I get a lot of spam. We all do, of course, in some accounts more than others. My oldest email account is over ten years old now, and while the spam filter does catch most of the daily deluge, I still get some leakage into my Inbox. And I must say, I am deeply concerned for the fate of my clan, as I have learned the following:
1. Every day, at least five or six people with my last name are killed while doing contract work in Africa.
2. These apocryphal relatives of mine are out there working despite apparently having MILLIONS of dollars in the bank.
3. These apocryphal relatives of mine have no next of kin and have never filled out any sort of estate planning paperwork despite having MILLIONS of dollars in the bank.
Now, I don't really know Mark or Steve or George despite sharing a surname with them, but see, the barristers are SO desperate to get this sorted out that if I would only share my account information and some advance fees, they will be happy to pass me off as next-of-kin in exchange a small share of the inheritance! Oh, well then! Uncle Mark, how tragic thy death! Too soon wast thou taken! *sniff*
It's partially my fault, I suppose. My last name is in the e-mail address, easily extrapolated, which probably makes me more susceptible to this particular flavor of scam. I get others, sure...but this one is by far the meat and potatoes of my spam diet. Sometimes they even include a news link to an actual plane or car disaster to 'authenticate' the story, always one in which the actual victims' names are not mentioned. I noticed in one that the scammer hadn't even correctly matched the date of the accident in the news story to the date of the demise of my 'relatives'.
What really gets me, though, is that I've been getting this message for years upon years now... which has to suggest that at least a fair number of folks are falling for it.
And it does bother me. As the saying goes, "You can't con an honest man" - because cons both long and short generally involve capitalizing on the avarice of the mark. And true, this one's no exception. From about halfway through the e-mail: "I seek your consent to present you as the next of kin to the deceased hence I have all the legal document (sic) to back you up for the claim". Any reasonably literate person has got to realize that s/he is being solicited to commit fraud. A big part of me wants to take the attitude that if they're dumb enough to fall for it, they deserve whatever comes to them.
But not everyone's a crook. I imagine some people aren't very literate, and don't understand from the garbled Engrish attempt at legalese the exact nature of the transaction they're being asked to participate in. Some people are desperate. Some people are lonely. Often the people who fall for scams (and evangelists, but oh boy is that another rant) are the people who can least afford it. And no matter how obvious the scam seems to me, I just can't bear ill will toward those people. I feel for them, and I'm deeply ashamed of their fellow humans who take advantage of them in this manner.
I hope their souls feel all sticky.
1. Every day, at least five or six people with my last name are killed while doing contract work in Africa.
2. These apocryphal relatives of mine are out there working despite apparently having MILLIONS of dollars in the bank.
3. These apocryphal relatives of mine have no next of kin and have never filled out any sort of estate planning paperwork despite having MILLIONS of dollars in the bank.
Now, I don't really know Mark or Steve or George despite sharing a surname with them, but see, the barristers are SO desperate to get this sorted out that if I would only share my account information and some advance fees, they will be happy to pass me off as next-of-kin in exchange a small share of the inheritance! Oh, well then! Uncle Mark, how tragic thy death! Too soon wast thou taken! *sniff*
It's partially my fault, I suppose. My last name is in the e-mail address, easily extrapolated, which probably makes me more susceptible to this particular flavor of scam. I get others, sure...but this one is by far the meat and potatoes of my spam diet. Sometimes they even include a news link to an actual plane or car disaster to 'authenticate' the story, always one in which the actual victims' names are not mentioned. I noticed in one that the scammer hadn't even correctly matched the date of the accident in the news story to the date of the demise of my 'relatives'.
What really gets me, though, is that I've been getting this message for years upon years now... which has to suggest that at least a fair number of folks are falling for it.
And it does bother me. As the saying goes, "You can't con an honest man" - because cons both long and short generally involve capitalizing on the avarice of the mark. And true, this one's no exception. From about halfway through the e-mail: "I seek your consent to present you as the next of kin to the deceased hence I have all the legal document (sic) to back you up for the claim". Any reasonably literate person has got to realize that s/he is being solicited to commit fraud. A big part of me wants to take the attitude that if they're dumb enough to fall for it, they deserve whatever comes to them.
But not everyone's a crook. I imagine some people aren't very literate, and don't understand from the garbled Engrish attempt at legalese the exact nature of the transaction they're being asked to participate in. Some people are desperate. Some people are lonely. Often the people who fall for scams (and evangelists, but oh boy is that another rant) are the people who can least afford it. And no matter how obvious the scam seems to me, I just can't bear ill will toward those people. I feel for them, and I'm deeply ashamed of their fellow humans who take advantage of them in this manner.
I hope their souls feel all sticky.
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