Received in my inbox today; just one of several nasty spams:
> Subject: From: Marc in Iraq
> Dear Sir,
> With a very desperate need for assistance, I have summed up courage
> to contact you.
> Presently stationed in Iraq with Army and I will disclose more to you
> later, I found your contact particulars in an address journal.
> I am seeking your assistance to evacuate the sum of $
> 28,500,000 (Twenty eight million, five hundred thousand dollars) to your
> country or any other safe country of your choice, in as much as you can
> assure me that my own share will be safe in your care until I complete
> my service here. This is no stolen money, and there are no dangers
> involved.
> SOURCE OF MONEY: During the war some money in various currencies was
> asked to be packed in barrels with piles of weapons and ammunitions at a
> location near one of Saddam's old palaces during a rescue operation, and
> it was agreed by all party present that the money will be shared amongst
> us, this was quite an illegal thing to do, but I tell you what? no
> compensation can make up for the risks we have taken with our lives in
> this hell hole.
> The above figure was given to me as my share, and to conceal this kind
> of money became a problem for me, so with the help of a German
> contact here,who of course did not know the real contents, I was able to
> get the package out to a safe location entirely out of trouble spot.
> I have now found a secured way of getting the package out to Europe
> for you to pick up, and will discuss this with you when I am sure of
> your sincerity in this.
> I shall be compensating you with 2 Million Dollars on final conclusion
> of this project, while the rest shall be for me.Your share stays with
> you while the rest shall be for me for investment purposes.
> One passionate appeal I will make to you is not to discuss this
> matter with a third party, should you have reasons to reject this
> offer,please destroy this mail as any leakage of this information will be
> too bad for us.
> I do not know for how long we will remain here, and I have survived 2
> suicide bomb attacks by the special grace of God, this and other
> reasons I will mention later has prompted me to reach out for help,
> since like many other soldiers here I may be killed sometime soon. I
> honestly want this matter to be resolved immediately.
> If this proposal is acceptable by you, do not take undue advantage of
> the trust I have bestowed in you, I await your urgent mail so we
> can discuss more.
> Respectfully,
> Marc Someone
> ________________________________________________
> Inviato con :
> TheCentreMail - http://www.thecentre.it
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Now isn't this an especially
distasteful twist on the 'help me spend my money' letter? The
reference to http://www.thecentre.it was left alone by me as was
the first name 'Marc'. Do whatever you wish with it. Maybe some
DDOS would be a good example for them? You can get a screensaver
tool to do just that from Lycos. PAT]