Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Laziest. Spammer. Ever

You should really read your junk email box sometimes. You'll often some real gems. Here's one I recived today:

From: Mrs helen cole
Subject: I am sick
I am sick.please contact my lawyer E-Mail (henry_slater_chambers@live.com

I mean, come on, put some effort into it.  I'm too lazy to point out the obvious flaws in the email, like a sender having an info account, and a lawyer operating through a Live account rather than a professional address. Not to mention the fact that if you're sick, you should probably contact a doctor, not a lawyer; and you should probably contact them yourselves, rather than blasting out a request to a random stranger.

I jest, of course. The implication is that she's sick, and um, I dunno, she'll give me money if I contact her lawyer, or something. The thing is, she/he never really discloses the logic behind the email. Surely, if you're going to scam someone, you have to incite either greed or sympathy. The email doesn't really work as an idea, though. If I'm greedy, then the email doesn't explain what's in it for me. If I'm a bleeding heart, then there doesn't seem to be a reason that I'd phone her lawyer.

In the end, the scammer seems like a rank n00b, somewhat dim-witted, and very lazy for not spending much time on drafting the email.

I give this scam an F: for epic fail.

I'm half-tempted to respond to the email to see what happens - but I fear that it will lead to more trouble for me than it's worth.

1 comment:

Adam said...

its the fact that this email nearly gained a response, that would certainly add value to your email address to any scammers as they know the email gets through, and also that someone opens it.

At the very least it would open a doorway to much more scam/spam emails.