Yep, I’m going to be a millionaire again...

My thought is that all these "robo calls" and email "letters" such as shown by the OP must yield something or these people wouldn't continue doing it. If these people even get .5% response that yields money, it is likely worth it to them. If everybody, and I mean 100% of those receiving these things didn't respond, they would hopefully all eventually go away. This might be little more than wishful thinking on my part though, since there is no proof that my statement is true. Clearly, the OP is savvy enough to see through the scam, but how many others out there are not?

Unfortunately, robo calling equipment is cheap, as is maintaining a mailing list and doing blanket auto-mails, so there is little effort or cost on the part of the scammers.

Surprisingly, I do read on occasion about somebody being taken in by one or more of these things, and that would certainly explain why the barrage continues. I would think that those who are taken in by these things would be too embarrassed to say so, just as drugs, porn, and gambling seem to thrive even in tough times, yet nobody will admit to being customers, so we rarely hear of them. :)

Tony
 

Bonnie said:
Too bad they don't understand the English language better while they are trying to scam people. :ROFLMAO:
Click to expand...

There are enough typos and poor English in posts by native speakers, that it wouldn't be stretch to think that at least some of the better written emails came from native English speakers. I suspect that the problem is less that a native English speaker can't write properly, but instead that auto-correction wreaks more havoc than it resolves. :)

The more insidious of these scam emails are those that use "social engineering" to appeal directly to the targeted person in a manner that feels personally unique to that person, as if the sender actually knows him or her. These emails seem to be far more successful in snaring the targeted person.

Tony
 
I hate all these spam calls and emails. I got a call from Jamaca the other day saying I won 11 million dollars and a new car, they said it was from Publishing clearing house. Then they asked for some information. I said no I already have over a million dollars and I don't need a car and then I hung up . How stupid do they think people
are.
 
A few years ago, I got an e-mail that my nephew was stuck in England & couldn't leave because all his money was stolen & I should send $4,000.00 so he can get home.
The funny thing was, the e-mail included his real name & he really was in England for work at the time.
Of course, I had his mom call his hotel to verify that it wasn't true.
 
win231 said:
A few years ago, I got an e-mail that my nephew was stuck in England & couldn't leave because all his money was stolen & I should send $4,000.00 so he can get home.
The funny thing was, the e-mail included his real name & he really was in England for work at the time.
Of course, I had his mom call his hotel to verify that it wasn't true.
Click to expand...
Wow. That’s a little too close for comfort when they know that information.
 
I just recieved 7 phone calls and 3 texts from ????? saying my social security number has been cancelled. AND charges have been issued against me in Federal Court! The FBI has been apprised of the situation and I am to immediatly call this number to protect myself!

Wow! My SS # has been cancelled? Wow!!!
 
win231 said:
A few years ago, I got an e-mail that my nephew was stuck in England & couldn't leave because all his money was stolen & I should send $4,000.00 so he can get home.
The funny thing was, the e-mail included his real name & he really was in England for work at the time.
Of course, I had his mom call his hotel to verify that it wasn't true.
Click to expand...

This is a perfect example of the "social engineering" type of scam email that I was referring to in my earlier post. When personal information, or at least information that most people wouldn't know except you, is included, it tends to catch folks who might otherwise be wary (not weary as so many put in their posts!!!) of such emails.

Tony
 
Sassycakes said:
I hate all these spam calls and emails. I got a call from Jamaca the other day saying I won 11 million dollars and a new car, they said it was from Publishing clearing house. Then they asked for some information. I said no I already have over a million dollars and I don't need a car and then I hung up . How stupid do they think people
are.
Click to expand...

$11,000,000 in Jamaican dollars? That's only $78,100 in U.S. dollars. And the car? Probably one of those beat-up taxis that pick you up at the dock. Hardly worth the effort, m'dear.

I'm holding out for the Irish Lottery that I have won on several occasions, regardless of the fact that I've never entered it.....

