Regarding the 1" square of land, there was actually an even better non-scam offer made by Manfred Mann’s Earth Band in the album The Good Earth back in 1975. From Wikipedia:
Early owners of each copy of The Good Earth were entitled to rights over 1 square foot of the earth situated at Llanerchyrfa in the County of Brecon, in Wales. The inner sleeve included a coupon that had to be sent for registration. This was part of the promotion activities linked to the album that had ecological inspirations. There was no swindle and thousands of fans were registered. Registration could be done on or before 31 December 1975.
I bought the album when it came out but I don’t think I sent in the coupon. However, I’ve seen the offer mentioned in various places and it seems that deeds were indeed issued to folks who registered.
One un-motivated scammer just now. Needs to read, “How to Succeed in Criminal Scams,” or something.
Just got a call on the house land-line while I was in the bathroom, so my son answered, and was told that it was Readers Digest calling, and we had won second prize in a contest. They would need certain information in order to deliver it.
“Hey, I’m just a kid, I don’t know anything about all that,” answered my son. “Oh! How old are you,” asked the person on the phone. (BTW, he said the caller spoke in very non-accented English. “Sounded like the whitest white-guy in America,” I think were his words.)
Jr. Nyvaak very sensibly said, “I don’t feel comfortable telling you that,” and got “FUCK YOU ! You little piece of shit,” in reply.
Sigh ! Does nobody take pride in their work anymore? How does this guy expect to rise to the top in the world of scamming if he can’t control himself any better ?
Okay, here’s a new one I hadn’t heard of before. A friend of mine asked for votes for his photo in a contest sponsored by “America’s Favorite Photo” that purports to be about promoting the art of photography, with the contest winner getting a $10k donation to a selected charity.
Okay, asking for votes (every day through several rounds) seemed a little pushy, but the reality of our social-media-infested world is that you have to self-promote if you want your YouTube channel/podcast/whatever to succeed. So, I rolled my eyes a little but signed up on the website to vote.
Big mistake. I am sick of getting unwanted emails urging me to vote everyday - and to buy votes (which my friend said not to do, and I certainly haven’t).
Anyway, I got fed up enough to Google “is America’s Favorite Photo” a scam?
I feel bad for my friend. It’s too late for him to back off - the damage is done as he has now repeatedly urged everyone in his orbit to vote, vote, vote. I’m not sure if he realizes he got lured in to a scammy enterprise or not, but I sense that it is gradually dawning on him.
Posting here because it kind of fits and I want to vent:
My friend’s daughter is getting married on Sunday and they just found out that they don’t have a photographer because they got scammed. They are in their late 20s. I thought young people were wise to that shit.
The father of the bride and I have been friends since we were young children in the early 70s. He and his wife gave them a bunch of money for the wedding and they get to keep whatever is leftover. Bride had a PhD in something liberal arts and groom has a Master’s in Systems Engineering. They are not hicks.
They found their “photographer” online a year ago to lock someone in for the Memorial Day weekend wedding. They paid 100% upfront . It turns out that all of the correspondence has been from an AI bot. They didn’t even use a credit card who would probably have warned them or at least would have maybe protected the purchase.
Good luck trying to find a wedding photographer in a major city for Memorial Day Sunday with four days notice let alone a good one.
I’m getting emails in my Outlook inbox from “Storage Administration” with a header suggesting my last payment was declined. I imagine that if I opened one I’d find that the storage unit in question, along with its contents, would be auctioned in a few days if I didn’t click the link and bring the account up to date (using gift cards or crypto, no doubt).
I don’t open them because while I do have a storage unit, it’s not associated with my Outlook email.
It might not be that impossible; some photographer who was holding it for themselves for a holiday weekend trip but then had plans change could be available; especially if the couple can play to the photographer’s emotions
Do you do pets? We won a free shoot of our former cat. The woman only does pet photography. She had the patience of a saint, lemme tell you. That cat wanted to be anywhere else and did her best to get there.
. It turns out that all of the correspondence has been from an AI bot. They didn’t even use a credit card who would probably have warned them or at least would have maybe protected the purchase.