Nigeria Marriage Scams

Nigeria is like the con city of the world.

And this is not just any discriminating statement. I am not racist or discriminating against any countries but the name Nigeria seemed to appear regularly whenever online scams or cons are mentioned.

That is one of the main reasons that a lot of companies everywhere dun ship to Nigeria. Chances are that they wun get paid. This is backed by bad experiences.

And I repeat myself. I am not against Nigeria, but if I received any email or offers or whatever from Nigeria, I just delete them.

So beware of any cyber stuff originating from Nigeria. Chances are it's a scam.

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New Paper
31 Aug 2008

I want to marry you, send me money

Woman's online search for love attracts 'suitors' from Nigeria. They claimed to be expatriates but asked her to send them money so they could come to Singapore to marry her.

-TNP
Elysa Chen


WHEN a Singaporean woman went online in search of a life partner, she received several offers of marriage. But it was not wedding bells but alarm bells that went off in her head.

The reason: The proposals were from men in Nigeria.

And, rightly or wrongly, the mere mention of the African nation summons visions of scams.

The woman, a 47-year-old accounts executive who wanted to be known only as Josephine, is sure her suitors are con men targeting lonely women with false promises of love and marriage.

They claimed to be expatriates working in the oil industry in Nigeria but asked her to send them money so they could come to Singapore to marry her.

Ms Josephine recently posted her profile on the Singapore Expats forum, hoping to find a man who could commit to a long-term relationship and eventually marry her.

But when she received six e-mail replies from different men in Nigeria, each promising marriage, she became suspicious. She said: 'If I had never heard of so many scams from Nigeria, I would have been thrilled.

'I have never been popular with men and most don't take a second look at me. So, when so many guys were interested in me and telling me how much they loved me by their third e-mail, at the back of my mind, I found it unbelievable.'

'Widowers'

First, these 'widowers' wooed her with poems and showed her pictures of their children. They also spun heart-wrenching tales of how their wives had died during childbirth and told her that she was 'the perfect mother' for their children.

Of course, she had no idea whether the pictures were real. But the stories, because they were so similar, got her suspicious.

Within days of getting to know her, they would ask her for money. Most asked her to send sums ranging from $2,000 to $3,000.

One asked her to buy him a laptop and ship it to Nigeria.

The most frightening request was from a man who went by the name of Houston. He claimed he was from the Cayman Islands and asked Ms Josephine to open a bank account in Singapore so that he could transfer millions of dollars to her.

With wide-eyed horror, she said: 'He could have been trying to use me to launder money.'

Even if she were unaware of Nigerian scams, Ms Josephine said she would not have fallen victim as she finds it 'too difficult to part with her hard-earned money'.

Emotional blackmail

When she did not accede to their requests, the men resorted to 'using four-letter words' on her or emotionally blackmailing her by asking her to send the money for the sake of their children.

One even went as far as to call himself her husband.

Laughing, Ms Josephine said: 'We haven't even met, and he's saying that he is my husband.

'They must have thought that I was one of those airheads whose heart would melt the moment they said they loved me and give them all my money.'

Although she had mentally prepared herself for fake offers, it was still 'devastating' that every suitor ended up asking her for money.

Her sister, Mrs Elaine Wee, 45, said: 'This is the cruellest thing that anyone can do to a single woman. I was so indignant for not only my sister, but all the other women that these men were out to cheat by playing with their feelings.'

Ms Josephine, who has spent about $8,000 on local and foreign matchmaking agencies, has one simple wish: To find a nice, honest man she can go home to after a hard day's work.

Smiling, she said: 'Somewhere out there, there might be someone for me. I'm not going to just give up.'

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SAME CON, NEW TWISTS

iPHONE TWIST

Conmen post advertisements on the Internet to sell iPhones, but unsuspecting buyers end up empty-handed after sending the money. A Singapore student was cheated of $1,600.

EPL TWIST

They pretend to represent top English Premiership clubs. Victims are duped into sending money in the belief that they are paying official registration fees to have a trial at Premiership clubs.

STRANDED ABROAD TWIST

They hack into someone's Hotmail account and send e-mail to people in the person's address book. The recipients are asked to send money to help the Hotmail account-holder, who is stranded during a holiday in Nigeria.

Former Singapore Idol finalist Jeassea Thyidor had similar experience with her Hotmail account.

