‘Beta email’ fools many in the bike trade

A Raleigh brand manager passed the email on to his mailing list. A number of MTB pro riders passed it on again.

An IBD/wholesaler was the first to forward it to bikebiz.co.uk, and it appears he got it from an American supplier mate of his.

Why do people think they’ll get cash for simply forwarding an email? It’s an email joke/scam. Sure, it’s not as harmful as passing on a virus but it’s still a waste of a lot of people’s time.

Think about it. If AOL had to pay every single person $203.15 just for emailing one person in their Outlook Express address book, it would be bankrupted within hours. So, save yourself then time and trouble: when you get the ‘PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE READ’ email from somebody you trust, who says "you never know it might work" you have to wonder about their capacity for logical thought.

Here’s the spam-scam in full:

for forwa

bPLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE READ!

> > Hi,

> > Lets try this just for the fun of it. To all of my friends,I do

> not

> usually

> > forward messages, but this is from my good friend Pearlas Sanborn

> and she

> > really is an attorney. If she says that this will work – it WILL

> work.

> > After all, what have you got to lose?

> > SORRY EVERYBODY…..JUST HAD TO TAKE THE CHANCE!!! I’m an

> attorney, and I

> > know the law. This thing is for real.

> > Rest assured AOL and Intel will follow through with their promises

> for

> fear

> > of facing a multimillion dollar class action suit similar to the

> one

> filed

> > by PepsiCo against General Electric not too long ago. We’re not

> going to

> > help them out with their

> > e-mail beta test without getting a little something for our time.

> My

> > brother’s girlfriend got in on this a few months ago. When I went

> to visit

> > him for the Baylor/UT game.

> > She showed me her check. It was for the sum of $4,324.44 and was

> stamped

> > "Paid In Full". Like I said before, I know the law, and this is

> for real.

> > Intel and AOL are now discussing a merger which would make them

> the

> largest

> > Internet company and in an effort make sure that AOL remains the

> most

> widely

> > used program, Intel and AOL are running an e-mail beta test. When

> you

> > forward this e-mail to friends, Intel can and will track it (if

> you are a

> > Microsoft Windows user) for a two week time period. For every

> person that

> > you forward this e-mail to, Microsoft will pay you $203.15.

> > For every person that you sent it to that forwards it on,

> Microsoft will

> pay

> > you $156.29. And for every third person that

> > receives it, you will be paid $17.65. Within two weeks, Intel will

> contact

> > you for your address and then send you a check.

> > I thought this was a scam myself, but a friend of my good friend’s

> Aunt

> > Patricia, who works at Intel, actually got a check of

> > $4,543.23 by forwarding this e-mail. Try it, what have you got to

> lose????