When something is too good to be true
By
Villu Arak on March 11, 2008 in Insight.
In his book "Yes Man," Danny Wallace tells us (among many, many other silly things) about his correspondence with Omar, "son of the murdered sultan of Oman", who needed to enlist Danny's "professionallism" in fleeing the country with 40 million bucks. A cool 10 million for Danny's troubles and it's "God's will". That's my kind of god, I tell you.
Serious officials in ill-fitting suits don't really like young sultans, presidential widows or sad princesses who need regular people like us to pull them out of a pickle. I guess they have a point.
A few days ago, however, the topic got a bit more interesting for me. That's because some generous soul is busy populating people's inboxes with what appear to be Skype lottery certificates. I mean, what's not to like about 200,000 dollars?
The downside? (Besides the somewhat lacking production values -- but I guess they're passing on their savings to you, the lucky winner.) Oh, just "confirm your data" -- bank account information and other meaningless details -- and the money is yours. It's even possible to get the funds delivered via diplomatic courier. Probably in a black limo. Pimpin'.
Don't do it. We're in the letting-people-talk-for-100-billion-minutes-or-until-the-Sun-expands-and-destroys-all-life-on-Earth-whichever-comes-first business. Ok, so I'm prone to exaggeration, but you get the drift. We're not in the lottery business. Just like you're not in the losing-your-life's-savings-to-scammers-business.
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Comments
Wow talk about creativity. Along these same lines what steps is skype taking to stop the 50 to 75 Contact Exchange Requests a week I get from PORN Spammers. A person can only take so many of these. I have sent in 70+ screenshots of spammers and I have another 40 requests in my missed event to screenshot and sent over. Does anyone know if these types of users are calculated in the concurrent usage stats that show up on this blog every few months?
-BC
braydencorleone | Wednesday, Mar 12
Attn Mikheil Djintcharadze,
I am Mr.Robert Cullam the fiduciary agent assigned to your case. I wish to Congratulate you on your victory, you are a lucky person to have won this lottery. Your Skype address was amongst those chosen this quarter from our new java-based software that randomly selects Skype addresses from the web From which winners are selected. You are required to forward the following details to help facilitate the processing of your claims and certificate which will facilitate the release of your winnings.
1. Full names.
2. Phone number.
3. Fax number.
4. Occupation.
5. Sex.
6. Age.
7. Nationality.
8.reference number.
9.batch number.
10.employer.
11.marital status.
12.contact address.
You are advised to forward this information as soon as possible to enable us attend to your winnings.Our firm has been contracted to handle payments on your behalf, once we confirm your information, your payments would be processed.
Everything was done in such a way that our payments mode would meet the standards set by the Lottery boards. After you have sent down these information, a certificate will be prepared for you. This is to be your proof of winning from this office to the payment center before they release your funds. You are advised to keep your winning numbers secret to avoid unscrupulous elements from taking advantage of the situation.
For further Detail's, I can be Reached on +447031963930 anytime.
Once again, congratulations.
Sincerely,
Mr.Robert Cullam
mishkini | Wednesday, May 14
did i win some lottery?
mishkini | Wednesday, May 14
I have received an IM on my Skype from Mrs. Linda Transof from skype international awards lottery stating that I have won 2,500,000 EURO in the Skype Award 2008. She also sent me an UK agent contact whom have sent me to several other connecting agents including national westminister bank plc?, finally I was told to Pay 587 English Pound in order for their courier agency to personally deliver the parcel to me in a cheque form or CASHH?once again 2,500,000.00 euro.with a dead line i feel pressured to figure out if its real or not.is this real if so please respond.also since i have corresponded with these people i have problems accessing not only my brand new skype line which has credit with an unlimmited plan i cannot now access . ps i have no form of contacting THE REAL SKYPE is this the real skype OR DO I NEED A LAWYER . please respond immediately. thankyou
julette6 | Monday, Aug 18
ive been recieving im stating i won 2,500,000.00 in the skype international awards 2008 . and ive been forwarded to multiple agents who have given me steps to follow in order to recieve this money now they want 600 dollars from me and i dont know how real they are. also since ive been corresponding with these people my brand new skype line with credit and an unlimited plan has been discredited. is this the real skype OR DO I NEED A LAWYER .
julette6 | Monday, Aug 18