We've all seen Nigerian spam emails - "I'll give you a large cut of this spare $1,000,000, but I'll need $2,000 up front from you to grease various palms". Recently they seem to be on the increase and yesterday I got a new mutation that made me smile.
Normally they're all about business deals and they claim to have got your email address from some business directory. This one was different. It said (they're always in capital letters):
ON BEHALF OF MY LATE CLIENT REV. DR. ANDREW OKORIE, I WRITE TO NOTIFY YOU THAT MY LATE CLIENT REV. DR.ANDREW OKORIE MADE YOU A BENEFICIARY TO THE BEQUEST SUM OF USD 870,000.00 IN THE LAST CODICIL TO HIS LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT.
And
ACCORDING TO HIM, HE HAD NOT SEEN YOU IN PERSON BEFORE, BUT GOT YOUR CONTACT IN THE WORLD CHRISTIAN JOURNAL AND WAS INSPIRED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT TO WILL THE SAID AMOUNT IN YOUR FAVOUR DUE TO YOUR INVOLVEMENT IN CHRISTIAN ACTIVITIES AND MAKING BETTER THE WORLD SITUATION TO FACILITATE THE GOOD WORK OF GOD IN YOUR COUNTRY.
Anyone who's read more than a couple of my journal entries will realise just how funny that is.
I wonder how many people are stupid enough to swallow it? According to the US Government site that's tracking these emails, there have been some. Things like this always remind me of that WordPerfect (alledgedly) operator who got fired for telling a user they were "too stupid to own a computer". Perhaps there should be a stupidity test before anyone can purchase a PC.
Re:Somebody believed the hype
chaoticset on 2002-07-31T16:10:27
Well, there's a place where folks research this sort of thing. They've got info on the Nigerian scam, and a bit of info about that 'alleged' incident with the "too stupid to own a computer" quote.
