Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2015 January 14

= January 14 =

Is this phishing/scam?
I just got an e-mail that purported to be from a colleague of a friend of mine. I recognised his name immediately, though I've never seen him use this e-mail address (it was a Hotmail.com address). The text of the e-mail said:


 * Sorry to bother you with this, I just arrived in London and I need your help, I'm in a fix. Can I get a loan of €2500? You'll have it as soon as I get back. I lost my bank card, I can't access the atm as planned. I'll appreciate what you can give if not all. It's really urgent, Get back to me asap, I'll advise on how to send it. Keep this between us. Thanks

Followed by the colleague's full name, profession and home address, which I trust to be real. For privacy reasons I won't give them here.

Now my first thought was that this is phishing and/or a scam. Besides, the person it purported to be from is Finnish and speaks Finnish fluently, and he should know I also do. So why would he be writing to me in English?

Of course I didn't reply to the e-mail. Does anyone know whether this is a well-known attempt at phishing and/or a scam? J I P &#124; Talk 19:26, 14 January 2015 (UTC)


 * I have received similar emails from relatives which were frauds. Don't fall for it.  Robinh (talk) 19:42, 14 January 2015 (UTC)


 * Me too. The one I got had all the right details and seemed very genuine, but something still didn't ring true, so I made a phone call to a third party to check it out. It didn't check out.  Lesson: Listen to that voice that says "Don't trust this".  --   Jack of Oz   [pleasantries]  19:59, 14 January 2015 (UTC)


 * I got one of those a few years ago. The message was ostensibly from an American, and aside from the obvious "phishy" appearance, the words "car park" appeared in it, and Americans don't use that term. Oops. It would be a courtesy, as per comments above, to contact your friend and let him know someone hijacked his e-mail address . He might want to make some changes. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 20:09, 14 January 2015 (UTC)


 * They didn't hijack the friend's email address, but rather his personal info, including his relationship to the OP, and the OP's email address, and used that to send this email from his one of his own accounts. StuRat (talk) 20:39, 14 January 2015 (UTC)
 * Yes, I intended to say just plain "e-mail". ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 22:28, 14 January 2015 (UTC)


 * As a general way to check on such scams, you need to contact the person, but not using any contact info in the email, which is likely to direct you to the scammer. Instead, contact your friend and ask him for his colleague's contact info, then use that. StuRat (talk) 20:43, 14 January 2015 (UTC)


 * BTW, if a colleague of a friend of mine actually asked to borrow that kind of money from me, I'd break out laughing. To borrow that much of money from me, you'd need to be a close friend or relative, and/or provide collateral.  StuRat (talk) 20:45, 14 January 2015 (UTC)

It's basically a variant of the common "Ore-Ore" scam seen in Japan, except the scammer apparently had real info. Your friend might want to change his or her passwords. —/M endaliv /2¢/Δ's/ 20:47, 14 January 2015 (UTC)


 * It doesn't sound like any account was hacked, to me. It sounds like they were using publicly available info. StuRat (talk) 22:25, 14 January 2015 (UTC)


 * Search the web for some of the sentences in the email, this scam is out there. Also do a full virus scan on your computers, and tell your colleague do the same; one of you may have a virus that is harvesting email contact information. 88.112.50.121 (talk) 22:29, 14 January 2015 (UTC)

I got one once from a friend who apparently had been caught in the riots in Ukraine and deprived of their passport and all their money.Which was somewhat startling as they'd only gone into the kitchen to make a cup of tea... Lemon martini (talk) 11:34, 15 January 2015 (UTC)

I just got another e-mail. It was from the same address, but this time it seems to really be from my friend's colleague. It is in Finnish, and he tells that his e-mail was hacked from Nigeria, and he has sorted the problem out with his ISP. J I P &#124; Talk 19:44, 15 January 2015 (UTC)


 * My wife got an email from a very rich 90 year old blind lady who she knows. It seems that while she was hiking in Scotland and staying at a youth hostel, someone stole her backpack with her passport and all her papers, and she requested that $200 be wired to her. Amazing! Edison (talk) 20:24, 15 January 2015 (UTC)


 * The problem is that the barrier to entry for these crimes is very low - and so are the odds of getting caught. Since more or less any idiot can create a free email account and push an email out to a million people - it only takes one out of those million to be tricked into sending money and the crime is worth the effort.   It's really easy to trick one person in a million - so this is a profitable pastime for people without moral scruples...of which there are plenty.


