I hate spam.
Well, duh.
But despite the failings of my anatomy, the need to finance Nigerian princes, or my desperate lack of V!0XX, I have yet to see spam that threatens to kill me.
Until recently, that is.
Date: Tue, 12 Feb 2008 01:39:41 H0200
Return email address redacted
Subject: LISTEN UP AND BE VERY VERY CARE !!!Hello .
I am very sorry for you , is a pity that this is how your life is going to end as soon as you don’t comply. As you can see there is no need of introducing myself to you because I don’t have any business with you, my
duty as I am mailing you now is just to KILL you and I have to do it as I have already been paid for that.Someone you call a friend wants you Dead by all means, and the person have spent a lot of money on this, the person also came to us and told me that he wanted you dead and he provided us with your name ,picture and other necessary information’s we needed about you. So I sent my boys to track you down and they have carried out the necessary investigation needed for the operation on you, and they have done that but I told them not to kill you that I will like to contact you and see if your life is Important to you or not since their findings shows that you are innocent.
I called my client back and ask him of your email address which I didn’t tell him what I wanted to do with it and he gave it to me and I am using it to contact you now. As I am writing to you now my men are monitoring you and they are telling me everything about you.
Now do you want to LIVE OR DIE? As someone has paid us to kill you. Get back to me now if you are ready to pay some fees to spare your life, $20,000 is all you need to spend You will first of all pay $8,000 then I will send a tape to you which i recorded every discusion i had with the person who wanted you dead and as soon as you get the tape, you will pay the remaining $12,000. If you are not ready for my help, then I will carry on with my job straight-up.
WARNING: DO NOT THINK OF CONTACTING THE POLICE OR EVEN TELLING ANYONE BECAUSE I WILL KNOW.REMEMBER, SOMEONE WHO KNOWS YOU VERY WELL WANT YOU DEAD! I WILL EXTEND IT TO YOUR FAMILY, INCASE I NOTICE SOMETHING FUNNY. DO NOT COME OUT ONCE IT IS 7:PM UNTIL I MAKE OUT TIME TO SEE YOU AND GIVE YOU THE TAPE OF MY DISCUSSION WITH THE PERSON WHO WANT YOU DEAD THEN YOU CAN USE IT TO TAKE ANY LEGAL ACTION. GOOD LUCK AS I AWAIT YOUR REPLY.
I have several comments. One is that I don’t think I’m terribly scared of an assassin who can’t spell.
Second is that I have loads of enemies who wish I would go away, but I doubt even they have the wherewithal to do anything this nefarious. My friends know that if I’m dead, they’ll never get any more cookies from Mrs. BA, so right away that’s a giveaway that this isn’t for realz.
But third, I have to give the author some credit. I wonder how many people would reply, fearful of their lives?
I don’t have the time to do anything about this, though. I just found out I am NOMINATED FOR THE MBA, which I’m hoping with help me REDUCE MY CREDIT CARD DEBT, which is important so I can afford to INCREASE MY GIRTH.
Party on, Girth.
February 21st, 2008 at 12:35 pm
Wow. You should really report that to the police.
February 21st, 2008 at 12:39 pm
HAHA!
Phil, you should be VERY VERY CARE!!
I know I would be!
(first time replier..love your site)
February 21st, 2008 at 12:48 pm
Career law enforcement guy here: Report this to the police PDQ. There may be nothing to it, and/or the police may not (be able) to do anything about it if there is. But still: If s/he’s serious, you could be in danger and you need to give the police at least a chance. And if s/he’s not serious about killing you, sending this kind of threat is serious in and of itself. Contact the biggest PD which has jurisdiction over where you live (like the State Police, perhaps?). Unless you get the wrong cop on the wrong day they will not think you are being frivolous or paranoid. Do not be shy about this. (You may get referred to the feds. If so, follow-up.)
February 21st, 2008 at 12:56 pm
Be very, very cary, BA.
February 21st, 2008 at 12:59 pm
Check out Snopes.
http://www.snopes.com/crime/fraud/hitman.asp
Most likely this is just spam.
February 21st, 2008 at 1:02 pm
This may be a joke, BA, but even so, it’s so bad it doesn’t deserve laughter. Geoff and Chamberlain are right: report it.
