pakistan is the IMSI Balance Transfer Fraud. What happens is that you receive a call. The caller will tell you that he is calling from Mobilink to congratulate you for winning Rs. 550,000/- in the Malamal Scheme. But the caller will say that it depends on one condition. He will ask you to write down the number, “899-220” and will tell you that you will get this prize if this number is also written on the back of your SIM Card. He will ask you to call back after checking this number on you SIM card. Now here is the catch, these are the first six digits of the IMSI Number of Mobilink! Assuming that Mobilink has only one IMSI (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMSI), this number will be on all Mobilink SIMs!! When you call back, he will ask you to call his supervisor on another number to find out how to claim your prize. Now these shortlisted people are handled by another person who will congratulate the callers and tell them that the fact that he is receiving this call proves that you are a winner. Then he will tell you to visit 10 mobile phone prepaid card retailers and buy cards worth Rs. 500 from each of them, a total of Rs. 5000 worth of cards and call him back after loading this balance in your phone. Different people are asked to load prepaid cards of different amounts. If you do this and call back; then comes the same Balance Transfer Story again. He will tell you that you will receive a SMS with a calling code. After you call on that calling code, you will get another SMS for further instructions, address of the Mobilink Service Center and the name and telephone number of the contact person to claim your prize. The SMS will be followed by another SMS and so on until you have either become suspicious and stop or transferred the whole amount!! After that you will visit the nearest Mobilink Service Centre only to find out that you have been conned!!!
Now here comes the surprise: Did anyone wonder for a second, how can you win a prize if you did not enter into such a scheme to begin with????? I am sure most of us did not even think about this. This is basically what happens. We get excited at the prospects of winning and stop thinking rationally. This is why the scammers are always able to find victims. Spread the word and raise awareness. Together, we can fight the scammers!
SMS BALANCE TRANSFER FRAUD
This is the most common type and has been there for some time now. But it is still popular and effective. The number of complaints about this fraud suggests that people are still falling in this trap and there is a lack of awareness. Consider the following SMS (All the numbers are REAL; actual SMS reproduced, including the spelling mistakes!)
• From: +923036634543
Date: 10/11/09
BEGIN:VCARD
N:A Shazia
TEL:*100*923052492603*33#
END:VCARD
• From: +923317008692
Date: 10/01/10
BEGIN:VCARD
N:A A NADIACALLME
TEL:*100*923056960740*30##########
END:VCARD
• From: +923317008692
Date: 19/01/10
BEGIN:VCARD
N:A A NADIACALLME
TEL:*100*923056766798*30##########
END:VCARD
• From: +923317108651
Date: 01/02/10
BEGIN:VCARD
N:A Shzaia=@LOVE@
TEL:*100*923053901997*33##########
END:VCARD
Basically, these SMS use girl’s names to entice men to call back these numbers. In reality, the sender is asking you to transfer Rs. 100 from your account balance to the number in the Balance Transfer Code written after, TEL:. In the last example, it is made to look like the number of, “Shzaia=@LOVE@” is as given at, “TEL:*100*923053901997*33##########”. If a gentleman makes the mistake of calling this number, he will end up transferring balance of Rs. 100 to the telephone number in the code, which is, “03053901997”. It is amazing that a lot of people still fall prey to this scam. Not to mention those who knowingly call back such numbers, assuming that there is a girl on the other side!
JAZZ MALAMAL SMS BALANCE TRANSFER FRAUD
This is basically the same as above SMS Balance Transfer Fraud, but instead of using girls names to trap gentlemen, it uses the appeal of a real scheme being run by Mobilink in Pakistan to entice everyone naïve enough to fall prey to their scam. Being skeptic is not a good quality in general but my skepticism has served me well when it comes to scams. Consider the following SMS (exact SMS reproduces, including the spelling mistakes):
From: +923072264837
Date: 09/02/10
*JAZZ*
Ki tarf say aap
ko MALAMAL
main 500 rupes
“MUBARIK” ho.
Aap ye code
Milaen*100#923072263133*030#YES
Aap k balance main 500
Rupes ka azafa ho ga.
