Silly Spammer, no biscuit...

[curiouswombat]

What fun - I have just received an e-mail from Department of Revenue,Ministry of Finance Government of United Kingdom to tell me that I am eligible to receive a tax refund of 988.50 GBP!!

I would just have to click a link, fill in my details, and wait three or four days for them to process it all. Fancy!

Only problem - I don't pay UK tax, being Manx... Silly Spammer.

(As well as the British Government not being the 'Government of United Kingdom', not having a 'Department of Revenue,Ministry of Finance' - and if they did they'd probably know how to use spaces after commas... and the £ sign...)

Comments

[clodia-metelli.livejournal.com]

How sad for you to miss out like that, all because you don't pay UK tax! I can forward the email sent to me recently by a nice bent Natwest accountant, if you want. ;)

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Ooh - tempting...!!

[talesofsnape.livejournal.com]

And even if you were a UK taxpayer, for the majority of the population their tax is all sort out via PAYE. There would have to be something way out of the ordinary to be getting that sort of refund.

D'oh!

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

We have PAYE and do still get refunds - but not quite like that!!

[sockmonkeyhere.livejournal.com]

LMAO! I love getting letters like that. I never realized that I was the close personal friend of so many Nigerian princesses! The only thing that mars my amusement over those con game e-mails is that I know some foolish people actually believe them and are being robbed.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Yes - and the number of times Egg bank want me to update my details for them - you might almost think I had an account with them!

But you're right - to me the description of who they were was so false that even if I actually paid UK tax I would have realised - but some people are taken in, which is very sad.

[vilajunkie.livejournal.com]

Only a Granny Weatherwax could see through that sort of headology! :D

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Yep - I still have my inner Granny W to call on!

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

It is a new tack this one, and I can see that there could well be people taken in by it - especially as it is possible to fill in the form on-line... but it did give me the giggles.

[elsaf]

I won the Swiss, Irish and UK lotteries last week! A true long shot, since I never bought a ticket for any of them. But they say I won for my email address, so it must be true!

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

But they say I won for my email address, so it must be true!

But of course - I've just been watching them pull out e-mail addresses on the Lottery Draw...

[patientbear.livejournal.com]

*FAIL*
headdesk

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

It's the most amusing bit of spam I've had for a while!

[arclevel.livejournal.com]

LOL. Those are always entertaining. Also, of course, the government (of any country) is in the habit of contacting it's people to remind them that, "Oh, we owe you money! Please don't forget! We would hate to have to keep it for you."

I, OTOH, really *am* getting impressive refunds this year. Impressive enough that it works about to nearly a third of last year's income. But that's because last year's income was nowhere *near* enough to live off, and my government feels sorry for me. And despite that, and probably unlike most people in my financial situation, I have a really good accountant. (Thanks, Mommy!)

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

My daughter gets back more than she paid each year - which is rather cool. But they certainly don't e-mail her - they just send her out a cheque in the post.

[cbtreks.livejournal.com]

Does your daughter have to fill in a form and figure out deductions and exemptions and such to get her refund?

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

It takes her about ten minutes - the form is two pages long and all she needs is the slip from the agency she temps for in the summer saying how much she earned and how much tax she paid (which they are legally obliged to give her at the end of the period of employment) and the reference for the covenant from S2C and I.

[cbtreks.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a Form 1040EZ here. I get curious as to how simple or complicated taxes are in other countries.

[inzilbeth-liz.livejournal.com]

Umm, these do seem rather amateurish conmen!

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

I have seen better...

[bojojoti.livejournal.com]

For a while, I was the beneficiary of so many wealthy dead people, but all my relatives seem to have died out, and I haven't received any notices of a grand inheritance lately.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Oh dear. Perhaps all your rich relatives squandered their money playing international lotteries?

[nutmeg3.livejournal.com]

The scary thing is that there are obviously people dumb enough to fall for this crap or the spammers would have given up by now. *sigh*

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

It is sad - they only need one or two for them to be well into profit.

[ozma914.livejournal.com]

I keep winning the British lottery. I don't even play the *US* lottery!

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Whereas I do play the UK lottery and I can't manage a win... weird that!

[ozma914.livejournal.com]

maybe you should try playing an American lottery?

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Nah - I'll just wait till they e-mail me and let me know I've won!

[ozma914.livejournal.com]

Should be any day now!

[spikereader.livejournal.com]

I rarely look at my spam email these days - it just goes directly into a spam filter and I delete it all without looking. Besides, my member's big enough as it is, and I have no wish to marry a lovely young Russian lady at the moment. :D

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Most of mine is blocked by our mail service, and the rest by the Windows spam blocker - but I check it sometimes as it does occasionally derail things.

Oddly, I am below some of the spammers' radar - I rarely get offered appendage enlargers - but have been offered the occasional Russian bride...

[keswindhover.livejournal.com]

I thought the 50p at the end of the £998 was a nice touch, for added authenticity.

Like the other posters, I'd laugh if I didn't know that some gullible older people, especially, fall for this sort of thing.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

The 50p does show a little thought, doesn't it? This one is sadly going to catch some people - but I was not a good target...