Any day now, my good friend Mmumbo Mjumbo Malarki, the widow of the deposed Prince, will be showing up at my door with the millions I have earned helping her smuggle the money out of Nigeria. I've promised to introduce her to the Russian guy who's eager to marry me if I can just send him some money to come to America. I think they'd make a lovely couple.
 
It would be entertaining if one of these spammers got the schtick mixed up...

Hello, there is something wrong with your computer and we need to gain access to fix it on behalf of Microsoft. Oh, and if you provide your bank account and routing numbers, we can electronically deposit the $11,000,000 you won in the Irish lottery by way of Nigeria.

Tony
 
In Texas the state lottery was 'sold' by telling the folks that the lottery would pay for the school system.
(I assume there were similar promises in the other states, or some other meaningful project)
Fifty years later, were still paying school taxes and wondering were the profits from the state lottery go.

Haven't seen any of those, 'Your distant relative left 20 million in a bank account, we only need a few thousand
to unlock the bank account and get the money that belongs to you.'
 
jerry old said:
In Texas the state lottery was 'sold' by telling the folks that the lottery would pay for the school system.
(I assume there were similar promises in the other states, or some other meaningful project)
Fifty years later, were still paying school taxes and wondering were the profits from the state lottery go.

Haven't seen any of those, 'Your distant relative left 20 million in a bank account, we only need a few thousand
to unlock the bank account and get the money that belongs to you.'
Click to expand...
I will tell you the biggest hoax that me and my fellow Pennsylvanians were caught up in.

In the mid 1960's, the company that sells us our electricity, Met Ed (short for Metropolitan Edison Company), which is now owned by First Energy Corporation wanted to build a nuclear power plant. For that to happen, they had to obtain permission and permits from the Commonwealth. The Senate and the House didn't know what to do because so many residents talked against allowing the plant to be built.

The PA government finally decided to allow the citizens of the Commonwealth, (state), to make the decision and that they would be given the opportunity to vote for or against it on Election Day as a referendum. Met Ed wasted no time advertising the need to do this to bring PA into the 21st century, yadda, yadda, yadda. This was all over the TV, radio and advertisements in the newspapers for months until Election Day finally arrived. The biggest catch phrase for most of us was that "Electricity will be so cheap that we will be taking the meters off of your homes and businesses." That alone sold all of us.

Well, as it turned out, we never received one kilowatt of electricity from TMI (Three Mile Island). All of the electricity from TMI was sold to other power companies in NJ and CT. The start-up of TMI was 9/2/1974. Five years later in 1979, we all know what happened. And guess who paid for the clean-up and is still paying for it? We were suckered. No doubt in my mind.
 
I really worry when my husband answers the phone. I tell him over and over again never to say the word yes even if they ask him if his name is John which it is. I tell him never to give out information even if they say our correct address. It's gotten to the point where I don't make him answer the house phone,but I worry about how he answers his cell phone.
 
this topic, in some form, pops up all the time and should!! like a never-ending PSA... DO NOT EVER ANSWER THE PHONE if you do know totally know who's on the other end. i NEVER pick up the phone unless i'm positive who is on the other end.

if the phone call is really important, the caller will leave a message... which you can pick up while it's recording.

emails... if you have friends/family who don't know this... rolling cursor over who it's from will tell you who it's really coming from. the "greeting" should be a give away that an email is bogus. if i got an email from my "sister" that started with an info-mercial-esque intro... that ain't her.
 
911 said, "I will tell you the biggest hoax that me and my fellow Pennsylvanians were caught up in.'" Well, that's true for its time. One of teh other snow jobs was the casino creation act. Of course, we wanted Pennsylvanians to loose their hard earned money in PA, and not in Atlantic City. But it was sold as "saving horse racing jobs". Okay, there were some questions about horse racing being mobbed up, but just because jockeys know who will win the 3rd race next Thursday......................
 


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