Most of us have never even bothered to check our spam folders in ages. These emails come and go each day, and are automatically deleted by the mail hosting companies. From the Nigerian Prince offering to hide his stash in our bank accounts to winning multiple million dollar lotteries each day, these gimmicks have got very old and ineffective. But have you ever wondered what would happen if you actually engage in the conversation with the “Nigerian prince”? A British comedian thought it would be funny to do so, and the results are nothing short of hilarious.
James Veitch decided to start answering some pretty weird and downright outrageous spam, and conversations soon went viral. According to Veitch, the first “interesting” mail he got from a guy called Solomon Odonkoh, who offered him to ship gold bricks amounting to 25 kgs and having a net worth of around $2.5 million with a 10 percent cut!
https://youtu.be/N682eopajzA
Veitch also narrated his memorable email from Winnie Mandela that read:
“I AM WINNIE MANDELA, THE SECOND WIFE OF NELSON MANDELA THE FORMER SOUTH AFRICAN PRESIDENT. I NEED TO TRANSFER 45 MILLION DOLLARS OUT OF THE COUNTRY BECAUSE OF MY HUSBAND NELSON MANDELA’S HEALTH CONDITION.”
The mail was sent three months after Mr. Mandela passed away, giving Veitch a perfect chance to send a chuckle-some reply,
“I said, “Winnie, I’m really sorry to hear of this. Given that Nelson died three months ago, I’d describe his health condition as fairly serious. That’s the worst health condition you can have, not being alive.”
[Image courtesy of TED/YouTube]
While this was all fun and games, clicking on spam can get dangerous. As PC Mag mentioned, there are many details that are sent as soon as hit the ‘reply’ button. Tools like ZabaSearch, Spokeo, Zillow and many others are used to extract information from mail the recipients:
“At the start, Sam Spammer has nothing but your e-mail address and no guarantee that it’s valid. If you respond, Sam can parlay that guess to learn much more about you. He can get your home address, phone number, age, marital status, the value of your home, and more. The sender doesn’t have to be a spammer, of course. It could be any stranger e-mailing you for the first time. To protect your identity, don’t respond to spam or other dubious e-mail.”
https://youtu.be/_QdPW8JrYzQ
Have you ever had an “interesting” spam conversation? Comment below!