LONELY WOMAN TWIST

They pose as pretty and lonely women in trouble and ask victims to send them money so they can fly to meet them.

Stop forwarding email hoaxes

I have received many such email hoaxes over the years but I did not forwarded them to the people I know. Maybe when I was younger, more ignorant and naive, I did so out of good will. After all, it only took a few simple clicks to forward email. And in doing so, save a life.

BUT these emails are SCAMS!! Most are originated by people who had too much time on their hands!

A real needy email asking for help would include a contact number and a contact person. Or even a personalized email address.

And any person with any decent IT knowledge would know that it is NOT POSSIBLE to collect email data that has been forwarded thousands of time! Hence there is no such thing as 7 cents per email forwarded or whatever!!

Now that you know, please DUN forward such email and spam your friends and people you know.

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The New Paper
07 Aug 2008

Sad story, but IT'S A HOAX

Make-A-Wish Foundation's name used, but organisation says it is not involved

By Teh Jen Lee

THE story seems tragic - a 7-year-old Indian girl dying of lung cancer and a brain tumour. And you can help save her by simply forwarding the e-mail that carries her picture and her sad story.

The e-mail reads: 'My name is Amirtha. I am 7 years old, and I have severe lung cancer. I also have a large tumour in my brain from repeated beatings. Doctors say I will die soon if this isn't fixed, and my family can't pay the bills.

'The Make-A-Wish Foundation has agreed to donate 7 cents for every time this message is sent on.'

The e-mail has been making the rounds, but there is no truth to the story.

BACK IN THE '90s

It is a newer version of a hoax e-mail that started back in the late 1990s. It is not known who the little girl is.

A spokesman for the Make-A-Wish Foundation in Singapore told The New Paper that this is the first time it has come across this particular e-mail. She said this e-mail and other chain e-mails do not represent the foundation or its mission, which is 'granting a heartfelt wish to a child between the ages of 3 and 18 years with a life-threatening illness'.

'This is not a Make-A-Wish-originated e-mail and we do not promote or support the use of solicitation of funds through chain letters,' she said.

'The foundation also does not grant monetary wishes to children, neither does the foundation support a child seeking funds in this manner.' She advised people who receive such e-mails to contact the local Make-A-Wish affiliate and seek clarification before forwarding them.

Websites debunking e-mail hoaxes such as www.hoax-slayer.com state that tracking an e-mail requires a tracking script, but this is usually removed by modern e-mail programs for security reasons.

So it would be impossible to collect any accurate data about an e-mail that could be forwarded thousands of times, which means it's not possible to calculate the amount of money to be donated.

Tracking e-mail in such a way would also be considered a privacy infringement so it is unlikely that any ethical charity organisation would knowingly get involved.

Most people view such chain e-mails as a nuisance.

Dr Tharm Sook Keng, 29, a veterinarian, said: 'If I were to get such e-mails, I would most likely delete it. There are so many hoaxes on the Internet. 'The person who started it is probably bored but it affects the charity to a certain extent because people may become desensitised and cynical.'

Undergraduate Wan Chang Chin, 23, said: 'In this day and age, anything can be sent out by anyone, so it's just something we have to deal with. 'I never forward such e-mails. Many people don't think these e-mails are credible, but there are a few who believe and these are the ones who keep the e-mails circulating.'

It's no surprise that the Make-A-Wish Foundation website states that it receives hundreds of enquiries daily about chain letters claiming to be associated with it.

There is a long list of different names used for the child in need, including Amy Bruce, Jeff Deleon, Rhyan Desquetado, LaNisha Jackson, Nikisha Johnson and Jessie Anderson, but the requests are all false.

The website added that the foundation has contacted the originator's Internet service provider to pursue the matter.

One of the names used is based on a real boy, Craig Shergold. In 1989, he was a 9-year-old brain tumour patient who wanted to be in the Guinness Book of World Records for receiving the most greeting cards.

In 1990, his wish was fulfilled by another wish-granting organisation, not Make-A-Wish Foundation, and he received more than 16 million cards.

Craig is now a healthy adult and has requested an end to the mail. All the mail that is received is forwarded to a recycling centre.

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The New Paper
08 Aug 2008

Don't be taken in by e-mail hoaxes

I REFER to the report about a little girl with a brain tumour and lung cancer, for whom a chain e-mail claimed a certain amount of money would be given each time the message was forwarded ('Sad story but it's a hoax', The New Paper, 6 Aug).

