Learning the hard way
- By Jay HS
- Published 04/2/2007
It is surprising to hear people asking about what to do about similar letters they received, whether should they give it a try, or asking (again) if the offer is a scam.
For many, it is obvious that these offers are scams. Perhaps it is because one or more of the following comes to mind:
For many, it is obvious that these offers are scams. Perhaps it is because one or more of the following comes to mind:
- Source of the mail (free or fake email address)
- The content (poor english, ridiculous stories and offers)
- The redirections (one mail to another, and maybe another)
- The credibility of the sender (who the hell are these guys? someone in the top 500 of Forbes?)
- What do they want from you ultimately (Advanced only)
- Identity theft (using your personal information to gain unauthorized access, pretending to be you maybe for newscams?)
- Advanced fees (lottery and inheritance 419 scams)
- Pay and Pay till ya dry (e.g. love scam)
- Paying and getting returns not as promised (e.g. black money scam, hire car scam, business scam)
- Paying for bogus services (e.g. domain name scam, job scam, modelling scam)
- Paying the wrong party, whom you thought is the right party (e.g. phishing, fake waiter scams, fake cashier scams, etc)
- And more...
- Some people learn and never make mistakes.
- Some people prefers to give it a try and learn the hard way.
- Some people never learn.
