These days, mine usually start like this one, from "Olga Smirnova":
Hi, my name is Olga, I'm from a small city in Russia. I am 24 years old. I like you very much
I want to know more about you and hope to become a good friends.
Let's talk
While the level of English comprehension has soared over the decades, the scam remains the same. I have my spam filters set high, and this example actually came from my spam file. I rarely see these in my emails.
The very newest trick is for someone using a nubile young girl's photo to request that you become their Facebook friend, after which spammers and scammers get your real friends' contact info and start slamming out the messages.
And of course I get the ubiquitous phone calls from "Rachel at cardholder services." I once dialed through and told them my number had been on Do Not Call for 8 years. The woman said, "Oh yeah? Well, because you told me that, we're going to call you twice a day, every day, for the next month!" And they did. They rotate through phone numbers so fast, it will make your head spin. Nothing anyone can do to stop it, apparently. I even wrote my Congressmen and Senators. They sent me back a form email.
http://www.bbb.org/new-orleans/news...14/07/beware-rachel-from-cardholder-services/
They paid up $700,000 to people who lost money (
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news/rachel-from-cardholder-services-pays-up-011615.html), but that doesn't stop the scam. There's a new girl now, a Carmen or some such.
And then there's "Hello seniors!"
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-913-674-8956/5
They change their number all the time, too. Fact is, if you do business online, you are going to fall prey to these people eventually. And have your credit card ripped off, too. Let's see, counting Target, I am up to three times on that. Oh, and my health insurer just informed me that an accounting firm it contracted with had let my Social Security number get stolen.
Yet people fight about protecting their privacy. As the old farmer says, "That horse dun left the barn!"
