The Internet is by far the fastest and most far-reaching way to spread news, views, shoe sale announcements – and scams.
A couple of hounds got me over the weekend.
Photo that came with the Cookie and Coco e-mail
Well, I’m not sure if this was really a scam, but rather a case of misinformation.
The misinformation came in the form of an e-mail from a Florida friend of mine regarding two dogs in that needed a new home.
FWD: Subject: ANY PET LOVERS LOOKING FOR TWO LABS?
Subject: Seeking Home for 2 Family Dogs – Two gorgeous labs trained. If you can’t help, please forward & thank you!
The message goes on to outline these perfectly trained, good-with-kids, healthy and microchipped 3-year-old dogs whose family is moving overseas in two weeks. They must stay together or their hearts will break. Help!
It ends with a plea from the alleged owner:
I pray that someone, somewhere can help us keep Cookie and Coco together, and love them just as much as we do. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart. kjmorris74@yahoo.com
Not bothering to check into it, of course – why would this be a hoax? – I promptly posted it on my Facebook account. My intent was to serve as an angelic helping hand that could assist in finding these two perky pooches a loving abode.
I promptly deleted it, wholly chagrined, when more than one person commented that it had been a scam circulating on the Internet for quite some time.
My friend Paul did a simple check on Snopes.com and passed along the info that, while this plea for a new home was true when it first appeared on a pet blog in January, the dogs have since been merrily adopted.
Why am I telling you this?
To prove how easy it is to fall for this crap.
I’ve posted scam stories in the past about folks who fall for smooth talkers or others who end up victims of unscrupulous ploys.
Several folks usually ask: “Are people that gullible – or just that dumb?”
It’s a mixture of both. It’s also a matter of tugging at our heartstrings or telling us things we want to believe. Oh, the poor doggies.
The only damage done by Cookie and Coco, as far as I know, was making me feel like a heel.
Other e-mails, however, could bleed us dry if we fell for them.
Here’s one I found in my inbox this morning:
Illustration Ryn Gargulinski
Subject: DEAL 50/50
Acknowledge,
An Iraqi made a fixed deposit of $6.5m usd in my bank branch (Hang Seng Bank, Hong Kong) where am a director and he died with his entire family in the war leaving behind no next of kin, I’m ready to share 50/50 with you if you choose to stand as my deceased client next of kin. If interested mail me at the address below:
www.wongty@livemail.tw
Yours Truly,
Wong Tang.
Yes, we want to believe we can get rich quick – but I doubt contacting Wong Tang is the way to go about it.
A third category of dubious e-mails is the urban legend, like this one I received last week:
Subject: Cookie Recipe
THIS IS A TRUE STORY!
My daughter and I had just finished a salad at a Neiman-Marcus Cafe in Dallas, and we decided to have a small dessert.
Because both of us are such cookie lovers, we decided to try the Neiman-Marcus cookie.
It was so excellent that I asked if they would give me the recipe, and the waitress said with a small frown, “I’m afraid not, but you can buy the recipe.”
Well, I asked how much, and she responded, “Only two fifty – it’s a great deal!”
I agreed to that, and told her to just add it to my tab.
The saga continues with the woman receiving her credit card statement with a charge for $250 – not the $2.50 she expected for the cookie recipe. She tries to make it right, but the department store’s accounting department tells her she’s SOL.
To get even, the woman is sharing the complete cookie recipe with everyone she knows – and please forward it to everyone you know to help her get even.
Yes, we want to believe we can help avenge the “little guy” who was taken by “big, bad corporate America.”
The cookie recipe story is actually a recirculation of another notable urban legend, says Snopes.com, one that started some 50 years ago with a Velvet Cake.
Outright scams and outdated dog listings aside, urban legends do serve a couple of purposes. They both warn and amuse us.
So laugh all you want – but don’t get taken for a ride. And don’t try to adopt Cookie and Coco, as they’ve already found a home.
What do you think?
Have you ever been taken for a ride by an e-mail or other Internet rumor, urban legend or scam?
Would you admit it if you were?
P.S. I told my friend who sent the Cookie and Coco message about the situation. His response: “I skeptically figure most such emails are scams and so don’t fwd them, but they were DOGS for God’s sake, with cute names and sad (adopt us please) faces! They totally got me cuz I’m a dog lover.” Heartstrings strike once again.
P.P.S. Any e-mail that begins with “THIS IS A TRUE STORY!” most likely isn’t.
Client feedback on email campaign written to drum up business for educational seminar.
