This Has Got To Be The Weirdest E-Mail Scam Ever
By pyewacket
@pyewacket (43903)
United States
July 30, 2009 10:53pm CST
Not a few minutes ago, I got an email from a person whose name is identical to a friend of mine that I met at Ciao and she's a MyLotter as well (not here often though)
Here's the email to me...I've omitted the last name of the person since the real name of my friend is identical:
[i]Hello,
How's work on your end? This had to come in a hurry and it has left me in a devastating state.I am in some terrible situation and I'm really going to need your urgent help. Yesterday, unannounced, I came down to United Kingdom for some important things which need urgent attention.. Well i actually got robbed in the Hotel I booked in and they made away with my wallet (which included my cash, diaries and complementary cards). My cell phones were not brought along since I did not get to roam them before coming over. The phone cables have been burnt including internet connection cables and the Hotel's database has been compromised as well. So all I can do now is pay cash and get out of here quickly. I do not want to make a scene of this which is why I did not call the office or my house, this is embarrassing enough. Please I want you to lend me a sum of $2,650 just to clear my Hotel bills and get the next plane home. The Consulate only cleared me of my traveling documents and ticketing since I came in as a tourist and not on official purpose. Please be rest assured that I'd have your money reimbursed to you immediately I get home. Please you can have it sent via Western union money transfer to my name and on this address right here.
Name - BETTY (name omitted for privacy)
Address - 36 New Dover Road, Canterbury,
Kent, CT1 3DU, England.
Thank you so much, please as soon as you are done sending me the money, I will like you to get back to me with the transfer details giving to you by the Western union agent e.g: Full Senders Name and Address, Total Amount Sent, Money Transfer Control Number (MTCN). Also get back to me with the Scan receipt so that it can be easier for me to pick the money with my passport.
I am looking forward to hear from you.
Thank you so much.
Betty (name omitted for privacy of the real person I know)
[/i]
Okay--number one...this email is so bizarre to begin with...like sure I'm going to send $2,650---the REAL Betty knows I wouldn't have that kind of money..second...the idea of the money to be sent as a Western Union money transfer...this should alert anyone when one hears Western Union
What really confused me the most, is that the email address from this fake Betty IS ALMOST IDENTICAL TO THE REAL ONE I KNOW. I just forwarded this email to my friend to see what kind of scam is going on, and if by any chance maybe her other friends are somehow being hit with this.
It's also making me wonder...are you getting rather bizarre emails from people who at first glance you thought were from your legit friends but then realized they weren't and that the email addys from the fake is almost identical to your friends as well.
Just giving the heads up should you be hit by this newest scam
11 people like this
41 responses
@scarlet_woman (23463)
• United States
31 Jul 09
i was just about to write you about this-i got one too.
i wonder if she knows about it? i think she'd be horrified..
my first thought was "now why would she be in the UK right now?"
2 people like this
@scarlet_woman (23463)
• United States
31 Jul 09
yup-i don't know whether to try to email her or not because it might be her mail itself that's hacked.
2 people like this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
31 Jul 09
OMG--You got one too???? Wonder if all her friends are getting them and how the hell did this scammer get her friends email addys anyway?
1 person likes this
@gabs8513 (48686)
• United Kingdom
31 Jul 09
Hi there Pye
Well I would say it certainly is a scam and for it to come from the UK I just can't believe it
I am not to sure either that Post code is right for Kent but even so
Also the Address does not look a Hotel Address either, as it would say Hotel ....... and then the Address
I am so glad that you noticed the wrong of this Email
I just can not believe why People do this I hope that all her other Friends acted like you if they got this Mail to
@gabs8513 (48686)
• United Kingdom
31 Jul 09
Oh ok I was not to sure I know Kent is not far away from me as I have Friend living there so I travel there now and again but I did not think it would come under C as I am C and an hour away but I was not sure
so it must be someone from the UK then or someone who is visiting the UK but the Amount is a lot anyway for a Hotel Stay I mean how long are they suppose to have stayed there a Month ?????? That amount is about £1900 which is a lot lol
Glad you realized amd glad you did not have the money lol
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
31 Jul 09
LOL--if I did have that kind of money I'd be taking a cruise to England and heck visit you...heehee
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
31 Jul 09
I actually did some sleuthing with that address...there actually IS a hotel with that address
http://www.smoothhound.co.uk/cgi-bin/b.pl?b=120544&w=sl
Best Western Abbots Barton Hotel, Canterbury
36 New Dover Rd, Canterbury, CT1 3DU
But you're right...a legit request would be in care of the hotel and the person's name
1 person likes this
@moondancer (7431)
• United States
31 Jul 09
Well, the nerve of some people and just what scams they can come up with ROTFL. First off it is well known that in these things they always, always have errors in the language. If you read carefully it does. Another thing is a "friend" would not have to keep on and on about how much they needed and that they would need the return info to get the money back to you.
