Bank holiday Monday, around 10:30, phone rings:

Me - Hello

Alex (for that is his name) - Hello, Mr. Angerlus, this is Alex from the Microsoft Service Centre...

Me - My name's not Angerlus. I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name - who are you?

Alex - I'm Alex from the Microsoft Service Center. We've been receiving error messages from your computer because a piece of malicious software has been installed. If you don't fix it it will corrupt your hard drive.

Me - You what? You're with who?

Alex - Are you logged on to your computer at the moment?

Me - Alex, that isn't even remotely convincing, but thanks for trying (me hangs up).

{{{{ex-directory}}}}

We've had that too, parents just hung up and did the right thing of asking me about it.

It's quite retro really - a virus delivered by old-fashioned phone line.

You should have strung him a long a bit; said you were doing what he was asking (whilst obviously not actually doing it), and started inventing problems that you made him help you fix.

In the movies, you'd also be running a trace on his phone line whilst agents move in on his position, but I guess the best you could do in this crappy real life thing we're stuck with is to get him to open a link to a "screenshot of your problem" which logged his IP address, and then try and get his ISP to do something.

I didn't mention that I was reasonably sure from the outset that his name wasn't really Alex and that his address was roughly 4.5 thousand miles away in Mumbai or Bengaluru.

I was tempted to string him along - 'hang on there's somebody at the door' - and so on, but I didn't really want abuse being hurled at me on a nice relaxed bank holiday morning.

 

I am torn - in a quandary.

It isn't often that I'm offered both wealth and sex in one e-mail, but Farida Waziri writes:

 

 

 So - should I investigate her private; promptly?

I have decided with my veto power: yes. Message through her private and find out whom she really is.

Only once you've ascertained that her husband isn't around with three other men. :S

Man, I wish I had veto power!

That's written with more import and alacrity than some of the crap I have to sift through.

Over the past couple of weeks we've been getting spam sent to:

firstname.lastname@ourdomain.co.uk

And the content is just a single lower case letter. It's like they're not even trying anymore :C.

That said, I saw an email in the filter this morning advocating some accountancy firm and it came with a little riddle.

Anyone care to have a go over your morning cup o' tea?

-8

You gonna explain or just sit there in self smug satisfaction that you think you're right?! :-O

Have a look here.

what Ant said ^

but ~

7 x 7 = 49 - 9 = 40

3 x 3 = 9 - 9 = 0

8 x 8 = 64 - 9 = 55

and...
1 x 1 = 1 - 9 = -8

Right enough.

 

You've all done very well. Buns all round.

:-O

 

Cheater.

I got a bun and you got called a cheat but we both did the same thing - odd that :D

:((

The bun was a lie. :-Y