Go Phish! Fake gmail-ers are on the prowl.

The following message is a public service announcement from Pink Slip.

It’s not like I haven’t given an occasional few bucks to some con artist with a relatively entertaining sob story.

No, I don’t do it all the time.  But there was the clearly mentally ill guy with the glazed eyes, crazed look, and heart-tugger about his son.  And, okay, I did get snookered by the smoothie – who, in retrospect, I’m reasonably certain was an ex-con -  with a con about helping poor inner city kids put together a magazine.

Then there was the “we ran out of gas” fellow. I gave him enough to buy a gallon and “get home”. (You think I’m a maroon?  Let me tell you about this one: he approached me, with the same story, in the same location, a couple of days later.  I told him that he needed to vary his geography a bit, if not his story line.)

But it’s been a while. And mostly I ignore the “do you have a minute” folks, unless they’re earnest college kids working for Mass PIRG. Or someone selling Spare Change (the local by-and-for those who are homeless paper).

(For stemmers, looking for actual spare change, I generally acknowledge them in some way, but rarely give. I’ll direct them to St. Francis House, where 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., they can get out of the cold, get something to eat, etc. Ditto if there’s someone just sitting there with a sign and a coffee cup that they’re shaking.  If it’s really rotten out, and after hours, I might buy them a cup of coffee or a bite to eat.)

But I’m really not an out-and-out sucker. And, even if I’m a sucker for a tale of woe, I’m really not the type who’s going to get caught up in a real scam, and deposit $10K in a “shared account” because my great uncle Julius left me a million dollars. Or give away my super-duper, secret data to a complete stranger.

So I really and truly don’t know why I get so completely annoyed when I get assaulted by an e-mail or phone spammer. Not the Nigerians, mind you. They’re just good for a laugh or two. (See Spam Scam Artistry, and Nigerians 1, Michael Axel 0.)

And it’s not like it’s personal, or anything. It’s not as if they’re singling me out as a mark, a sap, a dupe. (At least I hope not…And if they are, what an inefficient way to work.)

Still, it drives me bonkers to get an e-mail like this one:

Gmail to system.reply
show details 1:39 AM (14 hours ago)

We are shutting down some email accounts due to congestion in our database system and your account was chosen to be deleted. If you are still interested in using our email service please click reply and fill in the space below for verification purpose:-

Full Name:

Account Pas-word:
Profession:

Birth Date:

Country Phone Code:

Note: This email is only for Gmail users (Users should reply within 48 hours to avoid "Permanently Lockup" Account)

Thank you for using Gmail !

The Gmail Team

Why don’t you ask me for my social and mother’s maiden, while you’re at it, “Gmail Team.” (Wait, I rescind that. I don’t want to give them any more ideas.)

I went to the Google and it seems that most of those who’ve gotten tapped for this particular scheme are on ine gamers, playing World at Warcraft. Maybe they know I’m a huge World at War fan, and got things a bit confused. (Oh, great, now I have to worry about “them” knowing my TV watching habits. I’ll save “them” the trouble: Mad Men, House, Red Sox games, cop shows (some of the time), and stuff about World War II.)

I guess what irks me so much about these information scammers (as opposed to the crackpot, transparent thievery of the Nigerian brigade) is that, if you get someone at a distracted point, when they’re flying around in six-trillion directions, it’s probably pretty easy to get them to respond.

This e-mail was pretty crude.

But I can absolutely see myself, in an off-guard moment, half-reading a decent looking e-mail scam (or hearing a reasonable sounding phone request) soliciting personal info, and – just to get one more thing off my to-do list – giving it to them without thinking.

I haven’t been caught yet, but I can see it happening at some point.

So, everyone: en garde!  The price of Internet is eternal vigilance.

Trust me: Google is not going to “Permanently Lockup” your gmail account.

The thing to avoid is responding to these phishermen.