100% Textbook Scam



  • No attempts to dodge spam blockers, no weird spelling or gibberish English (although the punctuation is weak)... I haven't seen one like this in years and years:

    @some scammer said:

    We wish to inform you that your email address won 500,000,00 Euros in an FreeLotto
    International Award Prize promotion on 7th of Jan 2012.for claim of award prize contact.

    Name:David Moolman
    Tel:+31-647-226-334
    Official mail:chaletspl@aim.com

    Full names:
    Age:
    Phone Handy Mobile

    Batch Nr:67218/501-4242 Ticket Nr:40/23/44/72/10 Ref Nr: ZT 612775428

    Please note that you will be required to pay for the issuance of your legal back up and
    legalization of certificate of deposit document in court, All winnings must be claimed not
    later than 3th February 2012

    Yours Sincerely,
    Mrs.Gema Antonio

    It's so naive it's almost cute.



  • Is the WTF that your spam blocker of choice didn't catch this one?



  • I think TRWTF is the insanely low number of errors in the email (ignoring the silly British spellings of certain words). The only glaring one is the "3th of February" due date.



  • @corgimonster said:

    Is the WTF that your spam blocker of choice didn't catch this one?

    I don't control the spam filtering where I work.

    Although this one might have slipped through because, ironically, it doesn't look much like a spam.



  • Perhaps it isn't spam and you're about to miss out on a buttload of money.


  • Trolleybus Mechanic

     I think you should reply to them, point out their flawed ways, and offer to sell them a 100% Guarenteed Email Profit Maker for only $999.99 USD (United States Dollars) LEGIT!



  •  He won't get a bean - the spam makes it clear his email address won the lotto, not him.  of course, if he's on good terms with his email address, it might pass some on to him.



  • Aw, I was expecting this thread was going to be about the universities' and their publishers' evil adventures in bleeding their students dry with endless editions of the exact same old learning material. What a scam. Makes my blood boil.



  • @rpjs said:

     He won't get a bean - the spam makes it clear his email address won the lotto, not him.  of course, if he's on good terms with his email address, it might pass some on to him.

     

    A guy I used to work with never answered his phone.  If you tried to call him, you got voice mail that announced "You've reached the desk of Chone Munk; please leave a message".

    I once told his desk that I urgently needed his stapler to call me back as soon as possible.

     



  • Scam emails are supposed to appeal to the stupid, right? This one has far too many numbers, which would scare off the target market. Plus, how many of them would get stuck trying to figure out how to dial + on their phones?

    @some scammer said:

    Tel:+31-647-226-334



  • Obligatory YT link

    Every time I hear about these lottery things, my brain goes to Mitchell & Webb. "Why will no one accept my MASSIVE YACHT?" ... "Could it be something about our voices?"



  •  Yeah so? everyone gets these everyday of the week.

    you need to get a life ratty like Snoufle does.



  • @karly said:

     Yeah so? everyone gets these everyday of the week.

    you need to get a life ratty like Snoufle does.

    I'm guessing the irony of you whining about blackey whining is lost on you?



  • @karly said:

    everyone gets these everyday of the week.
    I don't.



  • @boog said:

    @karly said:

    everyone gets these everyday of the week.
    I don't.

    Me neither. Like I said in the OP, this is the first one I've seen in years.



  • @karly said:

     Yeah so? everyone gets these everyday of the week.

    you need to get a life ratty like Snoufle does.

     

    It's a small world, isn't it? In addition to giving Snoofle a lame interview, Karly also apparently has been sending Blakey lame spam!



  • @blakeyrat said:

    @boog said:

    @karly said:

    everyone gets these everyday of the week.
    I don't.

    Me neither. Like I said in the OP, this is the first one I've seen in years.

    So that's two counterexamples - I'm curious to know how karly would explain such an anomaly.

    Coincidence?  Highly unlikely.

    No it seems karly will need to revise his argument and troll try again.

     



  • @Buffalo said:

    Scam emails are supposed to appeal to the stupid, right? This one has far too many numbers, which would scare off the target market. Plus, how many of them would get stuck trying to figure out how to dial + on their phones?

    @some scammer said:

    Tel:+31-647-226-334

    That is actually a valid phone number. +31 stands for the country calling code, which can also written as 00 31 (or 011 31, depending on your location). In this case, it's the code for the Netherlands.

    Furthermore, the trunk prefix in the Netherlands is 0, which means that the phone number (in local format) is 06 47226334. 06 is one of the non-geographical numbers and is used for mobile phones (making the last 8 digits the subscriber number).

