Minor Scams You've Fallen Prey To

[shiroryu]

Not the Nigerian variety.

The lesser variety. I, for example, fell prey to the National Library of Poetry one. Paid $80 to get my 'pome' published in a bound book. Had the pride of seeing my craptacular poetry( excerpt:"fell like leaves in Fall") surrounded by even more craptacular contributions. Subconsciously I knew being scammed. Came to know for sure when I read Dave Barry's take on it.

In my defense, I was younger and needed the ego boost.

[jcompton]

I was conned by Textfire. Not monetarily, but I believed it was an earnest (if unlikely and weird) business venture. But as the perpetrators themselves pointed out in laughing at me, I was still using an Amiga and so not really responsible for my own actions.

[the bigg]

"fell like leaves in Fall"

I don't know if you're being sarcastic or not, but Giuseppe Ungaretti's most famous <piece of poetry writing> is textually:

Si sta come
d'autunno
sugli alberi
le foglie.

Translated:

We are like
during Fall
on trees
leaves.

As per topic: I fell to a phishing scam last year.

[shiroryu]

I don't know if you're being sarcastic or not, but Giuseppe Ungaretti's most famous <piece of poetry writing> is textually:

Si sta come
d'autunno
sugli alberi
le foglie.

Translated:

We are like
during Fall
on trees
leaves.

No, I was being serious. As regards the unintended homage, I'll point out that it's hard to divorce a poem from its language without essentially casting a Rapture of the Father on it. Plus, my poem was on Fall as a season, not on dying soldiers, so now you comprehend the true horror of my work.

As an aside, does anybody else follow the practice of not flagging the Nigerian emails as junk, purely so that they can be read for amusement as they drop in?

[the bigg]

As regards the unintended homage, I'll point out that it's hard to divorce a poem from its language without essentially casting a Rapture of the Father on it.

True. But OTOH, you wouldn't have understood my reference without a translation 

[shiroryu]

True. But OTOH, you wouldn't have understood my reference without a translation 

Yes, I understand that. Was just saying that any reference to great poets/poetry was purely accidental

[jastey]

As an aside, does anybody else follow the practice of not flagging the Nigerian emails as junk, purely so that they can be read for amusement as they drop in?

I don't get any of those. Offers to enlarge certain anatomic parts not existent on the female body is all I get currently. 

[Kulyok]

I don't get any of those. Offers to enlarge certain anatomic parts not existent on the female body is all I get currently. 

I get these every time I read our modlist email. I guess I'm quite experienced in these matters, now.

Lukyanenko, one of the most popular Russian fantasy writers, once got a "We'll help you! Get published with us!" spam offer. I recall he was quite amused.

I was once stopped near a train station by a young man who introduced himself as a Channel 2 TV worker, "You won a prize", etc. I sneaked away as soon as I was able to; within a minute. (A fake, of course).

[Azazello]

Star naming: http://www.space.com/spacewatch/mystery_monday_030915.html

Got my friends' first baby her own star, awww...

[shiroryu]

As an aside, does anybody else follow the practice of not flagging the Nigerian emails as junk, purely so that they can be read for amusement as they drop in?

I don't get any of those. Offers to enlarge certain anatomic parts not existent on the female body is all I get currently. 

I don't get those anymore. Let's exchange spammers.

Star naming: http://www.space.com/spacewatch/mystery_monday_030915.html

Got my friends' first baby her own star, awww...

Aww. Is it insured against precession? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precession_(astronomy)

[berelinde]

Mostly, I get phishing scams in my inbox these days.

"Act now or your PayPal account will be cancelled!" Not according to Amazon.com, it won't. Go away.
"Possible unauthorized charges on your Citi Card account! Please confirm account details!" I don't have a Citi Card account. Nice try.
"Your premium Hotmail account payment has been declined. Please confirm billing information." Considering that the only email addresses I have are provided by my DSL carrier or the free one from Google, I'm not worried. Bonus points for originality.

[Azazello]

Star naming: http://www.space.com/spacewatch/mystery_monday_030915.html

Got my friends' first baby her own star, awww...

Aww. Is it insured against precession? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precession_(astronomy)

Your statement is the very definition to "Esoteric". Perhaps an explanation for our studio audience?

[Drew]

I didn't actually fall for it, but I just got a new and interesting take on the Nigerian Bank account email.

