Exciting e-mail here:

===================================================

OFFICIAL WINNING NOTIFICATION FOR CATEGORY "A" CYBER LOTTO DRAWS

Attn: Email Account Owner

We are pleased to inform you of results of our cyber lottery draw of the Lotto.nl Promotional Draws.

The online electronic-raffle draws was conducted from an exclusive list of 250,000 e-mail accounts picked by our Electronic Random Selection System (ERSS) from an exclusive list However, no tickets were sold.

After the automated computer ballot collection, your e-mail address emerged as a winner category "A" with the following numbers attached

(Ref Number: MSP 91104 EL 7612, Batch Number: 563881545-NL/2009 and Ticket Number: PA 3502 /8707-01.

You are therefore to receive a cash prize of 2,500,000.00. (Two Million Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars) from the total payout sum! CONGRATULATIONS!!!

The payout of this cash prize to you will be subject to the final validations and satisfactory report that you are the owner of the winning email address. In line with the Governing rules of claim, you are required to establish contact with your designated claims agent via email or telephone with the particulars below:

Name: Mr Soresen Holms jr
Foreign claims agent Netherlands Office.

TEL: +31 649 298 174
FAX: +31 847 455 835
Contact Email: [email protected]


You are advised to provide him with the following information:

DATA PROFILE
First name:

Last Name:

Telephone/Fax number:

Nationality:

Age:

Occupation:

You are to keep all lotto information confidential, especially your reference numbers and the password of your E-mail address. Since we do not

Know you, if an impostor hacks your E-mail account ID and claims your money without our knowledge, we shall not be liable. Double claims will not be Entertained so be careful.

Furthermore, should there be any change of address do inform our agent as soon as possible.

Congratulations!!! And thank you for being a user of the World Wide Web.

Yours Sincerely

Nuon Van Denhoff
Onlinelottery Coordinator

Thank you and congratulations

NOTE: If English is not your first language and you have problems understanding this e-mail, please visit this website ( www.freetranslation.com )You will be able to translate this mail in other languages

===================================================

Now all I have to do is figure out how I'm going to spend all that money. A dirty job, but someone's got to do it.

Interestingly enough, Gmail flagged the message with a warning that the sender might not be who he says he is. I bet they just want to keep all that money for themselves.



tanstaafl.

Actually lotto.nl is a legitimate gambling company here.
But not with a @yahoo.cn email address i guess
The +31 6 number is a mobile, and the +31 84 a voip number.
Oh, and Nuon is not a typical dutch first name, but an electrical company.

You think it's a scam?

Is there some sort of template that the scammers buy for these emails? Nearly all of them list a specific amount of cash in numbers and then list it again in words afterwards.

Erm.... YES!

I think the last time the police picked up a bunch of Nigerian scammers in Amsterdam, they forgot some. Can't be real dutch people, they're just too honest.

Most commercial contracts, including everyday cheques, do that, and all for the same reason: the figures are easier to read, but it's so easy to make a typo in figures that the words are there as a cross-check.

Peter

Good point. I didn't think of that.

At least in regards to chec(k|que)s, it's also so easy to add a few extra digits after the fact.

Hi,

I had a similar thing happen to me last month with a response to an ebay Want-It-Now that I posted.

I communicated with him for a few weeks to find out for sure and was able to find his exact same request to someone else on yahoo. I googled his email address that he included in his inquiry and it popped up in a Yahoo Group Question & Answer.

I had always heard about the poor English translation as a clue about scammers, but, there are legitimate responses to requests without a good command of the language too. I just want to want those whom I can, this list has a lot of members.



By the way, ebay and Paypal will not offer you protection if you ship or pay outside of the USA. As soon as it leaves the border, they really hold no liability. Had I completed the transaction, ebay, Paypal, or anyone else can't help me (read as "thanks for the $1000.00 gift, don't expect anything in return, have a nice life").

The guy definitely didn't want to do the escrow route as he would have had to send me something he actually didn't have and I would have received my money back from the escrow account company less a $32.00 fee, which I'm sure the scammer didn't care about.

I guess that I was less than kind to him in my last response, and never received any more responses from him. I did report him, ebay's response was that you can trust the source if it was posted in My Ebay under My Messages. Guess what, that's where I was notified that he had a card for me? Ebay's response to that is that he had included his email address and not an ebay member ID. It had come to me as an Anonymous Ebay Member. No response from ebay, oops.


The thread is posted below. Notice his first $$ response asking price. He must be going in for the kill too early. I asked him to repeat the price twice since it was way out of the ball park. Later after I told him my price point ($500.00), like magic, he said he had a used one for $500.00, after I asked him if he had 2, why sure he had 2 (2 times nothing is still nothing to him and he could be happy with $1000.00). He still applied pressure for the sale and offered additional ways to complete the deal similar to escrow. Until he was found out.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Hi,

Sorry, a google search looks like you are a scammer. I attached another item that you have tried to scam someone else on for your reading enjoyment. Look familiar?

You should be ashamed of yourself !! The global economy is tough, but, you don't need to make it harder on others than it already is!!

