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Oh, that stupid Hotmail scam again!
Oct. 22nd, 2006 04:08 pmSorry, but this email is really irritating me:
Hey it is Andy and John the directors of MSN, sorry for the
interruption but msn is closing down. this is because too many
inconsiderate people are taking up all the name (eg making up
lots of different accounts forjust one person), we only have 578
names left. If you would like to close your account, DO NOT SEND
THIS MESSAGE ON. If you would like to keep your account, then
SEND THIS MESSAGE TO EVERYONE ON YOUR CONTACT LIST. This is no
joke, we will be shutting down the servers. Send it on, thanks.
WHO EVER DOES NOT SEND THIS MESSEAGE, YOUR ACCOUNT WILL BE
CLOSED AND YOU WILL COST £10.00 A MONTH TO USE. SEND THIS TO
EVERYONE ON YOUR CONTACT LIST. NOW YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO.
PLEASE DO NOT FORWARD THIS or REPLAY. COPY THE WHOLE EMAIL. GO
BACK TO YOUR INBOX AND CLICK ON NEW. AND PASTE THANK YOU FOR
YOUR ATTENTION hey everyone, i dont normally send this sort of
stuff out but had a look on the internet and its actually true .
On the 1st of november , we will have to pay for the use of our
MSN and email accounts unless we send this message to at least 18
contacts on your contact list. It's no joke if you don't believe
me then go to the site
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/1189119.stm ) and see for
yourself . Sorry, I know I'm superstitious and stuff, but I just
don't want this to be > true!
This is even the updated version with "proof" - ie the link - that what it says is true.
IT'S ALL COMPLETE AND UTTER RUBBISH!! PLEASE, EVERYONE, IGNORE THIS EMAIL!
Would you like my reasoning? No? Tough. I've had this email enough times, and seen enough other people pass it on or receive it to know that it is still deceiving people, despite the ridiculous amount of flaws in its construction. Let's deal with the "proof" first.
The link cited goes to a BBC report that Microsoft is intending "to start charging surfers for the improved services of its MSN internet portal". The emphasis is mine, just to hammer the point home. That sentence means that users will be charged for SERVICES BEYOND THE NORMAL - all the special stuff, all the MSN Super-Extra-Gold-Premium-Plus stuff. Not the normal, humdrum, everyday services that everyone gets. Don't believe me? Here's another quote from that article:
"Microsoft stresses that the site's core facilities including Hotmail will remain free."
So the link cited as "proof" in fact proves that the email is a lie. Is that not enough for you?
How about this. Check the date of the article cited in the email. Sunday, 25 February, 2001, 11:00 GMT. Again, the emphasis is mine. This is old news that never happened. Want more?
Top right corner.
"See also:
08 Mar 06 | Business
Thousands fall for Hotmail prank"
The link there leads to this story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4778046.stm
See, even the Hotmail people are laughing at you, fraudster. Enough proof now, dear friends? No? Fine.
Let's take a look at the email itself.
"Hey it is Andy and John the directors of MSN"
Oh, please. Yes, certainly, an official email is really going to begin "Hey", the "directors of MSN" are really going to refer to themselves by their first names only (and there are really only two of them in charge!) and they're really going to have no grasp of proper punctuation.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I've torn this email to pieces before, and I intend to do it again. Even if all their information wasn't laughably incorrect, I'd still refuse to believe them simply on the basis of their grammar, spelling and punctuation. I am of the belief that if there was ever a need for an email such as this to be sent out, the "directors of MSN" would at least get their English right.
Let's see that again.
"Hey it is Andy and John the directors of MSN, sorry for the interruption but msn is closing down."
Punctuated properly, that should be: "Hey, it is Andy and John, the directors of MSN. Sorry for the interruption, but MSN is closing down."
