It's only Tuesday and I've already been targeted by two different scams this week. The second was the usual car warranty call that we are all so familiar with. But I woke up this morning and found the following e-mail in my in-box:
"From Mrs. Saikor !!!
We are informing you that your email ID has won One Million Euros only in Email Dayzers Promotion on 02- 01- 2009. As for details and validation,
contact Mr.W Peters
Tel: +31- 641 449 705
Fax: +31- 847 111 492
Email: consultancy003@aol.comTicket number: sa/745645667
Lucky numbers: 9999534678
Reference number: 7564/ky/9676
Serial numbers: bn/8564575Yours Sincerely,
Mrs. Estelle Saikor"
Really? Who falls for this sort of thing? Well, I'm not exactly sure. But I do have an elderly family member who was scammed over the telephone a few years ago. These sorts of things happen. This particular e-mail is known as a type of 419 Scam e-mail. According to Wikipedia, the pitch has been the same since the '80s but instead of being pitched over the telephone, scammers are utilizing e-mail. I came across the blog, I Am A Billionaire, which is apparently dedicated to posting these types of scams.
I'm not sure what to think. I guess I've actually become somewhat oblivious to these e-mails and phone calls. This one only caught my attention because my usually reliable spam filter apparently extended it's vacation a day or two longer than I did. I do know one thing, falling victim to a scam like this can wipe away decades of hard work, saving, and frugality.
