Clever scams or daft mugs?

loonytoons

Some months ago i wrote the following :-

I got an E-mail from sky poker informing me that i was their 'one millionth customer' and had won a prize, after 2 hrs 55mins on my mobile to a premium rate number, i was informed that this was fact and i had indeed won a four course meal and overnight stay at a 5 star hotel. After trying unsuccessfully to arrange a flight to Nigeria to collect my prize, i rang the number again to inform them to cancel my meal. They were so helpful and agreed to arrange a free flight for me. Naturally i was elated, and after answering a few simple minor security questions, such as my bank details ( sort code, account and pin number ) mothers maiden name and my first pets name (??) they informed me that they would arrange my free flight. This was three weeks ago and they appear to have accidentally withdrawn £5000 from my account by mistake, and there is still no sign of my flight ticket. Shall i ask sky rich to sort it out? - i wrote this as a joke because nobody falls for these do they?

Now in a well known national newspaper, they ran the following story yesterday :-

A deaf man was conned out of £26000 by crooks who said he had won the 'United Nations Deaf Lottery' Mr KN, aged 50, was befriended on (well known site FB) by a woman claiming to have won £1.2M in the draw. After entering, he 'won' £600,000 - but was told to send £300 to Lagos, Nigeria, to claim his prize. He was then asked for £30000 'government fees'. Mr KN emptied his bank account, took out six loans and re-mortgaged his house before realising it was a con. Hospital technician Mr KN from Plymouth, Devon, is now having to sell his flat. He said : ' it will take me years to pay these debts. I want to warn people not to be taken in by these scams.'

My thinking is, because you are deaf, isn't an excuse for being silly, as a hospital technician, i hope he isn't checking my samples, and how can people still be fooled by these crooks? and lastly, am i being too harsh, we can all be caught out on scams, however is this unbelievably silly?

Root_Kunal

In Response to Clever scams or daft mugs?:

Some months ago i wrote the following :- I got an E-mail from sky poker informing me that i was their 'one millionth customer' and had won a prize, after 2 hrs 55mins on my mobile to a premium rate number, i was informed that this was fact and i had indeed won a four course meal and overnight stay at a 5 star hotel. After trying unsuccessfully to arrange a flight to Nigeria to collect my prize, i rang the number again to inform them to cancel my meal. They were so helpful and agreed to arrange a free flight for me. Naturally i was elated, and after answering a few simple minor security questions, such as my bank details ( sort code, account and pin number ) mothers maiden name and my first pets name (??) they informed me that they would arrange my free flight. This was three weeks ago and they appear to have accidentally withdrawn £5000 from my account by mistake, and there is still no sign of my flight ticket. Shall i ask sky rich to sort it out? - i wrote this as a joke because nobody falls for these do they? Now in a well known national newspaper, they ran the following story yesterday :- A deaf man was conned out of £26000 by crooks who said he had won the 'United Nations Deaf Lottery' Mr KN, aged 50, was befriended on (well known site FB) by a woman claiming to have won £1.2M in the draw. After entering, he 'won' £600,000 - but was told to send £300 to Lagos, Nigeria, to claim his prize. He was then asked for £30000 'government fees'. Mr KN emptied his bank account, took out six loans and re-mortgaged his house before realising it was a con. Hospital technician Mr KN from Plymouth, Devon, is now having to sell his flat. He said : ' it will take me years to pay these debts. I want to warn people not to be taken in by these scams.' My thinking is, because you are deaf, isn't an excuse for being daft, as a hospital technician, i hope he isn't checking my samples, and how can people still be fooled by these crooks? and lastly, am i being too harsh, we can all be caught out on scams, however is this really unbelievably stupid?
Posted by loonytoons

Its sad but true mate, poeple are still doing these cons as people  mostly old are falling for them. Very sad storys. I feel for them.

loonytoons

In Response to Re: Clever scams or daft mugs?:

In Response to Clever scams or daft mugs? : Its sad but true mate, poeple are still doing these cons as people  mostly old are falling for them. Very sad storys. I feel for them.
Posted by kunster

I understand what your saying, and these crooks are scumbags, but this is a 50 year old hospital technician? and Nigeria? i mean thats a red flag straight away innit?