So in the first one, there is a severe lack of commas, inconsistency in the capitalisation of "MSN" and a misuse of the word "interruption". Apart from everything I dealt with in the first half of their sentence. But really. "Sorry for the interruption". Interruption to what? You, my dear fraudster, perhaps meant "inconvenience", or even "unauthorised notification" at a stretch. But not interruption. And you didn't mean "sorry" either. How lovely, informal and friendly of you, but you really meant "We apologise for any inconvenience that may be caused, but due to unforseen circumstances MSN will be closing on the 1st of April 2007". And so on. Note the date I decided to use.
Note the lack of a date in the email.
Let's move on to the second sentence.
"this is because too many inconsiderate people are taking up all the name (eg making up lots of different accounts forjust one person), we only have 578 names left."
Oh, good gods, you expect me to believe that?
1. "This", please. Basic capitalisation at the beginning of a sentence.
2. "inconsiderate people". Of course any person operating in an official capacity would refer to some of their customers like this. It sounds petulant, childish, and above all like someone trying to use big words to make themselves look clever.
3. "all the name". I say that again, just for the comedy value. "all the name" indeed. All one, obviously, since that's a singular noun. You meant "names", my dear fraudster, and that's not even what email servers refer to the initial part of an email address as.
4. "forjust". Again with the lack of punctuation. SPACE.
5. "), we only have". Technically that should be a full stop and the "we only have" should be a new sentence, otherwise it's an awkward comma.
6. "we only have 578 names left." Get real. The entire point of Hotmail is that you can make up the beginning. There's an infinite amount of email addresses because there's an infinite combination of letters, numbers and symbols you can use in the first part. And that's exactly the same number that was used the first time I received this email, and I've since gone out and made four more hotmail accounts. Yes, gosh darn it, I am one of these "inconsiderate people" who are "taking up all the name". So sue me. MSN certainly won't.
"If you would like to close your account, DO NOT SEND THIS MESSAGE ON."
No, darling. If you want to close your account it's much easier simply to not sign in for about a year. Then it'll be completely gone. Trust me, I've lost an email like that before. Closing your account has nothing to do with what you do or don't send.
"If you would like to keep your account, then SEND THIS MESSAGE TO EVERYONE ON YOUR CONTACT LIST."
BAM! And there we are. The SECOND you read that you should know it's a chain letter. MSN/Hotmail would NEVER ask you to send anything to everyone on your contact list. NEVER!
"This is no joke, we will be shutting down the servers."
The Hotmail staff have never felt the need to clarify that something is not a joke. That this email takes the trouble to do so in fact lets us know that it is a joke - or at least, if not a joke (since jokes are meant to be clever and amusing), it's a lie.
"Send it on, thanks."
You've already told us to. Unnecessary repetition. Again, a lack of formality. And the entire email has a distinct lack of paragraphs, which smacks of amateurism.
"WHO EVER DOES NOT SEND THIS MESSEAGE, YOUR ACCOUNT WILL BE CLOSED AND YOU WILL COST £10.00 A MONTH TO USE."
*screams with laughter*
1. Unnecessary capitalisation (again - the capitals before were superfluous as well).
2. Message is not spelt "MESSEAGE". There's even a box to click underneath every new message or reply in Hotmail that actually says "Copy Message to Sent Folder". So anyone sending an email should be able to spell the word message. The "directors of MSN" surely aren't idiotic enough not to spellcheck before they send off such an important email?
3. "YOU WILL COST £10.00 A MONTH TO USE." Good lord, what for? Of course you, dear fraudster, didn't mean to imply that I myself would be *ahem* used for a tenner a month, you meant to imply that my account would cost me a tenner a month to use. But you can't mean that. Because you just said it would be closed. How very self-contradictory.
"SEND THIS TO EVERYONE ON YOUR CONTACT LIST."
You've already told us that! You're only repeating the major point that marks you out as a chain letter, silly fool.
"NOW YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO."
Since when has that sort of sentence required constant capitalisation? Unless it's Death speaking, of course. And it's just so unprofessional that I can't believe anyone has been fooled by this. I'm sorry if you were, but you should have known better.
"PLEASE DO NOT FORWARD THIS or REPLAY."
