Scam emails: motherless baby's home

I know Apus likes email scams and their telltale strange use of English, so the following extract (from an email I received entitled 'DEAR BELOVED FRIEND') is for him.

I am Mrs. Gloria Caldwell from LONDON, I am 58 years old, I am deaf and suffering from a long time cancer of the breast, which also affected my brain. From all indication my condition is really deteriorating, and my doctors have courageously advised me that I may not live beyond the next two months, this is because the cancer stage has reached a critical stage. I was brought up in a motherless baby's home

I love that – 'motherless baby's home' instead of orphanage. And how courageous of the doctors to advise her that she is about to die.


I suppose I should show more sympathy, seeing as Gloria is from LONDON like me...

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Do you think anyone, in the history of the internet (or even since the advent of the modern postal service), has EVER fallen for one of these things?

If they have I reckon they deserve it for being idiots...in a kind of natural selction way...

Anonymous said...

Probably a good time to direct you all in the direction of http://www.419eater.com/ - where people take on the scammers and show the results. A very funny site that gets better the deeper you get into it.

JD (The Engine Room) said...

Thanks Gareth! I'd also recommend the 'Frauds & Scams' section of Snopes.com: http://www.snopes.com/fraud/fraud.asp

JD (The Engine Room) said...

...and I've just realised that a 'motherless baby's home' would be a baby's home for just the one baby – not the largest orphanage in the world...

Anonymous said...

I can't shake the thought that it's the poor home that's motherless.

HonestlyThomas said...

Hello Dear Company
My name is Mr Thomas Corey and i would Really Love to help a woman called Gloria Caldwell from LONDON,i would Like to Help her with some funds.u can Kindly Reach me on my priavte email adderss tom_corey@yahoo.com Kindly get to me as soon as u can i really like to help Safe her Life.
Thomas Corey

Anonymous said...

I am M.Sarah Frank.from England I am deaf and has cancer of the breast I lost my husband 12yrs ago without a child of mine. I have to sell all my properties left by my husband because the doctors say i have less than 2months to live. I have deposited the funds of $4.5million USD which i sold from my properties and deposit into a Bank. I want you to help me use the funds to help the charity deaf and the motherless babies home before i die. If you are a good and honest Christian i shall give you the contact of the Bank and also the Deposit Certificate so as to claim my funds before my death.Expecting your urgent response and may God bless you as you carry out my wish. yours dying sister. M.Sarah Frank. sarahfrank315@gmail.com


how stupid why do they waste there time surley no one ever replies to them i get about 20 of these things every week

David Price said...

Dear PA,

How are you doing? I hope you're having a pleasant day !

I'd receive your e-mail.. I'm sure you'll understand I tend to have a very busy schedule at this point as i based in Arizona .

Please note that this position is not office based for now because of my frequent travels and tight schedules, it's a part-time, work from home basis and the flexibility means that there will be busier weeks than others, so it's a little difficult judging the exact number of hours you'll be doing per week.If you can manage your time properly, this job may even give you some extra while you do something else on the side.

I work at a Oil Rig Company and we import and export crude oil to the neighborhood countries, so i personally need a Personal Assistant in the country that can take good care of my contacts and e-mails in case if I'm out of the country.

As I have said, I'd want us to get a head start with things as soon as possible. I do have a pile up of work and a number of unattended chores which you can immediately assist me with, I hope we can meet up with the workload eventually as i want you to always check your e-mail at least every 6 hours for details on this position.

Permit me to use the coming week to test your efficiency and diligence towards all this, also to work out your time schedule and fit it to mine.. I really need to find the perfect person for this job, I'm confident you can take up the challenge and on the long run we should have a relatively sound working relationship between us.

I'd want us to meet up on Yahoo chat as soon as possible so we can discuss this extensively, more so it's easier for me to convey information's once I'm online.My Yahoo ID is the same as my e-mail address, seanc11101@yahoo.com It may be a little difficult working out the time difference between us initially, with time however, we should get used to it.

I'm online most of the time when I'm not out or in a meeting so we should be able to have a chat sooner than you think. Do try to keep a date.

I am glad you are willing to work with me and i promise to be a good boss.I am also glad on the commitment in working.

I have been checking my files and what i would want you to do for me by next week is to run some errands out to an Orphanage,You will be making some donation to them as i always do every month..I just want to use this to test your efficiency and know how active you can work for me.

The donation will be in form of Check and it will be sent over to you from one of my clients and i have some list to email you once you received the funds,I guess you will make some arrangements by buying some stuff for the kids in the nearest store around you and mail them out to any given information i provide for you or you will send the funds in cash to them..

I will get you more information on that.