 * There is actually a relatively easy way for society to take control of this: If everyone who got one of these kinds of email were to respond to the bad guy asking for some extra piece of information before sending the money - the bad guy would get 999,999 junk emails that (s)he would have to read through and check out before finding the one or two that contain a $200 payoff.  The sheer effort involved in sorting the wheat from the chaff would make this kind of scam instantly uninviting to the bad guys.   At the very least, someone would have to start a list of email addresses where people respond to obvious phishing with equally bogus replies so that they could be excluded from the spammer's mailing list.  That would be a huge win also!  SteveBaker (talk) 20:27, 16 January 2015 (UTC)

sharing articles on facebook
Excuse me how do i share articles on facebook? there is no handy button like so many other websites! — Preceding unsigned comment added by Sidmac1981 (talk • contribs) 22:13, 14 January 2015 (UTC)
 * Copy the URL from the address bar. Alt-D Ctrl-C should work for most desktop browsers. For future reference, you should sign your posts with ~ LongHairedFop (talk) 22:25, 14 January 2015 (UTC)


 * Do you mean Wikipedia articles ? StuRat (talk) 22:23, 14 January 2015 (UTC)


 * You could either A) copy the URL of the article and paste it into Facebook or B) use Sharebox.  But you're correct in that there is no button supplied by default.  Dismas |(talk) 22:25, 14 January 2015 (UTC)

Physiology of the brain
Does anyone know when humanity first learned of the hemispheres of the brain divisions? If so, can you refer me to a more or less authoritative place to confirm such as the name of a book, web site, or other place? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2605:E000:5FC0:39:9DA:E808:195C:5D77 (talk) 22:18, 14 January 2015 (UTC)


 * Do you mean when they first identified the functional differences in the two hemispheres ? Because, of course, they knew there were two hemispheres since antiquity, as a simple autopsy will show that. StuRat (talk) 22:22, 14 January 2015 (UTC)
 * Or just clubbing someone hard enough. InedibleHulk (talk) 23:22, 14 January 2015 (UTC)


 * Try Lateralization of brain function. &#8213; Mandruss  &#9742;  23:31, 14 January 2015 (UTC)

Can I claim Head of Household/dependants if my roommates haven't paid their rent for over a year?
I have shared an apartment with two roommates since November 2013, but I have been the only one with a real job and the only one who pays for anything. I have fully paid utilities, rent, groceries, and gas because I'm a spineless coward who can't confront anyone about anything. None of us are related to each other biologically. Can I claim them as dependents, and/or can I file as Head of Household? 50.51.202.80 (talk) 23:19, 14 January 2015 (UTC)


 * I'm not about to give tax advice, but I recommend you move out and find a place of your own, without any parasites, human or otherwise. As for their current debts to you, you could get them to sign a loan agreement, and hopefully they can pay you back when they do get a job, or maybe they can do some type of work for you to pay it off.  StuRat (talk) 23:31, 14 January 2015 (UTC)


 * Check the instructions for the 1040 and see what it says about dependents. If in doubt, call the IRS or your favorite tax accountant. And as Stu said, moving out would be a good plan. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 23:35, 14 January 2015 (UTC)


 * Good plan, if (s)he wasn't a spineless coward. There's safety in numbers. InedibleHulk (talk) 23:39, 14 January 2015 (UTC)


 * He can always move in with fellow invertebrates. :-) StuRat (talk) 23:44, 14 January 2015 (UTC)


 * As you're probably aware, spines aren't all they're cracked up to be. Worms have taken over the globe, using just a primitive decision support system. InedibleHulk (talk) 00:37, 15 January 2015 (UTC)


 * One thing, though - if you're intending to leave them, "watch your back." ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 00:46, 15 January 2015 (UTC)


 * Why should he be the one to move out, having paid for everything? He should grow some balls and kick the others out. Literally, if necessary.  --   Jack of Oz   [pleasantries]  20:53, 15 January 2015 (UTC)


 * He shouldn't have to, but if his self-characterization is true, then he should probably make like the Baltimore Colts and steal away in the middle of the night. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 21:57, 15 January 2015 (UTC)


 * Here's a step-by-step from the IRS website. Walk through it and see if it might work for your situation. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 00:54, 15 January 2015 (UTC)


 * Of course, it would be helpful if these responses related to the same country that the original poster is paying taxes to. --65.94.50.4 (talk) 11:57, 15 January 2015 (UTC)
 * The IP geolocates to Ohio. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 12:14, 15 January 2015 (UTC)


 * Hi 50.51.202.80, Try Head_of_Household as a starting point.  You should always verify the accuracy of a wiki-page by checking  the references on which the wiki-editors base the information, or go over to the the talk page and see if you can locate the WikiProject(s) that have taken this article under their wing. Hope this helps. Ottawahitech (talk) 15:38, 15 January 2015 (UTC)