Ridiculous Internet Scams — this week’s Mystery Question. You’ve probably received emails from someone in Nigeria who wants to give you a million dollars, but I bet you haven’t heard of some of these scams.
But first, the photo and scripture. Once again a beautiful sunrise had me pulling over and snapping away back in March. It reminded me just that like the sunrise every day, God is always there, ready to give us courage.
And now for last week’s Mystery Question. There are four responses from a retired policeman as to what he would like to have said to some of the dumb remarks he got when he pulled someone over. Three are statements he wished he could have said, and I made one up. Can you guess which one it is?
- “I only had one glass of wine.”…“What’d you do? Take the cork out of the bottle and drink it straight?”
- “I pay your salary.” … “Thank you very much, you’re also contributing to my pension.”
- “Give me your name and badge number?” … “It’s right here, on my uniform. Are you able to read?”
- “Look junior,” the parent says to a young child, “there is a police officer who will arrest you if you don’t behave.” … While looking at the child, I say, “No, actually I’m going to smack your parent for making such a stupid threat.”
And the answer is…#1. Congrats to all who answered correctly!
Now for this week’s Mystery Question: Ridiculous E-mail Scams. Three of the scams are true. One is false. Can you guess which one?
- This e-mail claims to work with Bill Gates and Microsoft to try out a new e-mail tracing program. The e-mail asks people to forward the e-mail to as many people as possible, and “if it reaches 13,000 people, 1,300 of the people on the list will receive $5,000, and the rest will receive a free trip for two to Disney World for one week.
- “If you believe in fairies, then clap your hands!” A man created and photographed small models of mummified fairies to trick people into believing that fairies once existed. After e-mailing the pictures to friends, the photos went viral. Fairy lovers all over the world continue to believe that the photos are real.
- May the Fourth be with you. The email claims every fourth person who responds to the email with the information requested will be given an all-expense-paid trip to Hollywood for Star Wars Day. And that could be you!
- Make money from home. An e-mail invites people to send them money so that they can receive “instructions on where to go and what to download and install on your computer” so that you can run the business and start making lots of money.
Okay, Super Sleuths, which scam did I make up? Leave your answer in the comments, and I’ll enter you in the May drawing for a book from my library.
April’s winner is Rosalyn!
Email Scams is my Mystery Question this week. Three are true, one is totally made up. Can you guess which one? See if you can beat me! Leave a comment to be entered in a drawing for a book from my library! Share on X
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Comments 48
Beautiful photo. I’m going to go with #3.
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Thank you, Diana! I thought that was a beautiful sunrise…and now I’m trying to think where I took it. lol We’ll see if it’s #3 next week. Thanks for stopping by.
#1
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We’ll see, Mary. Good to ‘see’ you here!
I’m pretty sure I’ve seen a couple of those emails in my own inbox! I’m going with number 1 because I’m skeptical that “Bill Gates” in an email scam would get very far.
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Hi Priscilla. I’ve seen a couple of them in my inbox…not that I’ll say which ones. lol Thanks for always stopping by!
I’m going with #2
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We’ll see, Suzanne. Thanks for dropping by and commenting!
Scripture and photo: What a wonderful way to start the day. Thank you, Pat.
I’m pretty sure I’ve seen all of these in e-mails at some time. However, I say that you made up #2 because it’s not really a scam as far as I can tell.
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Hi Tim. As always I love your logic…although scams can sometimes simply be getting your email address…Thanks for stopping by and commenting!
I think I got the Bill Gates Microsoft message and will go w/ #4 this time. If only some of these were true … easy street. The thought of mummified fairies is ghastly.
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Good morning, Delores! So true about each of them. We’ll see next week if it’s #4. Good to ‘see’ you here.
I’ll go with 2…….all so funny!
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We’ll see, Jackie! Glad I made you laugh this morning. 😀 Thanks for stopping by.
Beautiful sunrise! I’m not a good guesser but I’m going with # 3 this week. (I think I got last weeks right!)
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We’ll see, Beverly! Thanks so much for commenting and for your review of Obsession!! So glad you enjoyed it. And be sure to look for the Suspense Sisters blog tomorrow. 🙂
Beautiful photo & scripture! Thanks for sharing! guessing #2; a couple of these sound vaguely familiar!
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Thanks MS Barb! We’ll see if #2 is the correct answer next week. Thanks so much for stopping by.
I’m going with #3 today just because it is the Fourth of May, not because it’s the one you made up…lol!
I can DEFINITELY say this is probably by far the hardest one to guess! There’s so many different scams out there anymore that it’s hard to tell what’s true and what’s not. And I’ve had a few pop up in my email too.
