I posted a job on Upwork, where I wanted people to bid for making an iOS app for me. I already have a similar android app called myMentos. Turns out Upwork people or some one in that company is selling my information to people outside of Upwork, and I am receiving emails with bids and solicitations.

Hey .........l,

I'd like to have one of my guys create a basic proposal for the ‘MYMENTOS: Create an iOS app similar to existing android app’ project that I think you posted online but before I do I'd like to have a call to discuss things & share a few ideas so that I am sure what we send you is as accurate as possible.
Give me a call when you get a minute via the contact info listed below, or if you would like to reply with a good time I will reach out to you Appreciate your time.!

Best Regards,
Vidya V
US: +1 480 409 4248
Whatsapp: +91 80071 17159
Skype Handle: vidya.etpl

There are some big companies out there that you've probably never heard of, that know more about you than you can imagine.

They're called data brokers, and they collect all sorts of information — names, addresses, income, where you go on the Internet and who you connect with online. That information is then sold to other companies. There are few regulations governing these brokers.

Be careful when you share personal info on the internet...

I dont know who is hacking the Poor Fiddle Guy or the Rich Standard Chartered Bank, but for an ordinary user, its a phishing scam...

<https://online.standardchartered.com/nfs/foa/theme/default/images/logo.gif>

Standard Chartered Online Banking User Account BLOCKED.

UNLOCK <http://thefiddleguy.com/sc.php>

Pakistan - Standard Chartered Bank.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ViolinScam

I recently decided to make a mobile app for Apple and thus I had to register on the Apple developer website and make payments with my credit card. Since then spammers are sending me spam emails, phishing attempts, SEO services, and sales offers etc etc, all vaguely related to my newly created apple ID.

Emails are coming from Paypal look alikes, Apple look alikes, Google look alikes, MSN look alikes, yahoo look alikes etc etc all relating and referring to my activity on Apple website. I never had this type of spam coming to me before my connection with apple. I wonder how do these spammers came to know, what I did on apple website just a few days ago. Amidst all this Apple forces you to use your real name while registering, asks you to send a piece of ID to verify, I dont know what and bla bla bla. Making you vulnerable to so much spam. On the other hand if I wanted to get a real piece of ID from apple or talk to someone at Apple, it will be so hard to get to a live person.

All this spam filling my inbox. Is it just a coincidence. I dont think so, and One wonders how is Apple the most secure platform in the world...

The spam email msg looks like this >>

Dear Customer,

We noticed some unusual activity on a credit card linked to your PayPal
account. As a security precaution we've place a limitation on your account.

Date and Time: May 19, 2017 05:32 PM +08:00 ( Western Indonesia Time )
IP: 198.125.336.22
Browser: iOS 10.1.2 AppleWebKit/601.1.46 (KHTML, like Gecko)

Case ID Number: PP-005-571-545-653
Don't authorize these changes? Review your Recently used devices now.
Apple Resolution Center


How you can help?

Please login Here to your account and we just need a little more
information about your account or latest transactions.

To help us with this and to see what you can and can't do with your account
until the issue is resolved, log in to your and follow the steps to confirm
your identity and recent account activity

Sincerely,

I have stopped buying Apple or Samsung. We are making all these untouchables so huge, they have started manipulating our lives. I bought a new smart phone for 250 dollars from a Chinese website. It has all that others offer. 128 GB of ROM, 6 GB of RAM, has an extremely nice finish and feel, allows 2 SIM cards, is light like a feather, works with a well known open source OS, and I will throw it away after a year and buy a new one, much better in specs. There is nothing so important that I need to save on my phone and that only Apple and Samsung can make secure and safe. I have no need to spend USD 1000 on a false sense of security...

The moment I registered a domain even with extra cash for privacy on godaddy.com, I start receiving emails from spammers about the new domain name and how they can help in SEO, software, make money from the website etc. One has to think either "godaddy" is involved in dirty business or the company providing so called privacy.

Hi Sir/Madam,

As promised the scripts are ready.

You can get the software for your business HERE. -&gt; http://symbol.live/2017/

In case you have any questions / clarifications, do get back to us.

Have a great day!