    However, if you've never seen an international phone number before, then it's understandable why you weren't familiar with the international dialing prefix and why you thought the number to be incorrect.




    Short version: it's a perfectly valid Dutch mobile phone number.



  • I've always wondered, how do you dial a plus on the phone? The only non-alphanumeric symbols I've ever seen on a phone keypad are pound and asterisk...



  • @Teejd said:

    @Buffalo said:

    Scam emails are supposed to appeal to the stupid, right? This one has far too many numbers, which would scare off the target market. Plus, how many of them would get stuck trying to figure out how to dial + on their phones?

    @some scammer said:

    Tel:+31-647-226-334

    Short version: it's a perfectly valid Dutch mobile phone number.
     

    I'm perfectly aware of international phone numbers, my point is that anyone dumb enough to fall for a scam like that would also be too dumb to figure out how to contact them in order to actually be scammed.



  • @Teejd said:

    Short version: it's a perfectly valid Dutch mobile phone number.
    @Teejd said:
    That is actually a valid phone number. +31 stands for the country calling code,
    I think the attempted humor flew over your head.

     But I have always wondered, what exactly is the purpose of the "+"?  Is it just there to indicate a country code so that you know it's a foreign phone number?



  • @ekolis said:

    I've always wondered, how do you dial a plus on the phone? The only non-alphanumeric symbols I've ever seen on a phone keypad are pound and asterisk...
     

    On my mobile phone (old Nokia) if you press * twice you get a + which works as the International access prefix (which is 0011 here, BTW).

    @El_Heffe said:

    But I have always wondered, what exactly is the purpose of the "+"?  Is it just there to indicate a country code so that you know it's a foreign phone number?
     

    Most countries (with area codes) include the trunk prefix (generally 0) when writing out the number in domestic format, unlike how a NANP number is generally described without it (the 1). For example my mobile number is 0412 xxx xxx, so you pick up a phone and enter those ten digits and you'll get me. From outside Australia my number is +61 412 xxx xxx. In this case it depends on where you are calling from as to what actual numbers are dialled. Most mobile phones would have access to the literal "+", but from a landline one would have to substitute "00" (Europe and many other countries), "011" (NANP) or other prefix.

    There are cases where an area code could be confused with a country code, and the + makes it clear that something must be dialled at the beginning.



  • @El_Heffe said:

     But I have always wondered, what exactly is the purpose of the "+"?  Is it just there to indicate a country code so that you know it's a foreign phone number?

     

    On my mobile phone, if I prefix my home phone with +44 then it gets translated to "0" when I'm in the UK and "0044" when I'm abroad. Handy for calling the missus and not having to edit the phone number according to geographical location. Dunno if that's a feature of the phone or the provider.

    (I did hear from someone who stored a number prefixed with 0044 that their mobile provider charged them for an international call when dialing from within the UK. Not sure how true that is, but it's why I used the + prefix rather than hard-coding the 00)


  • Discourse touched me in a no-no place

    @ekolis said:

    I've always wondered, how do you dial a plus on the phone? The only non-alphanumeric symbols I've ever seen on a phone keypad are pound and asterisk...
    'Double-asterisk' has always produced the + on every phone I've used.



  • @El_Heffe said:

    But I have always wondered, what exactly is the purpose of the "+"? Is it just there to indicate a country code so that you know it's a foreign phone number?

    Considering the stunning variety of telephone number prefixes required to reach the international exchange level when making a call, depending on which country you currently happen to be in (wiki-link), I guess it's understandable that everyone's just using a placeholder instead, leaving it to the caller (or their phone, nowadays) to put in whatever happens to be the correct numbers depending on the situation.



  • @UrzaMTG said:

    (ignoring the silly British spellings of certain words)


    ?! I saw a silly American spelling of legalisation, but what other words there aren't pan-Atlantic?



  • @El_Heffe said:

    I think the attempted humor flew over your head.

    I wasn't too sure whether it was a actual question or just some trolling, so I just went with the former of the two. Oh well.



  • @pjt33 said:

    @UrzaMTG said:

    (ignoring the silly British spellings of certain words)


    ?! I saw a silly American spelling of legalisation, but what other words there aren't pan-Atlantic?

    Clearly, I am blind, or my monitor has too high of a resolution. I originally saw it spelled "legalisation" (which, by the way, my browser is reporting as misspelled) and made fun of it. Going back, I see it is indeed spelled "legalization" (spelled correctly, according to my browser and locale) and must now put foot in mouth.