I will like you to get back to me with your Contact Details such as:

Full Name:
Full Contact Address:
City:
State:
Zip Code:
Phone Number:
Occupation:
Sex:


Once i received your contact information i will get back to you with the task for this week, Understand you will also be paid as soon as you pass this first assignment, You will be paid ($500) at the end of the week.

I won't be able to call you due to my hard hearings this days as i need to see a specialist for my hear-drum soonest but i can relay call.

You can just view the website on www.shell..com but I'm not yet a registered member until the end of this month..

Hope i am clear with that.

Get back as soon as possible..

Sean


I replied and got a second one today, telling to send it to the "Orphanage Motherless Charity Home". What kind've people sit around and waist other peoples time like this!!!

Lisa said...

All Concerned:

I am posting the email I received after applying for a job through Craig's List. Once I investigated the 'charity' (ha), I came across this site. I hope others do not fall for this...


Hello,
I received your e-mail. I'm sure you'll understand I tend to have a very busy schedule at this point as i based in Rhoda Island.

Please note that this position is not office based for now because of my frequent travels and tight schedules, it's a part-time, work from home basis and the flexibility means that there will be a very busy weeks than others, so it's a little difficult judging the exact number of hours you'll be doing per week..If you can manage your time properly, this job may even give you some extra while you do something else on the side..

We are one of the major distributor for shell oil and gas lnc .we handle the importation and exportation of their crude products to the neighboring countries,we are in need of a very Competent Operation Manager within the States that can take good care of my contacts and e-mails in case if i'm out of the country.

More so,our website is under construction for now, I will let you know once it's available for sighting.
As I have said, I'd want us to get a head start with things as soon as possible. I do have a piled up of works and a number of unattended chores which you can immediately assist me with, I hope we can meet up with the workload eventually as i want you to always check your e-mail at least every 6 hours for details in view.
Permit me to use the coming week to test your efficiency and diligence towards all these, also to work out your time schedule and fit it to mine.I'm convinced and confident you can take up the challenge,after a proper assessment at your CV and on the long run we should have a sound working relationship between us.

I will like you to get back to me with your Contact Details such as:

Full Name:
Full Contact Address:
City:
State:
Zip Code:
Phone Number:
Occupation:
Sex:
Martial:
Age:

Finally i got a black berry phone that will enable me keep in touch with you even when in a conference meetings . so i will want you to add me you my yahoo messenger so i can always get the necessary updates across to you . here is my IM:baugherissac

Once i received your contact information i will get back to you with the task for this week,Understand you will also be paid as soon as you pass this first assignment, You will be paid ($450)..You will be making some donation to Motherless Charity Home as i always do every month and the donation will be in form of Money Order or checks and it will be sent over to you from one of my clients.I dont want you to get yourself worried on how you will be getting the things that the motherless need but I'll relay more instruction for you on that as you will not be travelling to anywhere,ok..I just want to use this to test your efficiency and know how active you can work for me..

Thanks and God Bless You..

Mr Baugher Issac

Jenn said...

From: Mark Peterson
To: Kawaii Kawaii
Sent: Fri, December 18, 2009 5:34:24 AM
Subject: Re: Personal Assistant



Hello ,

Thanks for your interests in the PA position, I will deeply appreciate all genuine efforts to help me monitor and keep up to date with all my activities.I have had a previous PA who has been very commendable in her activities and who has been part of my life for the past 6 months, she has since returned to her country. I sincerely hope I will be able to find someone again who will be as efficient as she has been.

I'm Mark, 52, originally from London, but I have spent a whole lot here in United State. I'm a lawyer by profession and I have been pretty successful in a handful of ventures I get involved in; from the Angel Investment Network in Canada and United State to various welfare and community service programs, I most very often get my hands occupied, so it is imperative for me to have a worthy assistant who can monitor and keep me up to date with my activities.


As my assistant, your activities amongst other things will include.
*Running personal errands, supervisions and monitoring.
*Scheduling programmers, flights and keeping me up to date with them.
*Acting as an alternative telephone correspondence when I'm away.
*Making regular contacts and drop-offs on my behalf.
*Handling and monitoring some of my financial activities.

Basic wage is $550 a week

This position is home-based and flexible, working with me is basically about instructions and following them, my only fear is that I may come at you impromptu sometimes, so I need someone who can be able to meet up with my irregular timings.There is also a very sensitive issue on trust and accountability which I believe will resolve itself as time goes on. This is only an introductory e-mail, as time goes on we should be able to arrange a proper meeting to get things started officially..

I'm currently in the UK now for a summit, however, I do have a number of things you could help me with this week if you will be available for me. This can act as a stable foundation to our working relationship.

Hope to hear from you again.

Cheers.
Mark Peterson

JD (The Engine Room) said...

"My only fear is that I may come at you impromptu sometimes, so I need someone who can be able to meet up with my irregular timings"

Sounds very dodgy to me!

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