Best regards,

Ethelyn

(415)315-9573



( Important ! Please mark this mail as IMPORTANT, for our future offers to reach you on time )

Note : Sir , If the above link does not open. Copy-Paste this link in your browser: symbol.live/2017/

Important :If you do not wish to receive these useful deals from us. You can Un-Subscribe by clicking here

: http://rackgraph.com/mailwizz/latest/index.php/lists/me562cmqfbfe0/unsubscribe/gl0424cw2j58a/bt746ew384d6d

You are receiving this email because you downloaded our product and opted

Our mailing address is:

Symbol Tech

3350 Thomas rd, Santa Clara 95054, CA.

Santa Clara 95054

United States

All domain registrars and hosting companies run a network that helps spammers flourish and the probably make money out of it....

Symantec is cautioning users to be skeptical of emails claiming to be from Apple. This event presents scammers with more credibility when attempting to phish for Apple IDs, especially now that many users are concerned about the safety and security of their Apple IDs and devices. The emails adopt some of the following subject lines:

Please update your Apple account now
Apple – Your Account Is Not Confirmed
Please Verify Account Information For Your Apple ID
please verify the email address associated with your Apple ID

These subjects are used to trick users into opening emails, improving the odds that they may click on the links within them.

Apple Store

[Billing Fraud] Apple Store Recently Purchase Confirmation

Thank you for purchasing the following item : Space Qube

Order Number : MHDH6YMK37
Order Total : $34.99

- if you initiated this download , you can disregard this email , it was only sent to alert you in case you did not initiate the download yourself
- if you did not initiate this download , please cancel the transaction this purchase

To cancel this purchase Read your secure message by opening the attacment (pdf). you will be prompted to open (view) the file or save (download) it to your computer. for best results, save the file first, then open it in a Web browser.


Sincerely

Apple Support

If a user clicks on a link within the phishing email, they are directed to a Web page that on the surface looks like the real My Apple ID page. However, if users check the address bar, they will see a suspicious URL for a website that is not secure (HTTPS), which should raise suspicion.

Automattic is behind Wordpress and Akismet. Wordpress is a great application and is free. But Akismet is a bad move and you have to pay for it. Who knows and mind can think whatever. Why Wordpress can not the spam that Akismet stops.

Let the spam go to spam mail, and forget about Akismet. The problem is if you had Akismet and you stopped paying Akismet, your received spam will be trippled in numbers.

I receive an email almost every day where people are impersonating as PayPal, threatening to close my account or to report a suspicious activity. If I was not aware of the ways spammers work, all my credit card limit would have been consumed by spammers in a single day.

We’ve limited your account.
As you know, your transaction was recently declined. Let us explain so we can make sure it doesn’t happen again. For your safety, we limit the amount of money that goes through your account. We do this to protect you, and us, from the rare occasions of fraud.

Here's how we can fix it:
• Tell us more about yourself, so we know you’re you.
• Link your credit card and use it for PayPal transactions.

Please update your information promptly so that you can continue to enjoy all the benefits of your paypal account. If you haven’t been able to complete your transaction yet, we can help you here.

Please do not reply to this email. We are unable to respond to inquiries sent to this address. For immediate answers to your questions, visit our Help Center by clicking "Help" located on any PayPal page or email.

Copyright © 2016 PayPal, Inc. All rights reserved. PayPal is located at 2211 N. First St., San Jose, CA 95131.

NA00129 49289

This is an HTML based email, and looks very authentic. Please do not trust them. The funny part is that the moment you use PayPal, you will receive this message as if some one inside PayPal is trying to make use of this information privy to paypal only

The email is just a crude phishing scam that is designed to steal your email account password.

Your account has been limited due to insufficient validation.

You are required to updated your account through the link below.


CONTINUE


We apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate your understanding.

Thanks for using Yahoo,we apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate your understanding
Yahoo Team.

Online criminals can collect the details you supplied and use them to hijack your email account. Once they have gained entry, they can use your account to send spam, scam, and malware emails in your name, and also use any private/ secret information thats in your inbox like bank account numbers etc.

Misrepresentation is a crime. There is no free lunch. The world is being dragged into presumably free stuff at the cost of privacy and very very personal information. This personal information when collected by companies could be used for security, profiling, marketing etc. But amidst all that there are individuals trying to gain personal financial benefits or steal your ID etc.

None

Be careful, when you see free stuff. There are no shortcuts in this life and there is no such thing as a free lunch....