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New kind of 419 spam

 
author and iconoclast
Posts: 24207
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Not quite sure what the idea is here. Normally, these try to appeal to greed. This one doesn't promise any reward at all for the "donor". Am I supposed to feel sorry for this total stranger? Should this make us feel more positive about human nature?


Hello,

I am sorry I didn't inform you about my traveling to Africa for a
program called Empowering Youth to Fight Racism, HIV/AIDS, Poverty
and Lack of Education, the program is taking place in three major
countries in Africa which are Ghana, South Africa and Nigeria . It as
been a very sad and bad moment for me, the present condition that I
found myself is very hard for me to
explain.I am really stranded in Nigeria because I forgot my little
bag in the Taxi where my money, passport, documents and other
valuable things were kept on my way to the Hotel am staying, I am
facing a hard time h ere because I have no money on me. I am now
owning a hotel bill of $1200 and they wanted me to pay the bill soon
else they will have to seize my bag
and hand me over to the Hotel Management., I need this help from you
urgently to help me back home, I need you to help me with the hotel
bill and i will also need $1000 to feed and help myself back home so
please can you help me with a sum of $2200 to sort out my problems
here? I need this help so much and on time because i am in a terrible
and tight situation
here,please understand how urgent i need your help.

I am sending you this e-mail from the city lagos and I only have 30
min, I will appreciate what so ever you can afford to send me for now
and I promise to pay back your money as soon as i return home, you
need to transfer the money through Western Union,so this is one of
the hotel manager information you will need of m a keing the payment.

Name: Robbin Maxwell

Address: 14 Limit hotel street

City: Surulere

State: Lagos

Country: Nigeria

Code:23401

So i will like you to take the information to any Western Union local
store near you and send the money to the hotel manager information I
gave to you, and i will like you to get back to me with the details
use for making the payment such as.because all this will be needed at
the bank.

Senders Name:

Senders Addresses:

Senders Zip Code:

Mtcn#:

Text Question: Who is the greatest

Answer: God

Amouth to Sent:

Thanks and God bless you.

 
Sheriff
Posts: 11343
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Originally posted by Ernest Friedman-Hill:
... Am I supposed to feel sorry for this total stranger? ...


Hmmm... This article suggests that the scam was intended to use hacked email accounts and address books, so it wouldn't come from a total stranger.

(Here's a version that asks for $3500 instead of $2200.)
 
author and jackaroo
Posts: 12200
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Interesting. I just got 3 such emails (timestamps: 11:01 am, 11:02 am, 11:10 am - all PST (JavaRanch Time +1)).

One of them was addressed to me, the other 2 addressed to someone else and I was BCCd.

The display name of the person who sent it was unknown, so my initial reaction was the same as EFH. But following Marc's comment I see that the email address is that of someone I knew. Now ... how to get in touch with him?

Regards, Andrew
 
Rancher
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Originally posted by Ernest Friedman-Hill:
Am I supposed to feel sorry for this total stranger?


Absolutely. That person is, after all, working towards "Empowering Youth to Fight Racism, HIV/AIDS, Poverty and Lack of Education".
 
Consider Paul's rocket mass heater.
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