It is not just the Make-a-Wish Foundation that has been hit. Such e-mails claim that by forwarding the message, certain large companies will donate money to someone who is sick.

But it should be quite obvious that if someone is doing a good deed and helping the needy, this is not the way to do it.

If a company wants to donate, it can just write a cheque to the needy person. There is no sense in forwarding such an e-mail because by the time the necessary amount is raised, it is likely to be too late for the one who needs it.

People should stop a moment and think before they do something so silly as forward such an e-mail and clog up the e-mail boxes of others.

China Con calling

I received a call from a number with an extremely long sequence at 12:41 pm this afternoon. Looking at the number +86 28 852931 **, i guessed the number probably originated from China.

Checking the net, I was right. China country code is 86 and 28 is the area code from Chengdu.

But the thing is I dun know anyone from China, no relatives, no business, no friends there, NOTHING!

I can't be bothered to even answer the phone. In fact, I dun even answered the phone if I dun recognise the number.

The caller probably called to say that I won some lucky draw and a huge amount of money. And that if I send over a few thousand dollars, I could claim the prize money.

WHAT DO YOU THINK I AM? STUPID???

I told SO about it and he said he also received a call from a similar number some weeks back. He picked up the call, heard some whiny Chinese lady, speaking with strong whiny cheena accent and slammed down the phone.

Like me, he also dun have any connections nor know anyone from China.

Gosh, cons from China are getting more daring. Soon, they would overtake Nigeria as the con capital.

So please, dun be taken in. Money does not fall from the tree nor from the sky.

Dun be so gullible and be taken in by such offers of money.

Would you pay $2600 for a PSP?

Who on earth in their right mind would pay $2600 for a Sony PSP. That amount can buy a nice laptop.

Frankly, I dun know if the lady was gullible, ignorant or plain stupid? Mostly all three.

If I was quoted such a ridiculous price, I would just walk away. What a con job and no one can do anything about it. How many more unknowing and ignorant suckers would be suckered by this shop?

But according to CASE, what the shop did is not considered overcharging. So criminally they are not illegal And CASE even said that retailers are free to set their own prices because of differences in cost structures and locations.

GASP! Double Gasp! That means they can technically commit daylight robbery and the police cannot do anything about it! *Faint*

That's why I never shop for any IT or electronics or electrical products from Lucky Plaza. Only ignorant tourists do.

Bunch of blood thirsty blood suckers, they have there.

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The New Paper
06 Aug 2008

Woman pays $2,600 for 'upgraded' PSP

Salesman told her she was paying for 'original' software licences.

HER 12-year-old daughter wanted to buy a Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP) to share with her friends.

On 12 July, a 41-year-old sales assistant, who wanted to be known only as Nicole, went with her daughter to shop for one at Lucky Plaza. After checking with several shops, she found out that the price ranged between $300 and $600.

She told The New Paper that she went to a shop owned by Yeow Tat Trading Enterprises. She said that the sales assistant there was polite and helpful, and helped her daughter to choose a black-tinted PSP.

He advised Nicole to upgrade the software on the PSP, explaining that this would allow her daughter to play more games as well as surf the Internet, among other things.

When Nicole asked him how much the games cost, he told her that they were free of charge. He added that she only needed to pay for the PSP and licence for software upgrading. He then took the PSP away to download the games and upgrade the software, she said. He returned 15 minutes later with the PSP and the bill - a whopping $3,550.

Said Nicole: 'I was shocked. I thought he had written an extra zero by mistake. 'I told him that if the upgraded PSP was going to cost as much as a laptop, I might as well get my daughter a laptop.' Nicole said that her daughter agreed that the PSP was too expensive, and said she didn't want it anymore.

But the sales assistant told her that it was too late as he had already downloaded original software onto the PSP and the licences were costly.

AGREED TO REDUCE PRICE

He agreed to reduce the price to $3,100, but Nicole said it was still too expensive. He then offered reduce it further to $2,610, saying that he wouldn't include anti-virus software.

When Nicole insisted that she didn't want it, he said she still had to pay for the licences of the downloaded games, which would cost $2,000. Said Nicole: 'Although it was crazy that I had to pay $2,000 for nothing, I thought that I could not expect the shop to pay for the licences.

'I couldn't walk away as it would be irresponsible of me.' She asked him why other shops sold PSPs for between $300 to $600.

'He claimed that the PSPs they were selling were different because the licences for the software were not original.'