Even if it’s just spam, the originator needs to be found and punished. If your reporting it can provide any help to that end, it’s worth a bit of your time.
February 21st, 2008 at 1:03 pm
I think the BA figured out this is a scam based on his last lines referencing other scams!
Just type the first line of text into google and you get a LOT people who received this email. I read about it in online forums a couple of months ago, although I have not received it yet.
Report it…if it helps track someone down who’s doing this, that’s good. Lose sleep over it, not at all.
February 21st, 2008 at 1:06 pm
If you have the I.P. address you can determine where the sender originates from. My bet is this is from someone overseas looking to make a quick buck on some poor unsuspecting person.
February 21st, 2008 at 1:07 pm
Hm. I wonder if I can fool the spam filters in the blog comments to think that I’m spam? Let’s find out.
February 21st, 2008 at 1:09 pm
Free med!cat!0n.,..get v!a graa,v!0xx,.-/bigger! Nigeria
February 21st, 2008 at 1:09 pm
Nope.
February 21st, 2008 at 1:27 pm
I prefer the ones that read “I am going to kiss you” signed with a photo of Angelina Jolie. (This hasn’t happened yet but I can dream.)
February 21st, 2008 at 1:31 pm
At some point, after a flood of these emails, you’ll lose track of reality and begin to hallucinate you’re in the Land of Bad Grammar with Donald Duck, at which point Goofy will quang you in the neck with a razor sharp split infinitive. Hee-YUCK!
Yeah, hell, report it. Remember, the Bonzos have more murderers on their side than the sedate academics do. In a statistical universe of people with varying ranges of insanity, there can easily be one just crazy enough to actually pull the trigger.
Meanwhile, in the immortal words of the former Nigerian prince turned blackmailer, “BE VERY VERY CARE !!!”
February 21st, 2008 at 1:32 pm
Retired State Police Captain:
Although many threats are issued without any intention of follow-up activity, they may in an of themselves constitute harassment or menacing, and as such may leave the issuer liable to a criminal charge.
A paper (or in this case electronic!) trail is often useful to law enforcement when investigating cases, and what might at first seem a trivial item may down the road turn out to be very useful indeed when making a case against an individual or a group.
I agree with Jeff Chamberlain – reporting events is important…
February 21st, 2008 at 1:35 pm
“One is that I don’t think I’m terribly scared of an assassin who can’t spell.” Since when is spelling ability a job prerequisite for a hit man? In fact, wouldn’t you predict that there’s a rather good correlation between poor scholastics and such employment?
Seems to me something along the lines of, “We know what you’ve done, we know when, and we know how” would be more effective in extract money if you’re going to cross the line into something really illegal. (2031Z022108 as T sub zero for the propagation of this meme.)
On the other hand, when it comes to blog traffic and SEO this could be a gold mine . . . for BA! Take ‘em to the mat and document every step of the way!
On the other, other hand what does all this have to do with astronomy?
February 21st, 2008 at 1:38 pm
Erm… it was an astronomically stupid e-mail?
February 21st, 2008 at 1:40 pm
Chip, there are Russian bride scam mails, some of which attach pretty photos.
I’ve had a few of them, notably one named “Anghela” (and, since they were funny because of automatic translation, I poked fun at them)…
February 21st, 2008 at 1:42 pm
Oh, if this is real, can I have your telescope?
February 21st, 2008 at 1:42 pm
I’ve received email like this before, and in general it’s really just spam. Sure, it’s a felonious threat with intent to defraud, but I’m also sure it was sent out to a zillion people. I got it back on Feburary 12. I didn’t and still don’t take it seriously. I deleted it, so there’s not much I can do now.
February 21st, 2008 at 1:49 pm
Hi, I think you should report it anyway. I can imagine people taking this seriously and fearing for their life or even paying the requested amount. I ignore Viagra, Nigerian princess and all that like, but this is really blackmailing.
February 21st, 2008 at 1:54 pm
Wow, that little scam is still circulating? It’s been a while since I’ve seen one of those.
You should report it to the police, just on principle. It is both a death threat and an attempt at extortion. However, don’t lose any sleep over it, it’s a scam that’s been going on as long as Prince Abdulllsdagfhoiuweqrf has needed your bank account to smuggle funds out of the beleaguered African nation of Idiotia.
IIRC, in the US there is an FBI email address to which you can send such stuff. It probably doesn’t amount to much, but it does help them keep track of what scams are ongoing.
February 21st, 2008 at 2:06 pm
Yes, it would be best to simply notify the Police. A bit of caution, and all that.
My big question is, why redact the return address? Somebody threatens you (even if it’s bogus) but you defend their privacy by censoring their contact info? Let’s have it!
February 21st, 2008 at 2:08 pm
Soo… you read spam?
February 21st, 2008 at 2:14 pm
Phil, coul you please print the full headers of the spam here ?
February 21st, 2008 at 2:16 pm
it seemed to drag on a bit too long.
February 21st, 2008 at 2:26 pm
Pretty common spam, a variation on the common 401. I first saw it in 2003.
February 21st, 2008 at 2:26 pm
-Police won’t/can’t do anything about obvious spam.
-It’s your IP that gets notified.
-Get a hacker-geek-friend to trace route on the email
-Since it breaks laws in the US, it’s likely sent by a server not on US soil
-That’s all you can do, which is why these things exist
Although it;s worth a chickle or to, I would give the auther zero credit.
February 21st, 2008 at 2:34 pm
A lot of people here simply do not participate in, you know, society. This spam has been going around since 2006. Report it to the police? It’s spam. They even did this particular spam on one of those old man shows last year. 20/20 or 60 Minutes.
http://www.snopes.com/crime/fraud/hitman.asp
http://urbanlegends.about.com/b/2008/02/19/hit-man-scam-spam-returns.htm
If anyone here is so out of touch that they think this is real, PLEASE, leave your house right now. Make some friends. Circulate with your fellow man, no matter how repellent, and get back in touch with real life, ok? Sheesh.
February 21st, 2008 at 2:36 pm
You know… they might want all the cookies for themselfs.
Randomly selecting a paragraph and throwing it at google finds verbatim returns.
If anyone cares, I pasted the link into the website link in my profile, cause I’m not sure what type of tags I’d need to use not not make it look ugly here.
February 21st, 2008 at 2:40 pm
“Party on, Girth” just made my day.
= Thanks Phil!
[TMB]
February 21st, 2008 at 2:44 pm
How did the spam-assassin ask you to contact him for delivery of the $8000?
February 21st, 2008 at 2:50 pm
That’s a common spam email. I’ve never gotten one, but I’ve seen them, and I saw a news story about them on (I think it was) CBCnewsworld about 6 months ago.
Still, if there is any spam you should report, that kind should be it. I don’t like chain letters that threaten to run me over with a cement truck, and I sure as heck don’t like spam that threatens to murder me. People who send stuff like that should be tossed off very high buildings while cheering crowds watch from a safe distance.
February 21st, 2008 at 2:51 pm
Can you reply? You should send them the spam back, with spelling corrections and a letter grade.
Tell them you expect them to make the corrections indicated, resubmit that paper and that you want another 500 word Essay on How Gravity Works by week’s end, or they will fail your class.
February 21st, 2008 at 2:52 pm
A hitman who openly solicits his marks for better offers would probably have trouble getting new contracts after a few instances of this behavior.
February 21st, 2008 at 2:55 pm
There’s a wacky/fun thread over on Scam-O-Rama where someone played along with a similar “Contract Killer” scam. (You’ll recognize the first mail message in their exchange immediately.)
http://www.scamorama.com/noogie_white_krob.html
If you’re at all concerned, reading through the emails might put your mind at ease, maybe even elicit a chuckle or two as “Lewis Noogie” strings the scammers along with ever-more-outlandish tales.
February 21st, 2008 at 2:59 pm
It seems fitting that at some point the e-mail should have said ‘ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US!’.
February 21st, 2008 at 2:59 pm
I’m going to repeat the spam filter experiment, but this time I’m using the first paragraph of the e-mail:
I am very sorry for you , is a pity that this is how your life is going to end as soon as you don’t comply. As you can see there is no need of introducing myself to you because I don’t have any business with you, my
duty as I am mailing you now is just to KILL you and I have to do it as I have already been paid for that.
February 21st, 2008 at 2:59 pm
And still it posts.
February 21st, 2008 at 3:04 pm
I’m sorry but… Man, I’m horrible, but I found that hilarious
I’d MAYBE report it to the police. Not because you should be scared but because you might as well figure out who are these rear end wipes and how many people they might have scared senseless.
February 21st, 2008 at 3:06 pm
I agree with the report to police crowd even though they will likely do nothing. Maybe, just maybe, they will and the person will maybe, just maybe, be on American soil. And maybe, just maybe, they will go to jail. Then wouldn’t that be sweet?
February 21st, 2008 at 3:06 pm
We had a doctor here in Arkansas that received an e-mail almost identical to that one sometime last year. (Before you ask, yes, she is in perfect health to this day). Turns out it came from some half-rate spam factory in the Russian Federation.
The important thing was whether or not the sender of the e-mail had critical news from your bank (click here and sign in) and some great deals for V!@gr@. He also may have been able to help you raise the money for you not to kill him by helping him move some funds through your bank account.
February 21st, 2008 at 3:16 pm
Holy Cow! This is more serious than you think. Bad grammar, poor punctuation, incoherent thoughts are signs, not of foreign agents, but of Americans who have a public high school education. It’s true, a number of years ago we would have considered some foreign government was after your tail. Not today. Today, most foreigners can speak a gooder English then we does.
No need to look past our borders for the culprits. Obviously, you are in danger, except for one minor little detail. Considering most newly-minted h.s. graduates haven’t a clue of where Chicago or Texas are, much less actually being in the US of A, you have nothing to fear even if you sent them a map of directions to you house.
You are safe!
February 21st, 2008 at 3:26 pm
At the risk of seeding a new wave of spam, I think it might have been more effectively written like this:
___________________________________
I’m trying to do the right thing here, but I’m really scared.
Yesterday I found out my boyfriend has a gun and photographs of your street.
I confronted him and he said we’ve been living on money he was paid to do something and time is running out.
I was so upset I didn’t know what to do. I went to the library and got your name from a criss-cross, and your email address by googling your name, but I couldn’t decide what to say.
I’m desparate to get my boy out of this before he hurts anyone or gets locked up, but basically, we’re screwed if we can’t come up with at least some of the money by tomorrow. That seems pretty impossible right now.
So I am begging you, if you can go away for a few days, maybe this can all blow over without anyone getting hurt.
If you can lend us $8000 or even a part of that before tomorrow night we might even be able to buy our way out of this altogether. You would be making a chance for an unlucky boy to make good instead of burning his life. But I know that is a big ask.
February 21st, 2008 at 3:29 pm
Admit it, BA, that whole lengthy post was just a set up for the punch line!
February 21st, 2008 at 3:48 pm
I wholly agree with tacticus. Party on, Wang!
February 21st, 2008 at 3:56 pm
[...] http://www.badastronomy.com/bablog/2008/02/21/killer-spam/ [...]
February 21st, 2008 at 4:31 pm
This makes me think of a new sitcom: “Ankar, the illiterate assassin”. Hey it’d be better than “Cavemen”!
February 21st, 2008 at 4:45 pm
This is just the latest phase in the evolution of Nigerian scams. Money laundering and fake lottery scams don’t pay well enough anymore so the fraud gangs have moved on to death threat extortion.
Most of these idiots operate out of Lagos (Nigeria) where they enjoy defacto immunity from prosecution. There is no point reporting it to anyone unless the sender’s IP address is in a developed country with functioning law enforcement.
February 21st, 2008 at 4:58 pm
Mr Bad Astronomer, I regret to inform you, but my therapist, a Mr Gag Halfrunt, has asked me to sign the order to have your planet destroyed by Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz of the Hyperspace Planning Council under the guise of requiring a hyperspace bypass through the galactic coordinates ZZ9-PluralZ-Alpha. They have offered to pay me $20,000 (Altarian) to complete this nefarious mission. However I have heard it said by the Learned, Impartial, and Very Relaxed Judiciary Pag that you are actually a bit of a hoopy frood who always knows where his towel is. On this basis, rather than carry out my mission immediately, I have decided to give you a chance to match the offer made by Gag Halfrunt as long as the money is paid into my bar-tab at Millyways before the universe ends.
