Someone tried to scam me at work......very long

Yesterday was REALLY hectic at work. Just as we thought we had 10 minutes to grab a quick bite the phone rang. It was an IT Relay call (for the hearing impaired for those who are unfamiliar). The operator starts the call & a man introduces himself as William & says his Dad died in a tragic accident on a business trip. I offer my condolences & ask if I can take some information to better assist him. He says please can I email, I am very sad that would be easier. OK....sure. I provide the email. The call ends. (now keep in mind this call lasts about 13 minutes due to the delay factor of the person typing.)


I have a HUGE red flag already in my mind because we were recently informed that a similar call had been made to several other funeral homes.

Anyway....5 minutes later, the same operator calls back from IT Relay. The man needs to confirm the email address. I do so. His responses were very delayed & this call lasts almost 11 minutes.

Anyway.....a little later, I check the email & this is what I get:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
HELLO XXXXXXXX,

HOW ARE YOU DOING TODAY AND THANKS FOR THE CONVERSATION, AM SO SAD TO WRITE THIS MESSAGE CONCERNING MY FATHER DECEASED BODY .IT WAS LAST MONTH MY FATHER SET FOR AN ORIENTATION TRIP TO AFRICA TO PASSED TO CHASE AWAY POVERTY IN AFRICA AND TO BUILD UNITING UNION TO THE PEOPLE IN AFRICA, IT UNSUDDENLY ON HER WAY BACK TO THE STATE SHE HAD AN ACCIDENT WHICH LEAD TO DEATH.HE HIT HIS HEAD ON THE WINDSCREEN OF THE CAR HE'S DRIVING WITH HIS TEAM MEMBER, IT WAS YESTERDAY I WAS GIVEN AN URGENT EMAIL THAT MY DAD HIS DIED, I WAS SO SAD TO HEAR THAT AND THAT BRING SAD MOOD TO ME SINCE YESTERDAY I LOVE HIM SO MUCH. NOW HE HAS PASSED AWAY AND LEFT ME BEHIND, AND I DON'T WANT HIM TO BE BURIED IN AFRICA SO I WILL WANT YOU TO CONTACT THE MUTUARY HIS BODY IS WITH IN ORDER TO ARRANGED SHIPPING WITH THEM AND HOW MY FATHER WILL BE FLIED BACK TO THE STATE AND MAKE THE FINAL BURIAL CEREMONY IN THE STATE. ALTHOUGH I WAS GIVEN THE MORTUARY HERE THE DECEASED INFO AND THE MORTUARY INFORMATION BELOW
DECEASED NAME: JOHN SMITH
DATE OF BIRTH :03/ 24/1950
MORTUARY NAME :OODUA MORTUARY

MORTUARY CONTACT INFORMATION BELOW
TEL:0012348022097591
E-MAIL ADDRESS:[email protected]

AM IN BUSSINESS TRIP NOW IN UNITED KINGDOM THAT IS MORE REASON WHY AM DOING IT THIS WAY I WILL BE EXPECTING YOUR EMAIL AND I WILL RESPOND BACK TO THE EMAIL COS AM WITH MY LAPTOP 24 HOURS THIS TIME AND MAKE SURE YOU GET IN TOUCH WITH THE WITH THE MORTUARY OKAY

BILL SMITH

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Notice the poor grammar, the discrepancy of the her & she & he & him.

So anyway....obviously I don't reply, but from speaking with some others in the business, it seems this scam is to try to get some poor, unsuspecting, good hearted funeral home to lay out $$$$$ to this South African Funeral Home. And then .....POOF ... there goes their $$$$$ lost to this scam.


This is a new low in scamming. The only thing worse is when the elderly get scammed

Re: Someone tried to scam me at work......very long

this is disgusting!

These "poor grammar" emails irk the crap out of me, and I delete them right away..

Ive gotten them several times when trying to sell something or give something away.

Re: Someone tried to scam me at work......very long

Besides that ..........this person is pretending to be DEAF on top of trying to scam $$$$ from someone

Re: Someone tried to scam me at work......very long

Did he actually use John Smith as his dad's name?

Azzholes.

Message edited 8/10/2007 10:41:30 PM.

Re: Someone tried to scam me at work......very long

That is horrible!!!!

Re: Someone tried to scam me at work......very long

I am so sorry you experienced that...

like you don't have enough

as I have said in the past, how you do it in the first place is amazing to me...you are amazing

Re: Someone tried to scam me at work......very long

I was watching this show on this on Oprah the other day. HORRIBLE!

Re: Someone tried to scam me at work......very long

I am horrified that someone one do that.

Re: Someone tried to scam me at work......very long

No.....he didn't actually USE John Smith!!! I figured incase this dillhole ever googled his name he used, it wouldn't show up at least!!!!!