Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Hyeon Een]

Recently my brother was trying to sell a brand new $1000 sofa via the internet. He got an email from someone asking to pay by cheque (check) and was a little suspicious. The following emails ensued and its worth reading because the swindler actually replied after being caught out:

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[email protected]

i am interested in purchasing the sofa i see the price is worth would u accept checks pls...pls get back to me asap cheers

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Hi there - thanks for your response.

I would except a cheque, yes. However as you can probably appreciate I would not be able to hand over the sofa until it cleared! That ok with you?

Thanks

-[brother]

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I have no reservation about that i dont think anybody will ask for less Anyway i am a diplomat i just got a new posting to australia and i would be leaving in 2days time so i will issue a check to include the shipping charge to australia with the rest of my stuff the check would be for 9000 pounds so when it clears u send the rest to the shipping agency who will select a covenient day for pick up ok so i would need your address and name the name should be written in can u confirm the price pls

Cheers

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Dear Ashley

My sincerest apologies if I am at all wrong but your serial code-like email address and the generic message you have written below seems a lot like you might be one of those cheeky chaps from somewhere like Nigeria who is looking to swindle me out of some money. Additionally, your email does not mention the product you are buying or even suggest that you are aware of the price that was stated (twice) in the advert. Furthermore, I stressed this was a "pick up only" affair I am afraid, and I really would prefer cash.

However, if you are genuine please do turn up in person with the agreed sum of $1,000,000 (in unmarked bills - having made sure you weren't followed). To show my appreciation I will happily roll out the red carpet and greet you at the end of my road wearing the most stylish German lederhosen I can get my hands on - What's more, I'll even pop the kettle on for you and recite useful tidbits from the Oxford English Book Of grammar as we simply can't have high-flying diplomats of your calibre continuing to write such sloppy emails when you are in Australia can we? - OR do you government fat cats have diplomatic immunity to typos these days?

*Best Columbo voice* One more thing - you ARE aware that for the price it will cost to ship this heavy sofa to Australia you could buy two more when you get there AND have enough left over to ensure they were personally delivered to your front door by Skippy the Kangeroo and Bouncer the dog?

Please let me know if you wish to proceed further with this matter.

Yours sincerely

Mr Sofa Gettit

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Yea you are right but dont blme me i have to eek out a living in a place where there is no proper job an a place where the fu***ng west has exploited anyway your mail was cheeky i enjoye reaing it.......i pay my way through school for a better future so dont entirely blame me,what i do is wrong,have u ever been swindle like these before?

cheers

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Wow � I wasn�t actually expecting a response from that email. I have not been swindled my self, no but two of my friends have recently had their Hotmail and Ebay accounts hijacked.

Yeah I heard the West was up to that sort of thing� so sorry about that. On the bright side though our tireless exploitation has meant you have the internet. You say you are doing this to pay for schooling, right? Well since you have access to the net AND you can read, why not trying a site such as this free online schooling one? http://www.free-ed.net/free-ed/ - At least you can get something back from the West this way I guess.

Anyway, best of luck with the swindling Ashley � maybe try using a spell checker and perhaps try making your emails a bit more client / victim-specific? � You�ll be richer than Bill Gates in no time!

Yours sincerely

-[brother]

P.S I have never had a pen pal before

[Sleepy in Seoul]

Ha ha ha Very funny!! Great sense of humour from your brother

[Ilsanman]

I will do something like this in the future. Very cool.

[Young FRANKenstein]

Two words: ebola monkeyman

(or is it three? they spell it as one, though...errgh!)

[Rae]

That was great Did she write back?

[Gladiator]

Very witty.

Your brother should have been a contributor for that website "The Lads from Lagos" where members of the public fought back against the Nigerian 411 scammers by wasting their time, teasing them or leading them on in myriad different ways. In one hilarious case, somebody asked for money by a 411 crook successfully persuaded the scammer to be photographed wearing an embarassing T shirt that read "I Love Well Endowed Sailors" (or something like that) as one of the conditions for receiving payment.

[normalcyispasse]

[kermo]

The videos section on that website is the greatest thing I've ever seen. I HIGHLY recommend the Dead Parrot Sketch and the Stunt Man Audition tapes (performed by scammers.)

http://www.419eater.com/html/video.htm