Idea for a New Project / Hobby

I'm mulling over an idea. I think that I'm going to create a website dedicated to f*ing with spammers / con artists. Hmmm. My vision is something akin to Snopes, but with reader interaction.

After publishing my recent post about f*ing with a con artist, I was and continue to be surprised by the number of people stumbling across it via an Internet search. I imagine that a site dedicated to f*ing with spammers would be beneficial to zillions of others.

Look, I honestly don't mean to sound condescending, but many people sought out information about "Diana Mosli / Kestler." They each expressed their thanks for alerting them that it was a scam. How can anybody be duped by such a scheme? Lots of people, apparently.

So I'm trying to decide on a name for the site and it's structure. I think it would be most useful for people if there would be a repository of classic SPAM scams, posted interactions similar to the one I had with "Diana," an internal search engine, and perhaps a bulletin board. Do you like f-ingwithspammers.com? It's available.

F*ing with con artists, part deux

I think that my reply to yesterday's message from the con artist might be too much, too soon. *shrug* Bonus points if you pick up on the subtle verbal middle fingers I put forth, not just the obvious ones. There are many, and I admit to chortling repeatedly as I wrote it. The PR gland in my brain screamed repeatedly in protest.

Dear Diana:

Thank you SO much for letting me provide you with some more farther informations.


First name: Richard
Last name: Cranium
Street address: 1 Ashburton Place, Apt. #7
City: Boston
State: MA
Zip code: 02108
Home phone: The bastards turned off my SI Football phone! But there's a pay phone I can use at the pub to call you. If you wants to chattie me, then I need you to tell me when you want to call so I can get that selfish JERK off the phone. Barry's always hogging it to try to find a job this year. That bastard!

- Are you currently employed?

Yes I have a job. I'm a petrolium replensishem-ent technition at Cumbie's in Westford. The pay's terrible! But they don't get their gas from Chavez like the bastards across the street at Citgo! Ooooh .... big sign at Feway ... oooh! Like that makes me want to work there!

- Do you have any debt with any credit card company?

I have a LOT of det. That's why I am so happy to get a new job with American Express! I owe you guys $12,881.12, and the limit you put on me is almost there! You called me a few weeks ago and took away a lot of my limit, and now it's only $15,000. Why you bastards?! HA! LOL a lot! ALMOST ROTF! I'M A KIDDER! I always paid on time so really why did you take away some of my limit? It used to be $20,000. Oh, and also I am so so so so so so so so so sorry to say that I have a Vista card two. I owe those bastards $2,509.47 (but I sent them some monies yesterday or maybe it was Monday, so then my owed is something 'round $2,409.47 but I can never figure out how when I pay them $100 they still says I owe them the same amount but take away what I pade them plus the money they says i owe. Wait. I got confused. You know what I'm sayin', Diane? AnyHOO! That card has a LOT left of in, the stupid bastards! I can spend $7,000 on that one! Well not $7,0000 but whatever it iis the monies I owe after they get my $100 -- the bastards!

- If you owe money (credits) to several companies, please let us know

Oh nuts! I just writ the story of how much I owe. I can drag over that part and then do that "paste" thing here: I owe you guys $12,881.12, and the limit you put on me is almost there! You called me a few weeks ago and took away a lot of my limit, and now it's only $15,000. Why, you bastards?! HA! LOL a lot! ALMOST ROTF! I'M A KIDDER! I always paid on time, so really, why did you take away some of my limit? It used to be $20,000. Oh, and also I'm so so so so so so so so so sorry to say that I have a Vista card two. I owe those bastards $2,509.47 (but I sent them some monies yesterday or maybe it was Monday, so then my owed is something 'round $2,409.47 but I can never figure out why when I pay them $100 they still says I owe them the same amount but take away what I pade them plus the money they says i owe. Wait. I got confused. You know what I'm sayin', Diane? AnyHOO! That card has a LOT left of in, the stupid bastards! I can spend $7,000 on that one! Well not $7,0000 but whatever it iis the monies I owe after they get my $100 -- the bastards!

OK. I think that's all your questions. I am SO SO SO SO SO excited to start working! Whan do I get my first check for $1,200 per week? Are you going to send me business cards to hand out to my friends? Those bastards! Can I pleeeeease ask you to put a little picture of the Tazmanian Devlis on it too? LIke in the corner of the card -- but NOT NEAR the American Express guys! HA!

All my best,
Dick

P.S. I'm confused. Are you from the Mosli family or the Kestler families?

We've got a fish on the hook!

I'm so thrilled! The con artist has taken the bait! Or, more accurately, the con artist believes that I (posing as Richard Cranium) have taken the bait.

Below is an edited version of the most recent message from "Diana Mosli," posing as a member of the American Express human resources department.

As I originally suspected, "Diana Mosli" is trying to set me up for a classic scam. I believe they will instruct me to make a number of small payments using my own credit card(s) over a period of time to a number of accounts.

When these transactions reach a multiple of $500 (or more if they could), they will send me a $500 American Express gift or traveler's check that looks very real. The real American Express web site (and hundreds of other sources) explains what happens next: "[The scam] starts when someone gives you a realistic-looking check or money order and asks you to send cash somewhere in return [or, in this case, paying by credit card]. At the heart of the scam is a fake check that you deposit in your bank account. Federal law requires banks and credit unions to make funds that have been deposited available quickly. Just because you can withdraw the money doesn't indicate the check or money order is valid. It can take weeks for fake checks to be discovered, and when they are, your bank will want the money back. You are responsible for the checks and money orders you deposit or cash, because you were in the best position to determine the validity of the check or money order - you dealt with the person who gave it to you."