Convinced by the shop assistant, she paid $2,600. But her brother told her that night that she had paid too much.

They went back to the shop the next day and asked to see the licences for the software, but were told it was confidential. The shop insisted it did not overcharge Nicole, but agreed to waive the service charge.

After lengthy negotiations, the price came down to $1,400. But Nicole insisted the maximum she would pay was $1,000. She got her way and received a $1,600 refund. 'It was still very expensive but I did not want to waste time,' she said.

She later went to the Consumers' Association of Singapore but was told that because she had agreed to pay $1,000, it could not pursue the matter further. 'All the while, the sales assistant had an innocent face, and was helpful and appeared sincere,' she said. She added that she was not intimidated into paying.

When contacted, Yeow Tat Trading Enterprises declined to comment.

'My friends all say I'm so stupid,' Nicole said.

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No need for extra licences, Sony says

PSP users can download official firmware upgrades from the PlayStation network that are free for all users, said a Sony spokesman.

These firmware upgrades include security patches and the use of services from partners like Skype. No physical upgrades are available for the PSP but users can buy accessories such as the Skype headset to make Skype phone calls, and the PSP Camera to take pictures.

Official PSP games are sold individually in the optical disk format known as UMD, available through authorised resellers. They can also be bought from the PlayStation Network at http://asia.playstation.com and transferred from their PC to the PSP through the PSP Media Manager, also available at the same site.

There is no need to purchase additional licences to play PSP games. Any unauthorised modifications to the PSP will void the warranty.

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Buyer beware, Case says...

THE New Paper examined the $2,600 PSP to see if original software had been installed on it. The 'upgraded' PSP had a software version of 3.90 M33-3, which is understood to be a common hack to enable pirated games to be downloaded onto the PSP. It is not original software.

As for the anti-virus, The New Paper understands there are no commercial anti-virus programmes available for the PSP.

The Consumers Association of Singapore (Case) said 31 cases involving Yeow Tat Trading Enterprises had been reported over the past three years.

Case executive director Seah Seng Choon said customers such as Nicole can ask for a full refund if she had bought something she did not intend to buy. He added that overcharging is a breach of the Consumer Protection Act.

But Nicole's case cannot be considered overcharging.

He said retailers are free to set their own prices because of differences in cost structures and location.

'We think that businesses should compete fairly. If you quote something higher, the consumer has the right to buy from somebody else who can quote lower. 'A competitive environment will ensure that prices are kept down.'

To avoid being overcharged, Case advises consumers to compare prices from various shops, verify claims made by retail shops with the main dealer or distributor, and do market research such as reading online forums before buying.

Bad bad place of IT and electronics

The bad bad place of IT and electronics is a place known as Sim Lim Square. Gosh, there has been so many reports of scams and double charging of prices that the place is like some black markets set up by crooks!

Local dun patronize the place for IT and electronics products. Especially those shops on the 1st 2 levels. Only tourists are dumb enough to visit the place and think the products are cheap. By the time they found out the products are faulty, it's too late and they are back in their own countries.

Never buy a computer or laptop from those shops which are not authorised dealers or distributors. Some friends did. Their laptops came with 3-5 year service warranty. But after the 1st year, some of the shops have already closed down.

So, do your research. Dun go for cheap stuff there. If it is too cheap, it's probably came with some strings attached.

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The New Paper
09 July 2008

Charged double at camera shop

Man returns for a refund but claims he was told to get out.

Shop admits to charging double, but denies threatening the customer.

Daryl Lim

HE thought he had a bargain on his hands. But Mr Narayan, 35, ended up paying double the price.

On 25 Jun, the marketing consultant went to Sim Lim Square to buy some MP3 players as gifts for his friends. While there, he went into a camera store to look at the lenses on sale. After some bargaining, he bought a Sigma macro lens for $1,485. He also got two filters, which cost about $20 each, as freebies.

Mr Narayan paid for it using his American Express (Amex) card. But he said he still wasn't convinced about the price. He logged on to the Internet to check the actual price of the lens and found that it was priced around $750 at various retailers - almost half of what the shop had charged him. 'I realised that they had made a fool out of me,' Mr Narayan told The New Paper.

Mr Narayan, a foreign national, also realised he had not been given an invoice for his purchase, and the warranty card was unstamped. The next day, he went back to the shop to seek redress. There, Mr Narayan claims, he was first shown a few price lists and told that the price he paid was the correct one.

