Internet Scams

[tattedupboy]

Just wondering how many of you have ever been told via email that you were the "winner" of an Internet lottery. I receive several of these notifications daily. One thing I notice that all these scams have in common is that they never address you by name (because they don't know your name; that right there should raise a red flag!) and that they are almost always sent from a foreign country.

Another scam I have seen regularly is one in which a foreigner (usually from Nigeria) pleads for help in getting a large sum of money transferred from a foreign source to the United States with the promise of sharing a portion of the funds upon successful completion of the transaction.

I know that all of these are scams and have indeed read stories about people being bilked out of hundreds, and in some cases, thousands, of dollars. With the help of a website called 419eater.com, a site that helps people turn the tables on these scamsters, I decided to respond to a couple of these once (with no intention of ever actually sending out any money) and was successful in sending out a copy of a fake Western Union form; when the guy was not able to pick up the money, he was livid, but, due to the fact that all the information I gave him about myself was completely false (I told him that my bank was Plunder & Flee, Inc), he couldn't do a darn thing!

Do any of you have any stories or experiences dealing with these scam artists?

[lildobe]

I've gotten tired of even seeing the messages in my e-mail box. I don't even look at them anymore. They just get deleted.

[ErnieH]

I get at least one of those a week and it is deleted on the spot. I have heard way too many stories about people that do believe the stuff. You would think some people would have better things to do with their time.

[VegasGeorge]

It's as if the Internet is trying to prove P.T. Barnum's axiom. In fact, it might actually be doing that. I live in Siena, which is one of the Summerlin Villages here in Las Vegas. And yes, we do have a Village Idiot. A few weeks back, this guy came running in all excited, exclaiming that he had been on the computer, and received a pop up message informing him that he had just "won" a free vacation to the Bahamas! :lol: He actually believed it! :lol: :lol: :lol: