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Oceanside Pier, thirty seconds

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Scammed?

I may have been played successfully for the sap today. I got a Facebook chat message from a good friend who announced that he was in deep shit. He was in a foreign country, the one my real friend is supposed to be this week.

He had been mugged last night of wallet, cash and phone. I asked what I could do to help and agreed to western union funds to him in London. Except that you can't claim without an i.d. of course so it would have to go to the hotel manager. Following me?

I sends the five hundred large plus pays the hefty fee. I email him back on an unfamiliar yahoo email address that bears his true name in the prefix side. What do you call that side of an email address anyway?

***

Now the name of my friend has disappeared from Facebook. I am noticing small inconsistencies in the letter, control questions where I never got an adequate answer. Is my friend actually stranded in Europe or have I been the victim of a beautiful Facebook takeover and the resultant elaborate scam? The woman at Western Union had cautioned me about scams originating from the continent. So simple really, with gullible me...

I just got this note that the money had been received. Would an actual scammer bother to write back a note?


Thanks a lot for all your effort in getting me back home.. I just got the money now and i will be in the next available flight back to the state.
I owe you a lot.
***

I await the fate of this personal conundrum with bated breath and rapt attention. If I am the victim of a dastardly ruse, I will know that I am not the first man to be punked while coming to the aid of his fellow.

Faithfully,


4 comments:

Anonymous said...

As you can see at this link, there are three levels of stupidity; moron, imbecile, and idiot. You would probably qualify as a moron, but certainly not an idiot.
http://www.threes.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2392%3Aiq-t...est-3-levels-of-stupidity&catid=70%3Ascience&Itemid=52

WildBill said...

No good deed goes unpunished...

I hope your friend isn't or wasn't in trouble.

Google "Facebook chat scam" or "Facebook email scam"

A long time friend of my wife received a late light call from her "grandson" who was in jail in Canada. "Please Grandma, don't tell Mom and Dad." In the stress of the moment she didn't recognize the voice wasn't her grandson and sent the "officer" a $1000. Real grandson was home in bed sleeping.

We also just got an email from another acquaintance "visiting London" in the same unfortunate situation as your friend. It was bogus.

These scumbags are parasitic vermin. Sorry if you got scammed, good for you if you helped a friend.

Anonymous said...

Robert-
The FB block: Was it something I said?
If so, sorry about that.
Otherwise, WTF??
-Ed

Blue Heron said...

No Ed, I deactivated my facebook account entirely. You I will miss. I think that I am better off blogging. This incident today took the wind out of my sails.