I don’t know if you get the Costco Connect magazine that the company puts out, but there was a very interesting article in there about a man who was feed up with scammers and set out to expose them. What he found was sickening & disheartening! For example, scammers from overseas taking advantage of older people & convincing them to hand over thousands of dollars. One of the ways was the scammers convinced the victims that they had a serious virus on their computer & that they could remotely take control of the victims computers to “fix” it & it would cost them x-amount of dollars to do this. So the victim would input their bank information & BAM, the scammers emptied out their account. One man was so distraught over it that he physically felt like he was going to have a heart attack….and then the man who exposed this showed a video of the scammers laughing at the old man because of how distraught he was. It was all a sick joke to them. The man was able to shut down several overseas scammers but he still is saddened that he can’t get them all. It was such an interesting article….it did give examples of what to look for in telling if it’s an email scam. I found it very enlightening and made me even more diligent with my own email.
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Trixi, I read an article in one of the magazines I get about this scam. I actually almost fell for that scam a few years ago because the site looked so real, but when the tech started talking about $350 dollars, I got on my other computer and looked up the company he said he represented and found out it was a scam. I hung up on him…after I told him he was a cheat and a beat. Not that he cared.
Occasionally my daughter will answer a call when it says Social Security Administration or Microsoft with the words: “Are you on the way? Bring towels. You didn’t say there’d be this much blood.” And if they’re still on the line, she’ll say, “What do I do with the gun?”
Thanks for stopping by and adding to the conversation! We’ll see next week if May the Fourth worked. lol
Hey, wait a minute! Are you trying to tell us fairies don’t exist? I’m crushed and saddened beyond words. That’s like telling me Santa Claus isn’t real. LOL! I choose #2 because I think I have seen emails in the same vein as the other three, but don’t recall one like 2. If it’s a real scam, I got missed. And I thought I had been hit with them all.
Love the Scripture and picture! If I ever get back out early enough to see the sunrise, maybe I’ll find an opportunity to snap some pictures. I look forward to yours each week.
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Sorry, Edward, to be the one to break the news about fairies. As for sunrises, being an early riser, I usually see them. 🙂 We’ll see next week if it’s #2. Thanks for stopping by!
Oh oh. Pat are you scamming Edward? Claiming that fairies don’t exist!
Thanks for the chuckle!
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😉
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😉
1. thanks for the chance.
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We’ll see, Lynn! Thanks for stopping by.
These all sound plausible as email scams but I’m gonna say #3 is the false one.
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Hi Megan! We’ll see next week if it’s #3. So glad you stopped by!
Beautiful sunrise. There was a time I would make an effort to get up early enough to drink my tea on the porch and watch it, but the practice is on hold until my youngest children are a little older. The verse was one I clung to during my last pregnancy…it was a more difficult one physically and emotionally and so hard to be patient!
Going with #1 this time.
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Elizabeth, I usually see the sunrise when I go after the paper for me and two of my 90-year-old neighbors. They tell me I don’t have to, but I’m up and if it’s rainy or cold they don’t have to get out. My reward is birds singing, and if it isn’t cloudy, a beautiful sunrise. We’ll see if it’s #1 next week. Thanks so much for stopping by and commenting!
Hi Patricia! Beautiful photo and very fitting verse for these times. I’m going to pick #3. They all could be possible now days!
Whoops! Hit enter too fast. My answer is above.
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😉
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Thanks, Erika! We’ll see next week if it’s #3. Good to ‘see’ your here.
I recognize most of these in some form or other except for #2 so I am going with #2 this week.
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We’ll see, Gloria. So glad you stopped by!
I think #2 is the made up one. Have a Great week and stay safe.
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Thanks, Alicia! We’ll see next week if it’s #2. Thanks for stopping by.
I’m going with #2 this time
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We’ll see, Shelia. Good to ‘see’ you here. 🙂
Oh my. Sadly, these all could be real. I’m gonna say #3 is the made up one…or maybe I should have gone with the fairies one…sigh..who really knows, these days?! I keep getting calls that my SSN has been compromised….lol…I find it sad that so many people have nothing better to do these days!
In another note, I saw my own name up there! 🙂
Thanks, and have a wonderful day!
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I find it sad, too, Rosalyn! If only these people would put their talent to use doing good! They’re obviously bright. Hope you have a great day, too!
#3
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We’ll see, Patricia. So glad you stopped by!
I’m going with May the 4th. Just because.
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I like your logic, Paula! Thanks so much for stopping by.