February 21st, 2008 at 5:01 pm
@Zaphrod-
Beautiful. Simply beautiful.
February 21st, 2008 at 5:33 pm
either Hoagland or Fred Phelps is out to get you, mabey Ted Haggard
February 21st, 2008 at 5:45 pm
Da BA sez: My friends know that if I’m dead, they’ll never get any more cookies from Mrs. BA, so right away that’s a giveaway that this isn’t for realz.
Unfortunately, for all of your posturing as a skeptic and critical thinker, you allowed yourself to be blinded by bias from the obvious, dangerous conclusion:
One person in particular has no worries about receiving cookies from Mrs. BA.
And, of course, knows how much your book advance was.
Sleep with the light on.
February 21st, 2008 at 5:56 pm
Best email scam ever. Why can’t I ever get one of those? A majority of the ones I get now have the word “schlong” in the subject so I’d suggest they’re not death threats.
Real honest to goodness death threats are way less wordy and heaps cheaper. Around zero dollars usually and maybe up to a couple of grand depending on the circumstance and you wouldn’t get them by email.
An acquaintance or friend will usually knock you off for nothing if they’re psychotic and have issues. They sometimes will warn you by saying something like “You know that pen pistol I have? Well I’m going to walk up behind you when you least expect it an put a bullet in your brain”.
The other type of threat where there is the chance a small exchange of money may have occurred is when a couple of gorillas turn up at your place of work and say something like “Excuse me mate but you dissed a friend of our employer and unless you make a grovelling apology we will have to take… action. Of course mentioning our discussion to anybody else will have very serious ramifications to you or your family who live at…”.
Both types of threat tend to make the blood run cold. Obviously you’d never see a real hitman coming.
February 21st, 2008 at 7:31 pm
Spam or not, this is felony stuff for which they send the perpetrators up the river. Takes a real grade-A piece of sh*t to send something like this.
February 21st, 2008 at 7:33 pm
I heard about this scam on the radio, NPR I think. It’s disgusting. I really feel for the people who fear for their lives. Illiterate spamming idiot…
February 21st, 2008 at 7:38 pm
Ooo, but imagine who they might sell your email address to if they don’t kill you. You might start getting some really interesting spam. This could be fun!
February 21st, 2008 at 7:52 pm
These emails are the latest scam out there. Here’s a report that was just among Yahoo’s headlines. The email in the report (received by some woman in Kansas City) sounded identical to yours.
Maybe it’s because I have an inferiority complex, but my feelings are hurt that no one has bothered to send me one of these yet.
February 21st, 2008 at 7:59 pm
Dang, those folks over at TU24.org just don’t give up, do they?
J/P=?
February 21st, 2008 at 9:26 pm
I got this spam message once a year or two. Quickly found it on snopes.com. But nonetheless it did unsettle me for a bit.
February 21st, 2008 at 10:21 pm
$20,000 is really a bit insulting.
February 21st, 2008 at 10:54 pm
“Maybe it’s because I have an inferiority complex, but my feelings are hurt that no one has bothered to send me one of these yet.”
I know what you mean. None of my friends love me enough to want me dead, either.
February 21st, 2008 at 11:33 pm
Ive gotten that email a few times over the last several years. Well hello Mr. Im-gonna-kill-you-guy, meet my other buddy, Mr. Trash-bin. I WOULD be interesting to see the statistics on how succesful this kind of scheme is financially tho…..
February 21st, 2008 at 11:37 pm
This isn’t first mail like this that I have heard of. Although I doubt you are in any real danger, the perpetrator should be reported. Someone with more gulliblilty than you may take the threat seriously and pay money to this scum.
Take very care!
madge
February 22nd, 2008 at 12:38 am
Phil (and all)
These folks would be glad to help:
http://www.419eater.com/
It’s obviously just a new twist on the money scam. This site is named after the scams that first originated from Nigeria. “419″ is the legal Nigerian code for these scams, and “eaters” is what the people at this site do. They “eat” the scammer’s time and frustrate them…badly! And what they do to these crooks is sometimes hilarious!
