I got a good scam e-mail

[rjh01]

I got an e-mail last night quoted below. I have been told that the person in question is not in Sheffield. However it is using the person's e-mail address. It almost had me fooled. How do they intend to get money out of me? I guess I will find out as I sent them a reply.

Just thought I would post this in case other people get a similar e-mail. If you have please post it here.



I hope you receive my message? And is very urgent. I could bearly think straight at this point. I had a trip here in United Kingdom on a mission. I am presently in Sheffield and I am having some difficulties. I misplaced my bag on my way to the hotel where other valuable things were kept along with my passport. I feel so ashamed because i am so stranded and idle. I will like you to help me with a loan of 1300pounds to pay my hotel bills and also return back home. I will refund the money to you as soon as I get back, I have spoken to the embassy here but they are not responding to the matter effectively I currently have limited access to emails for now.

Best Regard
<name of person>

[Shalamar]

Its an E-mail scam that is growing in popularity. Someone has their e-mail address highjacked, and then they send e-mails to others on the addressbook saying that they are lost somewhere, out of cash, and need it NOW.

They'll ask you to send it via western union or something like that. You'll never hear from them again after that.

[The Central Scrutinizer]

I got an e-mail last night quoted below. I have been told that the person in question is not in Sheffield. However it is using the person's e-mail address. It almost had me fooled. How do they intend to get money out of me? I guess I will find out as I sent them a reply.

Just thought I would post this in case other people get a similar e-mail. If you have please post it here.

Tell them to use their credit card.

[shandyjan]

Its been happening on My Space, people hacking their and talking to the victims friends.

[rjh01]

I got a followup e-mail asking that it be sent using Western Union. It also ignores the questions I put to her to show it was her. It also contained other errors which make it very suspicious. Will not explain them as it may give clues to the people who do this sort of thing.

Edit. Just done a google search on one key sentence of the e-mail. The e-mail is all over the web. Lucky my e-mails no longer include my full name.

[Agatha]

An embassy in Sheffield! :D The closest Sheffield has to an embassy is the Foxwood pub on Mansfield Road which has a club side called the Embassy.

[Dave Rogers]

I don't think anybody in my address book writes that badly.

Dave

[MRC_Hans]

I got an e-mail last night quoted below. I have been told that the person in question is not in Sheffield. However it is using the person's e-mail address. It almost had me fooled. How do they intend to get money out of me? I guess I will find out as I sent them a reply.

Just thought I would post this in case other people get a similar e-mail. If you have please post it here.(My bolding) What do you mean how? They ask you to send them money (1300£, no less), that's how. If you can't see that, I suggest you are wewy, wewy careful when responding to e-mails in the future ;).

Hans

[Aepervius]

Funnily , every time I read "Western Union" I *automatically* think "this is a scam". I can#t evenr ecall reading anything associatedb with "Western Union" which wasn#t a scam of some sort.

[Sword_Of_Truth]

What you do is reply back to them: "Wow... you got a lot of nerve asking me for help after you slept with my wife and my sister. I hope the local militia finds you and you get thrown in a hole with a rabid wildebeast you son of a blah blah blah blah..."

[paiute]

Score! I just found a way to get cash from all my friends and have plausible deniability.

[rjh01]

What you do is reply back to them: "Wow... you got a lot of nerve asking me for help after you slept with my wife and my sister. I hope the local militia finds you and you get thrown in a hole with a rabid wildebeast you son of a blah blah blah blah..."

Not a bad idea. Might need some modifications, but I like the idea.

[Fredrik]

Not a bad idea. Might need some modifications, but I like the idea.
You could try something like what this guy (http://www.quatloos.com/brad-c/directory01.htm) did. In one case, I think he actually got the scammers to travel from Nigeria to Thailand to meet him there. (Maybe the scammers only claimed to have been there to see what the reply would be). In another case, he got them to fax him a signed statement saying that they wouldn't laugh at his penis when they see him wearing only his lucky socks.