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NY Holds Spam Scam Contest
evilquaker writes "The state of New York's Consumer Protection Board is running a contest they call 'Spam and Bologna'. Their goal is to help educate the public, so fewer people will fall for Nigerian scams (and others) in the future. The contest is actually to find the most outrageous example of an email scam, and ends in one month. Yahoo! News provides some more information."
It's good to finally see education being used in an effort to stop spam instead of focusing on legal solutions to technical/educational problems.
I cringe when I see new laws being passed to limit what you can do on the internet. If you are using technology to exploit, there should be a technological solution. Once you start making laws, you begin heading down a VERY dark, dangerous path.
hrrm.
How can someone win such a contest? by definition, isn't spam sent out to hundreds of thousands of people... lots of people will have the same "m4k3 y0ur p3n1s th1ck3r" emails ... (along with any truely outragous things they might also get)
...to send out ('fake') scam e-mails ?
I hate to be caught up in a scam spamming contest...
Slashdot: stuff for news, nerds that matter, matter for news, stuff that nerd
I mean, if you fall for one of those scams once, you need to be very ignorant to fall for it a second time.
door salesmen are sort of spam too, and are people being taught to watch out for them too ?
I don't think it'll be worth the effort to teach the lot not to respond to nigerian scams and such.
I'm trying, without much success, to explain to my users that they shouldn't forward or answer on these messages, and it just doesn't help. I even threatened them with corporal punishment, and yet, they're just not impressed it seems.
in other words, I think it's wasted time and money.
r.
This is just total genius...
% 65 %6e%50%57@%6c%6c%61%6b%724%646%62%2e%64%61%2e%52%7 5/%3f%70%44%6b%59%67%69
---
---
--- citi_bank_ wrote:
From citi_bank_ Sat Jan 31 02:19:56 2004
Date: Sat, 31 Jan 2004 05:19:56 -0500
From: citi_bank_
To: Joskyn
Subject: citi_bank Email Veerification
Dear _citibank Mebmers,
This leter was sennt by_the Citi_Bank serevr to veerify your E-mail addres_. You must clomptee this psrecos by clicking on the link below and enntering in the litle winddow your Citbiank Debit_ full card nummber and PiN that you_use on_the Atm Machine. That is done for your pocetrtion -m- becourse some of_our memebrs no lengor have accses to their email addseesrs and we must verify it.
http://www.citibankonline.com:4%4e%50%74%708%4d
To veerify _your_ _email_ adress and access _your_ _citibank account, clic on_the link below_.
Thank you.
---
---
You just can't make stuff up like that.
Oh, wait...
If only darl had used email to contact prospective SCO linux license clients he'd be a shoe-in
theres something about killing billions of people that i don't find funny
I think you must be wrong. I've responded to at least 200 of these, and therefore have in excess of $7030 000 000 000. Sadly, it all seems to be locked away in foreign security companies. I've just made the last round of payments though, and expect to see it delivered any day now.
You'd have a point if we were actually talking about people. We're not.
Here's a contest: how fast can the New York Consumer Protection Board's mail server be taken down? I figure if just 50 of us rewrite a few procmail rules, we're bound to win both contests. There's no limit on the number of entries.
Come on! This is New York! The Consumer Protection Board should be publicising links to 419eater.com. There's even a Scammer Baiting Hints and Tips page. If just a small percentage of the NYC population started trolling these scammers, the Nigerian crap would be over. Is anyone worried about being $rtbl'd by them?
Spam & Bologna? All the news/releases on the ends of all the provided links are dated April 1st? So, how can we trust it?
1. PacoTaco
2. PacoTaco
3. PacoTaco
4. PacoTaco
5. PacoTaco
If the scam email was sent from another network, I notify the owner of that network as well (except, as sometimes is the case, it's a Nigerian one...)
I doubt if this fact is related, but in the last two months, the amount of 419-scams I receive has dropped from more than one per day to about one per week.
"Well, there's egg and bacon; egg, sausage and bacon; egg and spam; bacon and spam; egg, bacon, sausage and spam; spam, bacon, sausage and spam; spam, egg, spam, spam, bacon and spam; spam, spam, spam, egg and spam; spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, baked beans, spam, spam, spam and spam; or Lobster Thermidor aux crevettes with a Mornay sauce garnished with truffle pate', brandy and a fried egg on top of spam."