When he insisted that the shop had made a mistake, he was told that they had already settled payment with Amex, and that they could not refund him the difference. Instead, he was offered a teleconverter. Mr Narayan refused the offer and repeated his request for a refund. Then, Mr Narayan alleged, the shop manager took his lens, kept it behind the counter, and told him: 'You get out. You did not return the lens to me, you do whatever you want.'

Mr Narayan said at that point he feared for his safety. 'They looked like they wanted to beat me up,' he said. He left the store but returned a while later and wrangled with the manager until he got a cash refund of $705 and the macro lens with a fresh invoice.

As he left the shop, the staff allegedly told him: 'Don't try to act smart. Just get out of here immediately.'

When The New Paper visited the shop last week, the manager admitted that he had charged Mr Narayan double the retail price. He also admitted that in the heat of the moment, he might have been 'a little hot-tempered'.

DENIAL

But he denied threatening Mr Narayan. 'There were other customers in the store. How to threaten? The other customers will be scared away,' he said.

A check with Sigma Singapore Marketing revealed that the shop in question is an authorised retailer of their products. Mr Seah Seng Choon, executive director of the Consumers Association of Singapore (Case), confirmed that Case had received negative feedback against the shop before.

'We received two cases in total, one each in 2007 and 2008,' revealed Mr Seah. Case does not investigate or take action unless a consumer lodges a formal complaint.

For now, Mr Narayan has decided to let the matter rest. 'I got my money back,' he said.

SO was nearly scammed

Reading about scams reminded me of an incident that happened some years ago.

SO was working in the central area and once as he was passing Sim Lim Square, this young lady came up to him. She gave him some cock and bull, sob story about how she got no money for food, her mother in hospital and her younger siblings have not eaten for days.

SO of course turned her away. And then he stayed in a corner to observe. He saw her approached another guy. It seemed that this lady approached only guys and old ladies.

He also saw that some guys gave her $10 or other amounts of money.

I have seen her in the area before, after SO pointed her out to me when we were passing by the place. She was ordinary looking and dressed shabbily in a T shirt.

Unfed? Oh please! She looks plumb! Not skinny or lean. If you have not eaten for days, show some bones. She certainly looked very well fed! In fact, she probably had more than 3 meals a day!

Do such people think they are making easy money? Just by standing there and looking pitiful, she could get about $30 to $50 per day. That means she can get about $900 to $1500 a month. All without working!

She looked healthy enough. And obviously intelligently enough to know how to look pitiful to scam money. So...get a job!!

I have not been back to the area for quite a while. If I ever see her scamming again, I have a good mind to report her to the authorities. I did this not out of spite. I am directing her to proper venues to get proper help! How long can you beg/scam....whatever she called it?

And the thing is how stupid could she be? She was at that area so often. Dun she knows people could recognise her and realise what a con she really was? Actually she had approached SO more than once!

Next time, if I am in the area, I would try to take a photo of her and expose her scam!

Not another email scam!

Oh NO....not another email scam again. So scary to be locked out of our own email account.

I have never responded to such emails. And after reading, these I never will!

Why are these scammers so evil? Do they think it is such easy money?

People are so ignorant and complacent. We always think we would never be conned or scammed and that such things only happened to other people.

And frankly, who would be stupid enough to send money on receiving such an email?

Anyone who received such an email, please contact the person by phone to verify the facts! Dun be an idiot and just send the money over!

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The New Paper
02 July 2008

Ex-S'pore Idol finalist Jeassea Thyidor becomes bait in e-mail scam

'Help me, I'm starving. Please send money'

By Jeanmarie Tan

THAT was the plea an estimated 300 contacts of former Singapore Idol finalist Jeassea Thyidor found in an apparent e-mail from her on Sunday night. The e-mail, which had been sent from the singer's Hotmail account, said she was stranded in Nigeria after taking part in a programme called Empowering Youth To Fight Racism, HIV/Aids, Poverty And Lack of Education, and had lost her money and passport after leaving her bag in a cab.

It also described how she was in a 'terrible and tight situation', and that she was 'starving' as she didn't have money to feed herself. The e-mail went on to beg recipients to urgently transfer $3,200 through Western Union to cover her hotel bill and food expenses, and concluded with promises to pay back the money as soon as she returns to Singapore.

