[Ads-l] OT: The Nigerian Scam revisited

[Robin Hamilton]

What caught me (and not being an American citizen, I prolly miss out on letters
from the IRS) was the intimidation aspect of a variant of the Nigerian 419 [to
give it its full title] Scam.

Margaret -- was the email you reference linked to the 419 scam, or another form
of scamming/spamming?

Larry -- your version sounds like the standard 419 version, long running and
much loved.  Or am I missing something?

As it stands, I may be the first recipient of an email which is the unholy
offspring of a fake IRS demand and the Nigerian Scam.

Fame at last!

Robin

(Incidentally, is there anywhere an analysis of the lexicogrammar of a typical
419 email?  I'm especially intrigued by the varieties of religious experience
adduced in some of them.  And the ambulance-chasing aspect [which may be a
different issue], whereby virtually every civil disaster seems to [within days]
be followed by plaintive letters from Innocent Civilians who find untold
millions of their [whatever denomination] dollars trapped, and would appreciate
my assistance in liberating said currency.  R.)

> 
>     On 02 October 2016 at 16:50 Dave Hause <dwhause at CABLEMO.NET> wrote:
> 
> 
>     You're not alone, although I haven't had this specific version. Obscene
>     ending, but here is a fine counter-harassment of one of these jerks.
>     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuVFcizDwqw
>     Dave Hause
>     -----Original Message-----
>     From: Robin Hamilton
>     Sent: Sunday, October 2, 2016 10:06 AM
>     To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>     Subject: OT: The Nigerian Scam revisited
> 
>     I've just had an email (which my ISP rightly decided, with acute disdain,
> to
>     relegate to my Spam folder) threatening [sic!] me with legal action from
>     everyone from the IRS to the United Nations, if I don't send them at least
> a
>     token payment on an overdue debt.
> 
>     I don't remember coming on this particular variant on an old-established
>     ritual
>     before.
> 
>     Anyone else had one of these? Or am I the only sad person on this list who
>     checks their Spam folder?
> 
>     Robin
> 
>     ------------------------------------------------------------
>     The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> 

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org