There I was, sitting back and typing away at an article for Disaboom when an instant message popped up on the screen.
Hello.
It was a screen name that I didn’t recognize, but I’m always getting instant messages from parents of deaf and hard of hearing children or other writers.
I typed back. Hi. Who is this please?
Hi, this is Eric Lawrence. How are you today?
So we exchanged chit chat. Thinking that he was possibly a parent that I couldn’t remember, I wracked my brain trying to remember who Eric Lawrence was.
And then it came.
We are here to congratulate you on the $150,000 you have won from the Australian Deaf Lottery! Congrats, you are a winner!
Oh my gosh. I couldn’t contain my excitement. One hundred and fifty grand! Whatever would I do with it? I could buy a summer home! I could buy a new boat! I could donate a large amount to Hands & Voices!
Your screen name was was selected by our computing balotting [sic] system, he went on.
Amused, I decided to play along a bit. I was instructed to give my name and address so that the certified check could be sent to my home. When I inquired about the website of the Australian Lottery, I was told that it was still under construction and that dear Eric would send me the link as soon as it was up.
I told him I wasn’t convinced.
Alright, you have a choice, he said. And the choice is that you can follow your heart but we will advice you to trust and believe in us and you will be surprised what will happen. We will get your winning check mailed out to you with immediate effect.
No thanks, I said.
And poof, he disappeared.
I’ve also won $50,000, $250,000 and one million since then.
None of the checks have come in the mail.
Maybe it’s because I forgot to give them my address?
Comments
25 responses to “I Won 150,000!”
Maybe…(wink)
I’m always winning the lottery too… even though I never buy a ticket. 😉
Amy Derbys last blog post..Hump Day Reading for the Restless Soul
What I get a lot of is emails (usually badly spelled ones at that) contacting me about the “wire transfer to my bank account.”
Uh-huh. I wasn’t born in a barn people…
ROFLMAO! I’ve won at least 6 different lotteries as well with fancy names and no website. What’s amazing is that they keep trying the same old scam 🙁
Darn. I was excited for you, for a little bit 🙂
Ah Man!! I was hoping it was true for you!!
Well, how careless of you to forget to give your address!
And, I just realized–we use the same blog theme (although I’ve changed mine a bit more–over at http://www.chappysmom.com)
–Debs last blog post..Are You a Journalist?
He was probably thinking he had a live one until you pushed for confirmation.
Daisys last blog post..Energize!
I seem to get contacted by IM from people dying and with terrible diseases that need heart transplants while their uncle’s dog got run over by a car. They always live in some third world country too it seems.
Anthony
I too received the same scam via email and AIM. This is slow but growing problem. I have had 3 school students approaching me wondering how to deal with it. One had already given out detailed information. This has then prompted me to do “Cyber Safety” presentation with the schools.
Last year, I did 2 presentations. This year, I have already booked 7 presentations and counting…..
It will also cover MySpace, FaceBook, etc…..
Like you and everyone else, I too wished I had actually won the lottery! Some day!
@Deb I like what you did with your template! It’s amazing how different blogs can look with a few tweaks.
@Anthony
Yes, I’ve gotten those via email. It really makes it so much harder to fundraise for legimate causes when everyone’s box fills up with spam.
@June,
This has me really worried about deaf and hard of hearing kids being so vulnerable online! I’m so thankful that we have you to help guide kids in our area.
Maybe it’s time for you to do a YouTube presentation?
CONGRATULATIONS!
What? You didn’t win?
Darn!
LOL. I smiled, giggled through this one. I get emails all the time from Nigeria and other places telling me rather urgently that millions of dollars need to be transferred to my account, right now.
The moment I see in the subject line URGENT MESSAGE FROM MR. BLAH, BLAH, I delete them immediately.
Good for you that you decided to lay along. Smart hearing people have been known to string along telemarketers on the phone. It’s almost comical.
Stephen Hopsons last blog post..How I Will NOT Lose 20 lbs. in 30 Days: Follow Up Week #4
He doesn’t spam very well — he forgot to ask you for your bank account number. Or he figured out from your “No, thanks” that you’re a smart cookie and he couldn’t take advantage of ya.
Meryl K. Evanss last blog post..Flying the Flag at Half Staff
@Stephen
It was fun stringing him along for a bit– I’m sure he was all excited at the thought of roping another one in!
@Meryl
I’m sure if he asked for my bank account, I could have given him the number of my overseas account. 😉
Or you could have given him a fake account number and watch him squeal with delight.
Sometimes we just have to have a sense of humor about it instead of letting it drive us crazy. Let’s give it back to them and show how we can play the game too, if we choose to do so.
Hahaha, I’m still smiling over this one.
Stephen Hopsons last blog post..How I Will NOT Lose 20 lbs. in 30 Days: Follow Up Week #4
@Stephen
Yup, that overseas account that I have stashed away is quite fake. That would have been very amusing. I’ll be sure to do that next time!
I almost believed you!! I was about to say “Wow!”… then an immediate expression on my face changed upon reading the rest of your blog post, thinking, “Brother… not another usual one!”
A friend of mine almost fell for it few months ago. She was desperate in searching for a mate/husband. As a Christmas present, her friend gave her a gift certificate to join a deafmatch online, which my friend did join.
Though she got several contacts, there was one guy that she immediately zoomed on. To her, he seemed the ideal guy who matched her “credentials”.
Daily, they chatted for hours and hours, finding many things in common. He said he was hard of hearing, a widow with a seven-year old daughter. He was comfortable financially and traveled frequently for business.
He mentioned he lived in a small town and did attend a school for the deaf.
Two months later, my friend admitted she was falling in love with him. He even sent a picture of himself with his daughter.
Then, one day, he announced he was flying to Africa to attend to some business conference. He even took his daughter with him, simply because he couldn’t part with her.
Two weeks later, my friend who was supposed to meet him for the first time at the airport on his return from Africa, instead got an e-mail from him saying that his daughter got sick with a virus and is in a hospital in Africa.
Worried sick, he frequently e-mailed my friend the details of his daughter’s sickness, due to some viral infection that she apparently contracted in Africa.
He then said he had a present to give to her but was unable to meet her due to his daughter. He asked for her address so he could mail the present to her.
My friend, even though she was in love with him, her internal alarm beeped. She somehow decided to listen to her intuition.
She immediately called the post office of that supposed town he mentioned he was living. The Post Office said they had no record of his name or even address and said that small town was simply full of older residents.
That guy later admitted he made it all up. He did not have a daughter, etc.
My friend was extremely fortunate to follow her own intuition instead of just her heart!!
Nitas last blog post..A "Blind" Oriental
I get similar messages and I click them off. I hate them. They are so decieving. They actually want your money more than they will give you their money.
It’s amazing the stunts they pull. If they put this much imagination into a legitimate career, think of all they could accomplish!
Jen@Happily-Ever-After-Lands last blog post..If you LOVE ME you’ll do this…..
Don’t you just love those, you have one 100,000 Euros! Thanks for stopping by!
Kristen Andrewss last blog post..Featured today at Scoutie Girl
heh. great story. Love how you play along and trick this fella into thinking he may have hooked another unsuspecting victim!
That’s one of the reasons why i never have or use credit cards!
And I don’t intend to ever have one.
i did send 500.00 in the somer point new jersy that fred is lie to me they told me winner over about 180,000,000 it is not real that call scam all try to steal from deaf person and other perosn. they lost the money has nothing won o.oo they never find out fake name on list from yahoo messager i was spoke with him that they told me won over 180,000 that has no real winner it is call scam and fake name on yahaoo messsages they try to steal from my money