Mornin’ Rynski! I would have fallen for these two pooches easily! What a pair. 6.5 mil and a trip to Hong Kong! Wing Wang must be a very benevolent soul. Kinda surprising he could not find anybody in China to take him up on his generous offer…
hahah! Mornin’ Radmax! I wanted those dogs myself…but sawyer and phoebe would have had way too much to say about that! yes, it’s weird wong tang didn’t find any hong kong folks to take him up on his amazing offer – but is very kind of him to extend it to those of us in the U.S.
my favorite urban legend is THE HOOK although I also like BLOODY MARY (but i heard the movie sucks).
What’s your fave urban legend?
Hands down…Bloody Mary! Although I have heard this flick sucks…
didn’t you also once post something about liking the La Llorona myth?
El chicharones…very tasty…oh you’re talking about the cryin’ senora who drown her kids or something? Nah, never heard of that one, but I can tell you 1st hand this movie sucks out loud. 🙂
Chupacobra…is that how you spell it?
Big Foot is an all time fave urban legend of mine. I went through a faze of only dating men who resembled the legendary Big Foot photo in hopes of finding the real one.
hahahhahahhahahhahaha!!! did you ever find him?
i’ve always found big foot kinda creepy, i lived in oregon/northern california for a spell and he was spotted up there about every other day.
I think I found a few! 😉
Good one!
I didn’t know the cookie story was crap, though… and I always get those emails from the foreign sounding person, looking to share his good fortune, as long as I hook him up with my bank account number!
I got duped along time ago, where a guy is getting his picture taken under water, and in the murky depths you can see the biggest shark in the world behind him. That one played on my fear of sharks and I totally believed the guy was devoured after the picture.
You’d think the fact the shark was smiling would have clued me in it was a fake, but I figured sharks smile when they get to eat a tasty human.
the shark is a good one, too! esp. fear of sharks is one of my top main fears of all time. poor man! about to be devoured! i think sharks DO smile when they get to eat humans – and volkswagon bugs.
Woo hoo, I got a mention in one of Ryn’s articles – thanks! Don’t feel bad, I and counless others have also fallen for the story about the doggies’ plight. I was seriouslyconsidering the possibility of adopting them because I won’t be seeing my own dogs much more in the future due to divorce.
thank YOU!, paul, for doing the research and pointing out the true story behind the hounds.
sorry to hear about a pending divorce. poop.
i know you are not near tucson, but there are some FOR REAL dogs up for adoption here. a woman i know always fosters a lot of dogs and she has some cuties, as usual, looking for homes. let me know if you want her contact info, etc.
I, too, have had an experience with someone trying to scam me. I had posted a laptop on Ebay with hopes of selling it for a couple hundred, as I was pressed for cash at the time. Well, in the last few minutes of the auctions ending, somehow the bids went from about $185.00 to over $5,000.00!! I remember feeling very confused, and I still don’t understand how exactly that happened. Shortly after the auctions end, I received an email from the “winner” asking me to send the laptop to him in Africa. I replied by saying that I would not send anything until payment was received. He then responded with a story of how this laptop was for his daughter who is just starting school and he needed the laptop ASAP. So, again, I responded to him saying that if he wanted the laptop ASAP, then he would first have to send the money ASAP. I never heard from him again, and what makes this even more weird is that when I looked back into my Ebay account, the whole auction had disappeared. It was like it had never even happened! It still boggles my mind, to this day! I know I’m not crazy, because I had my best friend with me at the time, and he saw it too, haha. That was the first and last time I ever tried to sell anything on Ebay.
good for you, jennatoolz, on asking for the cash before the delivery. i’ve had good experiences buying stuff on ebay – tattoo machines, cowhide handbag, etc. – but not selling on ebay, either.
also remember another ebay story about a kid buying his first car – that he only found out didn’t exist after he and his father excitedly wired the money to the alleged car owner.
since the internet makes it so hard to track anyone down, the kid and his dad never got any retribution. nor were the perps ever caught.
Yeah, not a fan of ebay myself. To many good scammers out there.
Mmm. The Neiman Marcus cookie story is as old as time. I collect cookbooks and different forms of the story have made it into a couple of small press cookbooks, one dating to the late 80s. It is a yummy recipe and I’ve made the cookies several times.
glad you’re helping that poor woman get her $250 worth (haha). last week was the first time I ran across the neiman marcus cookie story. glad it’s a good recipe. now i just have to get my hands on the one for Velvet Cake…
That one fooled me, and I still haven’t tried one of those cookies.
Mornin’ Ryn,
The biggest scam I’ve ever fell for was Holly. She said “’til death do us part…” and something about “forever”..
And I fell for it! And yes, it was quite expensive. 🙂
awww, sorry to hear it. maybe you can bake some neiman marcus cookies to help you feel better?