# What's the scam in this e-mail? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 12, 2012, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-scam-in-this-e-mail/637546 "2012-10-12T18:54:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-scam-in-this-e-mail/637546/1 "2012-10-12T18:54:53Z")
I received this email at my place of work: > [@](#): > > Hello Mr. [my actual last name], > > My name is Nursultan Fidelbek uulu, I am currently a undergraduate student at the University of Washington. > I came across your name when I was on LinkedIn. I am really interested [name of company I work for] and the [type of business] industry. > I would like to ask you some questions regarding your career and experiences at [name of company I work for]. > At your convenience, I am hoping if I could schedule an informational phone interview with you? > > Thank you very much, > > Nursultan Fidelbek uulu > University of Washington > nfu@uw.edu 1. I am not even on LinkedIn. 2. “Nursultan Fidelbek uulu”? Really? 3. 702 is the area code for Las Vegas, not Washington. So obviously this request is as phony as the day is long. But what’s the angle? How could Mr. (or Ms.) uulu hope to take advantage of me if I were to call the number? No, I’m not going to call just to see what happens. But I _am_ curious. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-scam-in-this-e-mail/637546/2 "2012-10-12T19:11:15Z")
A quick Googling reveals that Nursultan Fidelbek uulu is a real person, just started at UDub. Strange, so at least that part is true. As to the other part, I don’t think it’s a scam but a standard thing many Dopers have seen where students from other cultures, e.g., Asian, write to strangers asking for help. Some people are very keen on asking others for info, and actually expect detailed replies. There’s also a social-network building thing in doing this. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-scam-in-this-e-mail/637546/3 "2012-10-12T19:17:57Z")
It looks like the person is on Linked In and is an intern. The phone could be a cell phone, so that could be why the person has a Nevada number. If you aren’t on Linked In, then the person got your contact info somehow else. It looks like that person may just be trying to network and is sending out emails to everyone. No need to respond. ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-scam-in-this-e-mail/637546/4 "2012-10-12T19:21:52Z")
Well, Nursulatan seems to have [made the Dean’s List at U of W](http://www.washington.edu/students/qtrdean/F.html). And he seems to have [graduated from Mount Si High School](http://www.snovalleystar.com/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/snovalleystar061908.pdf). [He has a Linked In page.](http://www.linkedin.com/pub/nursultan-fidelbek-uulu/29/686/850) [He has a facebook page.](http://www.facebook.com/nursultan.fidelbekuulu) With cell phones and google voice and all the other stuff, the area code doesn’t necessarily have to correspond to his physical location. He could be anywhere from Las Vegas to Nigeria. Of course, somebody could be stealing the real Nursultan Fidelbek uulu’s name in an attempt to perpetrate some scam. But they would have to be really clueless to steal a name like that. Did you look at the headers on the email? Did it really come from U of W? Have you googled yourself? Maybe somebody mentions your name in their Linked In biography? I hate to tell you this, but there is a chance, no matter how tiny, that this might be legit. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-scam-in-this-e-mail/637546/5 "2012-10-12T20:31:53Z")
> [@Alley\_Dweller](#): > > I hate to tell you this, but there is a chance, no matter how tiny, that this might be legit. Never thought I’d read these words on the Dope. 😉 And I’ll be damned, Nursultan does seem to be a real person. It’s such an unusual name that I never even thought to look. There are apparently 212 people with my name on LinkedIn. (!) I do know that I have a name-double in the same company, and I constantly get his e-mail. (My address is just my name, his has a number in it.) The other guy has a much more important position, so maybe this was meant for him. I doubt that Nursultan wants to be a desk jockey like me. Huh, now I kind of want to call him (or her). ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2012, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-scam-in-this-e-mail/637546/6 "2012-10-13T03:28:26Z")
Took out the phone number for you, just in case. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2012, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-scam-in-this-e-mail/637546/7 "2012-10-13T04:01:59Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > Took out the phone number for you, just in case. Which explains why there is a random reference to 702 being the wrong area code. I was confused. Briefly. (and usually) -D/a ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2012, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-scam-in-this-e-mail/637546/8 "2012-10-13T04:30:55Z")
It is a Kyrgyz name. \*Uulu \*is a Kyrgyz possessive form literally meaning ‘his son’. So _Fidelbek uulu_ is how you’d say “son of Fidelbek” in Kyrgyz. So his last name can’t be “uulu” by itself, but the compound of the two words makes a patronymic that serves as a last name. (Its cognate in Turkish is -_oğlu_, written without a space.) I’d guess that his dad was born sometime in the 1960s and, Kyrgyzstan being a Soviet Socialist Republic then, was named after Fidel Castro in a burst of Communist bloc solidarity. _Bek_ literally means ‘prince’ but it has become a general honorific for men, or a combining element in names like this one; its cognate in Turkish is _bey_. \*Nursultan \*is a compound of two Arabic words. This guy’s whole name is made of compounded compounds! ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2012, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-scam-in-this-e-mail/637546/9 "2012-10-13T15:59:03Z")
On the somewhat shrinking chance that this is a scam, I’d say that Mr. Uluu wants to know: 1. If this email of yours is valid 2. What your phone number is 3. Whether you’re gullible enough to reply, which means possibly gullible enough to fall for the next scam. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2012, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-scam-in-this-e-mail/637546/10 "2012-10-13T17:20:32Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > I’d say that Mr. Uluu Looks like you skipped reading my post. > [@Johanna](#): > > \*Uulu \*is a Kyrgyz possessive form literally meaning ‘his son’. So _Fidelbek uulu_ is how you’d say “son of Fidelbek” in Kyrgyz. So his last name can’t be “uulu” by itself, but the compound of the two words makes a patronymic that serves as a last name. (Its cognate in Turkish is -_oğlu_, written without a space.) Edit: Am I the only person here who’s studied Kyrgyz? ---
**Author:** ![Dog80](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@Dog80](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dog80)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2012, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-scam-in-this-e-mail/637546/11 "2012-10-13T17:35:35Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > (Its cognate in Turkish is -_oğlu_, written without a space.) Aren’t Turkish names ending in -oglu actually of armenian origin? ---
**Author:** ![Noone\_Special](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noone_special/32/2863_2.png) [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2012, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-scam-in-this-e-mail/637546/12 "2012-10-13T17:55:06Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > Am I the only person here who’s studied Kyrgyz? > [@Daniel Keyes](#): > > Dr. Strauss on the other hand might be called a genius, although I feel that his areas of knowledge are too limited. He was educated in the tradition of narrow specialization; the broader aspects of background were neglected far more than necessary-even for a neurosurgeon. > _ **I was shocked to learn that the only ancient languages he could read were Latin, Greek, and Hebrew** _, and that he knows almost nothing of mathematics beyond the elementary levels of the calculus of variations. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2012, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-scam-in-this-e-mail/637546/13 "2012-10-13T19:50:54Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > Am I the only person here who’s studied Kyrgyz? It was offered in my High School, but I selected Klingon instead. ☹ My mistake. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-scam-in-this-e-mail/637546/14 "2012-10-14T01:56:43Z")
> [@Dog80](#): > > Aren’t Turkish names ending in -oglu actually of armenian origin? No. Not necessarily.