Last week I received an e-mail (bcc'd) from someone in the "United State". She is on her deathbed, she says, and ready to bestow the sum of 3.8 million USD so that I, a complete stranger, may do charity work in my country. This was her late husband's dream, and, more than that, it's God's work. She offers 15% of that 3.8 million to the recipient.
My reply, as "Edgar Tomlinson", is heavy with sarcasm, but it seems to go right over the scammer's head. So I decide to have a bit of fun.
"Please, call me Ed. Everyone knows me as just Ed."
The scammer asks for a photo.
(This is where one of my favourite websites comes in: thispersondoesnotexist.com. Every time you refresh the page, the website generates a new face.)
Edgar Tomlinson is an usher at his 20-member church, Rapture Full Gospel Assembly outside Gimli, Manitoba. Edgar has already told his pastor Carl Schwartz, and he's very interested in this offer.
The photo Edgar provides is from the 2019 church directory. They didn't produce a 2020 church directory, Edgar explains to the scammer, because Rodney Glaser died. Rodney was always in charge of those things.
The scammer tells Edgar to contact a phony bank to get the money transferred. (It's pretty obvious where this is going - the victim has to pay an advance fee to get the promised amount, then never hears back from the scammer.)
But suddenly, an emergency. Ursula Brinker, the 96-year-old shut-in church matriarch, has fallen ill. She's been taken to hospital, and Edgar, in his office as church usher, has to be there with her.
Silence.
Then the scammer gets an e-mail.
It's from Pastor Karl Schwartz. (To Karl's immense frustration, Edgar always spells his name with a "C".) It turns out Edgar didn't log out of his e-mail account at the church, and Karl wants in. And he wants Edgar out.
"WHY YOU GIVE THE MONEY TO EDGAR?"
(Karl is an immigrant from the DDR.)
Now, the scammer is convinced that Karl Schwartz is "the right parson for this work".
"Don't tell Edgar," the scammer writes.
The story continues...
My reply, as "Edgar Tomlinson", is heavy with sarcasm, but it seems to go right over the scammer's head. So I decide to have a bit of fun.
"Please, call me Ed. Everyone knows me as just Ed."
The scammer asks for a photo.
(This is where one of my favourite websites comes in: thispersondoesnotexist.com. Every time you refresh the page, the website generates a new face.)
Edgar Tomlinson is an usher at his 20-member church, Rapture Full Gospel Assembly outside Gimli, Manitoba. Edgar has already told his pastor Carl Schwartz, and he's very interested in this offer.
The photo Edgar provides is from the 2019 church directory. They didn't produce a 2020 church directory, Edgar explains to the scammer, because Rodney Glaser died. Rodney was always in charge of those things.
The scammer tells Edgar to contact a phony bank to get the money transferred. (It's pretty obvious where this is going - the victim has to pay an advance fee to get the promised amount, then never hears back from the scammer.)
But suddenly, an emergency. Ursula Brinker, the 96-year-old shut-in church matriarch, has fallen ill. She's been taken to hospital, and Edgar, in his office as church usher, has to be there with her.
Silence.
Then the scammer gets an e-mail.
It's from Pastor Karl Schwartz. (To Karl's immense frustration, Edgar always spells his name with a "C".) It turns out Edgar didn't log out of his e-mail account at the church, and Karl wants in. And he wants Edgar out.
"WHY YOU GIVE THE MONEY TO EDGAR?"
(Karl is an immigrant from the DDR.)
Now, the scammer is convinced that Karl Schwartz is "the right parson for this work".
"Don't tell Edgar," the scammer writes.
The story continues...