There are special places for you to spend eternity (that's a long, long, time) after this life. Change your ways now or suffer the wrath of God later....


I will report you to ebay as well that you "hunt for your prey" in the Want-it-Now section of their site.


Don't contact me again, I will not respond to your email.

Ross


Hello,

I`m sorry to disturb you but I have see your Want It Now,and I want to anounce you that I have( Fender Mark Hoppus Signature Bass )and I am selling for intresting price, so because I saw that you are interested in buying a product like this I want to make you an proposal for my item, and i MUST tell you the shipping I will pay, so if you are interested in making a good deal please contact me ONLY at my e-mail address and please look good at my email adress and put what is mising the point and the arron,sir I can't respond from the user eBay because i have exceeded the maximum number of messages i can send so please contact me at my email adress jamesmiler009 gmail com

Best regards,
--------

To: Ross Wellington
Subject: Re: HP16534A Oscilloscope Card for Agilent 16702 Analyzer

Hello

Sir please send me the info ..then you will receive the invoice from eBay...then you will go to the office and make the payment in to my name and address then you will email to eBay(forward the invoice) the payment info then I will email to you the tracking number so when you will pick up the item then you will contact eBay and told them to give to me the payment info.....OK?
Thanks
---------

On 2/14/09, Ross Wellington

Hi,

I am a little concerned about international transaction protection. I have a friend that sold something on ebay, using paypal, he went through all of the required steps, as soon as it went out of the United States (Germany), there was nothing that he could do about the transaction and lost his property and the payment. Ebay and Paypal could not help him and he was just out of luck.

I'm not saying that you are the kind of person he had to deal with, but, I also need to be careful with $1000.00.

I have 100% feedback all the way back to 2001 with no negatives ever and I am known to pay fast. Check my feedback (si_emi) to verify this. The feedback is for me as a buyer only, I have not sold anything on ebay. What is your ebay ID, your notice came in as an Anonymous Ebay Member, I would also like to check feedback.

By the way, I almost always pay with a money order (2 each $500.00 money orders), certified bank check, Postal money order, I do not have a Paypal account. These other methods - avoid - electronic methods of payment which can eventually be exploited (I have never purchased anything via my computer so there is no financial information on my system for others to exploit). This also saves the seller the Paypal fee and possibly the ebay fee (I don't know how it works with a Want-It-Now transaction), which, for $1000.00 could be a sizable amount.

What I propose is that you ship the cards to me for me to examine and I will check them out within 3 business days after I receive them. If they look good I will pay you by whatever method we agree upon prior to you sending them to me within the 3 days. If they do not look good, I will return them quickly (so that you may sell them to someone else if you choose), at my expense (reasonable cost) within 5 days of my receipt.

I know this puts you in a peculiar position too, but, realize the position I am also in and how ebay, nor paypal can really protect the transaction outside of the U.S.

If you want to pursue this path, I am interested in the cards. If you are not interested due to the risk involved, I will understand, and appreciate your time in trying to help me out and thank you for your time.

If this works out and you have other modules, I might be interested in those too.

Thanks,

Ross
----------

From: jamesmiler009 [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Saturday, February 14, 2009 2:01 AM
To: Ross Wellington
Subject: Re: HP16534A Oscilloscope Card for Agilent 16702 Analyzer

yes i have 2 items and is in perfect condition and work great

Thanks
----------


On 2/14/09, Ross Wellington

Hi,

Do you know if it works?

Do you have 2 of them?

I have also been contacted by another for one.

Thanks,

Ross
----------

From: jamesmiler009 [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Friday, February 13, 2009 1:23 AM
To: Ross Wellington
Subject: Re: HP16534A Oscilloscope Card for Agilent 16702 Analyzer


i have for 500 $ is same but is used you accept 1 item used for 500$

thanks
---------


On 2/13/09, Ross Wellington

Hi,


No, thank you.

I only wanted to pay $500.00 each.

Thank you anyway,

Ross
---------


From: jamesmiler009 [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Thursday, February 12, 2009 1:54 PM


To: Ross Wellington
Subject: Re: HP16534A Oscilloscope Card for Agilent 16702 Analyzer

yes sir...so please tell me if this is ok and wee can start the deale!!!!!?!????
----------


On 2/12/09, Ross Wellington

Hi,

Do you really mean $3,450.00 ?

Ross
---------

From: jamesmiler009 [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Wednesday, February 11, 2009 4:11 AM


To: Ross Wellington
Subject: Re: HP16534A Oscilloscope Card for Agilent 16702 Analyzer

Hello

The price is Total Amount:3450$ with shipping is ok let me know????

Thanks
----------


On Tue, Feb 10, 2009 at 5:37 PM, Ross Wellington

Hi,

Could you confirm the purchase price for me again?

