Hi Lisa! I used to receive these messages, however, I, like Mahlon, answered them...so far I have not received one of these letters in a couple of years. Maybe that's the trick, to let these guys know there are some people out here in cyberspace who can actually...think! In the meantime, there is also another scam that has been circulating around Adland, by members...it is not so malicious, just irritating (I joined this community to get away from spam and scams)...and to me it is pretty laughable to think people would fall for it but..... Bill Gates is NOT sharing his fortune and NOT paying anyone money to do any beta testing due to a merger between Microsoft and AOL! The article states..."THIS TOOK TWO PAGES OF THE TUESDAY USA TODAY - IT IS FOR REAL" This is the first clue...Which Tuesday? I checked out this past Tuesday's issue and the one before that and NOTHING! Another clue...This is Mr Bailey's signature, see anything wrong? "Regards, Charles S Bailey General Manager Field Operations 1-800-842-2332 Ext. 1085 or 904-1085 or RNX 292-1085 Charles_Bailey@csx.com Charles_bailey@csx.com" I tried calling the 800 number and I received an "I'm sorry , the number you have called cannot be reached from your calling area" Okay, does that mean that Mr. Bailey is in Oregon? Anyway, the next number listed doesn't even give an area code, so I tried an 800 prefix. No such number. Then I transposed RNX to 769 and tried that...NOT! Then, his email addys, or maybe they are a website address...Nevertheless, it appears he cannot make up his mind as to how to spell his name. I tried emailing to both addresses and both bounced! Clicked on it as a link and page could not be found........ Anyway, point made. Good forum Lisa! Thank you for the invitation! Lots of sunshine and success to you this day! Your friend in Oregon, Julia Youngblood "The Ink Lady"

HI Lisa: Any time you get one of those scam messages, perhaps you should go to: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/guides/guides.htm and file a complaint. In that way, we police ourselves, and perhaps some of those scammers will be put in a safe place (the cross bar hotel) where they won't harm anyone else. When you file a complaint, just copy the entire email and headers to include it in your complaint. Russ Wilson/Webintel

Hi Lisa, Thought I would chime in and mention my friend that got caught up in a Nigerian scam. She has a discount vitamin website called http://www.hsfvitamins.com from whichover $500 worth of product was purchased. Although the credit card went through and the product was shipped 2 months later the merchant bank debited the account for the dollar amount due to fraud. The credit card was stolen and reported. That experience brought along the knowledge that apparently from Nigeria there is a high degree of credit card fraud. Why that specific location on Earth is unclear, but that is the same place where all the "sad" stories come from as well. Passing this along so everyone is on the lookout. Do some simple research before engaging into any unknown situations on the web - is the domain registered? can you send a valid email? Wishing everyone to be safe!

Thanks for the info.. I almost got scammed for over 22 million dollars.. BE AWARE PEOPLE!!! This could be dangerous... ME :)