Advice anyone please? :)
 

I know sweet old lady who co-ordinates a local charity for re-housing of homeless animals. She just wrote to me to ask me about an email she received. I am sure it is a scam, but it is strange that it is written in a more specific way than i have seen before (maybe it was sent to a mailing list?).
Here is what it says :

Good day,
I would like to make a donation to your institution in support of your work in helping the pets. My name is ************* family attorney based in London. A year ago I was diagnosed with lung cancer with less than 18months to live.
I have not been a religious man, but now I am close to God. A priest advised that to find happiness with myself I should use the privileges God has given me to help the less privileged in the Society. I have then decided to make money and gift item donations to three different organizations. That’s why I have contacted you, I hope you accept my kind offering and use my donation to help the pets.
Having said that, I would like to make a donation of US$10,000 and gift items to your organization in support of your work in helping pets up for adoption.
Please get back to me with your address, name and phone number,so I would know how and where to send the payment by check.
Thank you

Am I just too cynical? I think it's pretty clear that it's BS.
What do you think?
The main question I have is how do i tell her in a nice and convincing way, but also how can you report people like this for investigation?

sorry it's a strange/long one :) any views?

Re: Advice anyone please? :)
 

Seems like if it was real, he would have found her business address at the same time as her email address. Never a reason to need a personal address for something like this. Also, he should have provided verifiable contact information for himself.

Re: Advice anyone please? :)
 

yeah, and she's not at an institution.
it makes me sick that someone would prey on a charity :confused:

Re: Advice anyone please? :)
 

Good day,
I would like to make a donation to your institution don't know what it is, don't care in support of your work in <helping the pets> insert generic here. My name is ************* family attorney irrelevant info designed to promote trust based in London. Start heartstrings tug here: A year ago I was diagnosed with lung cancer with less than 18months to live.
I have not been a religious man, but now I am close to God must be trustworthy. A priest advised that to find happiness with myself nne* I should use the privileges God has given me to help the less privileged in the nne* Society. I have then nne* decided to make nne* money and gift item donations to three different organizations. That’s why I have contacted you, I hope you accept my kind nne* offering and use my donation to help the pets. reiterate generic here
Having said that, I would like to make a donation of US$10,000 and gift items the gift that keeps on giving to your organization in support of your work in helping pets up for adoption. re-reiterate
Please get back to suspicious space me with your address, name and phone number if you know the charity, you know the address ,so I would know how and where to send the payment by suspicious space check.
Thank you

*nne: non-native English

Sounds to me like a scam that has been re-edited by another scammer.

Re: Advice anyone please? :)
 

Dut to some "administrative error" the check will be for too much and she will be asked to send the excess back by Western Union. The check, of course, will later bounce.

Re: Advice anyone please? :)
 

Or they will want your bank accout number to pay it in ...

how you still got the original email header ..
we can see where it originated...

Re: Advice anyone please? :)
 

Sorry not of much help but maybe if you contact your local internet service provider they maybe able to point you in the right direction for reporting it and if it is genuine you'll find out through them

Re: Advice anyone please? :)
 

Another give away is that people don't make $10,000 donations without wanting to discuss how it will be spent.

Re: Advice anyone please? :)
 

That's what I'm thinking....and anyway, something like this, if it was on the up, his solicitor would make the contact, and would do so in writing...

Re: Advice anyone please? :)
 

I suppose you could call this a cat scan.....

Re: Advice anyone please? :)
 

A late night in Florida? :D

Re: Advice anyone please? :)
 

****SCAM SCAM SCAM****

Most likely from Nigeria.

Give us the email headers and we'll get the boys round to explain the error of their ways to them, harrasing good folk is just not on.

Re: Advice anyone please? :)
 

If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

Re: Advice anyone please? :)
 

As everyone's pointed out, it's a scam.

More specifically, it uses the exact same generic wording as a rash of around 50 emails I received a couple of months ago. In this particular case they've just made it slightly more targeted. All the "...not a religious man, but now I am close to God" bullshit is identical to the "Nigerian 419 scam" or advance fee emails I received.

Pointless contacting the ISP in my view, given the number of these being sent out.

Re: Advice anyone please? :)
 

Nice one squirrel..............

I would forward it to The Anti Phishing Working Group who's email address is [email protected]