# Is this an email scam? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 24, 2008, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-an-email-scam/434773 "2008-01-24T02:57:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![shimmery](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@shimmery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shimmery)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-an-email-scam/434773/1 "2008-01-24T02:57:25Z")
I got a very incoherent email message asking desperately for money from a person I’m acquainted with in a professional context - a context where it would be wildly inappropriate for this person to send me such a message. It’s from one gmail account to another, and it’s an address that I have received legit emails from at this email address in the past. Is this a new email scam or am I in a very bizarre situation? ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Who](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Doctor\_Who](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Who)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-an-email-scam/434773/2 "2008-01-24T03:05:29Z")
Email scam. A legitimate person who needed money DESPERATELY!!! would probably pick up the phone. Ignore. Delete. Enjoy. ---
**Author:** ![neorxnawange](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f4b2a3/32.png) [@neorxnawange](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neorxnawange)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-an-email-scam/434773/3 "2008-01-24T03:09:15Z")
You might want to contact this person and let them know their name is attached to some wierd scam. ---
**Author:** ![shimmery](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@shimmery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shimmery)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-an-email-scam/434773/4 "2008-01-24T03:52:03Z")
I realized it must be a scam because this person is smart enough to include all the pertinent details in the first message. (I’m imagining the person chained in a basement somewhere typing away hysterically on a Blackberry…) ---
**Author:** ![Plan\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Plan\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plan_B)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-an-email-scam/434773/5 "2008-01-24T03:52:50Z")
Any chance you could cut and paste the text of the incoherent message? - leave out names and anything else you like. Could help us to understand what this is about. Also, if it is a scam, we’ll have a heads up about what to look for. ---
**Author:** ![GrizzRich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7ba0ec/32.png) [@GrizzRich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrizzRich)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-an-email-scam/434773/6 "2008-01-24T04:38:30Z")
Is your bull-crap meter pinging? Because MINE is! ---
**Author:** ![shimmery](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@shimmery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shimmery)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-an-email-scam/434773/7 "2008-01-24T04:50:18Z")
From: Person Subject line: I need your help [blank message] * * * ## I sent back an email saying, essentially, “Did you mean to send this? Do you really need my help?” (I could think of non-bizarre things he might need my help with… a small role in planning something for a former co-worker or a question that is related to what I’m doing now, perhaps.) He sent me back an email: ## hello thanks for your massage,yes i send you this message please i don’t now how you can help me to get the money,i promise you i will pay you back your money when am back home,please just to get back home i will pay you back your money, even you don’t have up to the amount i have ask you to lend me please just help me out of this mess, please get back to me i will explain every thing to you when am back please get back to me. many thanks It’s just within the realm of possibility that this person is in a such a bad situation that he has completely lost his reason. [ETA: not due to any of his personal qualities. Just because you never know.] ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-an-email-scam/434773/8 "2008-01-24T05:00:04Z")
I think I’ve heard of such a scam. It’s supposed to be from the person you know who is stuck overseas and needs money to get back home. If that is the scam, it may be that the account got hacked or someone simply guessed the password. If you have another way of contacting the person, please do. Edited to add: [Here](http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/11/09/e-mail-scammers-ask-your-friends-for-money/) is a description of the scam. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-an-email-scam/434773/9 "2008-01-24T06:07:49Z")
[QUOTE=Dewey Finn] It’s supposed to be from the person you know who is stuck overseas and needs money to get back home. [/QUOTE] Obvious scam. Anyone really in that situation can just go to the US Embassy, and they will arrange to get you back home (after you sign an agreement to pay the money back). They’ve been doing this for at least 50 years now. Lee Harvey Oswald used this to get back to the USA from Russia in 1962. And he paid the money back, eventually. ---
