After getting yet another Nigerian scam email that made it through the filters, I joked about wanting to write a novel about someone who really did have access to a fortune but couldn’t get anyone to believe them. Then I got pointed to this xkcd comic, which has a joke about the poor company out there with a real penis enlarger that can’t reach potential customers (hover your mouse over the comic to see the joke in the ALT text).
That got me thinking about other poor souls out there who might have real products that get lost in the spam. So my top list of people to feel sorry for:
- Anyone who really does have free Viagra or Cialis samples to give away (and we have a winner — Pfizer IS giving away free Viagra to people who have lost jobs or health insurance!)
- Anyone with authorized replica Rolex or Omega watches
- Anyone trying to get people enrolled in real government grant programs
- Anyone trying to get people into a legit mortgage reduction program or loan
- Anyone with a really killer weight loss product, including one based on acai berry
- Anyone with a legit online Canadian pharmacy legally selling FDA-approved drugs that really could save people money
- Anyone with actual sexual secrets that women wish men knew or vice-versa
These were culled by skimming through 1,100 spam messages that Gmail caught for me in the past two days (I get a lot of spam). Got your own favorites? Add them below (and let’s see if the commenting spam filter lets them through!).
And if you’ve never seen Ze Frank’s riff on a Nigerian letter, watch the video below. Classic.
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
I wonder what it’s like handling spam blocking at a large pharmaceutical company. I imagine there’s a lot of whiskey involved.