how can I play these people for total fools?

[ima_sinnic]

e-mail received 14 minutes ago:

Subject: YOU HAVE BEEN AWARDED!!!
From: WESTERN UNION PUBLIC RELATION <[e-mail]> (well-known "easy-to-get" Internet e-mail addy)
Reply-to: [e-mail] (same Internet e-mail provider with Hong Kong extension)

WESTERN UNION PUBLIC RELATIONS
P.O. Box 502
Killorglin, Co Kerry
Ireland.
Attention: WINNER

This is to inform you that you have been awarded a cash prize of
£250,000.00 (Two hundred and fifty thousand Great British Pounds) It is
our tradition in WESTERN UNION to reward by giving awards to deserving
stomers who have shown by contin ous patronage their trust in our
services.To begin the process of awarding your prize, you are to contact
our WESTERN UNION CUSTOMERS RELATION DEPARTMENT through our agent contact
address below.You are also advised to provide him with the under listed
information's as soon as possible for the speedy ransfer of your award
prize .This is your winning pin number XZB120964MW.Note that you are to
keep this onfidential from anybody and your winning pin number for future
claims.Sir. DENNIS JULIUS

mail:[e-mail]

1.Names in full...........
2.Address.
3.Nationality........
4.Age......
5.Occupation......
6.Telephone Number......
7.Short comment on our services.
.....
8.Fax ......
9.Email address.......
10.Do You Have Any Question About Our Service?Congratulations again from
all our staff and thank you for your continous trust in our services and
please do tell us how to treat you better.

Sincerely,
Rita Wilford.

-----

OOOPS!!! I revealed the PIN number!!

as a copy editor who does much work for ESL writers from Asia, I find the "Engrish" errors in this jumping out at me. I'd love to string these guys along or some such--feel free to do with it as you want--any ideas??

[Wcross]

1. DO NOT REPLY!!!!

Unless it is with a seldom used/disposable e-mail account. Many more scams will follow.


The really sad thing is they must get some idiots that believe it or they wouldn't try.

[Clintonista2]

2. I have no sympathy for idiots that believe scams like that

In fact, I think it's great that people fall for stuff like this, because at least the idiots suffer a bit :D

[Wcross]

3. It's mostly the elderly and weak.

I don't think its great at all. I would like to see these scammers shut down for good.

[ima_sinnic]

4. oh geez, that is also my #1 rule

normally I delete crap like this without a second thought, but felt it pathetic and amusing enough to share.
There are websites where people have documented stringing along creeps like this for weeks and even months--quite entertaining. But they must have to sacrifice an e-mail addy in the process :D

[Wcross]

6. Eventually they will ask you to wire money via western Union.

You could do it (5 bucks) and then put a hold on the transfer. They will know they have a "money gram" waiting for them but they can't get it. That would make them crazy.

[ima_sinnic]

10. hee hee

but it would cost at least $12 to send the $5, maybe more. I know it is $12 to send anything less than $300 to the Caribbean--over $300, it is 5% of the amount being sent.

[Fire Walk With Me]

5. Ignore it. Playing people for fools, even bad people, is a Republican behavior.

[GoneOffShore]

12. I'm sorry, I don't agree.

These are serial crooks who take advantage of the weak and gullible.

That's why I LOVE the site 419 Eater

Here's a quote from their opening page:

WARNING
419 scammers are not nice people, they are thieves, liars, and generally very nasty, therefore you can expect some small use of adult language and themes when dealing with them here. That is not to say there are any explicit pictures here - there aren't, but if you are very easily offended then please go HERE


PLEASE ALSO NOTE
Scambaiting is not a racist activity. Anyone with racist views is most definitely NOT welcome on this site. 419eater maintains a ZERO TOLERANCE policy towards racism throughout the site and forums.

It is important to understand that scambaiters only respond to scam emails we receive. Unfortunately is is a sad fact of life that the majority of "419" scams do in fact originate from Western and Southern Africa - we estimate 50% - 55% of "419" scam attempts are sent from Western & Southern Africa - but these scams also come from places such as England, Spain, Ireland, USA, Canada, The Netherlands, Australia and many more.

For the most part these criminals are not, "poor people trying to scratch a living", but are very prosperous compared to their law-abiding countrymen, and many operate in highly organised, and highly successful criminal gangs. Millions of dollars are stolen on a DAILY basis, with absolutely no thought given to victims, who are losing vast amounts of money, homes, relatives, jobs and worse. Contrary to popular belief, it is not just "greedy & stupid people" that fall for these scams.

[Fire Walk With Me]

18. Stopping criminals, I agree with. Acting like a Republican, I don't agree with.

If you can stop them, good...

[GoneOffShore]

7. Go over to 419Eater

They can help you scam bait these weasels.

Maybe get some trophy photos of them hold up a sign saying something mildly obscene.

[ima_sinnic]

11. oh,now that is a good site! thanks for the tip!

I have bookmarked it for further study--not that I am really going to do anything with this e-mail (have already sent it to my Junk folder, where it will be deleted automatically at some point by Thunderbird) but I like reading about stuff like this.

[RebelOne]

21. http://thescambaiter.com is also another good site

[greatauntoftriplets]

8. WTF is a "Great British Pound"???

They use euros in Ireland.

And what the hell is a "stomer"?

:rofl:

[ima_sinnic]

9. it appears that the text has been degraded by multiple copying & pasting

it looks as though letters have been deleted from words, and spaces added and omitted just by being passed around a lot. that's what I see, anyway. cheezy cut&paste.

