I have not altered in any way this email that cheered me up no end. I've received many notifications of such inheritances over the years I've had email. But this takes the biscuit in many ways. Note the ATTN with the comma, doesn't even have my name. He was push to contact me, a perfectly nameless stranger. I like how he managed a private search (vs a public one?) He want me to come forward and he can be gratify by me. And he expects my prompt response.
My favourite bit is the decease dying interstate. I wonder how many states the corpse managed to lie on.
The thing is, many, many intelligent people fall for the variants of this scam (commonly called the Nigerian Scam or Hoax) but I note this one is from the Ivory Coast.
On second thoughts, Ivory Coast? Maybe it is genuine? I don't want to miss out on all these millions. I now wish to finalized this issue with my new friend George. Maybe we'll both be gratify.
ATTN,
My name is George Kramo from Cote D I' voire i work as an accountant in our bank i was push to contact you because of my client who died Three years
ago leaving behind Capital amount (US$15.6M with interest) in our bank
here where i work, I am his account manager till date nobody has come
forward or put application for the claim.
During the my private search for the relative recently your name was among the findings that matches the same surname as the deceases name is (withheld for security reason) who died interstate with no Will or next of kin.
To maintain the level of security required I have intentionally left
out the final details. I want you to come forward since I can provide you
with the details needed for you to claim the Funds so that I can be
gratify by you,I will do all the crucial part in the bank to have the claim release to you promptly. To affirm your willingness and cooperation please do so by replying me at my private email georgekramo@ymail.com Indicate therein if you do wish to finalized this issue with me.
I do expect you prompt response.
Thank you,
George Kramo
Coool, I wish I could die 'interstate.' That sounds like it would get into the Guinness Book of Records lol.
ReplyDeleteAnd how is he going to be 'gratify by you?' I love it. Have people really fallen for this?
Funny, when you said George, I first thought you meant your great friend and diplomatic whizz, DWB lol. However, it can't be him. His English is far too polished.
Are there really people gullible enough to fall for this crap? The Nigerian Scam has been around for so long everyone MUST know about it by now, surely?
ReplyDeleteHulla:
ReplyDeleteOne can't have enough Georges in one's life now can one?
Mr. Kramo is just a diamond in the rough.
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RJA:
There was an article in the New Yorker several years ago interviewing all the people (most of them professionals) who had fallen for it. All wished anonymity as they were so embarrassed. One guy got taken in by playing along as a joke and then getting suckered.
One born every minute as PTB said.
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I really enjoy getting these emails and see how they mangle the language and what sort of scheme they come up with. They certainly think they deal with a lot of gullible westerners. I imagine some poor bloke with no knowledge of the English language typing this off a piece of paper and thinking he is doing a really good job. You have to give him an E for effort. It's so funny how they mention huge sums of money and then some totally insignificant email address for us to get in touch with them.
ReplyDeleteI suppose some fools fall for it, because the scheme keeps popping up in some variety all the time.
Not the meek shall inherit the world, but the gullible.
what a beautiful poem you left on my blog. thank you.
ReplyDeletethat was our relationship exactly--the laughter, the books, the movies.
when i went out to california to see her, those years she was sick (but never looked or acted sick) i used to meet her at the Grace Bakery in San Mateo and we'd gorge on nicoise salad and chocolate crinkle cookies and then go across the street to the M is for Mystery bookstore, her favorite place...
your poem said nothing about nicoise salad or mysteries, and yet it prompted all those memories to come flooding back.
thank you.
That's what comes of dying interstate you see! No class! No next of kin.
ReplyDeleteNow dying Route 66 - that would be really classy.
"...so that I can be
gratify by you,I will do all the crucial part in the bank ....
Should make an entertaining spectacle for the other customers in the bank! ;-D
Irene:
ReplyDeletedo you really think the gullible will inherit the earth?
An interesting prospect!
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You're welcome, Laurie and my sympathy.
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T:
Like a boy scout, he will really prepare to be gratify by me. I await his readiness. Crucially.
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Maybe we're related......I got the same email - I'll split the money with you!
ReplyDeleteI've just been catching up on your posts and was really caught by the one about your disappointment re your birthday. It's true - we can't choose our family but we can choose our friends. It's so hard to let go of the old pictures - especially if we really treasured our place in them. I hope you go off somewhere fantastic to celebrate your birthday and shed some of that hurt and enjoy your new picture of family and your place in it.
xo
When I used to keep a blog on MySpace I used to get contacted by these type of conmen all the time, not using the dead relative gambit, but the "hello, you are pretty lady and the most beautiful I see on the net. I feel we must talk. I am a business man from ..... but I am looking to set up in the UK. Please be talking with me freely."
ReplyDeleteFortunately I have not experienced it on blogspot (yet) -- I think MySpace is much easier for them, where the user's profile states quite clearly on the front page whether they are married, single, or whatever.
Their English is always so bad, I do not know how they think anyone would ever fall for their scams !!!
P:
ReplyDeleteOh, I'm so upset that George has been unfaithful to me!
I am planning on going to the islands of St. Pierre & Miquelon, have you been there?
I hear wondrous stuff about this little piece of France smackdab on our side of the Atlantic ocean!
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Sharon:
ReplyDeleteThere is a scam born every minute along with the saps that fall for them, otherwise they would all fade away.
They are worth millions to the perpetrators.
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I've seen many versions of that one. It's hard to believe but you're right, lots of people are taken in by it. The other scam common in the UK is bogus emails purporting to be from your bank, asking you to confirm your personal details, PIN number, passwords etc. I suspect a lot of gullible people are taken in by those too.
ReplyDeleteYes Nick the bank scam is alive and well on this side of the pond too. Along with the e-bay scams and PayPal.
ReplyDeleteOnly that they are so successful is why they continue.
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It's a wonderful dream, wouldn't we all love to millions buried away somewhere. I'd start buying my own Hugo Boss and Prada, instead of waiting for other people to do it for me.
ReplyDeleteBut this is definately not the way to go about it. When will people wake up and realise they're being had. I guess it's true, a person is smart, people are brainless, blithering idiots.
Anyway, I'm glad you have more sense the people who have been fooled.
Regarding Georges. I have an uncle George, I can confirm that they're not all idiots and scam artists.
OMG! You mean to say you READ your junk mail!!!
ReplyDeleteI thought even opening it constituted a bug hazard.
But yes, it is hilarious!
Laura:
ReplyDeleteSpam bin spits out the odd one like the genuine sounding Georgie.
I am so glad I don't have to enlarge my penis anymore though!
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