Visit the site, you’ll be glad you did.
Z
February 22nd, 2008 at 1:07 am
Phil (and all)
These folks would be glad to help:
http://www.419eater.com/
The email is obviously just a new twist on the money scam. This site is named after the scams that first originated from Nigeria. “419″ is the legal Nigerian code for these scams, and “eaters” is what the people at this site do: They “eat” the scammer’s time and frustrate them…badly! And what they do to these crooks is sometimes hilarious!
Visit the site, you’ll be glad you did.
Z
February 22nd, 2008 at 1:29 am
=BWHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAA ROFLMAO=
Some joik out in da backass end o’ some pissant country nobody evuh hoid of has been watchin’ way too many old gangstuh pitchuhs! Ya doity rat, do wot he tellz yez, oah he’s gonna send duh Enfoahsuh aftuh yez, see? An’ he’s gonna make yez watch while he busts up yuh Dobsonian. An’ den he’s gonna do a little tap dance on yez so you’ll nevuh get intuh anudduh Skepdude Calenduh fuh duh rest o’ yuh life.
@Chip: If you open one of those “I am going to [FITB with appropriate erotic fantasy] you” e-mails with a picture of [FITB with appropriate fellow participant(s) in erotic fantasy] attached, I refuse to be responsible for all the hours you’ll spend tracking down and cleaning out all the crapware that tags along with it.
However, I just might volunteer to harangue you about “You should have bought a Mac.”
(Both of which I’ve done twice in the last year after a friend of mine DLd a couple of “loaded” screensavers. If anything, that $#!+ is worse than any spam death threat.)
@dhtroy & Zaphod: WIN x 2!
@Blu-Ray-Ven Wait a minute, I thought Ted Haggard wasn’t out to get men any more. Oh, that wasn’t what you meant? Oops, my bad….
February 22nd, 2008 at 2:00 am
$20,000? Reminds me of Dr. Evil demanding One Million Dollars and twisting his little finger at the corner of his mouth…
BTW, it was probably posted through an open SMTP relay and is untraceable.
– Buzz
February 22nd, 2008 at 2:38 am
The sad thig is, there’s probably a granny out there who got this or something similar and now is either scared to death or will never go near the comp again.
February 22nd, 2008 at 3:06 am
You assume Mrs. BA isn’t the culprit, spurred on by being tired of cookie making, and that hawt geologist down the street. He’s so much more down to Earth…
February 22nd, 2008 at 3:37 am
Geologists are “so much more down to Earth…”
That’s better than paleontologists who live in the past.
February 22nd, 2008 at 6:24 am
I have to agree with Jamie. BA, you are intelligent enough not to fall for this, but there are lots of people out there who don’t have your critical thinking skills and might be taken in by this thing, and fleeced. If you get this again, please do report it. These SOBs have to be stopped.
February 22nd, 2008 at 7:25 am
BA,
I can send a Vogon hit squad down along with ‘Guido the Knee Breaker’ with his sidekick Louie Slugger to explain to this guy that what he said was wrong.
BTW, this scam has been circulating for years. It is originating in Nigeria so there is really nothing that can be done about it. The FBI does collect these to track a pattern of distribution.
February 22nd, 2008 at 8:54 am
[...] at Bad Astronomy has gotten the ultimate spam scam email. A snip: Now do you want to LIVE OR DIE? As someone has paid us to kill you. Get back to me now if [...]
February 22nd, 2008 at 10:51 am
Best part of the whole spam: “So I sent my boys to track you down…”
In my head, I was reading the thing with what I’m sure is a completely horrible Nigerian accent. Then I hit this line and suddenly my inner voice was vintage black-and-white Cagney. “Yeah, so I sent my boys to track you down, see?”
February 22nd, 2008 at 11:33 am
Good God!
I thought I had gotten every form of spam, but I didn’t get this.
Yeah, tell ‘em youse gots friends looking after things.
They bettah be careful if dey knose what’s good for ‘em, see?
February 22nd, 2008 at 11:56 am
While the poor spelling takes most of the intimidating edge off the message, hired killers are actually quite likely to have mediocre academic skills.