I would suggest that you send a copy of this to the news media so they can warm people not to fall for this new scam! They do this for people and this sounds just so urgent that someone may not think straight and go into "help mode" for a friend.
Not thinking any further past that until they have sent the money.
Thanks for showing this.
2 people like this
@daeckardt (6237)
• United States
31 Jul 09
That is really strange. How do these people get the information? Most of the time, I don't even open emails that are like that. I did once and I almost fell for it until they asked me to send money. At that point I deleted it and haven't opened emails where the subject was please help. No one I know would send me something like that. I will keep an eye out for that kind of thing. Thanks for sharing this.
2 people like this
@blue65packer (11826)
• United States
31 Jul 09
I never have seen a scam e-mail like this before! I have gotten e-mails that are scams and I totaly ignore then! Some of you have probaly seen them. The e-mail from Nigeria saying they money for a so called orphanage or that you have inherited some money and you have to send them money to get the money! I also get e-mails saying I either won an Australian lotterty or I won a BMW in Great Britian!I know they are scams! I keep a look out for this on and others!
2 people like this
@GardenGerty (160952)
• United States
31 Jul 09
Not by that one. I did notice at one time that personal names would get picked up somehow from my e mail and show up as these kinds of pleas. when the originator knew nothing about it.
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
31 Jul 09
I emailed my friend to let her know about this scam--just wondering if her other friends are being hit with this
@BarBaraPrz (47667)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
31 Jul 09
I got an email yesterday (and again today) from a friend's email addy that when I opened it gave me a 404 not found notice, then redirected itself to some foreign gaming site (as near as I could make out). When I asked him about it, he said he hadn't sent me anything but he's noticed some irregularities with his email account. He has 4 kids, so he said he was going to have to look into it. This morning I got the same email, entitled Fotos 27/06.
1 person likes this
@celticeagle (168269)
• Boise, Idaho
5 Aug 09
Yes I have been getting alot of rather bizarre emails scams. They are really becoming more elaborate and it is scarey. Can they really find out that much about people to know good friends name and all? Weird. Thanks for the heads up.
@tamarafireheart (15384)
•
31 Jul 09
Hi pye,
That is a digusting scam if ever I've heard one, how could they do that sort of thing, I would not part with any money, are they for real? to think people would just fork out money like that? I will watch for e-mails like that, thanks for the warning.
Bright Blessings.
Tamara
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
31 Jul 09
It really is a nasty scam...I emailed my friend to let her know her name and almost identical email address is being used
@Kool121 (292)
• India
31 Jul 09
Hi Pyewacket, this is a standard scam e mail. I get these emails often in my inbox. I am sick of seeing these type of scam mails everyday. I have won millions of dollars and pounds in online lottery as per those e mails even when i did not ever take part in any lottery.
Once i got an email stating that my grandfather had deposited millions of dollars 70 years back to United Nations and now they want to send me my inherited money. Lol.
I get various other types of scam mails often.
Just delete those mails you get.
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
31 Jul 09
Yes I realize this is an email scam...but if you read my discussion carefully, the name of the person is IDENTICAL to the name of a friend of mine...and the email address this scam was sent from is nearly identical to my friend..suggesting somehow her email has been hacked...some of my other friends who are friends of my friend got the same email scam
@paula27661 (15811)
• Australia
31 Jul 09
OMG! That is so personal and sort of intrusive in a way. The scammer has got into your friends’ names somehow...How would they do that?