Someone nominate the letter SCO sent to those Fortune 500 companies!
Hate me!
******************
***************
For a moment, I thought this was authentic. But after a few seconds I found holes in this scheme. The mail was in html (unusual for ebay) and the link is actually blank and it redirect to another page (login-secure-online.tk) that disguise ebay's official page with authentic ebay logo and looks (the page has been taken off after several minutes of the arrival of the mail). The page asks you to enter credit card number, PIN, 3digit security code, both of the last two are absolute no-no in any circumstances anyway.
I would vote one for this email as one of the best scam, but sadly, we know who the winner is only if and when the perpetrators are arrested.
*awaits the STFU EUROTRASH WE SAVED URE SORREY ASSES IN WW2 comment*
Reason: Don't use so many caps. It's like YELLING.
While it's good to see the scammiest spams being publicized and good to see scam equated with spam somewhat generally, the bad thing is that they don't focus on the more common, everday spam that clogs most inboxes and its scam/ID theft/ripoff/illegality.
It's like crime prevention generally -- if all you do is focus on the most outrageous aspects of crime, such as serial killers, you lose focus of the more corrosive, every day crimes like car theft and burglary.
If they would pick the most common/popular spams and then report on the chances of getting ripped off by them, hurt by them, or even arrested for buying something you're not supposed to (X A N A X, FR33 PAY P3R V13W!), it might have more of an impact on it.
I'm afraid that if all they focus on is ridiculous shit like 419s, people will just dismiss the problem as something only fools will fall for.
And your particular strain of madness, is it genetic or cultural? You do realise, don't you, that by your own definition you do not belong to the human race.
In any case, for the sake of your species - whatever species that might be - I'd recommend immediate sterilisation.
Jumping under a train would probably be a good idea as well. If you like I'll come over and give you a hand.
My search a winning entry for this contest is going to cost $800. However, I am guaranteed to be the winner. I have $500 saved up already, so if you send me $300 I will split the top prize with you 50/50. Even though you only provide 37.5% of the cost, you get 50% of the benefit! How could you go wrong!?
*awaits the STFU EUROTRASH WE SAVED URE SORREY ASSES IN WW2 comment*
Bring it on! I'm Swiss, you can't hurt me!
I have here for sale a product that will eliminate dumb OE posts and decipher the incoherent ones. It's part Quattr0ne's Enigma Machine and part voodoo black magic (from Madame Zeroni, no less!)
I call it "Jsemkral's Give-It-The-Finger;" it gives the bad posts the finger just like Jsemkral always flips the bird.
You can order it online at SpammersDelite. It is available for a limited time for the low, low price of only $2099.99!
And if you order within the next half hour, recieve our NEW program, W32.SpyWare.Class, that presents you with the best offers from all of our business partners, 1 million at a time!
How can you lose with that?
Our customer service representatives are standing by their computers in Bangalore as we speak! Order now!
My brother got an order of 700 harddrives, and sent me the email to analyze it cause it sounded somewhat *too* shady. After he negotiated a reduction for the huge order he got a contact adress in Nigeria. well.. First the person claimed to be an employer of a GameSpy(tm) affliate in the US and the order looked realistic, after my brother stated every European shipment would be out of charge (the negotiated reduction) a Mohammed was put on handling the order, someone stating being a contact person but this time we were linked to a completely different company in France. (you know, the footer in those emails.) They found only 3 airline companies that *only* would be *acceptable* to use the shipment (???) to Nigeria (after I tracked down the adress) We happily told them to get there harddrives somewhere else.. Thought it was just us getting these shady offers.. :-\
I think we can keep recursing like this until someone returns 1
That should read: "ammo tips in pig fat".
He's working hard for his money.
Don't you mean ears? (:
my favorites have only come by recently. while not 'nigerian' scams, they're still certainly scams. likely the first creative/entertaining spam I've seen. Ive not actually read them, but their subject lines are roughly as follows, with mixed case, l33t speak, etc etc.:
rocket penis
bullet penis
reactor penis
penis launcher 3g
penis launcher md
penis launcher pro
penis rocket TM
etc. etc.
Quite humorous stuff.
~/ssh slashdot.org ssh: connect to host slashdot.org port 22: too many beers
In the USA here I have a problem with militant zionist murderous hypocrit conservative Christian politicians who think they can bomb the rest of the world into the Second Coming.
