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Probable Identity Theft Scam: Who Else Got This?

Posted by Norski • 6/26/08 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: con game, humor, identity theft, online robbery, scam

This is a drive-by thread post. I won't be back for hours, at best.

However, an email I got was so grimly funny that I thought I'd share it with my fellow BlogCatalogers.

Looks like I'm either

Not falling for an identity theft attempt
Avoiding a straightforward online robbery
Maybe turning down a vast inheritance from a German relative I never heard of

That last possibility, I doubt.

I got an email today, that starts "I am Robert Taylor, Director at Kleinwort Benson Private Bank, ... I would respectfully request that you keep the contents of this mail confidential and respect the integrity of the information you come by as a result of this mail."

And so on, and on, and on, and on.

I know: the message is obviously bogus.

He's got a HotMail account:

"Robert Taylor" (address removed by BlogCatalog software - not the worst idea)

There's a good reason for big banker "Robert Taylor" using HotMail (

): His lines of communications at the bank aren't secure, and he's afraid of our messages being read!

And, assuming I thought this was on the level, I should trust a fellow working for a whack outfit like that why?!

Anyway: Who's gotten this message? My guess is that it's been pretty widely broadcast by now.

User Comments

6/26/08

MadameX

Yeah, what is it with the scams coming from free email accounts? Eight bucks for a domain name would do a lot to enhance credibility...

[reply]
1. 6/26/08
  
  Norski
  
  Indeed. It's scary, thinking about what could happen if someone with sense and a little brains tried a scam like this.
2. 6/27/08
  
  Seabuckthorn
  
  That would be a terrible waste of a stolen credit card.
3. 9/26/09
  
  chucklin
  
  Why would you register a domain name that could be tracked to you if you just so you could run scams with "credible" e-mail addresses?
  
  Those guys aren't trying to steal your identity, usually. They're just going for the quick score. You should worry more about the receptionist at your doctor's office. Here are the facts. (Just found this site on Google -- it looks like a good, concise source of info.)
  
  mysafeid.info/low-tech-methods.htm
6/26/08

jackpayne

With my Con Man's Blog, I am in the eye of the hurricane, getting emails like this forwarded to me every day by friends and contacts throughout the U.S. and Canada. Typical scam. Best to just delete and forget.

[reply]
1. 6/26/08
  
  Norski
  
  I know, but this one was so hilariously unbelievable.
2. 6/26/08
  
  Norski
  
  MadameX and jackpayne,
  
  Thanks for responding.
  
  Seriously, I know that there are very good odds that someone, somewhere, is going to give this "Robert Taylor" all the information they're asked for - with regrettable results.
  
  Obviously, this email is going in the dumpster.
  
  But, really, the whole 'rich German relative' scam, from a banker who couldn't trust his own office email, or phone, was too funny not to share.
6/26/08

timethief

@norski
I have not received the email referred to. I do not have hotmail accounts.

@madame X
I do use free yahoo accounts for each of my blogs. When I used an email address via my domain it was mercilessly spammed so I closed it and I will not be opening it again.

[reply]
1. 6/26/08
  
  MadameX
  
  Timethief, I was talking about these scams COMING from free email accounts. Somehow, it would be hard for me to believe that an email coming from yahoo or hotmail was coming from a banker or a law firm or an official in the Nigerian lottery.
2. 6/26/08
  
  Norski
  
  Sorry to hear that.
  
  For the record, I don't see anything wrong with HotMail accounts, Yahoo, or any of the free email services. It's just that some dude pretending to be a banker - and using a free email service - was funny.
3. 6/26/08
  
  timethief
  
  You're quite right. I'm tired and I misunderstood. I do mark all such stuff as spam and delete it. I swear that half of Nigeria and Burkina Faso have tried to convince me that they are royalty and relatives with money have died ... yada yada -> spam :rolling eyes:
4. 6/26/08
  
  Shiley
  
  I'm related to all those people too. Must be a small world.
6/26/08

achuna

I do get many weird emails like yours everyday, telling story of some relatives who died with the money...And asking my help promising me dollars i can't imagine. I like to block this, but don't know.

[reply]
6/26/08

Norski

Gotta go. Duty calls. Thanks, all.

[reply]
6/27/08

Seabuckthorn

I forward emails like that to spambusters, but the 419 scammers who chat me on Yahoo IM I like to deal with in a more personal manner.

They always seem to be looking for a Good Christian Lady who will help them either a) get a Visa to the US so they can get money that is owed them that's sitting in a bank account somewhere (and surprisingly, a Canadian Visa seems to be just as good once they find out I'm Canadian); b) donate a Sum of Money to their sister's orphanage for children whose limbs were blown off by mines (and they are very helpful with step-by-step instructions on navigating the Western Union website); or c) be the person they can bequeath their husband's fortune to because they're dying of cancer and don't trust anyone they know. They always ask if I'm Christian Enough to Keep the chat Secret and Help Them through their Lawyer in London.

I always say, Yes, I AM a Good Christian Lady, and would they please Tell Me Their Plan At Length in Great Detail using Lots of Capital Letters.

I believe I am doing His work, by keeping these people busy and out of the radar of more gullible people.

[reply]
1. 6/29/08
  
  brigid
  
  *yanks chain* Sounds fun.
6/27/08

achuna

How about this email i got today:

Attn: Googler,

GOOGLE ANNIVERSARY GIVE-AWAY
WINNING NOTIFICATION!!!
This E-mail is to inform you that your e-
email have emerged you a winner of
£500,000.00 GBP (Five Hundred Thousand
British Pounds) in our online Give-away 1Oth
year Anniversary draws.
GoogleUK has successfully organized for the
second time a Cash Give-Away marking 2008
10th Anniversary in the UK. Over
£20,000,000.00 (Twenty Million British
pounds) is to be given out for this
Anniversary Draws.

[reply]
1. 6/29/08
  
  brigid
  
  Wow. That's not even close to good grammar. You'd think someone from England would know English a bit better than that.
6/29/08

jackpayne

These email scam artists are like maggots fried in hot grease. They just keep jumping around--from one scam to another.

[reply]
6/29/08

chrisc324

Hehe I once got a email from a bank warning me of my account being accessed by a third party but in the future! I used it for one of my political humor columns...'New Banking Service: Future Identity Blocker'

radioactiveliberty.com/new-banking-service-future-identity-blocker/

[reply]
1. 6/30/08
  
  brigid
  
  hahahaha! Oh that's hilarious.
9/26/09

Onchong

If these bogus messages are true, I'll probably be one of the richest men in the world ha ha ha!!!

[reply]