Danger, Lil User, Danger!

[army judge]

I received the following email today:
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I send you this message with heavy tears but in good faith.I know you will be apprehensive and worried but I am assuring you that is in good faith despite the fact that the internet world has been invaded and taken over by dishonest people. My name is Mrs. Cecelia Chizo, battling with cancer. I have a legacy of $ 5.1 million from my late husband. I would like you to receive this fund using 50% for Investment,5% for education my son's education and the rest for charity. Our country is not stable, so I have made this decision. My son will come to your country after the successful transfer of this fund to you for his university studies. If you are interested, reply back to me for more details: Mrs.Cecelia Chizo

The scammer's email is: "ceceliachizo@gmail.com" <ceceliachizo@gmail.com>

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My spam filter caught it.

Be careful, the scammers want your loot.

 

[Zigner]

Scammer? I've already received the first installment as a cashier's check. All I had to do was deposit it and send 25% of it back as a fee.

 

[army judge]

Scammer? I've already received the first installment as a cashier's check. All I had to do was deposit it and send 25% of it back as a fee.

I have "trust" issues.
You, on the other hand, are bold like a fox.
I snoozed, guess I "loozed".

 

[cynthiag]

Good grief, hasn't this scam been around pretty much forever?! Just the mode of delivery has changed over the years, from written letter to fax to e-mail.

The thing that gets me is the fact that people still fall for it.I work for a bank and it seems like at least once a year we have to dissuade a customer from falling for one of these scams. Some of them are quite upset with us when we prevent them from losing their life savings!

 

[adjusterjack]

A fool and his money are soon parted.

There's a sucker born every minute.

 

[cbg]

A few years ago, it was discovered that my employer had made a very major and very embarrassing error with regards to our life insurance benefit and as a result a number of employees had overpaid their taxes for up to five years. We were very transparent about the error and our attempts to reimburse the employees, working hand in glove with our legal department, our outside attorneys, and the IRS directly. Those of you who know who my employer is can Google it; it was widely reported in the news. Despite all efforts, that is not something that can be fixed quickly; it took a couple of years, literally, before everything was resolved.

I spent almost half an hour on the phone with one employee, trying to convince her that the IRS was not on their way to her home to arrest her because of her inaccurate returns due to this matter. For one thing, the whole point was that they had OVER paid; you don't get arrested for giving the IRS more money than they were due. For another, the IRS was well aware of what was going on and was working closely with us to resolve the issue (we may have made a super-colossal error, but we also pack a hell of a lot of clout even with the IRS). Finally, the IRS does not call you to tell you that agents are on their way to arrest you if you do not have a check waiting for them when they arrive. But the scammers had done a good job of convincing her otherwise and she was practically in tears waiting to be arrested, handcuffed, and thrown into Federal prison.

 

[justblue]

A few years ago, it was discovered that my employer had made a very major and very embarrassing error with regards to our life insurance benefit and as a result a number of employees had overpaid their taxes for up to five years. We were very transparent about the error and our attempts to reimburse the employees, working hand in glove with our legal department, our outside attorneys, and the IRS directly. Those of you who know who my employer is can Google it; it was widely reported in the news. Despite all efforts, that is not something that can be fixed quickly; it took a couple of years, literally, before everything was resolved.

I spent almost half an hour on the phone with one employee, trying to convince her that the IRS was not on their way to her home to arrest her because of her inaccurate returns due to this matter. For one thing, the whole point was that they had OVER paid; you don't get arrested for giving the IRS more money than they were due. For another, the IRS was well aware of what was going on and was working closely with us to resolve the issue (we may have made a super-colossal error, but we also pack a hell of a lot of clout even with the IRS). Finally, the IRS does not call you to tell you that agents are on their way to arrest you if you do not have a check waiting for them when they arrive. But the scammers had done a good job of convincing her otherwise and she was practically in tears waiting to be arrested, handcuffed, and thrown into Federal prison.

I remember that.

 

[Zigner]

I had a friend who got the IRS scam call. She contacted me (while also on the phone with the scammer) and I explained that the call was a scam. The reason she was concerned is that she was already dealing with the IRS on a matter and thought they were related. For her, the unfortunate timing of the call lent credibility to it.