Every single day I get an email telling me that I've either inherited millions or a dying widow is leaving me millions or someone has a business and wants to give me millions.

How many people fall for these scams? What do the people sending these emails get out of it? My name? My number? Then what?

Here's the latest;

Hello Friend,
My name is Mrs. Nina Mayers. I am a dying woman who has decided to donate what I have to charity through you.You may be wondering why I chose you. But someone has to be chosen.I am 59 years old and was diagnosed for cancer about 2 years ago,years after the death of my husband who had left me everything he worked for.I have decided to donate from what I have inherited from my late husband to charity through you for the good work of humanity,rather than allow my relatives to use my husbands hard earned funds inappropriately.I am presently in London waiting for an operation and praying that I survive. I have decided to WILL/Donate the sum of US$10.5 Million (Ten Million, Five hundred thousand united state dollars) of my husband investment in to charity through you for the good work of humanity, and to help the motherless,less privileged and also for the assistance of the widows. At the moment I cannot take any telephone calls, due to the fact that I have been restricted by my d!
o ctor from taking telephone calls
NB: I will appreciate your utmost confidentiality in this matter until the task is accomplished,as I don't want anything that will Jeopardize my last wish, due to the fact that I do not want relatives or family members standing in the way of my last wish. If you are wiling to help in this course kindly reply to this email to enable my lawyer contact you.

Some personal questions?
Are you married?
How old are you?
Your Phone Number/Fax?
What kind of work / business do you do?


Love,


Nina Mayers.

I really want to respond just to let them know the jig is up but I'm afraid to, and I know it won't do any good.

What do you do when you get an email like this?

Do you get emails like this?

Discuss. :)

I have received lots of e-mails like that. I delete them and say no more about them.

Another good strategy is to get a new e-mail address. I know that can be a pain, but it solves lots of problems -- at least until you post your e-mail online again.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Perito

I have received lots of e-mails like that. I delete them and say no more about them.

Another good strategy is to get a new e-mail address. I know that can be a pain, but it solves lots of problems -- at least until you post your e-mail online again.

---

Great suggestion.

The thing is, it would be a real pain in the butt to get a new email.

Also, it's not me that posts my email on line, it's hubby.

Bad hubby! 100 lashes with a wet noodle for him! ;)

My hotmail automatically puts them in the 'junk' folder, they are so irritating. That and the "You just won the UK Lotto!" ones.

What gets me is when people post on this site asking if they are a scam or not :rolleyes:

I find it amazing that anyone thinks that this is real.

Clue one, you supposedly won the lottery, without entering the lottery and without them knowing your name or anything about you.

You inherited millions but the don't know who you are.

They want to give the money to you because they don't trust their family and they're dying. Um, you don't trust your family but you trust a complete stranger?

Ya, scam, scam, scam. I just want to know what the scammer gets out of this. Your name? What good will that do?

Well, all then need is your name and rough area and they can find out a lot about you,
e.g. your exact address phone number, possible relatives, how many kids, if your married and so on, and this is just from using old electoral polls, scary isn't it

I'm going to hide now. :(

Alty scared.

Don't be scared Alty, just be wary of how much info you give out to anything :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by shazamataz

My hotmail automatically puts them in the 'junk' folder, they are so irritating. That and the "You just won the UK Lotto!" ones.

What gets me is when people post on this site asking if they are a scam or not :rolleyes:

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Awww I never win the UK lotto, I always win the nigerian one :(

I don't know about telus.net, but for my gmail account, there is filter that I can apply.

I can say for example, filter the incoming mails that have the words 'inherited millions' or 'won millions'. Then I choose what to do with these: archive, put in folder, forward to a specified email address, or delete it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by albear

awww i never win the UK lotto, i always win the nigerian one :(

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I don't get the lotto, I get the "breast enhancement" ads. Spam is Spam is Spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, wonderful spam. But no baked beans.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Unknown008

I don't know about telus.net, but for my gmail account, there is filter that I can apply.

I can say for example, filter the incoming mails that have the words 'inherited millions' or 'won millions'. Then I choose what to do with these: archive, put in folder, forward to a specified email address, or delete it.

---

So YOU are the one sending these things to poor Alty:( Bad Bad Unky!:)

It's not me!! :eek:

The people who send these e-mails out are counting on a small percentage of people to A) have a weak mind, and B) have cash , and finally C) be a little greedy and or naïve.

I might be "A" and "C", but I'm hanging on to what little "B" I have.

I like the " the doctor won't let me talk on the phone" bit.

But she can use her laptop?

Let me know how it works out for you Alty.

I'll say a prayer for Mrs Nina, bless her heart.

You might be able to get your daughter that slide on her bunk bed after all.

Gosh Alty I haven't gotten one of these emails in a long time now. Kind of miss knowing I could have a bazillion dollars just for being me but I have to send some guy a whole bunch of money for the "processing fee".

They had a scam expose on MSNBC about the very thing last year and had those lovely folks on camera that were trying to scam us dumb Americans or us dumb Canadians. You know, the folks who are just rolling in dough on this side of the ocean. The show was hilarious.

