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T0p D0g Reloaded

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Bad case hangover and hoax scam scheme


There are advantages to being broke, hot and waiting for your friends in a lobby, if said lobby has wireless.

Thus you will be able to learn that after last nights hard partying and very early morning drunken blogging, I could not sleep for more than two or three hours. I somehow managed to pass my time in a pleasant manner until it was check out time, sixteen minutes ago.

Then, as I was starting my laptop getting ready to rant about my hangover slash insomnia, anonymous caller tried to pull scam on me. I am just done checking with the Orange customer service, who have confirmed I am correct.

Here it is. May it be of use to brothers and sisters out there on the interwebs, reading this blog.

First you will receive an anonymous message signed 411 info, which is in fact Orange customer care ;) Hit reply and there will be no number... first sign.

The message will congratulate you and say something along the lines "you lucky winner" have been chosen to be the recipient of euro 10,000 or, possibly, other fabulously exciting prize, and, you are to be contacted by one of their operators. Sign number two: fabulous prize. Sign number three: in Romanian the original text goes "contactat(a)", little gender insecurity I call it.

Sometime after you will be called from a private number. The operator will introduce herself and explain about the scheme. Then she will ask your personal data to be introduced in their database. Don't give it, instead try asking some questions. The operator will get unprofessionally annoyed and skate on thin ice. Sign number four: untrained voice. Sign number five: operator occasionally reads a "standard" text. Sign number six: no shared database between the company and the subcontracted consultant company?! hm. Sign number seven: the taadaaaaa voice when announcing "special lucky price" for "special lucky winneeeer!".

At this point I was really like hello, wake up, smell the coffee, what do you take me for?! So I have asked for her name again. Which she avoided by saying it's unimportant. Now that really gave it away. Thank you for wasting minutes of my life, I am no "special extra lucky winner", I am too old of a spam trained fox by now to get excited by such looser trinkets. Be warned.

But it makes for a fairly interesting post, wouldn't you agree?

Find the original text message from scam company at comments.

4 comments:

monsoux said...

Here goes my "extra special lucky winner" message:

Felicitari ORANGE va acorda un premiu de fidelitate in valoare de 10.000.€ veti fi contactat(a) de un operator Orange. Expeditor:411 info

Sent:
11:20:39
26-Jul-2007

invisible sender

Anonymous said...

alt mesaj castigator primit pe telefonul cu cartela orange:
"FELICITARI!!!Ati castigat un premiu de 3000 euro.Pt. detali va asteptam la numaru de telefon 0768051573.FLANCO INVES-ROM"
Toate greselile de ortografie le apartin.Oare chiar am castigat,oare sunt eu the lucky winner?Bleaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh

Anonymous said...

Rucky Winnah!!!!

Anonymous said...

extra special lucky winner! would have made you a double loser, had you been partying more or stuf.