The much maligned junk mail (or spam) folder is always worth a peek.
Once in a while among the maze of these worthless stuff some surprise may be
lying in wait to be discovered. Sometimes mails of known persons, writing to me
for the first time, show up there. So checking junk is kind of a necessary
evil, though as rarely fruitful as booking a Kingfisher airlines ticket and
getting airborne.
During the early days of junk mail I used to receive
you-have-won-a-lottery type mails and senders ranged from well known names like
British Petroleum, Yahoo and Microsoft to some seedy types (don't remember
them). The prize money was always in 500,000 to million plus range in US dollar
and UK
pounds. They expect us to fill a form seeking personal details. To me it all
seemed as incredible as Montek Singh Ahluwalia's Rs 26 below poverty line
limit. But was surprised to know from newspapers that people are gullible
enough to fall for it. News stories of online lottery fraud used to crop up
from time to time and most accused happened to be Nigerians.
Later on there was a flood of mail ranging from matrimonial
sites to sale of viagra. But what used to interest me most was the hidden treasure
mails - the ones which says they have some huge fortune tucked away in some tax
haven and they need your address etc. Quite often the sender claims to be from
Burkina Faso, mostly a woman, and says her father's treasure is there in some
tax haven and her life is in danger and is seeking someone to 'safekeep' the
fortune.
But, I must say these fraudsters seem to be quite abreast of the
events. When the Satyam scandal broke out they came up with mails claiming to
be someone close to the CEO Ramalinga Raju and had some fortune that needed safe
keeping. Later on when the Sri Lanka-born US hedge fund wizard Raj Rajarathnam
scandal broke out I got a mail from his 'wife' seeking to preserve her hidden
fortune.
However the one I got recently takes the cake - any day 100 times more
interesting than Sachin Tendulkar's hundredth 100. The sender claimed he was RBI
Governor D Subbarao (full transcript copy-pasted below) and had a proposal
which could change the lives of both of us. Mind you this is the first time I
am getting something like this from a serving person and that too in first
person - so far I got letters from the
kin of businessmen and dictators after they were either out of power or
disgraced by scandals.
The mail talks of some Ben Morris a Canada-based
contractor, who died six years ago. A sum of Rs 5.8 crore was supposed to be
paid to him and risks confiscation by Indian government if nobody comes forward to
claim it. The RBI governor says neither he nor his relatives can claim money
and hence he wants me to send my personal
details so that he can supplant me as the real owner!! Later we could
share it fifty-fifty. The whole thing seemed as bizarre as saying Coca-Cola can cure baldness. But I am sure the
sender's inbox may be flooded with mails from interested suckers.
Sender’s email: drsubbarao@hotmail.co.in
Transcript of the mail
RESERVE BANK OF INDIA
CENTRAL OFFICE MUMBAI
400001
ATTENTION:
FROM THE DESK OF
DR D SUBBARAO
GOVERNOR RESERVE BANK OF INDIA
CENTRAL OFFICE MUMBAI
I wish to contact you for an urgent business which i know
you will keep the secret for the best of us.I am DR D SUBBARAO THE GOVERNOR OF
RESERVE BANK OF INDIA MUMBAI CENTRAL OFFICE.While am writing to you is to
inform you of a good business that can change your life and mine also, There is
(5.8 CRORE) which is supposed to be paid to one MR BEN MORRIS as a contractor
but i find out that he died on his way to his country CANADA about 6years ago
and the money is about to be confiscated by Indian present governments since
the owner has not come up to cash the money.So please i want you to stand as
the owner of the money so that the money will be transfer to your own bank
account for both of us to share it because since i am the governor in charge
here i cannot use my name or my relatives account to transfer the money, All
you need is to feed me back with the details below so that i will change your
name as the real owner of the money.
Please note that you will stand as the full owner of the
money during the transfer of the money because i will not be among the transfer
TEAM, So you are the one to speak with the HEAD OF THE TRANSFER TEAM may be on
phone during the time of the transfer. Any money you spend during the transfer
will be remove from the money while we share the REST 50-50
NB; PLEASE DO KEEP THIS DEAL BY YOURSELF ALONE TILL THE
BUSINESS IS OVER
BELOW ARE DETAILS NEEDED FROM YOU
1) YOUR FULL NAME:
2) ADDRESS, CITY, STATE .
3) PHONE, FAX AND MOBILE
4) COMPANY NAME (IF ANY) POSITION AND ADDRESS
5) BANK NAME
6) BANK ADDRESS
7) ACCOUNT NUMBER
8) SWIFT CODE/ ROUTING NUMBER
9) PROFESSION, AGE AND MARITAL STATUS
10) COPY OF YOUR INT'L PASSPORT/DRIVERS LICENSE
As soon as these information is received i will send them to
our bank LAWYER to do the change of ownership with your full name and address
as the rightful owner of the money.
YOURS FAITHFULLY
DR D SUBBARAO
GOVERNOR RESERVE BANK OF INDIA
MUMBAI CENTRAL
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