Donut64

 If you send me a cheque for 500pounds towards travel expenses I will go over to Nigeria to investergate it for you! Make your cheque out to CASH (Con Artists Should Hang) and I will get back to you!

MAXALLY

Don't forget that twenty quid you owe me BTW Mr Loony!!!  

And just don't say you have forgotten or you will just look silly wont you......

loonytoons

In Response to Re: Clever scams or daft mugs?:

Don't forget that twenty quid you owe me BTW Mr Loony!!!   And just don't say you have forgotten or you will just look silly wont you......
Posted by MAXALLY

I always pay my debts, and i will pay this one, just PM me your bank details, to include personal information and i will wire transfer the money over

Root_Kunal

In Response to Re: Clever scams or daft mugs?:

 If you send me a cheque for 500pounds towards travel expenses I will go over to Nigeria to investergate it for you! Make your cheque out to CASH (Con Artists Should Hang) and I will get back to you!
Posted by Donut64

What account should I transfer the money , I would need ur details booooooooooooooooom

Root_Kunal

In Response to Re: Clever scams or daft mugs?:

In Response to Re: Clever scams or daft mugs? : I understand what your saying, and these crooks are scumbags, but this is a 50 year old hospital technician? and Nigeria? i mean thats a red flag straight away innit?
Posted by loonytoons

Yeah and to fair the man was abit of a fool, maybe he was drunk?

Donut64

In Response to Re: Clever scams or daft mugs?:

In Response to Re: Clever scams or daft mugs? : What account should I transfer the money , I would need ur details booooooooooooooooom
Posted by kunster

 I will send a PM giving you the PO box number were you can send your cheque too! 

Patching99

I think this happens because we live in a world where people think they deserve something for nothing.  Its basically a case of greedy ***** scamming even more greedy *****.

Apologies to any daft mugs out there.

Root_Kunal

In Response to Re: Clever scams or daft mugs?:

I think this happens because we live in a world where people think they deserve something for nothing.  Its basically a case of greedy ***** scamming even more greedy *****. Apologies to any daft mugs out there.
Posted by Patching99

Non taken.

ACESOVER8s

with the amount of nigerian generals wanting to send me my $500,000,000 then this has to work on a percentage of people or why would they bother e-mailing 4 times a day

Patching99

In Response to Re: Clever scams or daft mugs?:

with the amount of nigerian generals wanting to send me my $500,000,000 then this has to work on a percentage of people or why would they bother e-mailing 4 times a day
Posted by ACESOVER8s

True, how about we all reply with incorrect bank details... that might work

loonytoons

In Response to Re: Clever scams or daft mugs?:

In Response to Re: Clever scams or daft mugs? : True, how about we all reply with incorrect bank details... that might work
Posted by Patching99

noooo, dont do that! it will be just my luck that you post my real bank details lool

bobcat52

I used to get a lot of those in the old days when I was with ntl world. I must have gotten at least 6 a day, every day. one of the best ones was from 'Nigerian Government Minister' who had located a defunct bank account with 20 million in it where the owner had perished in a plane crash (in fact the number of plane crashes across there I'm surprised the African continent isn't littered with plane wrecks!). Anyway, all we had to do was transfer it into my bank account and split it 50/50.

I e-mailed him back informing him I was a policeman and that I had passed his details to the Nigerian Security Services...funnily enough I never heard from him again.

As for these foreign (used to be Dutch based) lottery scams, whenever they asked me to forward the administrative costs needed to release it I always told them to take it out of my winnings and send me the rest as a cheque.

