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Karen
07-26-2011, 03:20 PM
I was just thing the other day how I've never even heard of so many different drug names, until I got spam offering them to me for cheap! I had never even heard of Cialis or Levitra until I got spam for them, and there are others, too.

I've become more familiar with the names of cities in African countries, as so many spammers claim they are from them, or their beloved spouse died in such-and-suc a city ... and if the city names are interesting enough I sometimes look them up!

And I never had any idea that so many people must be interested in a Russian or Asian bride, or "lady friend," or dating married people of either gender, but somebody's gotta be responding to these, or they wouldn't send them out! Must be a lot of people who snore, who want to quit smoking, and interested in cures for baldness, too!

And I never knew there were so many people in the world dying of esophageal cancer, pancreatis or various other cancers, but still have enough energy to email me, and entrust me with their fortunes!

And I never knew how truly gullible people were before the advent of spam, because somebody's falling for them!

Freedom
07-26-2011, 03:41 PM
:d

pomtzu
07-26-2011, 03:59 PM
Hey Karen - it sounds like you're getting all the same ones I get. I'm real buddies with Robert S. Mueller, FBI Director too. I usually get at least one mail per day from him, and he always assures me that the Nigerians are legit and I can follow their instructions and get my millions without a problem. He's also threatened me too, in some other mails, saying I will be arrested and imprisoned for money laundering if I don't provide the info that the Nigerians need.
So if I suddenly drop off of PT for no obvious reason, you'll know that the FBI finally caught up with me. :rolleyes::p

lvpets2002
07-26-2011, 04:32 PM
:p LOL that is all so real for sure.. Welcome to the world of Spam = Junk Mail..

Grace
07-26-2011, 04:59 PM
When I read the title of this thread I didn't know if you meant

this - http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTNLGOgZuvgBbewGulOryiWQC6U3LjkV j0LRsYoksG51qJXqwsFpA

or this - http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTJJFasLnKZBPbs8Ppr22RIAI4e-wRAm9XdsGAvGtX0hZ1Zamtd

Asiel
07-26-2011, 06:37 PM
We got a special report on the news tonight of a phone scam where someone pretends to notice your computer is slowed down and they are trying to fix it. They are pretending to be a Microsoft tech ...one man got the call and was giving out info on the phone when he realized the questions were not pertinent to any problem he had so he hung up. I had noticed a call kept coming through at the same time each day while I was on the computer but when I checked the number it was way off base so I didn't bother picking it up. Pretty glad I didn't now, and I also never open mail that I don't recognize .

wombat2u2004
07-26-2011, 07:43 PM
We got a special report on the news tonight of a phone scam where someone pretends to notice your computer is slowed down and they are trying to fix it. They are pretending to be a Microsoft tech ...one man got the call and was giving out info on the phone when he realized the questions were not pertinent to any problem he had so he hung up. I had noticed a call kept coming through at the same time each day while I was on the computer but when I checked the number it was way off base so I didn't bother picking it up. Pretty glad I didn't now, and I also never open mail that I don't recognize .

That happens here, the calls are from India.

wombat2u2004
07-26-2011, 08:12 PM
I responded to one spammer who was selling a p**** enlarger.
For $500 I got a magnifying glass. :p

kitten645
07-26-2011, 11:02 PM
They are getting more blatant too. My friend's elderly father got a phone call that his grandaughter was in a Mexican jail on a DUI. He was asked for a credit card to bail her out because he really didn't want that on her record. For some elderly with mental problems, I'm sure this sickos get plenty. They even gave him a telephone number to call them back. Thankfully the terrified man called his daughter first. There's a special circle in hell for those preying on the elderly, children and animals. :mad:

cassiesmom
07-26-2011, 11:29 PM
We had a virus at work that looked so legit, it was asking people to click here to run a Microsoft security scan -- we have I think Symantech or McAfee security at work so I knew not to run it, but a lot of others didn't. We had big problems on the system before a mass IS alert went out saying "Do Not Click This Under Any Circumstances".

smokey the elder
07-27-2011, 10:52 AM
I got attacked with one of those viruses awhile back; the pop-up one that says "you have 23 viruses, 47 trojans and 10 worms". Yeah, right; off to IT and a good dose of Malwarebytes.:D

ETA: Also beware of links coming from people you know that don't have a subject or any text in the body of the email. These can be from botnets that hijack your email address.

