Spam Alert: New twist on an old game...

Today when I booted up my laptop I had a bunch of instant messages pop-up from kate_ross65. I thought it was weird but just closed everything down. Then I checked my Yahoo mail and found I had an email from Kate Ross. This is the first time I’ve seen a scam that used both IM and email together. I found references to this scam here and here. The email was sent at 5:40 this morning and the subject was “GOD BLESS YOU”.

Here is the IM:

Sat Jul 01
[14:12] kate_ross65: HELLO [Offline Message (Sat Jul 01 05:44:13 2006)]
[14:12] kate_ross65: HOW ARE YOU? [Offline Message (Sat Jul 01 05:44:17 2006)]
[14:12] kate_ross65: I AM MOTHER KATE ROSS [Offline Message (Sat Jul 01 05:44:21 2006)]
[14:12] kate_ross65: ARE YOU THERE? [Offline Message (Sat Jul 01 05:44:23 2006)]
[14:12] kate_ross65: ding [Offline Message (Sat Jul 01 05:44:24 2006)]

Here is the email from mother_kate_1950@yahoo.com:

HELLO DEAR,
 
GREETINGS IN THE NAME OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. I AM MRS KATE 
ROSS,A WIDOW TO LATE DAVID ROSS I AM 55 YEARS OLD, I AM NOW A 
NEW CHRISTAIN CONVERT, SUFFERING FROM LONG TIME CANCER OF THE 
BREAST, FROM ALL INDICATION MY CONDITIONS IS REALLY DETERIORATING 
AND IT IS QUITE OBVIOUS THAT I WON'T LIVE MORE THAN 2 MONTHS, 
ACCORDING TO MY DOCTORS, THIS IS BECAUSE THE CANCER STAGE HAS 
GOTTEN TO A VERY BAD STAGE. 
 
MY LATE HUSBAND KILLED DURING THE U.S. RAID AGAINST TERRORISM
IN AFGHANISTAN, AND DURING THE PERIOD OF OUR MARRIAGE WE 
COULD'NT PRODUCE ANY CHILD..
 
MY LATE HUSBAND WAS VERY WEALTHY AND AFTER HIS DEATH, I 
INHERITED ALL HIS BUSINESS AND WEALTH. THE DOCTORS HAS ADVISED 
ME THAT I MAY NOT LIVE FOR MORE THAN 2 MONTHS, SO I NOW DECIDED 
TO DEVIDE THE PART OF THIS WEALTH, TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE 
DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHURCH IN AFRICA, AMERICA ,ASIA, AND EUROPE. 
I SELECTED YOU AFTER VISITING THE WEBSITE AND I PRAYED OVER IT. 
 
I AM WILLING TO DONATE THE SUM OF $10,000.000.00U.USD (TEN 
MILLION UNITED STATES DOLLARS) TO THE LESS PRIVILEGED. PLEASE I 
WANT YOU TO NOTE THAT FUND IS LYING IN A SECURITY COMPANY IN 
GERMANY, AND UPON MY INSTRUCTION, MY ATTORNEY, WHO PRESENTLY IS 
IN LONDON WILL FILE IN AN APPLICATION FOR YOU FOR THE TRANSFER 
OF THE MONEY IN YOUR NAME.LASTLY, I HONESTLY PRAY THAT THIS 
MONEY WHEN TRANSFERRED WILL BE SURE FOR THE SAID PURPOSE, BECAUSE 
I HAVE COME TO FIND OUT THAT WEALTH ACQUISITION WITHOUT CHRIST 
IS VANITY. 
 
MAY THE GRACE OF OUR LORD JESUS THE LOVE OF GOD AND THE SWEET 
FELLOWSHIP OF GOD BE WITH YOU AND YOUR FAMILY 
 
I AWAIT URGENT REPLY. 
YOURS IN CHRIST. 
MOTHER KATE ROSS
 
__________________________________________________
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There are a lot of themes here, cancer, terrorism, Afghanistan, Christianity, Jesus Christ, God, money, and greed. To many people it will be obvious that this person is trolling. I wonder how many folks he/she will catch and how much damage this thief will leave in his/her path.

Though, I did find the use of the English language quite funny. For example:

"LONG TIME CANCER OF THE BREAST" - Most of us call this breast cancer
"COULD'NT PRODUCE ANY CHILD" - Most of us would have said "couldn't have a child"
"TO DEVIDE THE PART OF THIS WEALTH" - Hmmm, do you mean "divide"?

The language used here reminds me of my biological father, who is not a native English speaker. I don't think this guy is either. Did you see any other odd phrasings?