Dodgy emails ransom demand 😂

[Anthilda]

Opened an email in my junk folder which says they know all my passwords (and possibly did guess one of them). It didn't display a list just the one that I think they've guessed. Now I'm being held to ransom! If I dont give them $1000 ALL of my personal info will be displayed online, along with photos and messages.
Ok so I've checked my little book of important passwords and the one they mentioned is not in there. At first I was a a bit worried but you know what? I don't even have $100 in my account so I'm stuffed arent I?
I actually think it's quite funny tbh. Of all the people in the world they picked someone boring and skint ha.
I actually think though, that others could be quite worried about this or be duped. I wonder how common these types of email are? I've had the PayPal, tvlisence, bank account spam emails but never something like this .

I got one to my work account and immediately sent it to our Cyber team. So if anyone IS genuinely worried - you have not been hacked. It IS a scam and was probably linked to data breaches going back to 2016 eg LinkedIn etc.

I've had a couple recently and they have quoted passwords I've used so had to change everything . How do they get the passwords??

Quicken, take a look at my shapes.

Ha that cracked me up!

Has somebody been learning English by reading Chaucer?! Either that or it's some creepy baby's sorting toy with built-in audible encouragement module, designed by somebody with English as a 4th language.

Somebody will have that as a username before the night is through - mark my words.

Personally I have such a soft spot for Nigerian Princes swoon

My absolute favourite spam email was from someone mysteriously just called ‘the man’ and it read:

Good Afteenoon,

I’m writing you to make haste and transfer the money owed to your grandfather for his release from hospital. We cannot allow him to leave until you have paid us the 5,670USD. Do not attempt to phone call him because he is not conscious.

I replied ‘if he’s not conscious you should probably keep him in hospital. It’s for the best anyway that he’s not up and about, since he’s been dead 3 years’

@CorBlimeyGovenor, I know, I really should learn to control myself 😂

I never get anything like this. Snot fair.

I am just howling! Do not attempt to phone call him because he is not conscious!Brilliant.

Mrsgrindah you need to get yourself signed up for some local newsletters from tiny websites. They have rubbish data security, so they get hacked a lot and that’s how you end up with a Nigerian prince of your very own

I get looooooads. You’ve made me go spam diving now to find some good ones to post

I resurrected an old desktop PC that hadn't been used for years (last with a dial-up modem, iirc) and the instant I got it online, ready to install Kaspersky on it, I got a trojan that locked the screen with a message 'from the Metropolitan Police'.

Apparently, I'd been downloading child abuse images of the worst kind and so my PC had been locked pending due justice procedures.

Well, it didn't use the phrase 'due justice procedures' - it seems I could pay £3,000 (or whatever it was) to the police via Ukash and I would be exonerated and free to go. British justice: best in the world, eh?

I had to download a trojan killer on another computer, put it on a memory stick, keep jabbing at F1 (or is it one of the other function keys - I forget?!) on the infected PC the instant I switched it on and interrupt the BIOS before it booted up as far as the scam lock screen, then locate the dodgy file and delete it.

I can't imagine many people would be taken in by it, but I expect a lot of people without much IT knowledge, although not fooled by their tale, would have seen no alternative but to pay up.

I am inundated with women wanting me to have sex with them and they are only 3 miles away. Shame I'm a woman and straight but hey ho you can't have it all!

Get in queue ladies and gents. The HMRC are our to get me too! In fact I had until end of day to reply.

So until ive been got you'll all have to wait your turn

I've also had my password held to ransom - for a site I've never even heard of let alone used!

This one was a while ago but also a personal favourite:

Hello Mrs Clare (not my name)

This is the CEO of British Gas. We have recently become aware that your house has a dangerous gas leak which is poisoning your plants and animals.

This is dangerous and you can die. Please call us on XXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (insanely long number) to arrange a visit from one of our professionals. The call out fee is £459 and you can pay this in the phone when you call us.

Call us quickly before the death of your plants and animals.

Sincerely,

Mr Tony Wright (not the CEO of British gas)

The IRS are after me! I may have to go on the run. Oh no I can't as my road tax payment has been refused. Never mind, I'll just chill with a bit of telly. Buggeration, the TV Licencung Board are OUTSIDE MY HOUSE NOW!!!!

I read somewhere that the scammers treat it as a serious business and use psychology when designing their messages, right down to the deliberate spelling and grammar errors.

They want any 'non-live ones' who won't go the full distance to handing over money or bank details to fall at the first fence. From their pov, you're simply a waste of their time if you go along with it but then get to a point where you smell a rat and then back out without (for them) success.

They only want people to reply who are gullible enough to go the whole way, so they deliberately put obvious clues in there to discourage people with any savvy whatsoever from ever responding in the first place.

Encouraged by this thread I’ve just checked my junk mail. Lucky me I can, amongst other things, have cheap liposuction, shrink my prostate, enlarge my willy & cure my erectile dysfunction. I also have lots of offers of cheap Atlantic salmon

Getterfeck Stop it! I’m in creases here!

Just discovered something none of you Nigerian princes can offer. I know you’re all jealous & no I won’t share

Crikey, heaps of salmon and no more erectile dysfunction!

Sounds like a good night in.

A brilliant book about reeling scammers in is "Delete this at your peril, the Bob Servant emails". I couldn't work out if he was real or not but I'dlove to spend my time doing what he did if pesky work didn't take up my days.

Mind you, the best are those pointless JP Montfort ones inviting you to summits etc.

Apparently JP Montfort is a real person who is very proud that he can spam professionals' inboxes.

The dastardly villain! And he can only be defeated by......... clicking the "block sender" button

Ok so I've just checked some previous ones I had and so far I've won a Dyson Hoover, had my Netflix account suspended, I'm unable to renew my tv licence and a woman called Ashley wants to meet for sex

My husband and I are quite the practical jokers and one of the reasons I get so many spam emails if because he likes to sign me up to random online newsletters. He’s diabolical.

I do get my revenge however, since I use his email address to sign random change.org petitions and ALWAYS tick ‘update me in this petition’.. it all started when he inadvertently used my phone number to enquire about a PPI claim and 4 years later I was still getting phone calls at 2pm every day.

HMRC are going to arrest me too. Judging by this thread, they are going to be busy.

Also BT have been monitoring my WiFi and have detected 6 other people using it. I need to contact them otherwise I'm going to be disconnected.

t.co/UIgX5hgZLd (hope link works) 😂