How Stupid Do They Think I Am?

Here is an oldie that still seems to be catching people.  I got this from someone today and just rolled my eyes at it. Then decided it was well worth sharing here.

According to Snopes this e-mail has been in circulation in one form or another since 1997. Snopes has a notice from Microsoft about the hoax. Another good source that explains how it gets people to forward the letter can be found at Ohio State University.

The email that I got had been sent to 13 people, one of those sent it to 6 people, and one of them sent it to 26 people, and one of them sent it to me and 8 others…. that is a backtrack to 55 people that e-mail was sent to, including the original sender.

This does not account for how many of the 54 people that original sender sent it to also sent the e-mail to, nor does it account for how many had got it before them. This is just one chain tracing back from me to the person three levels up on the chain of this SPAM e-mail.

This is the e-mail as I received it. It is a hoax. It has been around since 1997 and no one has ever been paid a penny for forwarding it, much less over $200, and certainly not over $10,000.

Break the chain, do not forward things like this. At least not without researching them first.
____________________________

Ladies and Gentlemen:
This is not hoax. Please scroll down. Ok guys, my lawyer’s paralegal sent this one to me and if it doesn’t work, they are aware that we all will be coming to visit them for a law suit for false advertisement! J

THIS TOOK TWO PAGES OF THE TUESDAY USA TODAY – IT IS FOR REAL

If she says that this will work – It will work. After all, What have you got to lose? I’m an attorney, And I know the law. This thing is for real. Rest assured AOL and Intel will follow through with their promises for fear of facing a multimillion-dollar class action suit similar to the one filed by Pepsi Co against General Electric not too long a go.



Dear Friends: Please do not take this for a junk letter. Bill Gates sharing his fortune. If you ignore this, You will repent later.
Microsoft and AOL are now the largest Internet companies and in an effort to make sure that Internet Explorer remains the most widely used program, Microsoft and AOL are running an e-mail beta test.

When you forward this e-mail to friends, Microsoft can and will track it (If you are a Microsoft Windows user) For a two weeks time period.

For every person that you forward this e-mail to, Microsoft will pay you $245.00 For every person that you sent it to that forwards it on, Microsoft will pay you $243.00 and for every third person that receives it, You will be paid $241.00. Within two weeks, Microsoft will contact
you for your address and then send you a check.

Regards. Charles S Bailey Genera l Manager Field Operations

1-800-842-2332 Ext.. 1085 or 904-1085 or RNX 292-1085



Thought this was a scam myself, But two weeks after receiving this e-mail and for warding it on..
Microsoft contacted me for my address and within days, I received a check for $24,800.00 .
You need to respond before the beta testing is over. If anyone can afford this, Bill Gates is the man.

It’s all marketing expense to him. Please forward this to as many people as possible. You are bound to get at least $10, 000.00

We’re not going to help them out with their e-mail beta test without getting a little something for our time.
My brother’s girlfriend got in on this a few months ago. When I went to visit him for the Baylor/UT

game, she showed me her check. It was for the sum of $4, 324.44 and was stamped ‘Paid I n Full’.

____________________________

These guys got a good head shake from me as I was sorting things out this morning. The blue ‘net’ was a link to some ineedfinancialhelp dot net site. I am not even going to bother visiting these guys’ site because I think their last note is the best advice they give – there are a lot of scams on the internet.

My main red flag here? Sent to “undisclosed recipients” when the guy says that he got my information from somewhere online and is worried about me in particular. Secondary: A fast Google brought up a number of warnings about the site.

The hands down BEST is from Jana’s MySpace Blog where she recounts her narrow escape from these guys. Thank you, Jana, for sharing your experience. I’m glad to hear you evaded them and proved vigilant to their scams.

Hi,
I am Getty i saw your Ad In net And Decided To Contact You.I fell victim of scams in the internet twice after losing $8,000 before i was referred by a friend in Canada,that she got her loan of $30,000usd from a reliable and trust worthy loan company based in the United Kingdom,i doubted and refused to believe her,until she showed me the mtcn slips she use in having her loans..i was convinced and i applied for loans in Harry James loan company.He is very reliable and a God fearing man,he assured me and i got my loan under three days, Since then i have invited lots of my friends who are desperately in need to contact the loan company via e-mail:harryjamesloans@gmail.com and non have had cause to regret.Don’t be deceived by scams in the internet, they are legit and real,there are alot of scams in the internet

I’m not sure what these nitwits are after, but they are targeting AOL AIM users.

_________________________________________________

Dear AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) user,

Your AIM account is flagged as inactive. Within the following 72 hours it’ll be deleted from the system.

If you plan to use this account in the future, you have to download and launch the latest update for the AIM. This update is critical.

In order to install the update use the following link. This link is generated exclusively for your account and is available within a certain period of time. As soon as this link is not available anymore you will get another letter.

Thank you,

AIM Service Team

This e-mail has been sent from an e-mail address that is not monitored. Please do not reply to this message. We are unable to respond to any replies.

_________________________________________________

I’ve got this one with a multitude of different subject lines, both to AOL and AIM and saying everything from download critical update to telling me my account will be deleted.

