There are few topics more fun than talking about the boneheads who insist on filling our email boxes with stupidity! From the Nigerian scam letters, offering us a share in millions of dollars sitting in surplus accounts to women claiming they need help with their deceased husband’s estates, if you have an email address you’ve read them all. Sadly, before the Internet, the physical letters were at least fun to collect because of the stamps.
I pulled a screen shot of part of a new one, at least for me, I received a few weeks ago. It came with a subject line telling me my American Express card had been blocked, but it was pretty obvious this wasn’t even close to what Amex would have sent out.
- The first typo – they missed the word “starting”. Also, EVERY American Express card starts with “37”.
- I don’t have American Express Blue
- Why capitalize all but two words in the sentence?
- American express is always capitalized – both words.
- Lastly, they missed the plural on “member.”
The rest of the email was loaded with typos and they’ve now sent it to me twice. It never made it to me directly, but was worth sharing from my spam box.
So, here’s my thought today – There’s nothing worse than a lazy scam artist. Is it time to start a Kickstarter campaign to help them raise money to subscribe to Grammarly.com? I just feel if they’re going to fill my mailbox with trash then at least make it a challenge. Reading their emails, even if you never got “A’s” in English, is like being stuck in a pediatrician’s office, and the only thing to look at is the “Where’s Waldo?” puzzles in a children’s magazine. Finding a scammer’s mistakes are just as entertaining.
On a serious note – any scams you do get regarding American Express, just forward to spoof@americanexpress.com.
Wishing everybody a scamless day and a terrific July 4th weekend!
SkipCohenUniversity – SCU Blog
