I understand phishing and transfer of large sums of money scams, but there are also others that fill out my trash binder, whose workings are less clear to me. These include:
1. Messages with word salad or random quotation unrelated to anything in the subject line and body (what is all about?);
2. Penis enlargement offers (how is that supposed to be performed over the internet?)
3. Prescription, sex performance or narcotic drugs offers (will I be grossly overcharged, get fake drugs, or nothing at all? - or perhaps a narc squad busting my door?)
I presume that all of those are scams to fleece people in one way or another, but it is not clear to me how. Does anyone have any ideas?
BTW, I met a "money transfer" con artist in person in Bangkok last year. The setting was a 5-star hotel bar (FYI, this was a business trip, all expenses reimbursed, otherwise I would not come near a 5-star hotel). I started a conversation with a well dressed, handsome Black guy speaking fluent English. After a brief small talk, the guy confided that he is a US Army deserter from Iraq, which obviously stirred my interest. After a brief but intense kvetching about Bush and US foreign policy, my interlocutor confided that he deserted when he and his buddies accidentally discovered one of Saddam's stashes of money. Instead of reporting that to their commanding officer, they decided that this was their chance and went AWOL.
At that point, red lights went on in my head, so I asked where in the US he was from. He said from Washington. I asked state or DC. He said DC. I said that I was also from that area and asked where he lived. He gave a vague answer that "his people lived all over the area," but he was with the Army for the past couple of years, which made it absolutely clear that he was bulshitting.
What followed was quite predictable. He offered a "business deal" in which I would assist him in transferring the Saddam's stash to the US in exchange for a cut of the stash. I feigned interest, but made myself scarce on the pretense of having to go back to the airport, which was not very far from the truth since I had a flight later on that day. I gave him one of my disposable email addresses, and he solemnly promised to get in touch with me.
Lo and behold, several days later I got an email from him regarding the "offer." I did not reply, but since then that account was inundated with similar scams, which made me thing that these guys must form some kind of network and share information.
Wojtek