This is really creative and more convincing. People are conned into believing that the SMS is from Mobilink and end up transferring Rs. 100 instead of receiving Rs. 500 as promised.
IMSI BALANCE TRANSFER FRAUD
Most of the people I talked to did not know what IMSI was. It is common knowledge that the scammers are smarter than an average person. They are always looking for convincing ways to make people believe them so that they can con them into parting with their hard earned money. In the latest scam frenzy to hit Pakistan is the IMSI Balance Transfer Fraud. What happens is that you receive a call. The caller will tell you that he is calling from Mobilink to congratulate you for winning Rs. 550,000/- in the Malamal Scheme. But the caller will say that it depends on one condition. He will ask you to write down the number, “899-220” and will tell you that you will get this prize if this number is also written on the back of your SIM Card. He will ask you to call back after checking this number on you SIM card. Now here is the catch, these are the first six digits of the IMSI Number of Mobilink! Assuming that Mobilink has only one IMSI (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMSI), this number will be on all Mobilink SIMs!! When you call back, he will ask you to call his supervisor on another number to find out how to claim your prize. Now these shortlisted people are handled by another person who will congratulate the callers and tell them that the fact that he is receiving this call proves that you are a winner. Then he will tell you to visit 10 mobile phone prepaid card retailers and buy cards worth Rs. 500 from each of them, a total of Rs. 5000 worth of cards and call him back after loading this balance in your phone. Different people are asked to load prepaid cards of different amounts. If you do this and call back; then comes the same Balance Transfer Story again. He will tell you that you will receive a SMS with a calling code. After you call on that calling code, you will get another SMS for further instructions, address of the Mobilink Service Center and the name and telephone number of the contact person to claim your prize. The SMS will be followed by another SMS and so on until you have either become suspicious and stop or transferred the whole amount!! After that you will visit the nearest Mobilink Service Centre only to find out that you have been conned!!!
Now here comes the surprise: Did anyone wonder for a second, how can you win a prize if you did not enter into such a scheme to begin with????? I am sure most of us did not even think about this. This is basically what happens. We get excited at the prospects of winning and stop thinking rationally. This is why the scammers are always able to find victims. Spread the word and raise awareness. Together, we can fight the scammers!
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
CAREER OPPORTUNITY/JOB SCAMS
We all have dreams and aspirations. Unfortunately, in a third world country like Pakistan, we have more dreams than opportunities to make them come true. With the state of economy the way it is, there are very few amongst us who have decent jobs that can help us fulfill our basic needs. Out of our necessity to better our lives and to fulfill the needs and desires of ourselves and our loved ones, we are all the time thinking of ways to make our dreams come true. For this reason, we are always desperate for a better job and even a complete change of career. It is our desires and our desperation for fulfilling them that the scammers are exploiting. You need to be aware that there are a lot of career opportunities or job scams in Pakistan.
With so many people living below poverty line, there are so many unsuspecting people falling prey to these scammers every day. The targets of career opportunity scams are from the entire spectrum of the demography. From ladies, widows, students to the already desperate victims of earthquake and now the IDPs of the Northern Areas have fallen prey to the career opportunity scams.
Modus Operandi
It all starts with an advertisement through any medium (newspaper, television, letter, SMS, telephone call, website, email or word of mouth, you name it. The advertisement may offer very attractive opportunity of a work at home scheme, job abroad, online payment processor, franchise, commission agent etc. It could be a company offering to market your invention or publish your book. It could be a company offering to create products based on your ideas.
Regardless of the type of opportunity presented, all such schemes have one thing in common: They all promise you huge income in a relatively short period of time; dreams (read fantasies) come true. But once you are convinced and have filled their registration forms and submitted all the data, they will all require you to pay a small amount up-front on one pretext or another. In all the excitement, some people may not realize that they are being cheated and end up paying. It is this amount that they are deprived of and it is lost forever. This is what is known as the advance fee fraud. Shattered dreams and loss of hard earned money. Money that is really hard to come by in a developed country like ours with so much unemployment.
