James Veitch: This is what happens when you reply to spam email
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.
Il est étrangement parvenu à se faufiler
to get through my spam filter.
but it turned up in my inbox,
mon filtre à pourriel.
called Solomon Odonkoh.
Solomon Odonkoh.
I want to share with you, Solomon."
Solomon. »
d'appuyer sur supprimer.
on the delete button, right?
simplement le supprimer.
I thought, I could just delete this.
a tous eu envie de faire.
we've all always wanted to do.
« Solomon, votre message m'intrigue. »
Your email intrigues me."
We shall be shipping Gold to you."
nous allons vous expédier de l'or.»
of any gold you distributes."
que vous distriburez. »
Et là je savais que
with a professional.
par une petite quantité...»
with smaller quantity," --
2,5 millions de dollars.»
n'allons-y pas de main morte.
going to do it, let's go big.
How much gold do you have?"
Combien d'or as-tu en tout?»
of how much gold I have,
capable de gérer.
your capability of handling.
as trial shipment."
de partir en affaires
at least a metric ton."
au moins une tonne! »
dans la vie? »
executive bank manager."
banque en gestion de fonds de couverture.»
I've shipped bullion, my friend,
via the postal service,
utiliser les services postaux,
de convaincre
to convince my company
en plus grande quantité. »
with you on this one.
to take into the board meeting.
à votre prochaine réunion du conseil.
ici dans la salle,
any statisticians in the house,
quelque chose ici.
you'll find a helpful chart.
ci-joint un diagramme représentatif.
de faire les calculs.
run the numbers.
autant de marchandise que possible. »
as much gold as possible."
où ils tentent de toucher
to tug your heartstrings,
se passe bien car j'aurai aussi
if the deal goes well,
a very good commission as well."
investir votre part? »
What are you going to spend your cut on?"
what about you?"
30 different varieties.
and you can dip them.
« Bon je crois que je vais aller dormir. »
my golden nugget, bonsoir."
«Bonsoir petite croquette en or, bonsoir!»
ça durait depuis des semaines.
this had been going for, like, weeks,
mais je devais y mettre fin.
weeks of my life,
pour m'inviter à sortir
do you want to come for a drink?"
un courriel concernant de l'or»
an email about some gold."
je devais y mettre fin,
to knock it on the head.
to a ridiculous conclusion.
I'm concerned about security.
lors de nos échanges.
« Solomon, j'ai passé toute la nuit à
coming up with this code
les utiliser dorénavent.
in all further correspondence:
Légal: fugde
Claim: Peanut M&Ms.
they use, right?
vous m'appelerez KitKat. »
in all further correspondence."
Il n'a pas répondu.
je croyais que j'avais exagéré.
I thought, I've gone too far.
So I had to backpedal a little.
et j'ai dit:
sommes-nous toujours en affaires?
and I am trying to blah blah blah ..."
le plus drôle au monde.
I've ever received.
turned up in my inbox.
voici ce que j'ai reçu.
qu'à balancer le budget
for the Gummy Bear --
pour qu'il puisse soumettre
Fizzy Cola Bottle Jelly Beans
ce qu'il arriverait si je passais
as much time as could
à répondre à autant de pourriels
scam emails as I could?
replying to scam emails.
Ce n'est pas évident
who do mean things to scammers.
aux fraudeurs.
avec moi est du temps qu'ils auraient
they're spending with me
scamming vulnerable adults
and I highly recommend you do --
ce que je recommande fortement,
fausse adresse email.
and it was a nightmare.
and have a thousand emails
was a legitimate response --
que j'avais.
que n'importe quelle journée
any day is a good day
that begins like this:
« JE SUIS WINNIE MALDELA,
NELSON MANDELA
THE FORMER SOUTH AFRICAN PRESIDENT."
OUT OF THE COUNTRY
45 MILLIONS DE DOLLARS EN
TRÈS MAUVAISE SANTÉ. »
NELSON MANDELA'S HEALTH CONDITION."
Ça a presque l'air légitime,
this is a letter of authorization.
written on it, it's just a shape!
« Winnie, c'est une terrible nouvelle,
I'm really sorry to hear of this.
il y a trois mois,
dans un état assez sévère.
as fairly serious."
you can have, not being alive.
WITH MY BANKERS INSTRUCTIONS.
ONE LOVE. »
NO WOMAN, NO CRY. »
TRANSFÉRER 3000$
TRANSFER OF 3000 DOLLARS. ONE LOVE."
(Rires)
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