James Veitch: This is what happens when you reply to spam email
جيمس فيتش: هذا ما يحدث حين تجيب على بريد إلكتروني غير مرغوب فيه
For James Veitch, a British writer and comedian with a mischievous side, spam emails proved the perfect opening to have some fun, playing the scammers at their own game. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
غير المرغوب فيها.
to get through my spam filter.
غير المرغوب فيه.
but it turned up in my inbox,
لكنها وصلت لصندوق بريدي الوارد،
called Solomon Odonkoh.
I want to share with you, Solomon."
أود أن أتقاسمه معك، سولومون."
on the delete button, right?
أليس كذلك؟
I thought, I could just delete this.
يمكنني أن أمسح هذا فحسب.
we've all always wanted to do.
أردنا القيام به.
Your email intrigues me."
We shall be shipping Gold to you."
سنقوم بشحن الذهب إليك."
of any gold you distributes."
with a professional.
with smaller quantity," --
going to do it, let's go big.
فلنقم بشيء أكبر.
How much gold do you have?"
كم لديك من الذهب؟"
of how much gold I have,
مايهم هي قدرة استيعابك.
your capability of handling.
كشحنة تجريبية.
as trial shipment."
إن لم نقم بشحن طن كامل."
at least a metric ton."
executive bank manager."
للمحافظ الوقائية للبنك."
سبائك الذهب لي، ياصديقي،
I've shipped bullion, my friend,
استخدامنا خدمة البريد
via the postal service,
to convince my company
with you on this one.
to take into the board meeting.
لكي تأخذه معك لاجتماع مجلس الإدارة.
any statisticians in the house,
you'll find a helpful chart.
رسما بيانيا سيساعدك.
run the numbers.
as much gold as possible."
ممكن من الذهب."
to tug your heartstrings,
تجعل قلبك يغني فرحا،
إذا تمت الصفقة بنجاح،
if the deal goes well,
a very good commission as well."
What are you going to spend your cut on?"
what about you?"
30 different varieties.
and you can dip them.
إلى النوم الآن."
my golden nugget, bonsoir."
أمسية طيبة."
this had been going for, like, weeks,
أن هذا استمر،لأسابيع،
أفضل الأسابيع في حياتي،
weeks of my life,
هل تريد أن تأتي معنا لنحتسي شراباً؟"
do you want to come for a drink?"
إليكترونيا متعلقا ببعض الذهب."
an email about some gold."
to knock it on the head.
to a ridiculous conclusion.
I'm concerned about security.
coming up with this code
لإيجاد هذا الرمز
مراسلاتنا القادمة:
in all further correspondence:
الطلبية: شوكولاتة إم أند إمز
Claim: Peanut M&Ms.
التي يستعملونها، أليس كذلك؟
they use, right?
in all further correspondence."
مراسلاتنا القادمة."
I thought, I've gone too far.
أنني قد تماديت.
So I had to backpedal a little.
فكان علي أن أتراجع قليلا.
إلخ إلخ إلخ..."
and I am trying to blah blah blah ..."
I've ever received.
في حياتي.
turned up in my inbox.
for the Gummy Bear --
للدب المطاطي--
الكولا الغازية والفول الهلامي الضرورية
Fizzy Cola Bottle Jelly Beans
من الشروع في العمل.
as much time as could
أكبر وقت ممكن
scam emails as I could?
قدر استطاعتي؟
على الرسائل غير المرغوب فيها.
replying to scam emails.
who do mean things to scammers.
they're spending with me
scamming vulnerable adults
على راشدين ضعفاء
and I highly recommend you do --
وهو أمر أشجعكم جدا على القيام به--
بأسماء مستعارة.
and it was a nightmare.
فكان ذلك كابوسًا.
لأجد آلافا من الرسائل
and have a thousand emails
was a legitimate response --
كل يوم هو يوم جيد
any day is a good day
that begins like this:
الرئيس السابق لجنوب إفريقيا."
THE FORMER SOUTH AFRICAN PRESIDENT."
OUT OF THE COUNTRY
NELSON MANDELA'S HEALTH CONDITION."
this is a letter of authorization.
هذه رسالة تصريح.
إنها شكل فقط!
written on it, it's just a shape!
I'm really sorry to hear of this.
as fairly serious."
you can have, not being alive.
ألا تكون على قيد الحياة.
WITH MY BANKERS INSTRUCTIONS.
TRANSFER OF 3000 DOLLARS. ONE LOVE."
حبي الوحيد."
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
James Veitch - Comedian and writerFor James Veitch, a British writer and comedian with a mischievous side, spam emails proved the perfect opening to have some fun, playing the scammers at their own game.
Why you should listen
Packed full of Nigerian princes, can't miss investment opportunities and eligible Russian brides, James Veitch's correspondence with email spammers leads to surprising, bizarre and usually hilarious results. Out of this experiment came his first book, Dot Con. In 2014, his first solo comedy show The Fundamental Interconnectedness of Everyone with an Internet Connection, premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe to wide acclaim. His second show, Genius Bar, focussed on his time working for Apple, chronicles his attempts to fix his relationship using the same troubleshooting techniques he’d been using to fix iMacs, iPhones and iPods. He is currently writing his third show and preparing to tour the UK.
He lives in London with his full body pillow.
James Veitch | Speaker | TED.com