Welcome to the 419 Eater

You mean it's a scam? Oh no ,there goes my plans for the future :)
Depending on what email prog you have you can click on the mail and flag it as spam so it automatically goes to the junk pile where it belongs.
I think some of these people are simply trying to get a bank account router number which they can then use for various nefarious purposes.
Some of these people are simply out to write malicious code on your computer to hack in and get any credit card info.or any private information to try to steal your identity.
Be sure your security is set at high and that should help.
Below is a link to the FBI's on line scams.There is something new everyday.These fools are nothing if not determined.

Federal Bureau of Investigation - New E-Scams & Warnings

I got this today. I'm just finding this funny.

Attention:
ANTI-TERRORIST AND MONITORY CRIMES DIVISION
FBI HEADQUARTERS IN WASHINGTON, D.C.
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
J.. EDGAR HOOVER BUILDING
935 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE, NW WASHINGTON, D.C. 20535-0001


Attention:

BENEFICIARY,

Funds, you are to contact the ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL CRIME COMMISSION (EFCC)London, England to obtain the above required document, find below their contact information's:

Contact Person: Rev. Daniel Parker

PRINCIPAL STAFF OFFICER ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL CRIME COMMISSION (EFCC)
Rev Parker Email: [email protected]

Lagos Office Address 15A Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, London,England


Ensure you contact them(EFCC) with your Full Name,Address and phone number/cell number.

Contact the EFCC via Email with the information above immediately,once you contact them i will get back to you or else i will have an agent come visit you at home for questioning.



Furthermore, be advice that according to the United State Law together with the FBI rules and regulations, you are to obtain the document from the EFCC OF London,England where the fund was transfer from. Also Note that you are to take care of the cost of the Document, which will be issued in your name. due to the content of the document and how important and secured the document is, you as the beneficiary will send to the EFCC OF ENGLAND the sum of Usd250Dollars only for the issuing of the document right away and your Usd1.5 million will be release to you, That is the lay down rules for EFCC OF NIGERIA to release such sensitive document, EFCC will issue you the authentic and original copy of the documents with seal on it for verification and approval.

You are here by advice to Contact them through the email address above to make an enquiry concerning how you will send the official fee to them. Note that you are to observe this immediately, if you really want your funds to be credited to your personal bank account and to avoid any legal battle with the security operatives over this matter... We have already informed the EFCC OF ENGLAND about the present situation, go ahead and contact them immediately. Your fund is under our custody and will not be release to you unless the required document is confirmed, after that the fund will be release to you immediately without any delay.

NOTE: We have asked for the above document to make available the most complete and up-to date records possible for no criminal justice purposes. The documents will clarify the intensity of this fund; exonerate it from money laundry, scam and terrorism

WARNING: failure to provide the above requirement in the next 48 hours, legal action will be taken immediately by arresting and detaining you as soon as international court of justice issues a warrant of arrest, if you are found guilty, you will be jailed....... As terrorism, drug trafficking and money laundering is a serious problem in our community today and the world at large. The F.B.I will not stop at any length in tracking down and prosecuting any criminal who indulges in this criminal act. FORWARD THE DOCUMENT TO US VIA EMAIL ATTACHEMENT AS SOON AS YOU OBTAIN IT. No body is above the law and the law is not a respecter of anybody. We presumed you are law abiding citizen whom would not want have scuffles with the authority, in and outside America.

We are charged with the responsibility of implementing legal norms and our authority is irrevocable so dont dare dispute our instruction, just act as instructed.The person you know will not help you in this matter rather abide by this instruction. the funds inquestion was depsited by those people that contacted you.

Note: You are to contact them (EFCC) with your full names,phone number/cell number and full address via their email which i stated above immediately for the processing of your Clearance Documents within the next 48 hours.

Faithfully Your's

Robert S.Mueller 111

FBI Director

Note contact the EFCC office: [email protected] you have less than 48 hours to contact them.

contact them for more information [email protected]

CC. TO:

Supreme Court of the United States
U. S. Courts of Appeals
U. S. District Courts
U. S. Circuit Courts
Courts of Special Jurisdiction:
Bankruptcy Courts
Court of Claims, 1855 - 1982
U. S. Court of Federal Claims, 1982 -
Customs Court, 1890 - 1980
U. S. Court of Customs and Patent Appeals, 1910 - 1982
U. S. Court of International Trade, 1980 -
Commerce Court, 1910 - 1913
Territorial Courts
Courts of the District of Columbia
Temporary Emergency Court of Appeals
Judicial Panel on Multi-District Litigation
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court
Federal Courts Outside the Judiciary

So I have 48 hours to comply or they're going to send someone to my home to arrest me, for what I don't know. Here's the funny part. They don't know my name or my address, so how are they going to send someone? Also, the FBI doesn't send emails that come up as SPAM. Who do they think they're fooling? What do they hope to gain?

I really want to report this one. Who do I report it to?

There has to be some poor sap out there that would fall for this scam, after all, it sounds very official.

This just makes me really mad. :(

I reply to that stuff.

My name is usually "SATAN".

I live at 666 Evil Drive.

I make the rest up as I go.

It hasn't cut down on the amount of spam---but it HAS made the spam more fun to deal with.

You don't have Gmail, do you? I rarely find spam in my inbox with them. That's your best bet.

Something Awful forums, which I kid I know was a member, showed me this sweet tale of revenge on a scammer a couple years ago: P-P-P-Powerbook!. It's long, but worth it.