Oh, darnit. You were doing so well with the unnecessary capitalisation that I thought you'd forgotten how to turn it off. Obviously not, so you must have meant all the other bits to be in capitals. How terribly amateurish.
And of course I shan't "REPLAY" this message. It's neither audio nor video, so I can't, really. And I won't read through it again unless to tear it to shreds like now. You meant "REPLY", dear fraudster, and you can't even spell that, so why should I believe you're in charge of MSN?
"COPY THE WHOLE EMAIL. GO BACK TO YOUR INBOX AND CLICK ON NEW. AND PASTE THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION"
Oh dear. You've got rather mixed up about your full stops, haven't you?
And again with the rampant capitalisation. Calm down.
As for:
"hey everyone, i dont normally send this sort of stuff out but had a look on the internet and its actually true . On the 1st of november , we will have to pay for the use of our MSN and email accounts unless we send this message to at least 18 contacts on your contact list. It's no joke if you don't believe me then go to the site http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/1189119.stm ) and see for yourself . Sorry, I know I'm superstitious and stuff, but I just don't want this to be true!"
LIAR.
The site itself proves that this email is a scam. Pay attention to the sources you cite, please.
Alright. That should about do it.
Oh, apart from the most obvious thing.
THIS ISN'T FROM THE HOTMAIL STAFF EMAIL, AND SO CANNOT BE FROM THE HOTMAIL STAFF!
Simple as.
So, my dear, patient friends who've sat and read through this (or just scrolled to the bottom to see my final point) please, spread the word. Don't email people about it, since I don't want to be responsible for starting off a chain letter of my own - unless they email you with that scam, in which case reply with either a link to here or the entire copied text as proof - but link to this journal entry, simply tell people some of the reasons for the email being a scam, and generally STOP PEOPLE FROM BEING DECEIVED!
If you receive this email, then by all means forward it to me with as many addresses of people who've sent it on as possible, and I'll send them messages to put them right again. My email is Laligin@hotmail.com. Feel free to ask me to enlighten those who can't see a scam for themselves.
Thank you for your patience.
Hey it is Andy and John the directors of MSN, sorry for the
interruption but msn is closing down. this is because too many
inconsiderate people are taking up all the name (eg making up
lots of different accounts forjust one person), we only have 578
names left. If you would like to close your account, DO NOT SEND
THIS MESSAGE ON. If you would like to keep your account, then
SEND THIS MESSAGE TO EVERYONE ON YOUR CONTACT LIST. This is no
joke, we will be shutting down the servers. Send it on, thanks.
WHO EVER DOES NOT SEND THIS MESSEAGE, YOUR ACCOUNT WILL BE
CLOSED AND YOU WILL COST £10.00 A MONTH TO USE. SEND THIS TO
EVERYONE ON YOUR CONTACT LIST. NOW YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO.
PLEASE DO NOT FORWARD THIS or REPLAY. COPY THE WHOLE EMAIL. GO
BACK TO YOUR INBOX AND CLICK ON NEW. AND PASTE THANK YOU FOR
YOUR ATTENTION hey everyone, i dont normally send this sort of
stuff out but had a look on the internet and its actually true .
On the 1st of november , we will have to pay for the use of our
MSN and email accounts unless we send this message to at least 18
contacts on your contact list. It's no joke if you don't believe
me then go to the site
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/1189119.stm ) and see for
yourself . Sorry, I know I'm superstitious and stuff, but I just
don't want this to be > true!
This is even the updated version with "proof" - ie the link - that what it says is true.
IT'S ALL COMPLETE AND UTTER RUBBISH!! PLEASE, EVERYONE, IGNORE THIS EMAIL!
Would you like my reasoning? No? Tough. I've had this email enough times, and seen enough other people pass it on or receive it to know that it is still deceiving people, despite the ridiculous amount of flaws in its construction. Let's deal with the "proof" first.