    On that note, WTF is a "Phone Handy Mobile"? And why am I given the option to give him/her/it my full names, plural? Do lots of Europeans have aliases and/or change their name on a whim?



  • @Zemm said:

    @ekolis said:

    I've always wondered, how do you dial a plus on the phone? The only non-alphanumeric symbols I've ever seen on a phone keypad are pound and asterisk...
     

    On my mobile phone (old Nokia) if you press * twice you get a + which works as the International access prefix (which is 0011 here, BTW).

    @El_Heffe said:

    But I have always wondered, what exactly is the purpose of the "+"?  Is it just there to indicate a country code so that you know it's a foreign phone number?
     

    Most countries (with area codes) include the trunk prefix (generally 0) when writing out the number in domestic format, unlike how a NANP number is generally described without it (the 1). For example my mobile number is 0412 xxx xxx, so you pick up a phone and enter those ten digits and you'll get me. From outside Australia my number is +61 412 xxx xxx. In this case it depends on where you are calling from as to what actual numbers are dialled. Most mobile phones would have access to the literal "+", but from a landline one would have to substitute "00" (Europe and many other countries), "011" (NANP) or other prefix.

    There are cases where an area code could be confused with a country code, and the + makes it clear that something must be dialled at the beginning.

    But that's the source of the confusion.  Somehow it's being assumed that anyone looking at that phone number magically, by some sort of osmosis, knows that "+" means you have to dial some additional numbers, depending on where you are calling from.  Someone with very little experience with international phone calls is more likely to think "What the hell does that + mean?  And where is the + on my phone".

     



  • @El_Heffe said:

    But that's the source of the confusion.  Somehow it's being assumed that anyone looking at that phone number magically, by some sort of osmosis, knows that "+" means you have to dial some additional numbers, depending on where you are calling from.  Someone with very little experience with international phone calls is more likely to think "What the hell does that + mean?  And where is the + on my phone".
    I learned about the meaning of + prefix when I was less than 10 years old. I don't remember how or when, but I do remember that my father told me that the + means you have to dial 99 when you're at home, but usually 00 when you're in foreign countries (we later changed the prefix to 00 as well, which is why I can know that I had to be less than 10 years old).



  • @UrzaMTG said:

    On that note, WTF is a "Phone Handy Mobile"?
     

    According to an episode of QI 'handy' is what German people use as slang for their mobile phone.

    "Phone Handy Mobile" does seem to be one for the DRD department though.



  • @El_Heffe said:

    And where is the + on my phone".
     

    This is my phone. I've circled the +. You get to it by pressing twice. (Holding that key down activates the LED torch/flashlight)
    (Yes it's a 2G dinosaur, but it works and I don't have the spare $$$ for anything better.)

    The way US numbers are written out is less clear. From what I've read there's four different ways* to make a domestic call (7D, 1+7D, 10D, 1+10D) and you'll have to know which style to use before you start. If a number is written as "(212) 555-1212" it's not immediately clear how to call it. Do I need the area code? Do I need the 1? Osmosis! Then there's international calls within the NANP.

    * Yes I know that 1+7D is pretty much gone but the 10 vs 11 digit dialling is still a source of potential confusion.

    The "plus" should mean confused people ask someone about it rather than just blindly dialling the wrong number. My wife didn't know about the international prefix a while ago: she called me and asked about +65. I asked, "Are you trying to call Singapore?" She was like "How did you know!?"



  • @Zemm said:

    This is my phone. I've circled the +.
     

    There are many like it, but this one is mine.

    No really.

    There are many, many like it.


  • Discourse touched me in a no-no place

    @RTapeLoadingError said:

    According to an episode of QI 'handy' is what German people use as slang for their mobile phone.
    Mein handy for those interested in such stuff...



  • @Zemm said:

    The way US numbers are written out is less clear. From what I've read there's four different ways* to make a domestic call (7D, 1+7D, 10D, 1+10D) and you'll have to know which style to use before you start. If a number is written as "(212) 555-1212" it's not immediately clear how to call it. Do I need the area code? Do I need the 1? Osmosis!
     

    In my experience, with cell phones you just always dial 10D. Use of the full 10-digit number for everything has become a lot more common in recent years because people move around the country but keep their cell numbers, so many people have cell phone numbers with area codes that don't match where they actually live. 


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