From Mrs Edith Stevens.
Dear One in Christ,
I am Mrs Edith Stevens ,from Cote D' Ivoire .I am married to late Mr frank Stevens, who worked as a senior manager with the  Ivory Coast refinary  for Twenty-Six years before he died in the year 2005,after a brief illness that lasted for only five days.
We were married for Eighteen years with a son  (Olah) who later died in a motor accident. Before the untimely death of my husband,we were both born again Christians. Since after his death I decided not to remarry or get a child outside my matrimonial home . When my late husband was alive he deposited the sum of  one Million,Eight hundred Thousand United States Dollars (US$1.8m) in a General Trust Account with a prime bank in Abidjan Cote d'Ivoire. Presently,this money is still with the bank.
Recently,Following my ill health, my Doctor told me  that I may not last for the next six months due to my cancer problem.The one that disturbs me most is my stroke sickness.Having known my condition I decided to donate this fund to someone that will utilize this money the way I am going to instruct herein,according to the desire of my late husband before his death.
I want this fund to be used in Christain Activities like,Orphanages, Christain schools, and Churches for propagating  the word of God and to endeavor that the house of God  is maintained. The Bible made us to understand that "Blessed is the hand that giveth". I took this decision because I don't have any child that will inherit this money and my husband relatives are not Christians and I don't want my husband's efforts to be used by unbelievers. I don't want a situation where this money will be used in an ungodly way. This is why I am taking this decision.
I am not afraid of death  hence I know  where I am going. I know that I am going to be in the bosom of the Lord. Exodus 14 VS 14 says that "the lord will fight my case and I shall hold my peace". I don't need any telephone communication in this regard because of my health hence the presence of my husband's relatives around me always.I don't want them to know about this development.With God all things are possible.
As soon as I receive your reply I shall give you the  contact of the bank in Abidjan. I will also issue you the documents that will prove you the present  beneficiary of this fund.  I want you and the Church to always pray for me because the lord is my shephard. My happiness is that I lived a life of a worthy Christian. Whoever that  Wants to serve the Lord must serve him in spirit and
Truth. Please always be prayerful all through your  life.
Contact me   as any delay in your reply will give me room in sourcing another person for this same purpose.
Please assure me that you will act accordingly as I  Stated herein. Hoping to receive your reply.
Remain blessed in the Lord.
Yours in Christ,
Mrs EDITH STEVENS.

Given the fact that I'm actually a rabid and militant agnostic, I found this one particularly ironic.

[shiroryu]

Star naming: http://www.space.com/spacewatch/mystery_monday_030915.html

Got my friends' first baby her own star, awww...

Aww. Is it insured against precession? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precession_(astronomy)

Your statement is the very definition to "Esoteric". Perhaps an explanation for our studio audience?

The best way to explain this is the analogy of a spinning toy top.

Basically, we have the image that the Earth spins like a top with a stable axis as it rotates around the Sun.

Think of a top that has just been set in motion - initially it stays upright, balanced on a single point at the bottom. However, as the top slows down, it begins to wobble, tilt one way, then the other( to our eyes), till it finally falls down on one side.

What this means is that the top's 'top' initially points straight upwards, but then begins to point one way( say left), then towards you, then right, then away from you, and so on, till it stops.

The Earth is in a somewhat similar position. It 'wobbles' in its rotation, but extreeeemely slowly. In other words, if you were watching our solar system from a large distance, and you were looking at our Earth, you would see the same thing. The Earth's North Pole would point 'left', then towards you, then 'right', and then 'away from you'. The difference is that for this whole thing to occur, it takes 26,000 years. Obviously, not important in our lifetime.

So how does this relate to the stars? Simply that right now, our North Pole points roughly in the direction of Polaris( the North Star). As our Earth wobbles, however, ever so slowly, the stars 'shift' because the Earth is tilting away from them. So, say, 13,000 years from now, Polaris will no longer be the North Star! The Greek sailors, for example, used a different North Star in their navigation.  After 26,000 years, Polaris will once again be the North Star. And so on and on.

This visualization might help. http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/geodetic.htm

Incidentally, this means that certain stars disappear from your daily viewing and others appear as the Earth wobbles. Which is why poor Joanna must be careful naming the star she wants to name, or she might find that her 1300th generation may no longer be able to see Joanna Star in all its glory.

"Mommy, where is the Joanna Star that greatgranddad says was dedicated to that really really old lady?"
" It's complicated, dear. Go here: http://forums.pocketplane.net/index.php/topic,25066.0.html."
"OK...(browses PPG)...this is pretty boring..Screw this!...HEY, UB v4560 is out!.."

[shiroryu]

Apologies for consecutive posting, but this is freakin' hilarious!! And my comments in it are aimed against the scammer, not against any person who might genuinely be facing these problems.

I didn't actually fall for it, but I just got a new and interesting take on the Nigerian Bank account email.

From Mrs Edith Stevens.
Dear One in Christ,
I am Mrs Edith Stevens ,from Cote D' Ivoire .I am married to late Mr frank Stevens, who worked as a senior manager with the  Ivory Coast refinary  for Twenty-Six years before he died in the year 2005,after a brief illness that lasted for only five days. That's a convenient illness. Do you do three-dayers as well?

We were married for Eighteen years with a son  (Olah) What do the brackets signify?

who later died in a motor accident Before the untimely death of my husband,we were both born again Christians. Have there been any normal deaths in your family?