When The New Paper contacted Jeassea, 28, yesterday afternoon, she was in Singapore. The Filipino-Canadian performer at St James Power Station's Bellini Room said her last overseas trip was to Bangkok five months ago, and that she has never visited Africa or heard of the humanitarian programme.

She said: 'Over 20 people I know from Singapore, Malaysia and Canada have e-mailed and called me about it... some of whom I haven't heard from in years. My first reaction was anger, then embarrassment. 'I was like, 'Oh no, people are going to think I'm asking for money!' I just hope people will dismiss the e-mail.' She estimates that over 300 of her contacts may have received the e-mail.

A friend from Singapore alerted her to the e-mail on Sunday night. Jeassea tried to log on to her Hotmail account, but could not as her password had been changed. She said she received what she assumed was a legitimate e-mail from Hotmail staff ('it looked very professional') two weeks ago.

It informed her that her account would be closed if she didn't verify her personal information. She ignored it, but got the same e-mail a week later, so she replied with her information. Jeassea has since created a new account and officially reported her case to Hotmail.

In her 15 years of using her previous account - it was her first and only one - Jeassea said she had never encountered any problems. Stylist Jennifer Lum, Jeassea's friend and one-time manager, said she was '50 per cent sure' it was a hoax as the e-mail didn't sound like Jeassea. She became suspicious because it started with a generic 'Hi!' and didn't sign off with Jeassea's name.

Said Ms Lum, who is in her 40s: 'When I saw the word Nigeria, I was even more sceptical as there've been too many Nigerian scams. 'And even though Jeassea didn't pick up her handphone at first when I called her, it wasn't an overseas ring tone so I knew she was safe.'

In April, The New Paper reported a similar case where a Singaporean man received an e-mail from his London-based daughter claiming she had been robbed and needed him to transfer $7,000 through Western Union within 24 hours.

MSN email prank scam

Recently I received an email about MSN and hotmail charging for its usage.

Yeah, I panicked.....But something gave it away...That only 578 names were left. How can that be? Only an idiot would believe that! There are millions of possible variations of email addresses. By adding numbers to emails, the possibilities are simply unlimited and infinite.

Another giveaway is the BBC link attached. It looked real but look at the date! It was published on Sunday, 25 February, 2001. That was 7 years ago! So have they started charging yet? Would they even dare to think of charging in face of such stiff competition from Yahoo and Google?

I did further research and found it to be a total scam! One that has been crculating for years and years. Below is the recent link from BBC on 8th march 2006, confirming that it was a scam.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4778046.stm

So if you received the following email and is someone whose fingers are trigger happy, without checking on the source of the email, you have just scammed 18 of your contacts.

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Sorry to break the news, but looks like all of those warnings were real!
The use of MSN and e-mail will cost money from Summer 2008 onwards.

If you send this message to 18 different people from your list, your little MSN icon will turn blue and that will make it free for you. If you don't believe me, go on to (www.msn.com) and see it yourself.

Don't forward this message, but copy and paste it so that people will actually read it. MSN is really closing down. This is because too many inconsiderate people are taking up all the names (eg. making up lots of different accounts for just one person), and we are only left with 578 names.

If you would like to close your account, DO NOT SEND THIS MESSAGE ON. But, if you would like to keep your account, then SEND THIS MESSAGE TO EVERYONE ON YOUR CONTACT LIST. This is no joke, as we will be shutting down the servers. Send it on, thanks.

WHOEVER DOES NOT SEND THIS MESSAGE, YOUR ACCOUNT WILL BE CLOSED AND IT
WILL COST YOU $100.00 (pending) A MONTH TO USE. SEND THIS TO EVERYONE ON OUR CONTACT LIST. NOW YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO. PLEASE DO NOT FORWARD THIS OR REPLAY. COPY THE WHOLE E-MAIL. RETURN TO YOUR INBOX AND CLICK ON NEW. THEN PASTE 'THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION'.

Hey everyone, i don't normally send this sort of stuff out, but I had a look on the Internet and its actually true that by the 30th November, we will have to pay for the use of our MSN and e-mail account(s), unless we send this message to at least 18 contacts on our contact list.

It's no joke, but if yo u don't believe me, then you can see for yourself - go to the site (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/1189119.stm) - and see for yourself.

Anyway, once you've sent this message to at least 18 contacts, your MSN icon will turn blue. Please copy and paste, but don't forward it, as people won't take notice of it