First off, folks, if you have an AIM or AOL account, open your account as you normally do, NOT using this email’s link!!!!

One you are logged in look for the help links and they’ll guide you to if there are any updates. In my experience with AIM, they generally tell me when it needs updated as soon as I open it and I can choose to update or not.

Good ways to spot this scammer – most companies tend to send notices to the email they have on file for you. BIG flag there. They also tend to host their updates on their own website, not something that looks like…

http://update.aol.com.terfkiof.com.pl/products/aimController.php?code=……..

Yes, that intrepid FBI agent “Robert S. Mueller III” is back once again in my inbox, only this time he has decided that I am the rightful recipient of the money and wants “…in conjunction with some other relevant Investigation Agencies…” to help me in getting the over-due contract payment that their “…Global intelligence monitoring network…” has told them I am due. They will help me make sure that it is all on the up and up as I work with them and the Central Bank of Nigeria to make my claim.

Must hurry though, because while they have taken out time to assure that this is the real thing, they have found that there is someone else that might get to the money first. And they’re in OHIO.  I suppose the capitalization is supposed to send fear through me and make me dash off to get my details in first before that sneak from OHIO beats me to my millions of dollars that  FBI agent “Robert S. Mueller III”assures me is not a scam.

I’ve included the email I got below. Steer clear of anything that looks like this.

_________________________________

ROBERT MUELLER III
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FBI
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
FBI.WASHINGTON D.C
INTERNET

ATTENTION: BENEFICIARY,

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Washington D.C
in conjunction with some other relevant Investigation Agencies
have recently been informed through our Global intelligence
monitoring network that your over-due contract payment
which was fully endorsed in your favour accordingly by the
Central Bank of Nigeria has not been claimed.

It might interest you to know that we have taken out time
in screening through this project as stipulated on our
protocol of operation and have finally
confirmed that your contract payment is 100% genuine and
hitch free from all facet and of which you have the lawful
right to claim your fund without any further delay.
We further advise that you go ahead in dealing with the
Governor of the Central Bank office accordingly as we will
be monitoring all their services with you as well as your
correspondence at all level.

We were also made to understand that a lady with name Mrs.
Joan C.Bailey from OHIO has already contacted them and also
presented to them all the necessary documentation evidencing your
claim purported to have been signed personally by you prior to
the release of your contract fund valued at about US$8,000,000.00
(Eight million United States Dollars), but the Central Bank office
did the wise thing by insisting on hearing from you personally
before they go ahead on wiring your funds to the Bank information
which was forwarded to them by the above named Lady so that the
main reason why they contacted us so as to assist them in making
the investigation.

Contact immediately the office of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)
via the private email of the governor with the below information accordingly:
(Please endeavour to use this code while contacting him –”CODE 777″ )

NAME: Sanusi Lamido Sanusi
OFFICE ADDRESS: Central Bank of Nigeria,
Central Business District,
Cadastral Zone, Abuja, Federal
Capital Territory, Nigeria.
Email: cbn777@sify.com
Phone: +234-805-121-5850

Meanwhile, we will advise that you  contact the office
of the Governor of the Central Bank immediately with
the above email address and request that they attend
to your payment file as directed, so as to enable you
receive your contract fund accordingly.

To this effect, you are required to reconfirm and
authenticate your given particulars below for certainty
and onward processing and release of you funds
as we may not be held liable for any wrong payment.

FULL NAMES: __________________________________
CITY: _________________________
STATE: __________________________________
ZIP: ______________
COUNTRY________________________________
SEX: _______________
AGE: __________________
TELEPHONE NUMBER: _____________________
EMAIL ADDRESS: _____________________

Ensure you follow all their procedure as may be required by
them as that will further help hasten up the whole procedure
as regard to the transfer of your fund to you as designated.
Also have in mind that the Central Bank of Nigeria
equally have their own protocol of operation as stipulated
on their banking terms, so delay could be very dangerous.

Thank you very much for your anticipated co-operation in
advance as we earnestly await your urgent response to this matter.

Best Regards,

Robert S. Mueller III
Federal Bureau of Investigation
J. Edgar Hoover Building
935 Pennsylvania Avenue,
NW Washington, D.C.
Private email : robmull4@aol.com

I got an e-mail in my inbox a little while ago that just made me shake my head.  It went to an e-mail address that does not exist on one of my sites, so was defaulted to me, so I know for a fact it’s a scam even if the content had not red flagged it as such for me.

____________________________________
Hello!

Unfortunately we failed to deliver the postal package sent on the 23rd of May in time
because the addressee’s address is inexact.
Please print out the invoice copy attached and collect the package at our department.

Your United Parcel Service of America
______________________________________

There was an attachment that I’m not about to open, since the thing is all one big scam.  First off, I’m not expecting a package.  Second, the e-mail it went to is not mine.  Third, UPS would have called, not sent me a generic email, and they would have included more details and HELLO?!!??! if UPS had a package that has enough information to find my e-mail, then they could more easily find me to deliver it.

This is a scam fishing for your personal information, don’t fall for it people.