The link cited goes to a BBC report that Microsoft is intending "to start charging surfers for the improved services of its MSN internet portal". The emphasis is mine, just to hammer the point home. That sentence means that users will be charged for SERVICES BEYOND THE NORMAL - all the special stuff, all the MSN Super-Extra-Gold-Premium-Plus stuff. Not the normal, humdrum, everyday services that everyone gets. Don't believe me? Here's another quote from that article:
"Microsoft stresses that the site's core facilities including Hotmail will remain free."
So the link cited as "proof" in fact proves that the email is a lie. Is that not enough for you?
How about this. Check the date of the article cited in the email. Sunday, 25 February, 2001, 11:00 GMT. Again, the emphasis is mine. This is old news that never happened. Want more?
Top right corner.
"See also:
08 Mar 06 | Business
Thousands fall for Hotmail prank"
The link there leads to this story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4778046.stm
See, even the Hotmail people are laughing at you, fraudster. Enough proof now, dear friends? No? Fine.
Let's take a look at the email itself.
"Hey it is Andy and John the directors of MSN"
Oh, please. Yes, certainly, an official email is really going to begin "Hey", the "directors of MSN" are really going to refer to themselves by their first names only (and there are really only two of them in charge!) and they're really going to have no grasp of proper punctuation.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I've torn this email to pieces before, and I intend to do it again. Even if all their information wasn't laughably incorrect, I'd still refuse to believe them simply on the basis of their grammar, spelling and punctuation. I am of the belief that if there was ever a need for an email such as this to be sent out, the "directors of MSN" would at least get their English right.
Let's see that again.
"Hey it is Andy and John the directors of MSN, sorry for the interruption but msn is closing down."
Punctuated properly, that should be: "Hey, it is Andy and John, the directors of MSN. Sorry for the interruption, but MSN is closing down."
So in the first one, there is a severe lack of commas, inconsistency in the capitalisation of "MSN" and a misuse of the word "interruption". Apart from everything I dealt with in the first half of their sentence. But really. "Sorry for the interruption". Interruption to what? You, my dear fraudster, perhaps meant "inconvenience", or even "unauthorised notification" at a stretch. But not interruption. And you didn't mean "sorry" either. How lovely, informal and friendly of you, but you really meant "We apologise for any inconvenience that may be caused, but due to unforseen circumstances MSN will be closing on the 1st of April 2007". And so on. Note the date I decided to use.
Note the lack of a date in the email.
Let's move on to the second sentence.
"this is because too many inconsiderate people are taking up all the name (eg making up lots of different accounts forjust one person), we only have 578 names left."
Oh, good gods, you expect me to believe that?
1. "This", please. Basic capitalisation at the beginning of a sentence.
2. "inconsiderate people". Of course any person operating in an official capacity would refer to some of their customers like this. It sounds petulant, childish, and above all like someone trying to use big words to make themselves look clever.
3. "all the name". I say that again, just for the comedy value. "all the name" indeed. All one, obviously, since that's a singular noun. You meant "names", my dear fraudster, and that's not even what email servers refer to the initial part of an email address as.
4. "forjust". Again with the lack of punctuation. SPACE.
5. "), we only have". Technically that should be a full stop and the "we only have" should be a new sentence, otherwise it's an awkward comma.
6. "we only have 578 names left." Get real. The entire point of Hotmail is that you can make up the beginning. There's an infinite amount of email addresses because there's an infinite combination of letters, numbers and symbols you can use in the first part. And that's exactly the same number that was used the first time I received this email, and I've since gone out and made four more hotmail accounts. Yes, gosh darn it, I am one of these "inconsiderate people" who are "taking up all the name". So sue me. MSN certainly won't.
"If you would like to close your account, DO NOT SEND THIS MESSAGE ON."
No, darling. If you want to close your account it's much easier simply to not sign in for about a year. Then it'll be completely gone. Trust me, I've lost an email like that before. Closing your account has nothing to do with what you do or don't send.
"If you would like to keep your account, then SEND THIS MESSAGE TO EVERYONE ON YOUR CONTACT LIST."