Prevention
Do not believe everything you read in advertisements or what people tell you. Don’t believe in anything that is too good to be true. Try to verify the credentials of the advertiser before you make a decision. Does the advertiser have a brick and mortar address? does it have a land line telephone number? Is it a regulated entity? If so, verify with the regulator. Is it a new company or a well established old company of repute?
Learn to question everything. Ask the experts in the field. The more questions you ask, the more informed your decision will be. Never trust anyone who promises fortunes and then asks for a fee up-front. Don’t deal with anyone if you have to pay up front. The habit of questioning will save you from lot of pain, misery and financial distress. Because if you do become a victim of a scam, chances are the scammers will have disappeared with your money along with thousands of others like you. Even if you get them, the legal battle may last for years and cost you more time and money than you had lost to begin with. Prevention is always better than cure. Take care.
With so many people living below poverty line, there are so many unsuspecting people falling prey to these scammers every day. The targets of career opportunity scams are from the entire spectrum of the demography. From ladies, widows, students to the already desperate victims of earthquake and now the IDPs of the Northern Areas have fallen prey to the career opportunity scams.
Modus Operandi
It all starts with an advertisement through any medium (newspaper, television, letter, SMS, telephone call, website, email or word of mouth, you name it. The advertisement may offer very attractive opportunity of a work at home scheme, job abroad, online payment processor, franchise, commission agent etc. It could be a company offering to market your invention or publish your book. It could be a company offering to create products based on your ideas.
Regardless of the type of opportunity presented, all such schemes have one thing in common: They all promise you huge income in a relatively short period of time; dreams (read fantasies) come true. But once you are convinced and have filled their registration forms and submitted all the data, they will all require you to pay a small amount up-front on one pretext or another. In all the excitement, some people may not realize that they are being cheated and end up paying. It is this amount that they are deprived of and it is lost forever. This is what is known as the advance fee fraud. Shattered dreams and loss of hard earned money. Money that is really hard to come by in a developed country like ours with so much unemployment.
Prevention
Do not believe everything you read in advertisements or what people tell you. Don’t believe in anything that is too good to be true. Try to verify the credentials of the advertiser before you make a decision. Does the advertiser have a brick and mortar address? does it have a land line telephone number? Is it a regulated entity? If so, verify with the regulator. Is it a new company or a well established old company of repute?
Learn to question everything. Ask the experts in the field. The more questions you ask, the more informed your decision will be. Never trust anyone who promises fortunes and then asks for a fee up-front. Don’t deal with anyone if you have to pay up front. The habit of questioning will save you from lot of pain, misery and financial distress. Because if you do become a victim of a scam, chances are the scammers will have disappeared with your money along with thousands of others like you. Even if you get them, the legal battle may last for years and cost you more time and money than you had lost to begin with. Prevention is always better than cure. Take care.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE
I have come across a lot of people who lost their hard earned money to scammers, fraudsters, cheaters, thugs….chose your word; they all mean the same to me. They all wanted to get rich quick like me, but I was rigid when it came to values and that is the only reason why I have always managed to steer myself away from scammers. I always managed to subdue my greed, uphold my vales and struggled in the right direction. There is no easy way out, there is no shortcut. A lot of really good people, unfortunately too eager to get rich quick, lost their hard earned money to the scammers. They are all mostly good people, earning an honest living, working hard to make their dreams come true. Whenever they come to me for help, I am so saddened at the expensive justice system we have in place. Most of the honest people hardly earn enough to meet the basic needs of their families. Very few can afford the lawyers and the time needed to pursue litigation. Most are working class people with their jobs to worry about and cannot stay away from work for extended periods. Besides, in some cases, there is a vacuum in the legislation and it is extremely difficult to convict the scammers as their scam has not been declared a predicate offence yet. While I will always encourage people to fight for their rights and do not let the scammers get away with it, I feel it will be better to create public awareness about the various types of scams so that people can steer away from them. Prevention is always better than cure and less costly. So stay with me, I am involved in combating financial crimes and will do my bit to save people from becoming victims. Let us help each other and save each other from the scammers.
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