Since after his death I decided not to remarry or get a child outside my matrimonial homeInside works fine, however . When my late husband was alive he deposited the sum of  one Million,Eight hundred Thousand United States Dollars (US$1.8m) in a General Trust Account with a prime bank in Abidjan Cote d'Ivoire. Presently,this money is still with the bank.
Recently,Following my ill health, my Doctor told me  that I may not last for the next six months due to my cancer problem.
You're just riven by tragedy, aren't you.

The one that disturbs me most is my stroke sickness.The cancer is just a problem. It will kill me, but no big deal.The stroke is the true horror. Having known my condition I decided to donate this fund to someone that will utilize this money the way I am going to instruct herein,according to the desire of my late husband before his death.

I want this fund to be used in Christain Activities like,Orphanages, Christain schools, and Churches for propagating  the word of God and to endeavor that the house of God  is maintained. The Bible made us to understand that "Blessed is the hand that giveth". I took this decision because I don't have any child that will inherit this money and my husband relatives are not Christians and I don't want my husband's efforts to be used by unbelievers. I don't want a situation where this money will be used in an ungodly way. This is why I am taking this decision.

I am not afraid of death  hence I know  where I am going. I know that I am going to be in the bosom of the Lord. Exodus 14 VS 14 says that "the lord will fight my case and I shall hold my peace" The Lord is a lawyer?. I don't need any telephone communication in this regard because of my health hence the presence of my husband's relatives around me always.I don't want them to know about this development.With God all things are possible.
As soon as I receive your reply I shall give you the  contact of the bank in Abidjan. I will also issue you the documents that will prove you the present  beneficiary of this fund.  I want you and the ChurchThe Church? What am I, the Pope? to always pray for me because the lord is my shephard. My happiness is that I lived a life of a worthy Christian. Whoever that  Wants to serve the Lord must serve him in spirit and
Truth. Please always be prayerful all through your  life.
Contact me   as any delay in your reply will give me room in sourcing another person for this same purpose.
Please assure me that you will act accordingly as I  Stated herein. Hoping to receive your reply.
Remain blessed in the Lord.
Yours in Christ,
Mrs EDITH STEVENS.

[berelinde]

"Mommy, where is the Joanna Star that greatgranddad says was dedicated to that really really old lady?"
" It's complicated, dear. Go here: http://forums.pocketplane.net/index.php/topic,25066.0.html."
"OK...(browses PPG)...this is pretty boring..Screw this!...HEY, UB v4560 is out!.."

Those three lines made this whole thread worth reading.

[Dark Raven]

Delete is your friend.

[Clarion]

I was like eleven when I fell for the stupid poetry scam thing.  More recently, my mother recieved emails from the "FBI" claiming that she had looked into illegal websites and had to turn over her personal information so that they could perform a background check.  'Course, mom's a lot smarter than anyone else I know.  She emailed the real FBI, and her suspicions that they really didn't much care about what she had been looking up were confirmed.  What would the real FBI care about people looking up vacuum cleaner parts, after all?

Has anyone else gotten spam from porn sites with badly photoshopped naked women?  I swear, I used to get bombed with those, and if I missed so much as one in my deleting crusade, I'd get an eyefull of naked "Asian" women with caucasian and african american legs and breasts photoshopped on them.  Badly.  Do they think I'm stupid?  Or maybe they think I'm blind.  But then, why would they send pictures?  And then they tell you to unsubscribe when you were never subscribed in the first place, and they want your personal information before they agree to stop sending you offensive material.  Personally I just used the "Block Sender" function in my inbox to make them go away.

[shiroryu]

Has anyone else gotten spam from porn sites with badly photoshopped naked women?  I swear, I used to get bombed with those, and if I missed so much as one in my deleting crusade, I'd get an eyefull of naked "Asian" women with caucasian and african american legs and breasts photoshopped on them.  Badly.  Do they think I'm stupid?  Or maybe they think I'm blind.  But then, why would they send pictures?  And then they tell you to unsubscribe when you were never subscribed in the first place, and they want your personal information before they agree to stop sending you offensive material.  Personally I just used the "Block Sender" function in my inbox to make them go away.

Please support Spammers for Racial Equality.

[Azazello]

"Mommy, where is the Joanna Star that greatgranddad says was dedicated to that really really old lady?"
" It's complicated, dear. Go here: http://forums.pocketplane.net/index.php/topic,25066.0.html."
"OK...(browses PPG)...this is pretty boring..Screw this!...HEY, UB v4560 is out!.."

Those three lines made this whole thread worth reading.

I vote it's a warning to avoid the thread at all cost.

[shiroryu]

"Mommy, where is the Joanna Star that greatgranddad says was dedicated to that really really old lady?"
" It's complicated, dear. Go here: http://forums.pocketplane.net/index.php/topic,25066.0.html."
"OK...(browses PPG)...this is pretty boring..Screw this!...HEY, UB v4560 is out!.."

Those three lines made this whole thread worth reading.

I vote it's a warning to avoid the thread at all cost.

Too late. You've already fallen for the scam of a thread that promises entertainment and instead numbs your mind.