Unusual private messages
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AnonymousJanuary 1, 2007 at 9:58 pm
Hi
I just got a private message from Habeebah (if I spelt it correctly) who, oddly enough, has never actually posted here.
Havng lost her (Australian) husband 4 years ago, she is dying in a general hospital the UK, (and is fortunately able to use a computer) and she wants to leave her 8.5 million US dollars to a charitable person who will spend it according to her wishes. As she is on this site she is apparently dying from GBS though fortunately still able to operate a keyboard
She wants her money to got to a Christian/Muslim organisation. Oh, what can I do? I thought of replying and suggestng that she pass it to the GBS Support Group. Ought I to do this? All (practical) suggestions would be appreciated. The temptation to reply is very strong.
God bless
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AnonymousJanuary 1, 2007 at 10:39 pm
I agree with Jerimy. I am an EXTREMELY skeptical person. I have heard of scams like this before. They are looking for personal information- bank accounts, SS #’s and the like. Once they have access….
There seems to be red flags from your description. – Not many die from GBS- although she is. Never been on this site before, but all of a sudden sends a personal to you. And, rarely does somebody want to give me miilions of dollars! Nothing is free or given to you free without some hitch. With that said, I am sorry for saying skeptical/negative things to this person if it is a true story!!
Just be careful whatever you decide, please.
But Jerimy, if somebody ever sends you millions to your beer account, would you at least buy us all one???
Dennis
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AnonymousJanuary 2, 2007 at 12:35 am
Oh, good God! SCAM ALERT! — SCAM ALERT!
Teresa Anne, don’t reply; it is almost certainly a phishing expedition to try to gain personal information.
This sounds like a variant on the African scam, in which some mid- to high-level person in an African government needs your help to get a large amount of money out of the country. You would get a cut if you would only provide some of your personal banking information to help move the money.
Just how they PM’ed you is an issue of concern, because it suggests that somehow a registered user’s log-in was compromised or that an unscrupulous person has registered.
The moral of this story is two-fold: If it is too good to be true, it almost certainly is, and you can’t be too careful on-line.
MarkEns
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AnonymousJanuary 2, 2007 at 11:17 am
TA,
They have just done a 60minutes expose on this very thing. Laywers, judges, doctors and others have been scammed. Often they aslo ask for a relatively small sum of money to ‘release’ the money for the bank, or to pay the government for taxes or whatever. If only 0.5% answer these messages, they make millions ….. I personally think that she should have contacted the foundation privately if what she wants is to give it to a worthy cause.
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AnonymousJanuary 2, 2007 at 7:29 pm
Okay, Brandy and Angel – you’s saw me coming.
The temptation to reply is really strong.
Oh, nice one Jerimy – gee I feel so special that they picked me!
I really, really want to reply to this one and I think I must. After all, for someone to be dying of GBS and still able to type is an amazing feat. I will reply and offer to visit them in the hospital in the UK. Time of course, is of the essence. I feel that the best thing would be to offer to fly over ASAP. I feel sure that you will all agree that to offer to do this would be the best idea.
All I can say is: please remember that this is an Irish woman answering a call and, being of Irish descent, I would not like to leave the needy without what they need and I hope that I can offer this person prescisely what they need. It may not be what they want but at least I hope it will be what they need.
God bless
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AnonymousJanuary 2, 2007 at 10:31 pm
If she were dying from GBS, she wouldn’t be able to use a keyboard. She’d be on a ventilator, paralyzed from head to toe. Ben *almost* died from GBS, and he couldn’t even communicate with me, much less do a Internet search to find this forum and then seek someone out to send a PM to and send them a message.
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AnonymousJanuary 2, 2007 at 10:40 pm
TA,
Wouldnt it be wonderful, being the true Irish lass you are, to get the whole GBS community in the UK involved too. How about you ALL going to visit her in hospital, with all your GBS specialists, so that they can speak to all her specialists of course, so that ALL of you can be with her to try and ease her suffering, and bring some last minute happiness to her life …….. Also, I’m sure the UK support group have lawyers giving their time for cases just like this, you know, situations where people want to get rid of their just over 8mill. pounds, so that its all legal and above board 😮 ……. NOT!!
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AnonymousJanuary 3, 2007 at 12:39 am
very wierd. I would be leary. She should post her story to alleviate everyone’s suspicion.
ne]Hi
I just got a private message from Habeebah (if I spelt it correctly) who, oddly enough, has never actually posted here.
Havng lost her (Australian) husband 4 years ago, she is dying in a general hospital the UK, (and is fortunately able to use a computer) and she wants to leave her 8.5 million US dollars to a charitable person who will spend it according to her wishes. As she is on this site she is apparently dying from GBS though fortunately still able to operate a keyboard
She wants her money to got to a Christian/Muslim organisation. Oh, what can I do? I thought of replying and suggestng that she pass it to the GBS Support Group. Ought I to do this? All (practical) suggestions would be appreciated. The temptation to reply is very strong.
God bless[/QUOTE]
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AnonymousJanuary 3, 2007 at 6:40 pm
Hi
Well I gave in to the temptation and replied saying I will happily visit her in hospital, am quite prepared not to tell her relatives who I am and we could discuss her financial requirements. I told her that all I required was the name of the hospital she is in and perhaps the ward number.
Odd how long it is taking her to get back to me, don’t you think?
I thought that quite a number of us would be more than willing to touch her with a 10 foot barge pole, even a 2 foot one.
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AnonymousJanuary 3, 2007 at 7:02 pm
TA-
As Mick Jagger says “You can’t always get what you want, but if you try, sometimes you can get what you need”.
I have an opinion on what this Private Messenger needs, but I’m sure you already know what that is. Have fun delivering it, and give “her” some from me too!
Suzanne
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AnonymousJanuary 7, 2007 at 7:36 pm
Oh Suzanne
I am so with you! I have not received a reply – oh, surprise.
What I find odd is that, if someone is trying to scam you and you offer them a way of doing it, why do they then not take up the offer? I am almost disappointed.
As scams go, it wasn’t a very good one – unless of course what they were after was (one of) my e-mail address(es).
Imagine though, what would have happened if I had received a reply telling me what hospital they were in, and I contacted the hospital and discovered they really actually were in it! Well, I am prepared to believe ‘six impossible things before breakfast’.
Ah well, I will let it lie.
I do want to say thank you to everyone who warned me about it being a scam and not to be taken in. It was very sweet of yous.
God bless
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