Dave Peterson
: You know those chain letter things that pop up on Usenet every so
: often? Thought you'd find this interesting:
:
: >To the USENET Community:
: >
: >You may be familiar with a rash of postings to various newsgroups
: >by various entities purporting to describe a scheme by Mr. David
: >Rhodes of Oxford, Kentucky on the subject of "Make Money Fast."
: >These schemes have as their theme a list of people to whom you,
: >the mark, should send money -- followed by reposting of the
: >article with your name added to the list. In this wise, the scam
: >purports, everyone who participates will become fabulously rich.
: >
: >The FBI wishes to inform you that under no circumstances should
: >you:
: >
: > 1) Believe that this scam will work. It won't. It's a
: > classic con principle to promise massive returns on
: > your meager investment.
: > 2) Participate in the re-posting of the article. If you do
: > so, you are guilty of a Class IV felony.
: > 3) Propagate this scam further in any way.
: >
: >We wish to further inform you that cases are pending in the
: >federal courts against several individuals who disregarded U.S.
: >statutes and attempted to defraud their fellow citizens.
: >
: >Finally, we wish to inform you that David Rhodes himself is in a
: >Federal Correctional Institution for his part in the origination
: >of this scam and will not see the light of day until the year
: >1997, barring parole or pardon from higher authority.
: >
: >Thank you for doing everything you can to stamp out this scam.
: >Confidence men benefit no one but themselves. Don't fall victim
: >to schemes like this.
: >
: >Sincerely,
: >
: >Melvin Purvis,
: >Federal Bureau of Investigation
While the information content may very possibly be correct, I'd want to
verify this with the FBI before I pass on as fact a third-hand report from
an anonymous source. Any idea what office Mr. Purvis works out of?
Gary
To Gary: No, I don't know what (if any) office Mr. Purvis works out
of. And you raise a good point about verifying information before
posting it. While I did put in the disclaimer about not knowing its
truth value, the original message could get passed on without the
disclaimer. I'll remember that next time. Thanks.
>
>I've seen this post on other boards and it was billed an april fool's joke.
>
>
>Chris...
To Chris: This brings up an interesting question, namely: why would
someone post a warning about a (possible) scam as a joke? It doesn't
make sense to me.
I'll research this as far as I can, and will post whatever information
I find out.
Dave Peterson
>Gary
> >>While the information content may very possibly be correct, I'd want to
> >>verify this with the FBI before I pass on as fact a third-hand report from
> >>an anonymous source. Any idea what office Mr. Purvis works out of?
> >
> >>Gary
>
> To Gary: No, I don't know what (if any) office Mr. Purvis works out
> of. And you raise a good point about verifying information before
> posting it. While I did put in the disclaimer about not knowing its
> truth value, the original message could get passed on without the
> disclaimer. I'll remember that next time. Thanks.
First, the post was dated April 1, which should be the first clue that it
is less-than-legit. Secondly, if my memory serves me well, Melvin Purvis
was the FBI guy who made a quite famous bust on organized crime. (Capone?
Pretty Boy Floyd? somebody like that)
Although I agree that this post was well-intentioned, it also is not
authentic.
Finally, despite what you may read, the MAKE.MONEY.FAST post is indeed
illegal, and is a really stupid idea.
M. Flynn
Swarthmore College
This has to be a hoax. Melvin Purvis was a contemporary of J. Edgar Hoover
in the 30's busting bad guys with the other G-Men. He died many years ago.
Bob McIlree
rm...@well.sf.ca.us
Gary,
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
Bob.
P.S. Melvin Pervis was THE FAMOUS G-MAN responsible for bagging
Johnny Dillinger.
Melvin has LOOOONNNNNNG since left us.
I have been repeatedly advised that Melvin Purvis is no longer with the FBI.
(I *thought* that name sounded familiar...) And I was expressing doubt
about the post, remember?
But even if the original spoof was perpetrated on April 1, may I point out
in my defense that the post *here* was dated April 6. So I plead innocent
of excessive and incurable Foolishness. :-)
Gary
Okay, Okay, Okay.... mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.
I posted the original message to this group. I also posted a
disclaimer saying that it was unverified. I received it third-hand
from a net-acquaintance (I suppose I should have been suspicious ;-)
with no posting date for the original. Silly me.... :-)
Anyway, if any feathers were ruffled, I apologize. I was just
attempting to forestall some of the MAKE.MONEY.FAST messages we see
every so often.
Dave