**Author:** ![shimmery](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@shimmery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shimmery)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-an-email-scam/434773/10 "2008-01-24T06:10:30Z")
Intriguing fact about Lee Harvey Oswald. The email didn’t mention anything about him being overseas … it seemed more like trapped somewhere. (Maybe he was hiking and a rock fell on his leg? And he’s about to have chew it off?) In any case, it’s definitely a scam. Thanks for the link, **Dewey Finn**. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-an-email-scam/434773/11 "2008-01-24T06:24:54Z")
Well, why not get a phone number and talk to them? Do you already have their home or work phone? ---
**Author:** ![shimmery](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@shimmery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shimmery)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-an-email-scam/434773/12 "2008-01-24T06:50:41Z")
The person? No, I but I know his (almost certainly uncontaminated) work email. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-an-email-scam/434773/13 "2008-01-24T09:25:23Z")
> [@](#): > > thanks for your massage,yes i send you this message This snippet strongly suggests to me that English is not the sender’s first language. Very similar combination of characteristics that I’ve seen in some of my scambaiting email conversations (such as this one: [Greetings. My name is Crandall Spondular - Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=446481) ) ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-an-email-scam/434773/14 "2008-01-24T09:53:10Z")
“even you don’t have up to the amount” - the use of “even” without the “if” is very remniscent of Asian non-English speakers - Chinese (even relatively good English speakers from Hong Kong) and Thai people do this all the time. In Gmail, go to the original message, and in the options dropdown at the top-right choose “show original”. That will give you the originating IP address. There will be a bunch of adjacent lines labelled “Received:”. Paste the bottom one of these into the thread, and someone will be able to find out what country it was sent from. ---
**Author:** ![SomeUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e480ec/32.png) [@SomeUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SomeUserName)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-an-email-scam/434773/15 "2008-01-24T10:48:41Z")
It sounds like his work email has a virus and the message is being sent to all his contacts that are in his address book. I would ignore it and scan your own system for viruses. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-an-email-scam/434773/16 "2008-01-24T11:16:35Z")
[QUOTE=SomeUserName] It sounds like his work email has a virus and the message is being sent to all his contacts that are in his address book. I would ignore it and scan your own system for viruses. [/QUOTE] Why do you say that? The scam came from gmail he said, so I don’t see the connection with work email having a virus. ---
**Author:** ![SomeUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e480ec/32.png) [@SomeUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SomeUserName)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-an-email-scam/434773/17 "2008-01-24T11:29:37Z")
[QUOTE=chrisk] Why do you say that? The scam came from gmail he said, so I don’t see the connection with work email having a virus. [/QUOTE] Sorry. I did read the OP but then later he mentioned knowing the persons work email so I got the two mixed up thinking the original mail came from his work email address. So I guess you can disregard my suggestion. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-an-email-scam/434773/18 "2008-01-24T13:23:29Z")
The other hint of the scam is that the letter says “the amount” which suggests a form letter. Any buddy pleading with me would say: “I swear, Cellphone, I’ll pay you back the two grand right away as soon as I get back. Promise!” It would be a little more specific and not “the amount” because it would be more personal. I’d think this person’s email has been compromised. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-an-email-scam/434773/19 "2008-01-24T13:24:31Z")
It would be deliciously tempting to string the scammer along. “Serendipity! I’m anxiously waiting to receive $10,000 USD in proceeds from a Nigerian who e-mailed me with a lucrative business proposition. Once I receive it, I will send it to you immediately. I await further instructions!!” ---
**Author:** ![shimmery](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@shimmery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shimmery)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-an-email-scam/434773/20 "2008-01-24T15:59:00Z")
Okay, the last “received” line says: Received: by 10.64.253.1 with HTTP; Wed, 23 Jan 2008 18:46:50 -0800 (PST) I am a she, BTW. Come on… shimmery? a dude? I realize the email is full of obvious clues. I guess the only thing that was in the back of my mind was that this professional situation had a huge Blackberry culture, and it wasn’t uncommon to receive unpunctuated (or poorly punctuated), telegraphic messages from someone’s Blackberry. And having a Blackberry could explain emailing instead of calling in a desperate situation. However! The message does not, upon closer inspection, have the “Sent from Blackberry” tagline at the bottom. I have a very vivid imagination. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-an-email-scam/434773.md?page=2)