Thread: Trolling For Idiots

I was just cleaning out a mailbox that I really don't use anymore. After cleaning out the inbox and junk mail box I clicked on the archives and found the only email I saved. We all probably get these in some form or other. I found this one to be hysterically egregious. I did order a gift from Edmund Scientific. Their site was hacked (unknown to me until I pressed them after this email).

Dear Sir/Madam

Thank you for shopping with Scientificsonline.com

To maintain a high level of Fraud Protection for our merchants, the Risk Management Team at Edmund Scientific's performs a Risk Check for all transactions we recieve, so we have to verify the information of your credit card before your order is processed. Please scan and send us the front and back of the credit card you have used for the transaction and Driver's License or other government issued ID which has a photo on it.Then send them to:

[email protected]

Your order will be processed in 24hours after we have verified your information at the bank.We apologize for any inconvenience caused to you.Our efforts are to ensure that no loss is caused to any of the parties involved in this transaction. We seek your understanding and co-operation.

With Warm Regards,

Risk Management Team

We get them.

They usually want us to click on a link to a website to verify our identity.

The most common one is from our "bank" which states several unsuccessful attempts have been made to enter our account. Again, a website is shown for us to verify it is not us trying to access our account. These are probably from Russia as the English usually has some errors.

Kim, Neil Miller's wife, got a LOT of this after his obit appeared. Some even called and had a story about one of Neil's accounts about to expire and she needed to go to a site and reenter his info.

Dear Risk Management Team,

I have also enclosed a copy of my birth certificate and my social security card to further assist in processing this transaction.



Sincerely,

The Village Idiot.

These days, your mail user agents can help you not becoming a victim of phishing attacks and other scams. Google Mail is extremely good at it, and if you need a stand alone MUA, Thunderbird is quite good, especially if you combine it with other anti-spam measures:

1. Suspicious messages (Gmail help)
2. Thunderbird’s Scam Detection

None of this will, at the time of writing, replace common sense completely. Some additional resources can be found on the SEC's website.

By the way, technically speaking, that's phishing, not trolling. This is trolling - masterful trolling, by the way: scambuster419.co.uk: where 419 scam artists meet their match

The amazing thing to me is how people still fall for this stuff!

RobinK,
The scambuster419.co.uk link is truly funny and 'masterful' as you say. Thanks again for the morning laugh!

I played two Nigerian scammers at work for about 6 months before introducing them to each other and suggesting they get their stories straight !! Have not had one of those since !!Bloody funny!!

Originally Posted by heelerau

I played two Nigerian scammers at work for about 6 months before introducing them to each other and suggesting they get their stories straight !! Have not had one of those since !!Bloody funny!!

You mean the princes, who just need $1000 to pay a lawyer to get their inheritance and they will pay you back with interest?

Originally Posted by heelerau

I played two Nigerian scammers at work for about 6 months before introducing them to each other and suggesting they get their stories straight !! Have not had one of those since !!Bloody funny!!

I did the same thing once but kept the guy on the hook thinking he had me. I kept telling him that his check he sent had not come to send it again and again and again! The person was really desperate I believe. In the end I just got bored and quit playing! Needless to say, when I advertise and mainly on Craigslist I put a disclaimer for the scammers to not waste my time nor theirs because I do deals in person in cash at my local PD! The legits show up but the would be Jackwagons always quit corresponding.

Originally Posted by WW243

RobinK,
The scambuster419.co.uk link is truly funny and 'masterful' as you say. Thanks again for the morning laugh!

I second that. Thank you for making my day