A scam uncovered ....

A well-intentioned individual sent me the following email yesterday: (forwarded down a chain a mile long)

From Chatham Ontario

Hi, my name is Amy Bruce. I am 7 years old, and I have a large tumor on my brain and severe lung cancer. The 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. For those of you who send this along, I thank you so much. But for those who don't send it,I will still pray for you.Please, if you are a kind person, have a heart. Please,please, PLEASE HIT THE FORWARD BUTTON.

Amy Bruce

Now, a few things set off the ol' radar about this ... First .. I don't think I've ever heard of a kid having lung cancer. Second .... I've never heard of "mild" lung cancer... Third .. Medical coverage in Canada, however dismal, is free. Forth .. I don't think "Make-a-Wish" would stray too far from their original excellent work, and it certainly wouldn't be by e-mail.

A quick Google search confirmed my suspicion .....

Each day, the Make-A-Wish Foundation and its chapters receive hundreds of inquiries about chain letters claiming to be associated with the Foundation and featuring sick children. However, we do not participate in these kinds of wishes. Some names associated with these wishes are:
Amy Bruce, Jeff DeLeon, Rhyan Desquetado, LaNisha Jackson, Nikisha Johnson, Jessie Anderson, Kayla Wightman, Craig Shergold, Craig Sheldon, Craig Sheppard, Craig Shelton, Craig Shelford, Anthony Hebrank, Chad Briody and Bryan Warner.

My suspicion is this is a sick way of gathering valid email addresses .... all those on the chain can be expecting LOTS of viagra spam .... Crank up the filters !!!

The moral of the story is..... THINK about what you are sending to your "friends".

Thanks, Buddy....

UPDATE-- I've had a couple of hits from both ends of the country with the referring page being a google search on "Amy Bruce Chatham" .... If you find yourself here this way... congratulations for actually thinking this through !!