I am rich

[banjo]

I keep getting e-mails from scam artists who need locking up, such as this.

Dear Receipient,
We are happy to inform you that your email
address has just been
selected in our Computer Draws held today in
Bedford. Please note
that amount won is £4,000.000.00 (Four
Million Pounds
Sterling)
For claims, you are to forward your claims to
Mrs. Catherine Nola

Is there anyone I can report these idiots to, thanks.

[Rob]

The chances that they are coming from any legitimate UK based PC is remote. You could try running the headers through something like spam cop and see what that says.

Best option is to ensure you are using decent antispam software.

[tay77]

I'm getting about six or seven a day.

I worked out that last month alone, I'd won about £2.2bn. Hooray for me!


Usually, I just ignore them, unless it looks like it's come from a domain they can trace (yahoo, hotmail). I send it to their abuse department, and they sometimes do stuff about it. Sometimes.


I find it pretty sad hearing about people who have fallen for this - people can lose lots of money through these. It's a wonder why people can't see these are fake sometimes - but then again, money blinds.

[papa smurf]

i got a letter from Spain on Monday , i have apparently won the Spanish lottery ,well not all of it e615,810,00 . not bad for someone who,s never been to spain or infact entered in a lottery draw, and all i have to do is send my personal [including bank] details to madrid on the form they provided, the guys at work say it means i'm officially old cos they only Target oldies, no doubt sums of money will change hands but alas in the wrong direction,i'm gona have the letter framed as a momento of the day i was allmost rich

[Cerberus]

Smells of scam to me.

Try 419 Eater. Turns scam emails into lots of fun.

It's time consuming though, but like I said lots of fun!

Google for 419 Eater, unwilling to post link.

[darthlinux]

why u unwilling?

[Itshim]

Me I send back ( via 3 party E mail ) details that look good but are bogus - one site came back about six times saying this or that didn`t match & would I re send, boy they must have been desperate

[Rob M]

There is a small problem with sending these things back.

Often you will find that the address they appear to have come from isn't actually where they originated from, the poor person who's address they appear to have been coming from will already be being inundated with bounced emails from addresses that don't exist - sending these emails back simply compunds the problem.

You should also realise that most of these emails have an identifier buried in them. This means that, in the unlikely even that you do send one back to the address that it actually originated from, they can use the identifier to work out which email address they originally sent the spam to. This means that, regardless of the fact that you've used a '3rd party' email address to send your reply, they still now know that the original address was a valid one - so you'll just end up with more junk.

The very BEST thing that you can do is to install some good anti-spam software and just delete the whole lot. Don't reply, don't forward, don't open, just delete.

[jennifer]

hehe, that's true guys - these scam letters are real disaster! I got one informing of winning $ 2.500.000 by just opening the letter.... and yes, 419 Eater is a great site, I sent some of my letters there several times:-) god anti-spam is a real godsend in such situations.

[PeteTheMusicGuy]

I think it's time for some 419 baiting

[Stuart C]

One thing to remember when using the tactics outlined by 419 eater. Although the results are often amusing, please remember that the people in those photos aren't always the scammers. Sometimes, they are people that the scammer has actually threatened with violence, or comitted violent acts against.

[Itshim]

Originally Posted by Cerberus

Smells of scam to me.

Try 419 Eater. Turns scam emails into lots of fun.

It's time consuming though, but like I said lots of fun!

Google for 419 Eater, unwilling to post link.

Must say I am bored in the office today looked at this site. Half an hour to spare try reading some of the letters its great fun reading them.
Thanks for the fun

---------- Post added at 16:21 ---------- Previous post was at 16:15 ----------

[quote=Raistlin;34522955]There is a small problem with sending these things back.


"You should also realise that most of these emails have an identifier buried in them. This means that, in the unlikely even that you do send one back to the address that it actually originated from, they can use the identifier to work out which email address they originally sent the spam to. This means that, regardless of the fact that you've used a '3rd party' email address to send your reply, they still now know that the original address was a valid one - so you'll just end up with more junk. "

Sorry I am sure you are right ( what do I know) But they have never come back to me. & the same one has never come to me twice. I had password requests from must UK banks at or time or another, some lottery wins & of cause tonnes of gold trapped,But as to a reply nothing

[Rob M]

Originally Posted by Itshim

Sorry I am sure you are right ( what do I know) But they have never come back to me. & the same one has never come to me twice. I had password requests from must UK banks at or time or another, some lottery wins & of cause tonnes of gold trapped,But as to a reply nothing

They won't come back to you. They'll tick the box next to your email address that says 'this is a real address' and then they'll sell that address to every other idiot spammer that's willing to pay for it. Verified addresses are worth more than random addresses you see?

[CrowmanUK]

You could try using something like mailwasher to bounce the mails back, fingers crossed they'll think the email is dead then.

[Stuart C]

Originally Posted by CrowmanUK

You could try using something like mailwasher to bounce the mails back, fingers crossed they'll think the email is dead then.

Doubtful. Deleting is the most secure option.