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E-mail scammers really are stupid. - Page 1

E-mail scammers really are stupid.

Posted by: Yuzihax
Date: 2008-06-21 19:43:57
So a couple of weeks ago I get a new email in my spam box, nothing out of the ordinary, only this time it's one of those classic scams where they do shit like "DO FOR CHARITY" and "I HAS CANCER MONEYZ PLEEZ? D:".
So, the first email I got a couple of weeks ago, reading:

Greetings.

As you read this, don't feel sorry for me, because it is the destiny of everyman to die someday. I am IDENTITY WITHHELD a naturalised Briton by birth and a business merchant based in the United Kingdom. I have been diagnosed with Oesophageal cancer.

It has defiled all forms of medical treatment, and right now I have only about a few months to live, according to medical experts. I regret that I have not particularly lived my life so well, as I never really cared for anyone (not even myself), but my trade. Though I am very well to do, I was never open handed; I was always hostile to people and regarded them like they never had hopes of becoming as successful as myself. Now I know that there is a lot more to life than just prosperity.

I believe that when I am given a second chance to come to this world, I would live my life a different way from how I have lived it. Now that death is eminent, I have willed and given most of my belonging to immediate and extended family members, as well as a few close friends. I want Allah to be merciful to me and accept my soul. Hence I have decided to support charity work; this is what i want to be remembered for. So far, I have been able to reach out to a few charity organizations in the Singapore, Algeria and Malaysia. Now that my health has deteriorated so badly, I cannot do this myself anymore.

I once asked members of my family to aid me in giving of alms to those organizations catering for the less Privileged in Bulgaria and Pakistan; they refused and kept the resources to themselves. Hence, I do not trust them anymore, as they seem not to be contempt with what I have left for them.

The last of my belonging which no one knows of, is the deposit of Eight Million US dollars ($8,000,000.00) that I have in a safe keeping company abroad, which I will want you to secure and bestow to charity organizations.

Please endeavour to reply me via email:EMAIL REMOVED


For your time and devotion, I have set aside a tenth of this for you.

May the good lord be with you.

IDENTITY WITHHELD

Cute, ain't it?
So I reply casually, just getting this idiot's hopes up, and nary a few weeks later I get a reply from him.


Attn: zachariah  yuzi,

Dear Beloved Friend,

Thanks for your mail and your concern. In my last mail to you I introduced myself and gave you a summary of the present predicament I have found myself and how I lived my life(financial-wise).My failing health has necessitated my present over view of life and the meaning of life itself as it relates to day-to-day living. Even surgery which is a last resort has been done but the cancer has already spread into the stomach and intestines.

The fund in questions is privately kept and I wanted to put it in capable hands for disbursement. Other such funds that I left to my relatives to disburse to charity were all plundered and used for their personal purposes.

For this reason I have decided that within the confines of my hospital room and the privacy of my computer (to which I have limited use of the internet connection) to look for a suitable person to transfer ownership of the deposit to, and after claiming the money, disburse 80% of the $8, million dollars to`various charitable organizations of your choice in various countries and then retain 20% of the money for your effort. The $8, million dollars is deposited in a private Security Firm in Europe (Spain).

This is not a business proposal and I do not expect any returns or share of the money. I am dying and I have distributed most of my earthly possessions to various individuals, groups and organizations. This deposit of $ 8, million dollars is the bulk of what is left. It is unknown to my other relatives. If I do not find a suitable person to disburse the funds as I plan to, then on my death ,the Security Firm holding the deposit would have to notify my next of kin to claim the deposit as stipulated on the deposit agreement. And from what I have seen of how they spent the other funds I designated for the same purpose, leaving the fund in their care would be a colossal waste of all I have worked and lived for.

If you would be able to help me fulfil this last living request, I would need you to get back to me on the following issues, after reading and understanding this few lines.

1. That you are in a position to be trusted with such a large amount of fund, and that you have a heart for charity and thus would not have any problems locating the right charity and human aid groups to disburse the fund to. It would be nice to know what charities you have in mind to donate the money to.

2. That you are willing to contact the Security Firm in Spain,  holding the deposit to discuss the terms of releasing the funds to you.

3. That you fully understand this transaction up to this stage and you are ready to proceed under these terms.

Please send your full contact details as I requested in my previous mail. I will need you to send me your  full names, direct tel/fax number and your full postal address so I can send it to the Security Firm so they can get in touch with you immediately.

In the attachement  above is my present state of health in those pictures.

I await your prompt response. 

Best regards,
Mr: IDENTITY WITHHELD

Spain? So we've established this is some Spanish scammer thinking he's got me, so I fire off another reply, only this time beating around the bush and not giving him any sort of information.

Today, I received this last one:

Dear Mr Yuzi,

Thanks for your mail, how are you and your family? hope all is well if so
splendid. like i told you in my previous mail i will like to support charity
work with this funds, and i will like to refer you to my first?mail please,
do let me know if you are willing and capable to handle this transaction?and
disbusel the funds to various charity organization, and 20%? of the total
funds will be for you and the rest to the poor people.

Hope to hear you quick responses.

Regards.
Mr. IDENTITY WITHHELD

Wow! He wants to know how my family is doing? Surely a caring person can't be a scammer![/sarcasm]

So finally, after having enough of this bullshit, I blew a huge hole in this little scam, firing off this reply just a few minutes ago:


Alright, this ends here.

I know for one, you don't have any sort of "cancer" or anything.
Second, this is obviously a scam due to the percent I'll "get"
fluctuating from 10 to 20 just magically.
Third, you're not doing any sort of charity work at all, you just want
my money for your own stupid uses, and like hell I'll be allowing that
any time soon.
Fourth, if you were legitimate, then I wouldn't of, for one thing,
seen an exact copy of your first damn email on the internet in a list
of scams, and for another, your email switched from one domain to
another, meaning the first just catches replies and the second is for
advancing through the replies to get what you want.

All in all, this was really a piss-poor attempt at getting quick
money, and the fact that you're even trying is saying to me that
you're some stupid 10-year-old sitting at his mother's computer in his
parent's basement finally thinking that he's got some kind of awesome
scam going on for him.

~Yuzi


So yeah, in all, this scammer thought he was going to get away with it, and ended up getting nothing but pwned in the end.

EDIT: Found the site where a copy of the initial email is located:
http://khulachittha.blogspot.com/2008/05/from-salem-halid.html

Re: E-mail scammers really are stupid.

Posted by: Abwayax
Date: 2008-06-21 21:06:35
Funny, I was reading about Nigerian 419 email scams earlier today

Re: E-mail scammers really are stupid.

Posted by: ?????(000)
Date: 2008-06-28 00:40:18
I got shit e-mails like that. You know what I did? I sent them spam, then deleted the e-mails.