It was George W Bush who killed him!
Since I just got this email yesterday, and it intrigued me, I'll post about it. I got an email yesterday (to my hotmail account that I never use) from someone saying they saw an ad on match.com and they were new to my town. They knew my town, and they were able to connect it to an address that I haven't used in years. freaky. The email says to call this obviously beautiful girl at a provided phone number, but the number has 8 digits. ain't gonna work. so you respond to the email and you get an autoresponse saying to sign up to friendlymatch.com to email her. At this point its pretty obvious its a scam, but I'm sure people still sign up and pay.
Check here for someone else's info on this scam. Finally a scammer who is as smart as the people he's trying to scam. I'd like to see this guy caught some day.
Sure Thomas you can trust me, i'll keep it a secret:
Thomas Angulu,
Peace be unto you, as you take sometime out with me toshare this little problem of mine.Though, I have not gotten any previouscorrespondence with you. I ampersonally contacting you for the first time, hoping you will assist me based onthe reality of this transaction.
My name is Thomas Angulu , the eldest son to Douglas Angulu former adviser on SPECIAL DUTIES to the assasinated late ROBERT GUEI, President of Coted'Ivorier in West African region. The recent development in my country is no more news to the outside world. President Robert Guei, after losing his ambition to transform himself from military to civilian President was assasinated, as a result of the coup de tat he plotted in order to get himself back to power. Now, most of hisloyalist and the people that served in his cabinet including some formerMinisters and his Political associate;everybody is now at large, while others, ncluding my father, Douglas Angulu have been placedunder house arrest.
During my fathers tenure as the adviser on special duties, he happen to be in charge of finance as regards the president's political ambition. It was while on these privilege position that he kept in my custodythe sum of [$US18.5M], without the fore knowledge of the President. Now that the president is dead, and my gather placed under house arrest, he has madated me and my youger brother to source for a foreign assistance to assist in the transfer of the said funds, hence , you were contacted. More so, the fragile political system in Africa doesnot encourage us to go on long-term investment project here. This is the reason why I am asking for your assistance to enable me deposit this funds outside the continent for outright investment.
This fund is currently kept with a safe/trust security company in ghana, aneighboring West African country in disguise of precious materials. Ihereby agree to compensate your sincere and candid effort to assist inthis regard with 20% of the fund when finally received by you withour pre- arranged strategies. However, I have sent my younger brother to Europe as regards this transaction, as we can not lay claim tothe funds due to our fathers predicament. Every arrangement has beenconcluded on the safest way to move this fund to Europe withoutthe security firm NOT,necessarily knowing its content. Please contact my brother through this medium.
I want you to understand that this must be kept in utmost confidentiality and secrecy, as my future welfare hugely depends on it. One more thing is rest assured that this is the beginning of ourlong-term business relationship.
I do not intend to contact anyone else until I am convinced that you are not capable to handle this transaction. For confidential reasons, please reply my via me private email address: y25@luxmail.com
Best regards,
Thomas Angulu
I have never let my schooling interfere with my education. - Mark Twain
This appears to be a great move. And it can save people's lives. Just great. Applause.
You have to call the following number: 809-234-4646
From Miss Alice Churchil
.
.
Gota love thse scams... I would love to post the HTML wrapper behind the image but Mimedefrang and filtering removed the html tags
Abidjan Cote D'Ivoire
West Africa
emailto:alicechurchil@702mail.co.za
Hi Sweatheart.
I am Alice the only daughter of Mr& Mrs
Churchil
It is sad to say that he passed away mysteriously in
France during one of his business trips abroad year
25th.Febuary 2002.Though his sudden death was linked
or rather suspected to have been master minded by an
uncle of his, who travelled with him at that time. But
God knows the truth!My mother died when I was just 6
years old,and since then my father took me so special.
Before his death on Febuary 25 2002 he called the
secretary who accompanied him to the hospital and told
him that he has the sum of Sixten million,seven
hundred thousand United State Dollars.(USD$16.700,000)
left in fixed deposit account in one of the leading
banks in Africa.
He further told him that he deposited the money in my
name,and finally issued a written instruction to his
lawyer whom he said is in possession of all the
necessary but legal documents to this fund and the
bank.
