Got this in my spam box the other day
How do we disect this…
First of all, do you live in Missouri or Maryland?
Second, does anyone in the US put their apartment specifications in with their address? Plus, a 4 bath townhouse?
Third, the IMF has a committee giving money to individuals? I thought the IMF was countries only.
Fourth, why would the head of this committee be using an email address from Alibaba rather than from the IMF?
If you’re asking questions like that you’re not their target audience.
I’ve heard, but have no idea if it’s true, that these scams are purposely obvious scams, for the reasons you listed. The idea being that it weeds out people like you so the people that respond have already fallen for it.
The human brain short-circuits at the mention of free Millions of United State Dollars.
It seems to me that this right here tells you who they expect to fall for this: People who have already fallen for some other “found money” scam.
I contacted Mr Collins and now am secure in the knowledge that my millions are on their way! Please buy my home, as I no longer need to live in such a shabby accomidations!
People fall for this by the tens of thousands. Some of them are doctors, lawyers, other educated people. As running_coach says,
I’ve mentioned this before, but I have an uncle who has gotten into - and I may be low in my guess here - at LEAST ten pyramid scams, and fallen for plenty of get-rich-quick scams. I don’t have direct evidence he ever fell for the sort of Spanish prisoner/Nigerian email scam the OP shows an example of, but I’m confident he has. Over and over. Not once, ever, did he manage to use his vast personal experience to decide “maybe this is bullshit.” Even when told it was bullshit, he would deny it and fall for the scam.
Uncle John just had some sort of switch in his brain that was broken. He doesn’t seem abjectly stupid or anything, but there is something in his brain that just doesn’t trigger a skepticism warning when this sort of scam comes around. I don’t know if people are born with this or it’s conditioning. I mean, he was my father’s brother and my Dad, who was reasonably bright but not Einstein, would not have fallen for a scam like this in ten billion years. But my uncle simply cannot learn. It’s like he cannot develop an immune response.
(He also skipped my father’s funeral for no particular reason, ad didn’t even send my Mom flowers or a note, despite my father being his older brother who never once refused to help him, gave him money, etc. I consider this an unforgivable insult to my mother and I will no longer speak to him. You don’t want to be his friend.)
That’s who the scammers are targeting. They know full well than 9999 out of 10000 people won’t give this a second thought. Doesn’t matter. They make LOTS from the 1 person who does, and thanks to the internet, the cost of acquisition is low.
I’m pissed off. How dare Mr. Peter Collins show my information to other people.
Sadly, there are people who are gullible or who are in the beginnings of dementia. They have bot servers that send out these emails in droves. All they need is one successful hit out of tens of thousands, and they can make a lot of money.
Check out the StreetView. Old BBQ grills and window screens stacked against the front walls. “No Tresspassing” sign on a front door.
Definitely not the swell side of town.
It only has one bath.
https://www.redfin.com/MD/Baltimore/4-N-Mount-Olivet-Ln-21229/home/10992924
It’s amusing that this is a real residence, and the email has enough details you can look it up and tell that the claim is BS about how nice it is.
It does seem like a weird flex if you’re trying to entice people into chasing riches. “I can afford a townhouse in Maryland!”
Why include the details about the number of bathrooms or the square footage? is that normally done in Nigeria or whatever country the scammer comes from?
I think it’s just the normal obvious tell that a person is lying when they overshare to a bizarre degree.
“Hi there.”
“Hello! My name is Gregory Smith and I was born in Nebraska of the United States and no other country and went to a regular American high school and love to watch the sport of baseball!”
“Um… Okay… Have a good day…?”
This here is a reminder that, despite popular belief, half of the American public is below average in intelligence.
The other half is just greedy.
At least they picked an address that actually exists. I recently spotted AI spam on Facebook supposedly from the 100 block of O Street in Sacramento, where the lowest real number is 1500.
You totally win the thread w that cite!!
Upon checking Google Maps again, O Street in Sacramento does drop into the triple digits; I was looking at 1500 Second Street. However, 100 O would be on the West Side Freeway overpass.
“Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.” - George Carlin