Another academic scam

I’ve just received a second academic scam. My comments in green:

From: un.academicawards@katamail.com [this would be more convincing if it was masked as a UN addres]

UNITED NATIONS UNIVERSITY AWARDS COORDINATOR [actually, there is such thing as the UN University!]
BRENT ADAMS (UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL GRANTS)
UNIVERSITY STAFF AND UNDERGRADUATE AWARD DEPT
REF NO: 05/0029-UNG/0901-03
BATCH NO: 11-4120/UNG/0307
SERIAL NO: AA01/07/003/UNEG

ATTN: WINNER/RECIPIENT.

RE: 3rd Annual University Staff And Students Award.

This is to notify you that you have emerged as one of the recipients of the 3rd Annual University Staff And Students Award Grants of the UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL GRANTS for this year. [Me? I won? Wow!]

Your University email address, picked from your school website and attached to ticket number [I still like the idea of allocating grants this way, saves you filling hateful applications]: 003-0155107-07 with serial number.: AA01/07/003/UNEG which drew the numbers: 10-01-44-86-23 [numbers make it sound soooo official, I’m impressed] which emerged as the 4Th place winning numbers in category “A” amongst other ten email addresses selected from the best 200 Universities worldwide [Nice, Edinburgh Uni is now one of the top 20 universities in the world. We rock!]. Your Award Fund/prize is $500,000.00 (FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND US DOLLARS) [wait a second, the other email I received offered me £500k GBP! The dollar is not worth much these days in case you haven’t heard] which is credited in cash to file with REF:05/1128-ISA/0001-1.

There are a total of 30 winners in this year’s award draw who won under categories “A”, “B” and “C”. All the winners/recipients of this award were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from the best 200 Universities worldwide [it’s teh lottary!]. The award which is given annually since 2005 is promoted and sponsored by the UNITED NATIONS, eminent personalities like the Ovorangwen of Benin, The Sultan Of Brunei, Abdullah II Bin Al Hussein (The King of Jordan) and Bill & Melinda Gates are also donors to this year’s award [yes, and I can shoot laser from my eyes].

This award is an initiative towards the development and enhancement of global education, the assistance of the less privileged university undergraduates, the appreciation and compensation of hardworking university staff across the world and the encouragement of the use of internet. [of course I deserve this money! I’m hardworking less privileged university staff that encourages the use of internets.]

Your award fund is deposited with our designated paying bank with your ticket number and serial number. You are warned to keep this award information strictly confidential until your award has been processed and your fund remitted to your account to avoid double claim [or perhaps to…. *gasp* allow the fraud to run its course?]. Please be informed that your above award fund has been insured under insurance fund policy which assures you that you will receive your award fund complete without any deduction from the fund for security reasons [that does not make any sense, but it sure makes it sound official]. There are accredited agents in charge of the claims of the awards in the 3 respective categories who are located in Africa, Asia and Australia [why Australia? There’s nothing down there but dingoes and poisonous critters]. You are advised to contact the agent in charge of your category (A) with the necessary information as given below to enable him process the claim of your award fund. Below are the information you are required to email to your agent:

1. Name in full
2. Country of Origin
3. Name of University
4. Contact Address
5. Age
6. Sex
7. Occupation
8. Phone/Fax
9. Batch Number
10. Serial Number
11. Reference Number
12. Amount Won
[Now we’re getting somewhere, you want my bank details, together with all sorts of information that will make it easy for them to get all of my money out of my account, right?]

The above listed information are to be emailed to our accredited agent in charge of category “A” award claims with his contact information as provided below:

Name : Rev. Jim Edwards [Reverend? Ah yes, play the religious card. Men of the cloth are intrinsically reliable, right?]
Email: jimedwards2020@yahoo.com [Hint for future scams: Yahoo accounts are bad idea]
jimedwards2121@hotmail.com [Hint for future scams: Look at the above hint, but replace Yahoo with Hotmail.]
Phone: 011-234-703-045-4042 [Allow me to get a list of World’s calling country codes. +234 is Nigeria. Colour me surprised!]

CALL HIM FOR MORE DIRECTIVES IMMEDIATELY AFTER YOU EMAIL YOUR INFORMATION TO HIM. DIAL PLUS (+) IN PLACE OF (011-) IF YOU ARE CALLING HIM FROM ANYWHERE OUTSIDE U.S.A.

WARNING!!! [Danger! Danger! Your caps key is stuck!]

(1) YOU MAY RECEIVE THIS NOTIFICATION MORE THAN ONCE AS THIS ORGANIZATION RE-SENDS THIS NOTIFICATION TO THE AWARD RECIPIENTS IN MOST CASES UNTIL EVERY RECIPIENT HAS CLAIMED HIS OR HER PRIZE. ANY OTHER NOTIFICATION OF THIS NATURE RECEIVED BY ANY WINNER BEARING ANOTHER TRADE MARK OR CONTACT INFORMATION SHOULD BE IGNORED OR FORWARDED TO YOUR CLAIMS AGENT IMMEDIATELY, THIS HELPS US TO FIGHT THE ACTIVITIES OF IMPOSTORS. [Translation: we send this to several people, so you may receive it again, which is not an indication of a fraudulent transaction.]

(2) SUBMISSION OR PROVISION OF WRONG INFORMATION TO YOUR AGENT LEADS TO IMMEDIATE DISQUALIFICATION AND CANCELLATION OF YOUR AWARD. [Translation: Don’t play with us.]

Congratulations!!!

Sincerely,
Brent Adams
University Awards Coordinator,
United Nations Educational Grants.