I am just 21 years old and an university undergraduate
and really don't know what to do.
Now I need an overseas account where I can transfer
this funds and after the transaction i will come and
live with you and i'm ready to do anything of your
choice. This is because I have suffered a lot of set
backs as a result of incessant political crisis here
in Ivory coast.
The death of my father actually brought sorrow to my
life and i wished to investe under your care please.
I am in a sincere desire of your humble assistance in
this regards.Your suggestions and ideas will be highly
regarded.
Now permit me to ask these few questions:-
1. Can you honestly help me?
2. Can I completely trust you?
What percentage of the total amount in question will
be good for you after the money is in your account
while i finalers my education? Please,Consider this
and get back to me as soon as possible.
sincere regards,
Miss Alice
<ecode>
! official Notice for all users of Citibank
Image is inlined but headers tell the story
Received: from ns-th2-15-82-64-237-11.adsl.proxad.net
</ecode>
The contest is actually to find the most outrageous example of an email scam, and ends in one month.
"Please send your entry to the following e-mail address..."
No one would ever forget Make Penis Fast after reading it. No male that is.
'SBEMAIL!' is better than a goat!!
-Vic
* Dept of Homeland security launches new, "show us your funniest pipe bomb" contest.
* SCO announces $1M contest for "best stolen Unix code snippet".
* Elizabeth Glazier Foundation promotes AIDS awareness campaign encouraging people to tell them their funniest unprotected sex story.
* Church of Latter-Day Saints sells Joseph Smith-emblazoned coffee mugs in its gift shop.
* DEA announces new contest: "What's the stupiest thing you've done while high on crack?"
* Diebold unveils ad campaign around their new contest: "Show us your funniest fake voter registration card."
* Mothers Against Drunk Driving sets up survey on their web site encouraging people to vote for their favorite alcoholic beverage.
That would be great if enough people submitted SCO's "letter" that it won the contest as the best scam!
Please please please...
Posted AC for obvious reasons !!
Yep, you got it right, I actually reply to these morons. The aim is to wind them up as much as possible before I either lose interest or find a more colorful sucker. I got the idea off 419eater.com and it's a great way to pass the time.
So far I have an interesting collection of images of forged documents but for some reason no money has ever arrived.
Hope none of them read Slashdot.
I've been getting some 419 scam email from a network in India.
This network is listed at rfc-ignorant.org so complaining to the offending network directly is pointless.
Apart from deleting/archiving the spam scam (what I do with my program--see sig), what can one do in this situation to send a message that this sort of internet conduct is not acceptable?
The great thing about the Nigerian email scams is that there are no innocent victims: the money being offered is obviously bloodmoney or at least embezzeled tax dollars and the amounts are such that the only people to fall for it are outrageously greedy. And as I understand it, the people running these scams usually are genuinely in Africa, which, as a continent, could certainly use the money.
So these scams are effectively a tax to increase foreign aid. But unlike most taxes, who punish those who are smart and hard working (and born into lucky circumstances, of course), this tax specifically targets people who are greedy and immoral. And we can be sure that the foreign aid isn't "accidentally" going to corrupt government officials, because they're too busy scamming the IMF and their own citizens to bother with email.
In fact, now that I get to thinking about it, I'd support my government's foreign aid service switching from handing out tax dollars to providing scam training to entrepreneurs of the Third World. Wouldn't you?
Nope, that's not going to do anything.
Muslims aren't afraid of pigs, they're just not allowed to eat it, its not halal (the equivalent of kosher). You could touch a pig, but you'd have to wash your hands and make ablution before you pray. Even so, there's no sin on you if you involuntarily come into contact with or eat pork. Not your choice, so not your sin.
Pork isn't going to send you to hell if you didn't do it on purpose. All these stories about burying muslims in pig fat won't do anything, if they're dead, their soul isn't in their body, so it's not going to do anything.
omgOLOLOL
I once got e-mail from the future... It was from someone that wanted money and claimed he was from the future... I would have saved it but hotmail has no storage capacity whatsoever... Although it made no mention of Mr. Fusion or a Flux Capacitor but it did make whoever wrote it sound like they just got out of some quaint little institution with white rubber walls....
If what you are reading sounds funny, or sarcastic, lame, or stupid
it is because it is supposed to be. just laugh
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--robin
...Boycott Disney