Posted September 28th, 2008 by Murray @ ulblog
Filed under: False, Urban Legends
Tags: email, religion
Do a widely distributed series of photos of church signs really reflect a disagreement between two local churches over the hot topic of whether or not dogs can go to heaven?
“ALL DOGS GO TO HEAVEN,” the first picture reads, but the second is quick to disagree: “ONLY HUMANS GO TO HEAVEN READ THE BIBLE”.
So begins what appears to be a rather quirky theological debate about the souls of dogs (and eventually of rocks!), carried out entirely on church signs.
But, we ask ourselves, is it real? Did the religious communities represented by Our Lady of Martyrs Catholic Church and Beulah Cumberland Presbyterian Church really go to war with each other over whether or not pets can go to paradise?
As it happens, the answer is no, they didn’t…
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Posted May 25th, 2008 by Murray @ ulblog
Filed under: Email Scams, False
Tags: 419 scam, advanced fees fraud, email, nigerian scam, scam
Barry Williams, Supreme Universal Skeptic Of The 12th Magisterial Order [1], has sent in another interesting variant of the infamous Nigerian Scam.
As Barry mentions in his email:
Murray
I despair for the continuing deterioration of literacy among barristers admitted to the bar in the UK.
Barry
I can understand Barry’s emotional distress, since the email asks you to believe that it has been sent by a barrister located in the UK, while simultaneously being pockmarked with a truly impressive variety of misspellings and grammatical errors.
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Footnotes:
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Posted April 21st, 2008 by Murray @ ulblog
Filed under: Email Scams, False
Tags: 419 scam, email, email scam, nigerian scam, scam, variant
Okay, so maybe I’m a little odd, but for some reason I can’t help thinking it’s going to be a good day when I discover that someone has forwarded a new variant of an urban legend or superstition or scam email to me.
So, oh yes, imagine my excitement when I discovered two new variants in my inbox this morning! [1]
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Footnotes:
| 1. |
I didn’t actually jump up and down and clap my hands, if that’s what you’re imagining, but I definitely did smile and also possibly did rub my hands together and say, “Aha! The game’s afoot!”, or something equally silly. |
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Posted April 10th, 2008 by Murray @ ulblog
Filed under: Email Scams
Tags: 419 scam, email, email scam, nigerian scam, scam, variant
Friend of the ULBlog, Darren Saturday, sent in the following interesting variant of the infamous 419 / Nigerian Scam:
[div tale]My Dear
This is to thank you for your effort.I understand that your hands were tied.Not to worry. I have succeeded,the money has been transfered into the account provided by a newly found friend of mine in Paraguay To compensate for your past assistance and commitments,i have dropped an International Certifie Bank Draft of $1.8million for you.
I am in Paraguay with my family presently.I do intend to establish some business concerns here,and possibly buy some properties.Now Contact my Secretary in Nigeria, Mr.Bala Adamu on his email bala_sec1@yahoo.com, phone: +234 80321 16185 Forward your mailing address to him,then ask him to send the cheque to you.
Take good care of your self
Regards,
Bobby Will
(NB) Send him your full Names and Address,Tel & Fax Numbers to enable him despatch your cheque immediately[/div]
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Posted March 30th, 2008 by Murray @ ulblog
Filed under: False, Urban Legends
Tags: chain email, email, hoax, Scarelore, urban dangers
The email claims that a new danger has arrived in your neighbourhood – gangs of thieves are tricking the unwary into smelling ether disguised as a sample of an expensive perfume, and are then robbing their happless victims once they have been rendered unconscious.
How worried should you be that you or your loved ones might fall prey to these fiendish purveyors of fake fine perfumes? Step into the ULBlog car park to learn a little more about The Sweet Smell Of Danger…
It really is amazing how long a good Urban Legend can survive out there in the wild!
When I first wrote about the Perfumed Bandits email hoax we were living in a different century. It was November 1999, and the same email that has gone on to cause so much concern and alarm around the world was making its way into unsuspecting email inboxes for the very first time.
And this email didn’t mess about. It went straight for the psychologic jugular and didn’t let go, delivering its payload of anxiety and alarm to a host audience that was still trying to adapt to the idea that not everything you receive in your inbox is true or real. Even if it claims otherwise in very big letters…
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