BAM! And there we are. The SECOND you read that you should know it's a chain letter. MSN/Hotmail would NEVER ask you to send anything to everyone on your contact list. NEVER!
"This is no joke, we will be shutting down the servers."
The Hotmail staff have never felt the need to clarify that something is not a joke. That this email takes the trouble to do so in fact lets us know that it is a joke - or at least, if not a joke (since jokes are meant to be clever and amusing), it's a lie.
"Send it on, thanks."
You've already told us to. Unnecessary repetition. Again, a lack of formality. And the entire email has a distinct lack of paragraphs, which smacks of amateurism.
"WHO EVER DOES NOT SEND THIS MESSEAGE, YOUR ACCOUNT WILL BE CLOSED AND YOU WILL COST £10.00 A MONTH TO USE."
*screams with laughter*
1. Unnecessary capitalisation (again - the capitals before were superfluous as well).
2. Message is not spelt "MESSEAGE". There's even a box to click underneath every new message or reply in Hotmail that actually says "Copy Message to Sent Folder". So anyone sending an email should be able to spell the word message. The "directors of MSN" surely aren't idiotic enough not to spellcheck before they send off such an important email?
3. "YOU WILL COST £10.00 A MONTH TO USE." Good lord, what for? Of course you, dear fraudster, didn't mean to imply that I myself would be *ahem* used for a tenner a month, you meant to imply that my account would cost me a tenner a month to use. But you can't mean that. Because you just said it would be closed. How very self-contradictory.
"SEND THIS TO EVERYONE ON YOUR CONTACT LIST."
You've already told us that! You're only repeating the major point that marks you out as a chain letter, silly fool.
"NOW YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO."
Since when has that sort of sentence required constant capitalisation? Unless it's Death speaking, of course. And it's just so unprofessional that I can't believe anyone has been fooled by this. I'm sorry if you were, but you should have known better.
"PLEASE DO NOT FORWARD THIS or REPLAY."
Oh, darnit. You were doing so well with the unnecessary capitalisation that I thought you'd forgotten how to turn it off. Obviously not, so you must have meant all the other bits to be in capitals. How terribly amateurish.
And of course I shan't "REPLAY" this message. It's neither audio nor video, so I can't, really. And I won't read through it again unless to tear it to shreds like now. You meant "REPLY", dear fraudster, and you can't even spell that, so why should I believe you're in charge of MSN?
"COPY THE WHOLE EMAIL. GO BACK TO YOUR INBOX AND CLICK ON NEW. AND PASTE THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION"
Oh dear. You've got rather mixed up about your full stops, haven't you?
And again with the rampant capitalisation. Calm down.
As for:
"hey everyone, i dont normally send this sort of stuff out but had a look on the internet and its actually true . On the 1st of november , we will have to pay for the use of our MSN and email accounts unless we send this message to at least 18 contacts on your contact list. It's no joke if you don't believe me then go to the site http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/1189119.stm ) and see for yourself . Sorry, I know I'm superstitious and stuff, but I just don't want this to be true!"
LIAR.
The site itself proves that this email is a scam. Pay attention to the sources you cite, please.
Alright. That should about do it.
Oh, apart from the most obvious thing.
THIS ISN'T FROM THE HOTMAIL STAFF EMAIL, AND SO CANNOT BE FROM THE HOTMAIL STAFF!
Simple as.
So, my dear, patient friends who've sat and read through this (or just scrolled to the bottom to see my final point) please, spread the word. Don't email people about it, since I don't want to be responsible for starting off a chain letter of my own - unless they email you with that scam, in which case reply with either a link to here or the entire copied text as proof - but link to this journal entry, simply tell people some of the reasons for the email being a scam, and generally STOP PEOPLE FROM BEING DECEIVED!
If you receive this email, then by all means forward it to me with as many addresses of people who've sent it on as possible, and I'll send them messages to put them right again. My email is Laligin@hotmail.com. Feel free to ask me to enlighten those who can't see a scam for themselves.
Thank you for your patience.