Funny that....I'm still waiting!

spornybol

In Response to Re: Clever scams or daft mugs?:

In Response to Re: Clever scams or daft mugs? : I always pay my debts, and i will pay this one, just PM me your bank details, to include personal information and i will wire transfer the money over
Posted by loonytoons

let me guess post code nigeria

Mr_Miyagi

Yeah it is amazing people like this are out there, with the abillity to get £30k.

aussie09

I had a far more painful loss last month... could you believe my luck that Reader's Digest went bust just a week after they informed me that I had won £250,000.

Lose some, lose some.

Regards
Rob
aka aussie09

FlutNush

Let's not be too hasty in judging the poor, deluded souls that fall for this heinous crime. They are often religious, trusting, well-meaning citizens. Or they just suffer from rampant optimism – or learning difficulties. As the scams get more sophisticated, it could be any one of us falling for it.

The sad truth is that these ludicrous schemes still work – especially in a recession – when everyone is trying to make an easy buck. 

One of my old clients was the CDI of the fraud squad at Scotland Yard (which isn't actually in Scotland at all, which just goes to show how careful you have to be with your trust these days). Some of the stories he told, would make the back of your knees go warm.

I remember a sorry tale of an American gentleman who got duped by a 419 scam, and travelled the World, donating bribes and nefarious 'official fees' for over a year. He borrowed from friends and family, and frittered away well over $3million in his pursuit of $25million. Strange but true. The resultant shame led him to suicide. Well let's face it, I feel the same after losing a £3 pot, so heaven know how low he felt.

Wow, I got quite heavy there. Where was I?

Oh yes, if anyone knocks on your door next week, claiming to be doing a survey on bums, and asks to see your bum... please, I implore you; do not under any circumstances show them your bum. They are not official and there is no such survey. They just want to see your bum. 

You'll just have to trust me on this.

As the old saying goes: Be alert. Britain needs lerts.

MP33

FELL FOR ONE WHEN I WAS ABOUT 12  -  (20 YEARS AGAO)

 I WAS INTO A MAGAZINE OFFERING NEW MONEY MAKING IDEAS AND FREE COMPS - WON A TOP OF THE RANGE TELE -
 
SENT OFF MY £12 PAPERROUND  MONEY TO COVER "HANDLING FEE" AND  NEVER TO HEAR AGAIN

SCUMBAGS - WOULD LIKE TO MEET UP WITH THEM

spornybol

In Response to Re: Clever scams or daft mugs?:

Let's not be too hasty in judging the poor, deluded souls that fall for this heinous crime. They are often religious, trusting, well-meaning citizens. Or they just suffer from rampant optimism – or learning difficulties. As the scams get more sophisticated, it could be any one of us falling for it. The sad truth is that these ludicrous schemes still work – especially in a recession – when everyone is trying to make an easy buck.  One of my old clients was the CDI of the fraud squad at Scotland Yard (which isn't actually in Scotland at all, which just goes to show how careful you have to be with your trust these days). Some of the stories he told, would make the back of your knees go warm. I remember a sorry tale of an American gentleman who got duped by a 419 scam, and travelled the World, donating bribes and nefarious  'official fees' for over a year. He borrowed from friends and family, and frittered away well over $3million in his pursuit of $25million. Strange but true. The resultant shame led him to suicide. Well let's face it, I feel the same after losing a £3 pot, so heaven know how low he felt. Wow, I got quite heavy there. Where was I? Oh yes, if anyone knocks on your door next week, claiming to be doing a survey on bums, and requesting to see your bum... please, I implore you; do not under any circumstances show them your bum. They are not official and there is no such survey. They just want to see your bum.  You'll just have to trust me on this. As the old saying goes: Be alert. Britain needs lerts.
Posted by FlutNush

IF anyone comes to my door asking too look at my bum they will have too get past my hair, apparently i have more hair on my bum than my head, i`d look myself but at my age, well ??