Twisterdog
07-27-2011, 12:47 PM
I responded to one spammer who was selling a p**** enlarger.
For $500 I got a magnifying glass. :p

LOL! I get those emails too ... too bad I'm a girl! :p

smokey the elder
07-27-2011, 02:49 PM
You can tell these things are scattershot; I get lots of emails for male...ahem...enhancement?:p

ToBeEvergreen
07-27-2011, 02:59 PM
I get those "sexy singles" sort of e-mails in my spam every so often o__o.

Karen
07-27-2011, 04:15 PM
You can tell these things are scattershot; I get lots of emails for male...ahem...enhancement?:p

I do to, and my email address starts with my given name - "Karen" is pretty darned obviously female.

I once summed it up for someone and said, "I get spam for enlarging body parts I don't have, to cure my blading when I've got a headful of hair, ones to shrink certain body parts, cure others and ads for wives I do not want!"

wombat2u2004
07-27-2011, 09:07 PM
Angry, simple-minded, balding, partially blind ex-circus flipper boy with a passion for covering lovers in sour cream and gravy seeks exotic, heavily tattooed piercing fanatic, preferably hairy and stinky, either sex, for whippings, bizarre sex and fashion consulting. No freaks.

Grace
07-27-2011, 09:23 PM
Angry, simple-minded, balding, partially blind ex-circus flipper boy with a passion for covering lovers in sour cream and gravy seeks exotic, heavily tattooed piercing fanatic, preferably hairy and stinky, either sex, for whippings, bizarre sex and fashion consulting. No freaks.

Did you get any responses to that one :D

wombat2u2004
07-27-2011, 09:47 PM
Did you get any responses to that one :D

Not yet. I only posted it here half an hour ago.
I'll let it run for a couple of days so that all PTer's can read it.
I'm expecting my PM box to be flooded with replies. :D:D

sana
07-27-2011, 10:48 PM
I keep getting emails from matchmakers etc. saying there are singles in my neighborhood and guess what..I live in my family neighborhood (we know nearly EVERYBODY) and they don't do the internet matchmaking :p I get millions of URGET emails from Ouagadougou,Burkina Faso. Princess blah blah only trusts me and needs my help to deliver $$$ (and loads of it) I learn from these emails that someone out there, in the world...needs a hobby :rolleyes: :p

wombat2u2004
07-28-2011, 02:41 AM
I learn from these emails that someone out there, in the world...needs a hobby :rolleyes: :p

They already have a hobby. Ripping cash off the gullible.
And they do get the suckers who fall for their tricks, that's why they keep doing it. ;)

wombat2u2004
07-28-2011, 03:41 AM
Have a look at this one. I received it just now from AVG.

http://resources.avg.com.au/security_risks/e-tax-2011-refund-from-the-australian-tax-office/?utm_source=Tests&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=AVGTaxTimeNotice2+-+15193

sana
07-28-2011, 09:32 AM
They already have a hobby. Ripping cash off the gullible.
And they do get the suckers who fall for their tricks, that's why they keep doing it. ;)

Oh GOD! Who could fall for these spams?! :eek:

Randi
07-28-2011, 09:58 AM
They get smarter all the time and I feel sorry for older and sick people who fall for it. At least, most of the people who send these mails can't spell.

wombat2u2004
07-28-2011, 08:12 PM
Oh GOD! Who could fall for these spams?! :eek:

Two kinds of people. Those who are greedy, and those who are gullible.

kokopup
07-28-2011, 08:39 PM
The one that blew my mind the other night. I was trying to find something at a particular company site when a window popped up asking if (SHE) Laura could help with a chat session. I proceeded to give a detailed description of my problem and the chat person gave me an answer that was way off base. I repeated my problem and stressed certain points that were important. I got the same response as before. I repeated , same response. I got ugly which is out of character for me and I said you have got to be the dumbest person I have ever delt with. The response "My name is laura I am a virtual person."

So now when you get a chat session, you get to chat with a stupid computer.
I had better luck with chats to India.

Didn't mean to hijack thread...Its just that I was gullible enough to present my tech problem to a computer that had nothing but canned responses, But then that is all you ever got from India, Canned responses.

These scam/spammers have canned formula that seems to work some of the time or they wouldn't keep doing it. Like Randi said, it is a good thing they never learned to spell, so they are easy to spot.