The "Friendly Bet" Variant
Ooooo.... here's a novel approach..... As the person who reported this one to news.admin.net-abuse.usenet said... "Duh... like we was born yesterday, huh ,huh, huh?" I won't even deign to lower myself to tear this one apart (just use your imagination).
"Hello,
My name is Derek Telasco. I'm 26, and I work as a computer systems administrator at a local mold making shop. I've been involved with computers for years, but I just recently started using the Internet, and this is the first time I've ever posted anything to a Newsgroup. Actually, I guess I should say this is the first time I'm "trying" to post something - I haven't actually posted this yet so it might not work.
One night last week after work, my friend Jamie and I were surfing around the Internet over a couple of beers (Moosehead Lager #1!!!!). When we went into the Newsgroups, we noticed a number of different articles like "CASH - NO SCAM", or "$ Earn Extra Income $" which try to talk you into sending a stranger money so that you can somehow get rich in return. My personal favorite, simply said "SEND ME $1.00" and listed the address below.
Anyway, this caused a debate between Jamie and I over the possible effectiveness of this type of scam. He thought they were all a waste of time, and I took the opposing opinion. I argued that some of the articles, like "CASH - NO SCAM" would most likely appeal to enough people to create a modest profit
As we continued surfing, and had a few more beers, the debate turned into this bet. Jamie, being a "non-believer" in the usefulness of the Internet, bet me $100.00 that I couldn't make $100.00 by finding a way to get people to send me money. Well, I rose to the challenge, and we started to discuss the terms of the bet. He wanted me to get 100 people to send me $1.
I argued that this puts me at a disadvantage because in Canada, (and probably other countries as well) we don't have $1 bills, we have a coin instead (called a Loonie) which wouldn't travel through the mail very well. I won this argument, and since we have a $2 coin (called a Toonie, believe it or not) "
I believe you're a loonie-toonie, that's for sure. Sorry, I said I wouldn't tear this one apart, but that setup was just too good to pass up. And now back to your regularly scheduled scam.....
"in Canada, and some countries, like the US don't even have $2 bills, we settled on the 20 people sending in $5 a piece. We also agreed on 3 rules. #1: I couldn't actually sell anything, I had to, like other similar articles, somehow talk 20 people into sending me a $5 bill. #2: I had to use an original approach. I couldn't just copy someone else's idea. And #3: I could only have one chance. I could post to as many Newsgroups as I wanted, but I had to use the same approach.
There was only one thing we couldn't agree on. Who gets to keep the $100 if I win? Jamie thought he should get the money, since the bet was his idea, (not mentioning the fact that this would nicely cover the $100 debt he would owe me after I won the bet!!) and I argued that I should be able to keep the money, since I'm the one doing all the work. I also reminded him that only minutes before he was bragging about making an easy $100 after I lose the bet.
Neither of us would agree to let the other have the money if I did actually win this bet. So, what do we do with the $100 ??????????
We decided we would donate $100 to one of the charity organizations if I won the bet, and with this last point settled, I started thinking of a way to win.
Well, it's now been almost a week since we made the bet and I still haven't come up with a way to scam you, and 19 other people out of $5. I thought of posting "LAST CHANCE TO SEND IN YOUR $5, SEND A SELF ADDRESSED STAMPED ENVELOPE WITH A $5 BILL TO ÷.." along with my address in the hope that 20 people would read this, figure they missed the first article, and send me $5 in the hope of getting something interesting in the mail. I mean, what the hell, it's only five bucks, right? But since I only had one chance at this (rule #3) I couldn't be sure this would work.
I was starting to think that I might lose this one, when I thought to myself "There's no rule saying that this has to be a 'scam', what would happen if I just told everyone the truth?"
Well, here it is:
If you send me a $5 bill, and so do 19 other people who read this in one of the Newsgroups, I will win a $100 bet with my friend, and one of the charities will be $100 richer. I can't promise you anything of value in return (rule #1), but if you include a self addressed stamped envelope, I will mail you back a letter with my thanks, tell you who won the bet, and providing I win, a copy of the receipt for the charity that we donated $100 to so you know your $5 contribution wasn't a complete waste of time.
Also, if you are interested, could you include your vote for a charitable organization that could use $100? We will pick one of the charities at random from the envelopes we receive.
Whether you send me $5 or not, thank-you for the time spent reading this.
Derek Telasco1064 Brock Street
Apartment #311
Windsor, Ontario
Canada
N9C-2V2"
So - you folks got your $5 bills ready to send in yet?
