Thursday, November 08, 2007

Don’t get taken by this adorable scam! - Netiquette - MSNBC.com

Don’t get taken by this adorable scam! - Netiquette - MSNBC.com: "Don’t get taken by this adorable scam!"

The unstoppable e-mail grift now plays on our insatiable puppy love

Image: Chihuahua
Koichi Kamoshida / Getty Images file

By Helen A.S. Popkin
MSNBC
updated 6:35 p.m. ET, Wed., Nov. 7, 2007


Helen A.S. Popkin

The real genius of the ever evolving 419 scam is its ability to change with the times. Like Madonna or antibiotic-resistant staphylococcus, the money-advancing grift continuously reinvents itself to better infiltrate society’s weaknesses.

Coming soon to an Inbox near you; arguably the most insidious 419 scam yet. Unlike older cons promising money, love or your life, this new variant doesn’t exploit greed, lust or fear – but another human languor equally as vulnerable — puppies!

Send money now, pleads the unsolicited mail, and you’ll receive these purebred bulldog pups pictured here. Else wise they’ll die horribly. Brilliant, really. As recent events show, nothing makes Americans go nuts like the publicized perils of poor, defenseless, forever innocent puppies.

To read the rest of the story click on the link below...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21677608/