Thanks,

Ross
-----------


From: jamesmiler009 [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Tuesday, February 10, 2009 4:49 PM
To: Ross Wellington
Subject: Re: HP16534A Oscilloscope Card for Agilent 16702 Analyzer

Hello,
Thank you for your e-mail.
I must tell you that now I'm in Europe (UK) with UNICEF to help the people, but
this is not a problem because you will receive the
item in maximum 24 hours.I will pay for the shipping and insurance and
I will provide you 10 days money back guarantee, no questions asked.
That means within 10 working days you decide if you don't want to keep
the item. I have the account blocked from paypal because I'm in divorce with my wife and the payment info you will send to eBay(fordward the invoice) and when you confirm the item then eBay will give to me the money!!!!.
So, if you are really interested, now all you have to do is to send me
exactly those info:
First name:
Last name:
Address:
City:
Country:
Zip:
eBay ID :
Item #
Total Amount:3450$ with shipping
need the details exactly like i have requested , because i have to
forward the email to eBay.In short time, they will send you the invoice
with all the details you need to complete the deal safe and fast for
both of us,under ebay protection!I am dealing only thru eBay.

Thank you!
--------------

On Tue, Feb 10, 2009 at 10:12 AM, Ross Wellington

Hi,

I am replying to your message to me about the HP16534A card.

Please send me an image (picture) of the card, the serial number, the purchase price, and the payment methods.

Thanks,

Ross



-----------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Original EBAY Message in My Messages


Hello,

I`m sorry to disturb you but I have see your Want It Now,and I want to anounce you that I have( HP16534A Oscilloscope Card for Agilent 16702 Analyzer )and I am selling for intresting price, so because I saw that you are interested in buying a product like this I want to make you an proposal for my item, and i MUST tell you the shipping I will pay, so if you are interested in making a good deal please contact me ONLY at my e-mail address and please look good at my email adress and put what is mising the point and the arron,sir I can't respond from the user eBay because i have exceeded the maximum number of messages i can send so please contact me at my email adress jamesmiler009 gmail com

Best regards,

-----------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------

My Want-it-now Posting.

HP16534A Oscilloscope Card for Agilent 16702 Analyzer

I am looking for 1 to 2 HP-16534A Oscilloscope cards (modules) to upgrade an Agilent 16702A logic analyzer.

They must be working cards. The probes are optional.

I am willing to pay a reasonable amount (< $500.00 each) for them with reasonable shipping.



Sorry for the long posting, I just don't want anyone else to get burned.

Ross

A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text.
Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing?
A: Top-posting.
Q: What is the most annoying thing in e-mail?

</rant>

You could have at least warned us.

That's the way email works.

Ross

No, please, say it ain't so!

This one is so blatantly obvious that I got to wondering... maybe the scammer is more clever than would appear at first glance. I can think of two reasons for him to send out these emails.

(1) Assuming he gets any responses at all, he has what he needs to build a very nice mailing list of stupid people, complete with useful demographic information, that he can then sell to other scammers.

(2) Assuming he gets any responses at all, he has filtered out people who are smart enough to realize how ludicrous the proposal is, and he can concentrate his efforts on the few who respond and increase his chances of getting the information he needs to successfully scam them.

He could have greatly increased the effectiveness of his scam by reducing the dollar amount to a reasonable number. Instead of $2,500,000, $250 would have been much more believable and in the case of (1) above would have generated far more responses.

Note that he starts out asking for relatively harmless information, hoping for a response of "Hey, I've got nothing to lose, why not?" Then, if he's really good, he'll lead you on, one tiny step at a time until, when it's all done and you've been scammed you'll look back with amazement wondering how you could have been so dumb as to tell him all those things.

tanstaafl.

Or he could have been "selling" lakeside properties in Mexico or some other unlikely location..

(just teasing)

Cheers

I thought there were watchdog groups that would actively string out scammers and try to nail them. Haven't heard about them in a long while, though.

edit:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scam_baiting

That's the way Microsoft ignored the rules and told you how email works. Until Outlook came along, no one had ever considered writing emails like that.

Heh.. I want soooo muchhhh to believe that, but I know otherwise.

We were doing "forward message with extra text at top" back in the early 1980s at Nortel (actually, Bell-Northern Research Ltd.), long before Microsoft became a significant company.

Cheers

Okay, no one on the internet.

I don't believe it's possible that any change to Outlook or any other mail software can significantly lessen the negative aspects of replies while still providing an initial copy of the whole previous message. This is counter to the argument some people have for initially positioning the cursor below the quoted text.

Maybe providing any original text is the problem here, but it's the lesser of evils in my opinion, because having no previous content would surely lead to issues for keeping on top of threads that weren't extremely recent or at the front of your mind.

I think the problem is simply the people writing the emails. At least with top-posting if you're reading a reply that's part of a recent (on your mind) thread you'll see the new information quickly, but the original email is there for reference should you slip a little. The same people that don't take care, or simply don't care, about replies would likely bottom post their whole messages. I would find it annoying as hell to have to scroll through unedited content ad-nauseam in reply after reply to get to the new text.

Personally I trim back quoted content judiciously and interleave my replies. Old/quoted text above new text. This is not a natural way of writing however for anything other than usenet/email, which is why people who have not always been exposed to this format won't be picking it up any time soon.

BTW, I remember people bottom posting well before Microsoft had even heard of the Internet.

Technical documents, such as qualification by similarities, specifications, etc are usually typed out that way also. I was taught to always use that convention in any form of paper.