Eight Crazy E-Mail Hoaxes Millions Have Fallen For

E-mail fills our in-boxes with come-ons to see celebrities naked and to get rich quick. Even though we know deep down that these are fakes, why do we continue to think, 'Maybe?'

Congratulations, you won the lottery in a country whose name you can't even pronounce! A wealthy oil executive in a far-off land wants to give you millions of dollars, right now! Sexy girls want to meet you!

Now let's be honest. If someone came to your door and told you any of those things, you'd tell him to get lost. So why do people still fall for this stuff when it's in their e-mail, as if a poorly written message made a weird-sounding pitch any more legitimate?

The saddest part is, the only reason annoying e-mail keeps filing your inbox is because it works. No matter the number of reports detailing e-mail hoaxes gone bad and tales of spammers taking people for all they're worth, people just keep on clicking.

http://tech.msn.com/products/articlepcw.aspx?cp-documentid=9637938>1=40000

I asked her, "Did you buy a ticket in the Canadian lottery?"

"No," she said.

"Then how could you have won it?"

"Well, I got an email..." :banghead:

the spammers/hoaxers or the gullible people that fall for it.

Clearing House letter telling him he was (might be) a winner of the sweepstakes. The guy was dead serious (and stupid too!).
I know another guy who was pursuing one of the African scams (need to get millions to the U.S.). He actually went to The Netherlands to meet with someone. Our attorney friend told him to not go back, as he knew of people who got involved in these scams, never to be heard from again.