The scam is obvious though because, for a start if my friend was in a spot of bother like that she would phone me for help not email me.
It is a concern isn’t it? I receive tons of emails advising me of the huge sum of money coming my way but this is one sure is different, very disturbing really.
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
31 Jul 09
I got a reply from the real Betty and nope, she's mortified as she didn't send that email...she even complained she had a hard time getting into her email account today and had to reset her password
1 person likes this
@sirkana15 (106)
• Philippines
31 Jul 09
anyone sending me an email requesting for money, i consider it as scam..and you're right, money tranferred via wire tranfers are the basic strategies of scammers. ive received a couple of those emails and most of them are from NIgeria...
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
31 Jul 09
Yes any email that is asking for money is a scam...but what is rather alarming is that my friends name is identical to the scammer and the email address is almost the same as my real friend.
@jellymonty (2352)
•
1 Aug 09
yeah I got a couple of emails like that as well. I just deactivated my account and opened a new one. I seriously don't understand why someone would send an email to ask for money from someone they don't know. Thats just stupid.. someone here also in my lot posted a discussion asking for money.. how ridiculous and stupid.. These have got to be the dumbest scamers in the world!
1 person likes this
@JeeJaySee (7)
•
31 Jul 09
There is an easy way to detect that this is a scam, think about it;
"the hotel's database has been compromised"
For one, im pretty sure that a hotel would have a backup system.
And two, if the hotel database was broken, surely they would have no record of how long she stayed at the hotel and therefore calculating her fee would be impossible.
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
31 Jul 09
No it's not a case of the hotel's database being compromised but more my friend's email address has been hacked--some more of my friends who are also friends of my friend got the same email...
@kprofgames (3091)
• United States
31 Jul 09
Oh Pye, I hope you all report this joker and they get nailed. I can't believe more of your friends got this too.
@MsTickle (25180)
• Australia
2 Aug 09
A friend of mine had her yahoo email address hacked into and stolen. All the people on her friends list received and email from "Susan" saying she had lost her wallet including return plane ticket, credit cards etc. Hubby was ill in hospital, daughter was with him she didn't want to alarm them and needed $250 for her plane ticket back home...could we send it to Susan S....., at an address in a different state to the one she lived in.
Meanwhile, the real Susan also sent an email to everyone on her list telling them this was a scam.
@carpenter5 (6782)
• United States
4 Aug 09
Well, here is the first thing that jumped out at me. If the hotels internet connection cables were compromised...how did she send an e-mail? You need to transfer this immediately to your state's attorney general. The person obviously knows enough about you to be able to find a name that you would recognize.
Second, if they took her wallet,would they not have also taken her passport?
Third, almost every hotel that I know requires you to pay for the room in advance of moving in. They don't collect payment as you check out.
@Kashmeresmycat (6369)
• United States
1 Aug 09
OMG Pye! That's horrible! I just thought I'd stop in to see what's happening here, and you were the first discussion that popped up. I'm just plain sitting here shaking my head in disbelief. One good thing about the whole mess is that this scammer has no idea you don't have any money! And actually, it's a stupid letter too, sounds fake from the beginning, so who in their right mind would believe it? I've never in my life (knock on wood) received such a letter and hope I never experience this.
So now what do you do?
@tjades (3591)
• Jamaica
1 Aug 09
I came to this discussion via the link you provided in part two.
I laughed as I read through the email your friend supposedly sent you. I came across a similar letter somewhere here on mylot or just somewhere else on the net. The first one i came across was identified as a scam out of Nigeria (if I remember correctly).
Seems this scammer just modified this email to make it a bit more detailed or I should say specific to make it seem as if it was really coming from your friend.
The first gave me a laugh and so did this. Absolutely no friend of mine could be so crazy to send me an email like that. If you are a friend that matters that much to me forme to send you money then youhave my phone number or IM contact.
The email might come across as ligit but for the most part it reeks of scam all over.
@itsmychoice (382)
• United States
1 Aug 09
Danger!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Your Computer has been comprimised and someone has all your private information and contact lists. Even your passwords are in jepordy, save the files you want to keep and clean out your hard drive completely by reformating. And then get avast anti virus to stop this kind of attack.