February 22nd, 2008 at 12:52 pm
Maybe it’s not spam. Maybe it’s a trail-head for an alternate reality game. Screw the police… Report it to argn.com! (OK. Not really. But some trail-heads do tend to look like spam.)
‘mute
February 22nd, 2008 at 3:06 pm
Obviously NASA is getting sick of you exposing their asteroid conspiracies, top secret spy satellite information, and general evil plans, so they’re going to rub you out.
You’re probably not dead yet because of the usual speed and incompetence of government departments.
Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if they already killed three people with the name ‘Philip Plate’, a couple of ‘bad astrologers’, and Adam Savage from Mythbusters.
February 22nd, 2008 at 4:23 pm
Phil,
Speaking as someone in computer security, you’re right to be rather unconcerned. This spam/scam has been circulating for a while, as several have pointed out. Personally, I love getting them. Tracing back through the relays to the original sender is good for a bit of amusement – and sometimes responding to a supposed assassin with “How are you going to kill me from a web cafe in Liberia?” is good for a giggle.
Cheers,
Bagheera
February 22nd, 2008 at 8:55 pm
I am a long time member here and
I’m serious about this web site,
Please check it out…
http://www.419eater.com/
Steve
(and..sorry about the double post above)
February 23rd, 2008 at 6:59 am
“dear hitman, my husband was gunned down in the street, yesterday. And while going through some of his stuff, I came across your email(he printed out your email). I have passed this information onto his bosses( he was quite important in the CIA), just for your information, also I think you should know that I am quite upset right now….”
February 23rd, 2008 at 12:16 pm
This scam has been making the rounds and the Feds are apparently on the case. These people should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law!
February 23rd, 2008 at 12:17 pm
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,332070,00.html
Here is the story on Foxnews.
February 25th, 2008 at 8:30 am
Zaphod said:
“Mr Bad Astronomer, I regret to inform you, but my therapist, a Mr Gag Halfrunt, has asked me to sign the order to have your planet destroyed by Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz of the Hyperspace Planning Council under the guise of requiring a hyperspace bypass through the galactic coordinates ZZ9-PluralZ-Alpha. They have offered to pay me $20,000 (Altarian) to complete this nefarious mission. However I have heard it said by the Learned, Impartial, and Very Relaxed Judiciary Pag that you are actually a bit of a hoopy frood who always knows where his towel is. On this basis, rather than carry out my mission immediately, I have decided to give you a chance to match the offer made by Gag Halfrunt as long as the money is paid into my bar-tab at Millyways before the universe ends.”
Hey, Zaphod, hadn’t you heard? The Altairian dollar has recently collapsed. You should convert all your liquid assets into one of the other freely-convertible currencies, although the choice is a bit tricky. After all, the Flanian Pobble-Bead is only exchangeable for other Flanian Pobble-Beads, and the Trigannic Pu doesn’t really count as money (its exchange rate of eight Ningis to one Pu is simple, but since a Ningi is a triangular rubber coin 6,800 miles along each side, no-one has ever collected enough to own one Pu; Ningis are not negotiable currency because the galactibanks refuse to deal in fiddling small change).
