Blah.Blah.Blog

>Dear Mr & Mrs Marks
>> 
>> Thank you for your recent faxination. 
>> 
>> Unfortunately, in the interest of security, we are unable to process your
>> transfer request, as you do not have a banking codeword set up on your
>> account.
>> 
>> Please forward a further request by mail, once this has been received we
>> will arrange the transfer for you.
>> 
>> I do apologise for any inconvenience this may cause to you, but hope you
>> will understand our obligation to comply with the guidelines that are
>> presently in force.
>> 
>> Should you have any queries regarding the above request, please do not
>> hesitate to contact me. 
>> 
>> Hazel Lister
>> Verification
>> Customer Contact
>> Tel: +44 (0) 845 054 4000
>> Fax: +44 (0) 845 051 0123
>> email: customerservices@anoffshore.com
>> 
>> 
>> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> -----
>> In order to ensure that the extremely high levels of customer security is
>> maintained, Abbey National Offshore strongly discourage all customers from
>> disclosing sensitive information pertaining to their accounts via this
>> medium. In particular account numbers and code words.
>> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> -----
>> 
>> 



**********************************************************************

Important:

Internet communications are not necessarily secure and may

be intercepted or changed after they are sent. The Abbey

National Offshore Group does not accept liability for any

such changes. If you wish to confirm the origin or content

of this communication, please contact the sender using an

alternative means of communication.

This communication does not create or modify any contract.

The content and attachments of Internet communications 

and emails sent and received by the Offshore Group may be

monitored.

If you are not the intended recipient of this communication

you should destroy it without copying, disclosing or 

otherwise using it's contents. Please notify the sender

immediately of the error.

The Abbey National Offshore Group comprises Abbey National

Offshore Holdings Limited, Abbey National Treasury

International Limited.

Abbey National Offshore Holdings Limited, Registered Office:

Cater Allen House, Commercial Street, St Helier, Jersey, JE4  8WU

******************************************************************************

There are only two possibilities that I can think of here:

• This email is a fraudulent attempt to get me to email my bank details to my old pal Hazel, whereupon she would - presumably - jump onto her broomstick, hightail it to the nearest ATM and abscond with my hard earned dosh.
• This is a legitimate email from the aforementioned Hazel, a legitimate employee of Abbey National Offshore.

Let's play Sherlock Holmes for a second and use deduction to determine which of these premises my Moriarty is hiding behind:

If this is a legitimate email from the financial establishment in question, then I would urge them to address the following subtle but important problems:

• I am not currently married - hence the lack of an official Mrs Marks
• I do not, nor have I ever, held a bank account with AN Offshore
• Faxination is not a word in the English language to the best of my knowledge (although I do give them half marks because I can see what they're alluding to)

In short, this is not the sort of company I would like to have looking after my meagre pile of savings.

So, let's see what's behind door number two...

Assuming this letter is a cunning plan of Baldrickian proportions to defraud me of my sheckels, let's test the underlying psychology here under the best possible conditions.

1. Oh, it's an email from my bank (the conspirators have lucked out and actually targeted a customer of AN Offshore)
2. Oh, and they're saying hello to my dear wife (again, the hypothetical me about to be duped into poverty has tied the knot at some previous stage)
3. Hmmm, I don't remember "faxinating" them recently, but I probably just forgot?
4. Curses, whatever I faxinated them about didn't have enough security credentials for them to complete the faxinated request!
5. OK, well I guess I should comply with their request and mail them as requested...

Now, that's a lot of faith to be placing on (hopefully) gullible people to connect that tenuous pattern of dots and engage in such further communication as to reveal confidential banking details.

Bottom line - if I'm going to be swindled out of my money, I want it to be the stooge of such a fiendishly complex schema that it makes the combined plots of The Usual Suspects and The Spanish Prisoner seem childlike in comparison. Moreover, I don't want to be considered the same as the next schmuck on an email list. Morons.

Interestingly, the contact details in the email seem legit AFAIK, although I haven't bothered enquiring further.