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Idiotic Phishing Attempt

I just got an email from the "IRS" with the below content:

We are pleased to inform you that upon reviewing your fiscal activity, we have determined that you are eligible to receive a tax refund of $439,54.

To access the online form for your tax refund, please click here

Your Individual Taxpayer Identification Number: 217 53 3569

Needless to say, that's not my social. I didn't go to the site, but I assume that they ask you to verify the SSN, so they can harvest it. But what kind of moron would be fooled by a letter that doesn't even seem to understand the proper format for numbering in the English language?

 
 

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8 Comments

minutiae wrote:

Not that it's any less idiotic, but Euroweenies use a comma in place of the decimal point, and a dot instead of a comma. Thus, $1,273.41 becomes $1.273,41. Brilliant, no?

Rand Simberg wrote:

So you think they meant to say $439.54? I guess, but even then, as you say, it's stupid when pretending to be the IRS.

rjschwarz wrote:

Well hopefully they'll read this, correct their mistake and be more successful in the future. (c;

Seriously, someone should send out fake spam once in awhile pretending to be the IRS and if anyone responds read them the riot act for being stupid. Someone should send out penis enlargement spam and if anyone responds respond back that they are an idiot and if that the names of little penis people are being collected for future internet posting if they respond to spam again.

Eventually public mockery would win out. Hopefully some automated programs could accomplish this sort of thing.

Steve wrote:

What kind of moron?

The same kind that wants to help get $5,765,876.00 out of Nigeria, or help Little Tommy the dying boy get into the Guinness Book, or wants me to send an e-mail on, to 10 close friends so I can see the 'surprise'.

If that stupid crap didn't catch some people, it wouldn't be out there in cyber space.

Tony Zbaraschuk wrote:

I have thought for a while now that it's a bit of a subtle plan. They deliberately make it sound corny-English so that reasonably clever people will recognize it as spam and just delete it. The only ones who answer will be the ones with poor comprehension skills and attention... just the ones to fall for the rest of it.

philw1776 wrote:

Unbelieveable! Wish you'd posted this BEFORE I replied with my SSN and bank rounting transfer numbers.

Sigh. But, remember, every single person who falls for that or any other phishing scam... GETS TO VOTE IN NOVEMBER.

We have the government we deserve, and that's a damned shame.

The biggest tipoff that something fishy is afoot: The real IRS never sends emails.

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This page contains a single entry by Rand Simberg published on March 24, 2008 8:24 AM.

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