Scam Emails! - I will NOT send you $$ if you're in London.. it's a SCAM!!

[icnmgrjill]

Have any of you received the following scam emails? Sometimes it's from a "friend" other times it's from a family member. Often it's a teenage boy begging a grandparent or aunt to send them money. Here's the one I got today.

Hi,

Apologies for having to reach out to you like this, but I made a quick trip to London,United Kingdom and had my bag stolen from me with my passport and credit cards in it. The embassy is willing to help by authorizing me to fly without my passport, I just have to pay for a ticket and settle Hotel bills. Unfortunately, I can't have access to funds without my credit card, I've made contact with my bank but they need more time to come up with a new one. I was thinking of asking you to lend me some quick funds that I can give back as soon as I get in. I really need to be on the next available flight.

I can forward you details on how you can get money to me. You can reach me via email or the hotel's help desk, ########. I hope to hear from you soon.

Hopefully, you all realize this is a SCAM!! I mean, OMG, I'm really NOT going to make any quick trips to London. Helloooo!! I have IC.. and flying in a plane long distances isn't exactly fun.. so if I fly to London, I promise that I'll be there for a few weeks! Nothing quick about it... and preferably running about the country with a laddie wearing a sexy kilt.

Secondly, every credit card company would cancel your existing cards were they stolen AND then reissue you a new one, often within hours!

Thirdly, were this to happen to me, I would hope that the people that I was visiting would cover me briefly during the duration. I mean, honestly, that man in the kilt just happens to be loaded and wouldn't mine giving me a fiver if necessary, eh?

Lastly, do they really think that I would call a hotel information desk?? Umm.. first I would look up the name of the hotel on the web and probably trip advisor. Secondly, I would compare the numbers because I do NOT want to be calling Nigeria by accident. Thirdly, I would NEVER give my credit card over the phone.

I mean.. sheesh!!! We are not this stupid to fall for this, are we??

Jill

[needsrelief]

I have gotten similliar ones from Europe and Nigeria. I would never give my personal information to a stranger especially on the internet. so I know that its a SCAM

[sailawaygrl]

I can't believe that people actually fall for the foreign lottery emails. I have gotten a few of those lately. Or the one from someone claiming to be an officer in Nigeria and somehow the money swap......I don't read much of it prior to hitting the spam button. It is really sad that some people are so desparate for the easy way they will fall for these things.

One word of special warning too. If you have elderly people in your family please watch for them. My Grandmother was an extremely intelligent woman. She handled her money perfectly, balancing her checkbook to the penny every month her entire life. This with only a 6th grade education. When she got older though my Mom found out that someone had gotten her on the phone claiming to be collecting for vets. My Grandmother lived through WWII and lost relatives there. She held them with very high regard, so in her older state, she was very sick, and on a lot of medications. She wouldn't move out of her house so family stayed with her most of the time, always at night. During the day these people would try and get to her. My Mom learned that this man would call and tell her he was coming by and to leave the money out. She then put it in an envelope and taped it to her garage door, where he would come and pick it up! Cash only of course. We cried when we realized what was going on. My Mom got him on the phone but he wouldn't say his name and she tried to get his plate number on his car but couldn't see it, he grabbed his money and ran. We never told my Grandmother it was a scam, it would have broken her heart. He stopped coming once he knew the family was on to him. I see the elderly getting scammed all the time, it makes me so sad, and angry.

There are a lot of vulnerable people with big hearts that don't think anyone is out to get them or their money. Unfortunately, many people are out there up to no good. We have to watch out for family, friends, neighbors.

[ICNDonna]

That's almost as bad as the ones about a missionary doctor who passed away and his heirs need help getting his money out of wherever! I'm glad I'm someone they consider trustworthy, but my names isn't "undisclosed recipient!"

Someone must be falling for their scams or they'd give it up?????

Donna

[zyphia]

The Scam in Reverse

If you don't mind a long story I will tell you of my scam in reverse. I get those emails all the time but I have a spam blocker so they go directly to my spam folder so once in a while I will look at them for fun and clean out the folder. One day one in particular caught my eye and I could tell from the way the email was written that they had used a translation program to translate their scam from their language to English. Most of the the time the subject and verbs are backwards, as are the adverbs, etc. Anyway, this one didn't want a huge amount of money for me to claim my millions that some wonderful African prince had left me so I decided to play along. My brother in law had recently passed away and my husband and I were beneficiaries of his rather large estate, along with my husband's 2 other siblings. I had some of the legal documents the lawyers handling the estate had sent us showing a list of the assets that had been identified to date. I scanned the documents and using a computer program I have, altered the names on the documents with outlandish names (mostly cartoon character names from cartoons on TV.. so that the real names on the documents were gone) and changed the names of the town we live in, got phone numbers from pay phones in the area and altered the phone numbers on the documents, even changed the names of the banks on the documents. Everything was changed on the documents except the name of the accounts, by that I mean type of account, ie. CD or stock, and name of stock holder were changed to names such as Miniver R. Odent, as in Minnie Mouse. I left the amounts intact and attached them to the email I sent to the wonderful people offering me the millions of dollars. I told them as much as I appreciated the offer of millions of dollars as they could well see but to please keep the money and put it to good use for I too was coming into a vast amount of money. I told them it would do my heart good to know that the money the Prince had wanted me to have would go to a good cause. I was sending copies of my paperwork in good faith to show them that I was being as true and honest as they were about helping them with my money and if they would contact me I would be happy to speak to them.

Of course they bit the bait there in their little grass shack in Nigeria somewhere. Have you ever seen on one of those investigative shows what kind of a dump they operate out of? I got back several emails from someone's secretary and from some other yahoo immediately and even pictures and official looking ID cards and then the mean and nasty emails started coming. Boo hoo! They started getting angry because my phone calls were not being answered and the people answering the phone when they called the US (which they complained was expensive and the people were rude who picked up the receiver) had never heard of a person named Anice Bottom!!!!

My husband keeps telling me to leave these poor people alone but I keep telling him that as long as they spam me I will forever spam them. I am within the law. I am not breaking any and am not harming anyone. I have not taken one penny from anyone. The End

[NancyB]

I got one

I got one supposedly from Kathi at this site about 6 months ago. She moderates the live chats. Was really surprised. I am sure it wasn't really from her.

NancyB

[icnmgrjill]

OMG Zyphia.... SOOO FUNNY!!!! Anice Bottom! :::Snort:::

Jill

[ICNDonna]

Zephia: Thank you! Your post made me laugh out loud. I've never had enough nerve to take the actions you did, but definitely have been tempted.


Donna

[Mothergoose]

The people who call asking for money for this or that or scam type things I used too say oh yes I am interested and ask a few questions about their what ever, sometimes I would ask them to hold on while I turned the down on the stove, sometimes my young son would pick up, you know how little ones like to talk on the phone, and they would chat nicely to them as I monitered on speaker phone, because they were thinking they had me hooked. Basicly if I wasn't busy I would keep them on the line as long as I could and then tell them I was not interested. or when they started asking for my credit card number I would ask another question, finally telling them oh no they don't let me have any credit cards anymore.

The thing is I have not hurt them, just played along too, they are mad I have used up their time, and eventually they quite calling our number as they mark us as not being worth the call. But I have also saved how many other people they would have bother in the time they were on the phone with me.

I have also been know too stuff prepaid envolopes with other junk mail and mailed it back to them.

I do know I will never stop them from trying but I can try.

MG

[VickiB]

I have also been know too stuff prepaid envolopes with other junk mail and mailed it back to them.

I like that!