[rug]

13. Get the address, phone and fax number of your nearest FBI office and fill it in.

[ima_sinnic]

15. hee hee -- I like it!

[struggle4progress]

14. Get the disposable email account suggested in #1

Then cook up a long very complicated very sad story to reveal slowly over the coming months.

The story begins as follows: the original recipient of the award email unfortunately was overcome by a heart attack shortly after receiving the email, and although the estate is now in probate, <your new pseudonym here> (as the expected executor of the estate) hope that the award can still be received and added to the considerable fortune that will be bequeathed to care for the dearly departed's aged siamese cats. The story should include periodic mysterious international business trips, complicated legal wranglings, and various unnamed relatives and associates. Your story MUST be able to explain why you keep changing email accounts.

Now, here is the key: the story must be revealed very slowly, in the tiniest bits, with irregular gaps between your communication. Do not send an email more than once every two or three days; the emails should be short; and they should be crafted to create the impression that you are sincere and trusting, a bit flighty, and so busy that you do not have much time to think much about these matters. Never explain anything that you need not explain; in particular, do not craft explanations to answer questions you are not asked, and when asked, try to provide answers that seem offhand and hurriedly dashed down due to your busy-ness.

If you don't want fraud charges filed against you, you might want to be damn sure never to ask the other end to do anything for you -- unless you have carefully consulted with a lawyer first: I'm pretty sure a lawyer would tell you to stay the hell away from whole thing. And it goes without saying you really don't want them to know who you are.

To start you off on this madcap idiocy, your first response looks something like this: "I regret to inform you Mr Dirtnap has decreased. Please inform if award remians available to estate. Sincerely Squiggles (executor)

[ima_sinnic]

16. you've got me laughing--IF ONLY I had the time & motivation to

do something cockamamie like this.

I DO have a life, honest! and no time, really, for crap like this.

Thanks for a good read, with a laugh at the end.

[struggle4progress]

17. Good!

[RebelOne]

19. Here's one letter that I usually send to those scammers.

And would you believe that I have had 2 replies. Boy, are they dumb.

Dear Sir,

Thank you very much for writing to me. I am Conchita and I am so poor that I have no last name, as my father could not afford one for me. We live on a small island in the South Pacific and are the only family that has lived here for the past one hundred years.

Unfortunately, we have eaten almost everything on the island except for the dirt and two skinny dogs that are too old to scratch fleas. Fortunately, we ate all the fleas so there are none left for the dogs to worry about.

I am so pleased that you have offered to send us all that money. We have not seen money for the last three generations as we have no place to spend it and no means of getting to a place where we could spend it if we wanted to. I can assure you that we will take excellent care of your funds and invest them wisely. Our plan for the money is as follows:

1. We want to build a deep-water port in Williwilli, our little lagoon here on the island.

2. We then want to bring in a barge with an electrical generator so that we can have electricity on the island once again. We haven't had electricity in over two hundred years because the last generator broke down and we have no parts to repair it.

3. We want to build a school here so the children can learn to read and write. It is really hard to create email messages with no electricity and no knowledge of reading or writing skills.

4. We then want to install a phone company so we can communicate with the outside world and meet more wonderful people like you and your blessed family.

5. We then want to build a satellite cable system so we can watch television and see all the latest fights in the world. We don't have those here and miss them very much. We think that we could probably hook up a computer to the cable or telephone lines so we could send email messages to our newfound friends when we get them.

6. We want to build a grocery store so we have a place to buy things like bubble gum and candy, something we have never had here.

7. We will then need to build a road from our cave to the grocery store so we can get there. Of course, we will need a car to drive on the road or there will be no point in having a road, will there?

8. If we get a car we will need gas and oil but maybe we could just take some from the electrical generator and save that money for a beauty salon, something we really need here. Have you seen the women around here? They are just awful looking.

9. Of course, we will have to build a church so we have a place to go and be thankful for the gifts you have offered us.

Once all these things have been completed, if there is any money left we would like to use it to build a house to live in. The hole we use for an outhouse is rapidly filling up since we began receiving your letters of appeal and we will need to move soon as the cave will be unbearable to live in during hot weather. Air conditioning in our new house would be nice too.

It is too bad that I am only eight years old. If I were older I could come and visit you if you sent me an airplane ticket and an airplane with pontoons on it so it could land in the lagoon. One of my grandchildren would like to come and visit you also, if you don't mind.

I shall patiently await the arrival of the next bottle with your message telling us when the money will be here. Thank you again, for your kind generosity; it is sincerely appreciated.


Conchita

[Deep13]

20. Smart ass responses to inquiry.

1.Names in full...........
It is either "Sir. Dennis Julius" (I wonder if he is related to Sir. Orange Julius) or Rita Wilford. Apparently you cannot make up your mind. Or did you mean my name? Don't you know to whom you sent this?

2.Address.
County Kerry, Ireland. Did you forget?

3.Nationality........
My guess would be Nigerian. In any event it is not a nation where English is the primary language.

4.Age......
Of what? The Earth is some 4.5 billion years old. Either that or it is 6000 years old. I hear conflicting answers.

5.Occupation......
Yours, con artist. Mine, despite what you obviously assume, is not village idiot.

6.Telephone Number......
I have two.

7.Short comment on our services......
What service? Are you in the army?

8.Fax ......
The square of the length of the hypotenuse of a right triangle equals the sum of the square of the remaining sides. Oops, I thought you said "facts."

9.Email address.......
Again, have you forgotten where you sent this?

10.Do You Have Any Question About Our Service?
What do you charge for a front-end alignment. My tires are wearing unevenly.