First version of this scam I've seen...

[K Frame]

It's interesting in that it lays out, up front, what the fees will be.

Basically, here's what we're going to charge you to screw you over. 

And be sure to check out the very last word in the whole thing... I laughed. Hard.

And wow! I can withdraw $100,000 per day from an ATM? That seems a bit... excessive... Nice pocket wad, though.

"Attention: Fund Beneficiary,

Inline with the Corona-Virus Pandemic and the new Delta Veriant Virus
known as Covid-2, the United Nations in collaboration with the World
health Organization through the United States Department of the
Treasury, have agreed to compensate you with the sum of US$5,800,000.00
(Five Million Eight Hundred Thousand US Dollars Only) after your name
and email were submitted by the Internet International Monitoring
Group during the UNCC (United Nations Compensation Commission)
Conference Meeting which was held today with the UN Secretary General
Antonio Guterres. This payment Program is organized for charity
organization, unpaid government Contractors, Scam victims and for
those who lost their properties/businesses during crisis.

To ensure the payment is release directly to the approved fund
beneficiaries, this compensation commission has approved the payment
through the following method, Online Banking Payment Release System
and ATM MasterCard Payment Release System.

1. ONLINE BANKING PAYMENT RELEASE SYSTEM: This payment release method
permits the paying bank to set up an Online Banking Account in your
name after which the account login I.D and passcode will be issued to
you for easy access of funds from the comfort of your home. With this
payment Method, you can transfer a maximum amount of US$200,000.00
daily from your Online Banking Account to any account of your choice
using your Online Banking Login details. This payment release option
also gives you access to purchase goods online, paybills and other
online banking payment options.

The Charges attached to this payment release option (ONLINE BANKING
PAYMENT RELEASE SYSTEM) are as follows: (A) Online Banking Account
Opening Fee:$700 (?? Fund Transfer Authorization Clearance Fee:$550.
To complete your Online Banking opening process, you are required to
submit your Full Name, Address, Date of Birth, Contact Telephone No,
Occupation, Name of Next of Kin and a scanned copy of your passport
photograph 200x200 in size.

2. ATM MASTER CARD PAYMENT RELEASE SYSTEM: The Paying Bank will
deliver an ATM MasterCard worth US$5,800,000.00 (Five
Million Eight Hundred Thousand US Dollars Only)
to your receiving address with the access code attached for easy
access of funds as soon as the ATM MasterCard is delivered to your
address. This payment release method gives you the opportunity of
withdrawing a maximum cash sum of $100,000.00 daily from any ATM
Machine any where in the world using your access code. You can also
paybills, purchase goods using your approved ATM MasterCard.

The Charges attached to this payment release Option (ATM MASTER CARD
PAYMENT RELEASE SYSTEM) are as follows: (A) ATM MasterCard delivery
Fee:$380 (?? Insurance Coverage Fee:$600(C) Custom Clearance Fee:$850.
To complete the Shipment of your approved ATM MasterCard you are
required to provide your Full Name, Occupation, Receiving Address,
Contact Telephone Number and a scanned copy of your I.D for
identification by the delivery agent.

For further payment release instruction, you are urgently required to
get back to us with your preferred payment release option along with
your personal details attached to your preferred payment release
option as explained above. Note: You will be required to pay the
charges attached to your preferred payment release option to
facilitate the release of your approved compensation sum of US$5,
800,000.00 (Five Million Eight Hundred Thousand US Dollars Only)

Thank you for your understanding and corporation."

[Brad Johnson]

I used to think the wordiness was something they thought useful because it sounded Moar Ofishul. Working with students and faculty from those regions, it's SOP for written comms.

Brad

[dogmush]

I have found that extra wordiness is one of the prime indicators you are corresponding with an ESL individual.

These days a native English speaker is more likely to e-mail you text speak or emojis.

[MechAg94]

I have found that extra wordiness is one of the prime indicators you are corresponding with an ESL individual.

These days a native English speaker is more likely to e-mail you text speak or emojis.

That may be but it also look like a translation app or text to speak system or something.  Too many words that sound right, but are the wrong word for the context.  Are most translation apps smart enough to avoid that?

[230RN]

Oh. English as a Second Language.

"Are most translation apps smart enough to avoid that?"

Would be quite an accoplishment when many native speakers mix up words that sound the same...breech/breach, they're/ their/ there... etc.

I sometimes find my fingers are mistakenly tipping wrong words that sound the same all on there own an don't catch the err or write away.

Terry, 230RN

[K Frame]

"I have found that extra wordiness is one of the prime indicators you are corresponding with an ESL individual."

Well they ARE with the United Nations, so... 

[Jim147]

Which payment release option did you go with?

[K Frame]

The chickens, pigs, and goats version.

[Nick1911]

I recently fell victim to a scam, sort of.

eBay scam.  I buy a decent amount of stuff on ebay, typically new items, because I can often find the best shipped price there.  Even if it's the same price as Amazon, I prefer random ebay sellers because the shipping tends to be much faster.  Unless you pay amazon for prime, which I don't.

Anyway, I bought some parts on ebay.  The price was a little too good, and it was a new seller.  But hey, money-back guarantee, so why not?  The next day after the sale, my item is marked as shipped, via UPS.  45lbs (much too heavy for these parts!) and coming from a fairly local destination, despite the sellers address being on the other side of the country.

Well, weird, but who knows, maybe they are just a drop shipper?  We'll see what happens.

Later in the week, the package was marked as delivered, but no package was delivered.

So, here's how the scam works.  The scammer sells an item, and pulls an unrelated UPS tracking number that is being delivered in your zip code.  Your sale is tagged with that tracking number.  Later, when you go to complain about the package not being delivered, eBay's automated system denies it, because it can see that the package was delivered.  No money back for you.

Clever.

There's two ways to deal with this.  The right way, or the wrong way.

The right way is to endlessly attempt to get ebay to fix this, probably having to take to social media to complain in order to get any traction on it, which is what other people have reported doing.  You'll invest time and energy well in excess of the amount lost though.  The scammer is banking on at least some of the victims not persevering.

The wrong way is to lie to ebay.  Tell ebay "I'd like to return this item".  Ebay's automated system kicks out a seller-paid shipping label... then put 45lbs of bricks in a box.  45lbs that the scammer is now going to pay to have shipped across the country.  In addition to ebay refunding the original auction amount. 

[Hawkmoon]

The wrong way is to lie to ebay.  Tell ebay "I'd like to return this item".  Ebay's automated system kicks out a seller-paid shipping label... then put 45lbs of bricks in a box.  45lbs that the scammer is now going to pay to have shipped across the country.  In addition to ebay refunding the original auction amount. 

I fail to comprehend why this is the "wrong" way.

[Bogie]

Bricks of semtex?

[MechAg94]

Bricks of semtex?

Just make sure you ship it from a cabin in the woods.

[Nick1911]

Bricks of semtex?

The problem with this is that I don't actually know if the address associated with the scammer's account has anything to do with the scammer.  It's entirely possible that packages sent to that address will be received by a very confused third party.