February 26th, 2008 at 5:48 pm
This is one I have just received:
HELLOI am very sorry for you Xxxxxx, is a pity that this is how your life is goingto end as soon as you don’t comply. As you can see there is no need ofintroducing myself to you because I don’t have any business with you, my dutyas I am mailing you now is just to KILL you and I have to do it as I havealready been paid for that.Someone you call a friend wants you Dead by all means, and the person havespent a lot of money on this, the person also came to us and told me that hewanted you dead and he provided us with your name ,picture and other necessaryinformation’s needed about you. So I sent my boys to track you down and theyhave carried out the necessary investigation needed for the operation on you,and they have done that but I told them not to kill you that I will like tocontact you and see if your life is Important to you or not since theirfindings shows that you are innocent.I called my client back and ask him of your email address which I didn’t tellhim what I wanted to do with it and he gave it to me and I am using it tocontact you now. As I am writing to you now my men are monitoring you and theyare telling me everything about you.Now do you want to LIVE OR DIE? As someone has paid us to kill you. Get backto me now if you are ready to pay some fees to spare your life, $4,000 is allyou need to spend You will first of all pay $2,000 then I will send a tape toyou which i recorded every discusion inmade with the person who wanted you dead and as soon as you get the tape, youwill pay the remaining $2,000. If you are not ready for my help, then I willcarry on with my job straight-up.WARNING: DO NOT THINK OF CONTACTING THE POLICE OR EVEN TELLING ANYONE BECAUSEI WILL KNOW.REMEMBER, SOMEONE WHO KNOWS YOU VERY WELL WANT YOU DEAD! I WILLEXTEND IT TO YOUR FAMILY, INCASE I NOTICE SOMETHING FUNNY.DO NOT COME OUT ONCE IT IS 7:PM UNTILL I MAKE OUT TIME TO SEE YOU AND GIVE YOUTHE TAPE OF MY DISCUSSION WITH THE PERSON WHO WANT YOU DEADTHEN YOU CAN USE ITTO TAKE ANY LEGAL ACTION. GOOD LUCK AS I AWAIT YOURREPLY EMAIL..donwilliam59@yahoo.com
February 27th, 2008 at 7:49 am
Lucie, if the person was stupid enough to give his own email address, instead of a random one generated for the purpose, you can forward the note to yahoo and ask them to remove this moron’s account.
March 5th, 2008 at 3:10 am
Two points here:
First: Have you seen the movie “Leon” (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110413/)? That guy could not even write, but he makes a hell of a hit man. So be afraid – very afraid!
Second: I’d say this is spam (it has been reported as such from several sources), but I would report it to the police anyway – if only to make them take the spammer off the (electronic) street.
March 7th, 2008 at 7:22 pm
Content-Length: 4689
SOME ONE YOU KNOW,WANT YOU DEAD.
BE MORE CAREFUL
I am very sorry for you, is a pity that this is how your life is going to end as soon as you don’t comply. As you can see there is no need of introducing myself to you because I don’t have any business with you, my duty as I am mailing you now is just to KILL you and I have to do it as I have already been paid for that.
Someone you call a friend wants you Dead by all means, and the person have spent a lot of money on this, the person also came to us and told me that he want you dead and he provided us with your name ,picture and other necessary information’s we needed about you. So I sent my boys to track you down and they have carried out the necessary investigation needed for the operation on you, and they have done that but I told them not to kill you that I will like to contact you and see if your life is Important to you or not since their findings shows that you are innocent.
I called my client back and ask him of you email address which I didn’t tell him what I wanted to do with it and he gave it to me and I am using it to contact you now. As I am writing to you now my men are monitoring you and they are telling me everything about you.
Now do you want to LIVE OR DIE? As someone has paid us to kill you. Get back to me now if you are ready to pay some fees to spare your life, $8,000 is all you need to spend You will first of all pay $3,000 then I will send the tape to you and when the tape get to you, you will pay the remaining $5,000. If you are not ready for my help, then I will carry on with my job straight-up.
WARNING: DO NOT THINK OF CONTACTING THE POLICE OR EVEN TELL ANYONE BECAUSE I WILL KNOW.REMEMBER, SOMEONE WHO KNOWS YOU VERY WELL WANT YOU DEAD! I WILL EXTEND IT TO YOUR FAMILY, INCASE I NOTICE SOMETHING FUNNY.
DO NOT COME OUT ONCE IT IS 7:PM UNTIL I MAKE OUT TIME TO SEE YOU AND GIVE YOU THE TAPE OF MY DISCUSSION WITH THE PERSON WHO WANT YOU DEAD THEN YOU CAN USE IT TO TAKE ANY LEGAL ACTION. GOOD LUCK AS I AWAIT YOUR REPLY TO THIS E-MAIL CONTACT
Name:william Billy
E-mail:williambilly11@gmail.com
March 13th, 2008 at 4:09 pm
Hi,
I received this email today. Just not funny at all. My husband turned it in to the FBI online. I pray they catch this person.
September 7th, 2010 at 7:22 am
hey i know thid was a long time ago but what did you do?and how can you get the owner of an i.p. adresss?