curiouswombat: (GrannyW)
curiouswombat ([personal profile] curiouswombat) wrote2010-03-13 07:57 pm
Entry tags:

Silly Spammer, no biscuit...

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...)

[identity profile] clodia-metelli.livejournal.com 2010-03-13 08:04 pm (UTC)(link)
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. ;)

[identity profile] talesofsnape.livejournal.com 2010-03-13 08:18 pm (UTC)(link)
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!

[identity profile] sockmonkeyhere.livejournal.com 2010-03-13 08:26 pm (UTC)(link)
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.

[identity profile] vilajunkie.livejournal.com 2010-03-13 08:26 pm (UTC)(link)
Only a Granny Weatherwax could see through that sort of headology! :D

[identity profile] curiouswombat.livejournal.com 2010-03-13 08:31 pm (UTC)(link)
Ooh - tempting...!!

[identity profile] curiouswombat.livejournal.com 2010-03-13 08:33 pm (UTC)(link)
We have PAYE and do still get refunds - but not quite like that!!

[identity profile] curiouswombat.livejournal.com 2010-03-13 08:37 pm (UTC)(link)
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.

[identity profile] curiouswombat.livejournal.com 2010-03-13 08:37 pm (UTC)(link)
Yep - I still have my inner Granny W to call on!

[identity profile] curiouswombat.livejournal.com 2010-03-13 08:39 pm (UTC)(link)
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: (Default)

[personal profile] elsaf 2010-03-13 09:13 pm (UTC)(link)
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!

[identity profile] curiouswombat.livejournal.com 2010-03-13 09:37 pm (UTC)(link)
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...

[identity profile] patientbear.livejournal.com 2010-03-13 09:42 pm (UTC)(link)
*FAIL*
headdesk

[identity profile] curiouswombat.livejournal.com 2010-03-13 09:46 pm (UTC)(link)
It's the most amusing bit of spam I've had for a while!

[identity profile] arclevel.livejournal.com 2010-03-13 10:00 pm (UTC)(link)
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!)

[identity profile] curiouswombat.livejournal.com 2010-03-13 10:12 pm (UTC)(link)
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.

[identity profile] cbtreks.livejournal.com 2010-03-14 12:46 am (UTC)(link)
Does your daughter have to fill in a form and figure out deductions and exemptions and such to get her refund?

[identity profile] inzilbeth-liz.livejournal.com 2010-03-14 01:00 am (UTC)(link)
Umm, these do seem rather amateurish conmen!

[identity profile] bojojoti.livejournal.com 2010-03-14 01:11 am (UTC)(link)
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.

[identity profile] nutmeg3.livejournal.com 2010-03-14 02:03 am (UTC)(link)
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*

[identity profile] ozma914.livejournal.com 2010-03-14 08:31 am (UTC)(link)
I keep winning the British lottery. I don't even play the *US* lottery!

[identity profile] curiouswombat.livejournal.com 2010-03-14 10:19 am (UTC)(link)
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.

[identity profile] curiouswombat.livejournal.com 2010-03-14 10:21 am (UTC)(link)
I have seen better...

[identity profile] curiouswombat.livejournal.com 2010-03-14 10:22 am (UTC)(link)
Oh dear. Perhaps all your rich relatives squandered their money playing international lotteries?

[identity profile] curiouswombat.livejournal.com 2010-03-14 10:23 am (UTC)(link)
It is sad - they only need one or two for them to be well into profit.

[identity profile] curiouswombat.livejournal.com 2010-03-14 10:23 am (UTC)(link)
Whereas I do play the UK lottery and I can't manage a win... weird that!

[identity profile] ozma914.livejournal.com 2010-03-14 10:51 am (UTC)(link)
maybe you should try playing an American lottery?

[identity profile] curiouswombat.livejournal.com 2010-03-14 12:39 pm (UTC)(link)
Nah - I'll just wait till they e-mail me and let me know I've won!

[identity profile] spikereader.livejournal.com 2010-03-14 12:47 pm (UTC)(link)
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

[identity profile] cbtreks.livejournal.com 2010-03-14 03:17 pm (UTC)(link)
Sounds like a Form 1040EZ here. I get curious as to how simple or complicated taxes are in other countries.

[identity profile] curiouswombat.livejournal.com 2010-03-14 05:30 pm (UTC)(link)
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...

[identity profile] ozma914.livejournal.com 2010-03-15 05:12 am (UTC)(link)
Should be any day now!

[identity profile] keswindhover.livejournal.com 2010-03-15 08:30 am (UTC)(link)
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.

[identity profile] curiouswombat.livejournal.com 2010-03-15 12:27 pm (UTC)(link)
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...