As a triple whammy, your credit card information is now in the hands of the scammer and you've directly paid them hundreds of dollars unwittingly to accounts linked to them.

I'll soon formulate a reply to "Diana Mosli" and share it with you. You'll notice that her name changes at the end of the message to "Diana Kestler." I guess this scam artist failed to remember which name they're using today.

I'm going to see just how far and how much I can screw with these people before they give up me. This is going to be a lot of fun!

Follow up message
Good afternoon
Thank you for your interest in our job opportunity.

ABOUT COMPANY

American Express Corporation is a leading global payments, network and travel company founded in 1850, operated in over 130 countries around the globe . . . . [I've deleted the rest of this section, as it was copied and pasted from the "About American Express" page on the legitimate corporation's website.]

OPEN VACANCY

Due to our new policies we offer remote payment processing position to you which could be accomplished from remote locations such as your present job or residence. Payment processing includes receiving payments and processing them according to the processing protocol.

This position is a priority to employees with reasonable credit card debt and it will help to resolve this issue. Here are the sequences of operations employees must comply.

1.Employee contacts his/her manager with details on the debt.
2.Company you owe money to should be indicated and the amount that you owe.
3.Status of your account is standing at present moment where you owe money.
4.Our managers will work with you to develop a payment plan according to your situation.
5.You will be provided with details on the transaction and be given all information needed for deposits.
6.During transaction you should stay in touch with your manager to verify that all the details were followed correctly.
7.Part of the funds should be redirected after deposit is completed.
8.After transaction is completed please contact your manager with all the details on the transaction.

All fees, or any additional expenses which might exist during work will be paid off by American Express inc. After a probation period of 3 months transportation expenses will be fully reimbursed this includes buses, trains, car services, and leasing of transport.

[I deleted another long and uninteresting section here.]

EMPLOYMENT

If you are interested in this position and ready to start a training,
please fill application form and email it to us.

First name: _________________
Last name: __________________
Street address: _____________
City: _______________________
State: ______________________
Zip code: ___________________
Home phone: _________________
Cell phone: _________________


- Are you currently employed?
__________________________________

- Do you have any debt with any credit card company?
__________________________________

- If you owe money (credits) to several companies, please let us know how much money you owe to each company:
__________________________________

* During first training days your will receive money for the training from our company to your debits and will use this money for the training courses. You dont need to pay for anything, our company pays for all.

* Debt is meaning that you already past your due date and started to pay minimal or more then minimal payments to credit card company, even though you did not pass your due date while you still use your credit card and you owe money to the company to pay your bill you still will qualify and also if you have any cards where you have 0% for some amount of time you still can qualify for this position while using them.

Please give us up to 48 hours to process all the information and contact your with future placement details.

Yours respectfully,
Diana Kestler
Company Direct Employer, American Express Corporation

F*ing with SPAM, another attempt

Let's play with a SPAMmer! Yay, fun!

Here's the opening salvo and my initial response. I hope so much that I get a reply. Why don't they ever follow through with their scheme? Of course I've created an anonymous e-mail account just to play with her / him / them. Safety first, kids.

In case you're wondering why I knew this was utter crap, the return e-mail address was something like "AMEXrecruiter@gmail.com." The other reason why this message made me snicker was the borderline illiteracy. My favorite is "There are couple couple positions." Is are couple couple? If their is one, then is I ever happitated! My second favorite has to be "there is full-time and part-time positions available." Are is it? Really? Cool!

The grammatical train wrecks, along with the seemingly Random and meaningless Capitalization of Some words, makes this one of the best pieces of SPAM I've received in quite a while. My bet is that it's from a dude in Estonia, Uruguay, or Zimbabwe. I can't wait for a reply.

On May 10, 2009, at 1:16 PM, Diana Mosli wrote:

Good morning
We found your resume and concluded that you could be a positive match to a few of positions available at American Express and Merchant Services North American Division.

There are couple couple positions listed below you might be qualifying for:

- Payment processing coordinator
- Data entry specialist
- Mail distribution coordinator
- Client database builder
- Payment collection coordinator

Guaranteed base salary package for all positions starts from $3900 monthly, include Weekends with holidays, Medical and Dental coverage and other benefits. There is full-time and part-time positions available.

These positions are office or home based due to our new policy on remote employee program.

If you are interested, email back to me and i will send you detailed information about open position.

Yours respectfully,
Diana Kestler
Company Direct Employer, American Express Corporation

On May 10, 2009, at 1:20 PM, Richard Cranium [HA!] wrote:

Dear Diana:

I am so thrilled that you found my resume! My experience and skills would be a perfect match for working as a "Payment Processing Coordinator."

When can we set up an interview?

Cheers,
Dick

----------

*UPDATE*

YAY! I just received a blank e-mail from "Diana." Is this perhaps to verify that they've hooked a breathing (and gullible) person of lesser intelligence? Let's find out! Wheeee!

Here's my reply . . .

Dear Diana --

Oh my goodness I'm so thrilled you wrote back to me! I've been running in little happy circles all day with the knowledge that American Express might hire me!

I'm a bit confused. Why was your e-mail blank?

Cheers,
Dick