Today's silly ad inquiry

[Phil Herring]

As you may know, we filter inquiries to our classified ads to block obvious scammers. Some days it's pretty entertaining. Today, for example, we received a number of these:[snip]I introduce my company "Online Sales Agency". We are a Medium Sales Agent and we have wide clientales of expacts coming to Europe for the first time and are looking for good and standard used items..We are trusted by our customers cos they are sure of walking home with a good bargain.. In this vane I seek to purchase your product you placed this offer on the internet can I know the last price offer?I hope it is in good excellent working condition..I would like to see a pics of this item..your response is ardently needed for us to forge ahead..Do get back to me as soon as you see my mail...Thanks mavinharry2006@yahoo.com[/snip]I especially like 'clientales.' It sounds like the stories we used to tell at the ad agency. And please note your response is ardently needed.-ph

 

[Jim Rushing]

Gee!

It sounds just like that "you just won a million dollars. Please send your banking information so we can deposite it".

 

[Big Windy]

Scams

There are lots of scams out there. I had an attempted scam last June when my boat was for sale on several web sites. I received an email (very poor grammar and spelling), stating the writer was a broker and had a party lined up to buy my boat. No, he did not even want to look at it. The broker was to send me a check for $14,000, $5,000 more than the asking price. In turn, I was to send the shipper $5,000 to pay to have it moved. The broker sent a registered letter with a very good looking check for $14,000. It was written on the River Hills Bank with branches in Vicksburg and Port Gibson, Mississippi. When I called the bank, naturally, they had no account with the number or the name as listed on the check. The lady asked if I had sent them any money (apparently some people had) and where the letter originated. When I told her "Nigeria" she said they had received several similar complaints. I faxed her copies of the check and the envelope and she said the FDIC and FBI had been notified. If it sounds too good to be true...it probably is.

 

[Jim Seamans]

Phi, would purhase youre site $14,000,000

Ok?

 

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

My favorite...for real...

It appeared in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:"SINGLE BLACK FEMALE Seeks male companionship, ethnicity unimportant. I'm a very good lookinggirl who LOVES to play. I love long walks in thewoods, riding in your pickup truck, hunting, camping, and fishing trips, cozy winter nights lying by the fire. Candlelight dinners will have me eating out of your hand. I'll be at the front door when you get home from work, wearing only what nature gave me.Call (404) 875-6420 and ask for Daisy. I'll be waiting."More than 15,000 men found themselves talking to the Atlanta Humane Society about an 8-week-old black Labrador retriever.

 

[Tim C350 April IV]

"419" scams

Came across the link below on another sailing site - again someone was talking about being offered way more than asking price - if they would only send $money now.The site is about some folks who have made a hobby out of stringing along some of the "nigerian royalty", etc that have been sending us all the letters. Some pretty amusing stuff - in particular when they get them to pose with pictures and return them.Tim BroganApril IV C350 #68Seattle

 

[Don]

If you think "ardently" is good...

the following is an ACTUAL reply that I received from Dell's customer service today. It's almost incomprehensible and the dates and information are completely wrong and illogical. I am astounded that they let this sort of thing get out. And people here blast Hunter on customer support issues....."Thank you for contacting Dell eSupport and Services (ESS). We appreciatethe opportunity to assist you. I assure you it is our hope that you havea positive experience with our company. I understand your concern.I would have loved to replace the Screws of the system , however as the system warranty has expired on 2004-08-03 and the case was reported on 2003-07-14 , this is difficult for me to set up as my system wont allow this , your contacts field is red which wont allow me to do a dispatch as this is a Policy supported software i work on .If you wish to install the part by purchasing it , You can purchase spare parts and accessories for your Dell system by contacting our spare parts section at 1-800-357-3355 for ordering the required part for your system. Unfortunately, Technical Support does not have access to pricing or detailed product information. For assistance on this issue, please contact our Sales Department at 1-800-357-3355 and a sales representative will gladly assist you.We assure you our best support all the time.Thank you for choosing Dell."

 

[Dave4823]

Call Centers

This is what you get when you take your call center off shore. Get use to it!