# Aren't we done with scam spam? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 20, 2002, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-we-done-with-scam-spam/133113 "2002-10-20T17:21:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gazelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Gazelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gazelle)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2002, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-we-done-with-scam-spam/133113/1 "2002-10-20T17:21:54Z")
I can’t believe it. My kinda cousin-in-law (she had my cousin’s baby and lives with him) just sent me (and thirty other people in her address book) some scam spam. This one says, “Forward this to at least 10 people and you’ll get a $50.00 gift certificate to Applebee’s.” I can’t believe it. I thought we were done with this crap. Anyone else still getting these things? ---
**Author:** ![Gazelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Gazelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gazelle)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2002, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-we-done-with-scam-spam/133113/2 "2002-10-20T17:26:24Z")
Hmmm. I wonder if this should be in da Pit. Mod, please feel free to nudge it over. ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2002, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-we-done-with-scam-spam/133113/3 "2002-10-20T18:01:45Z")
I doubt they’ll ever go away. How long have chain letters been around? There’s no shortage of ignorance. ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2002, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-we-done-with-scam-spam/133113/4 "2002-10-20T18:32:42Z")
My various relatives and some friends send them to me CONSTANTLY. And since I don’t want to alienate these obviously well-meaning people, I say nothing and delete them with a sigh. My favorite was one of those “Forward this to ten people and you’ll get a free Honda!” ones that were going around a couple years ago. Part of it said, “It’s true!!!”–what is it about these things that attracts multiple exclamation points?–“Don’t believe it??? Click this link to [www.honda.com](http://www.honda.com) and see for yourself!!!” So I clicked the link. And right there, on the very front page of [www.honda.com](http://www.honda.com), was a note that huffily said, “We are not giving away free cars for forwarding e-mail.” This thing had been around to countless people (all the odd line breaks and \>\>\>\> marks attested to that), and apparently not ONE of them had bothered to make ONE click to check out the story. The Internet has shown us a lot of things about human nature, one of them being that people will believe anything if they think they can get something for nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2002, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-we-done-with-scam-spam/133113/5 "2002-10-20T19:01:36Z")
Send her this, GfH. > **[Free Company Giveaways](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/thousand-dollar-bill/)** > > Can you get free cash or merchandise for forwarding an e-mail message or clicking share links? Scams have been around at least since the third chapter of Genesis, when the Serpent promises Eve that if she eats an apple off that tree, she’ll be like God. So she does, and what happens? Does Bill Gates send her $245 every time she persuades someone not only to eat an apple, but also to persuade someone else to eat one? Nooooo… ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2002, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-we-done-with-scam-spam/133113/6 "2002-10-20T19:31:19Z")
No, Bill Gates only sends the $245 if she can persuade someone NOT to BUY and Apple. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2002, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-we-done-with-scam-spam/133113/7 "2002-10-20T19:36:40Z")
These scams will continue as long as there’s people who’ll believe they’ll get something (usually money) for doing nothing. These people expend more energy NOT working than they would if they had real jobs. ---
**Author:** ![butter\_pie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aca169/32.png) [@butter\_pie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butter_pie)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-we-done-with-scam-spam/133113/8 "2002-10-21T02:09:15Z")
I think the funny part is that they wanted a certificate for $500 to Applebee’s, of all places, to begin with. Enough to forward idiotic mail to everyone they knew. You probably couldn’t force me to eat $500.00 worth of food from them. ---
**Author:** ![Gazelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Gazelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gazelle)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-we-done-with-scam-spam/133113/9 "2002-10-21T13:29:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Duck Duck Goose \* > **Send her this, GfH. > [http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/nothing/billgate.htm#applebee](http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/nothing/billgate.htm#applebee)** Hey **DDG** , great minds think alike! I replied to all (nicely, I promise) and sent that exact link. Funny. I never got a reply from her, but a couple of the other people wrote back with their own suggestions for sites, i.e.[http://www.urbanlegends.com](http://www.urbanlegends.com) ---
**Author:** ![Gazelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Gazelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gazelle)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-we-done-with-scam-spam/133113/10 "2002-10-21T13:30:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jinwicked \* > \*\*I think the funny part is that they wanted a certificate for $500 to Applebee’s, of all places, to begin with. Enough to forward idiotic mail to everyone they knew. > > You probably couldn’t force me to eat $500.00 worth of food from them. \*\* Girlfriend, I am with you on that one. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arent-we-done-with-scam-spam/133113/11 "2002-10-21T18:07:11Z")
Any spam involving rewards for email forwards will be around as long as there are gullible/ignorant people to belive in them. A coworker recently asked me if I had forwarded the Microsoft spam; I tried to tell her that there is no such thing as email tracking software but she wouldn’t listen. A couple of days after that I received the very spam she had asked about, and from a radio talk-show host no less.