Latest scam e-mail and response

Apart from being bored and annoyed by these e-mails, I find them a bit of an affront to mankind in their idiocy and the fact that people (based on my internet research) actually respond to them and end up giving over their account numbers, and then end up in massive debt. I just feel that if people are going to be caught up in scams, they shouldn't be so obviously ridiculous. It reflects poorly on us. Below is my e-mailed response to the fellow who sent me my most recent scam e-mail, with the e-mail below that. I mean, if you're going to engage in the business of international fraud, your sell should at least be credible.
_______________________________________________________________
Rather an interesting scam e-mail. A few flaws.

Microsoft's European headquarters is in Paris, not Liverpool. If you seriously think anyone in the UK would believe that Microsoft's European headquarters is in Liverpool, you're a fool.

The name of the "from" address is actually a rather respected figure in Brazil. It's unlikely he would be coordinating random lottery winnings, and all the more unlikely that he had suddenly moved to Liverpool to take on Microsoft's non-existent headquarters. Microsoft doesn't even have an office in Liverpool.

The e-mail address in the "from" section has absolutely no correspondence to the name of the individual sending the e-mail. This is unusual and actually, again, absurd. Moreover, it is from a Mechanical Engineering company in Rio, which takes about 3 seconds to find out. Again, begging the question of why someone at this company would be sending you to someone in Liverpool.

Point being, an e-mail with a Brazilian ending, supposedly sent from the Microsoft headquarters in Liverpool (which obviously should then be a Microsoft e-mail with a UK ending) that is then supposed to be sent back to an e-mail address in Hong Kong is a dead give-away for a scam. You may as well have set up a Nigerian e-mail address.

Another question is why Microsoft and AOL would be engaged in some bizarre joint venture, not to mention the fact that AOL doesn't exist (and hasn't for while existed) as an independent company. Time Warner is the name of the company and would have to authorize any such bizarreness and would be the name you would use.

Am fascinated to know what a "commemorative draw" is and why I should care. Looks like someone (who by the way, is unfamiliar with basic English grammar and sentence structure, again, a dead give away) has been watching too much late night tv and thinks people will confuse the all valuable "commemorative coins" with a "commemorative draw" and just send all their personal and financial information away to strangers half-way across the world.

And finally, why exactly would the mailing address for this bizarre agent be in Norfolk while he has a Hong Kong e-mail address? I mean, it's really easy to set up a UK e-mail address, if you seriously think you're going to get people to give you their account numbers when your only e-mail address is a yahoo address.

Oh, and BTW, what does an "e-mail beta test" have to do with this random lottery you've concocted? Might want to have someone review your scams going forward.

Hope you get tracked down and jailed.

--- On Tue, 30/12/08, Helcio Rangel Orlande wrote:

From: Helcio Rangel Orlande
Subject: SERIAL NUMBER MIC-AOL/8302/08...
To:
Date: Tuesday, 30 December, 2008, 8:03 AM

Dear Sir/ Madam,

The prestigious Microsoft and AOL has set out and successfully organized a
Sweepstakes marking the year 2008 anniversary we rolled out over US$
400,419,864 for our end of year/ Christmas Anniversary Draws. Participants
for the draws were randomly selected and drawn from a wide range of web
hosts which we enjoy their patronage.The selection was made through a
computer draw system attaching personalized email addresses to ticket
numbers. If you ignore this massage, you will defiantly regret it later.
Microsoft and AOL are now the largest Internet companies & in effort to
make
sure that Internet Explorer remain the most widely used program, Microsoft
and AOL are running an e-mail beta test.

Your email address as indicated was drawn and attached to reference and
ticket number 008795727498  with serial numbers MIC-AOL/8302/08 and drew the
lucky numbers  14-18-25-39-53-47 (10) which subsequently won you £ 1,000,000
( One Million  Great Britain Pounds)  as one of the  jackpot winners in this
draw. You have therefore won the entire winning sum of £ 1,000,000 (One
Million Great Britain Pounds) the draws registered as Draw number one was
conducted in Liverpool, UK. 29th December, 2008. These draws are
commemorative and as such special.               

Please be informed by this winning notification to file your claims
immediately. You are advised to make contact to your referred agent who will
by duty guide you through the process to facilitate the release of your
winning prize. To file for this claims, Please Contact your referred agent
with your verification information as required on the form below, beginning
the claims of your winnings funds as conducted by the lottery company.

We dedicate our special thanks & gratitude to Bill Gates {Now Retired from
Microsoft Corporations} .We wish you the best of luck as you spend your good
fortune in this season.

Note: You have Three (3) weeks from the date of this publication to claim
your prize or you may forfeit your winnings. Thank you for being part of our
commemorative end of year/ Christmas Anniversary Draws.

Find below your referred agent and the verification form:

Address: 18 South Drive, Hepwo rth,Diss,Norfolk, IP22 2HF, UK
Contact Agent: Mr. David Oliver
Email: mic_aol.oliverdesk@yahoo.com.hk

Name: ..................................
Country of Origin.......................
Place of Residence......................
Occupation..............................
Sex/Age.................................
Telephone/Fax...........................
Winning Email ID........................

NOTE: DUE TO FRAUDSTERS, WE HAVE DECIDED TO EFFECT TRANSFER TO YOUR BANK
ACCOUNT ONLY AND WHEN CONTACTING YOUR REFERRED AGENT, DO QUOTE YOUR TICKET
NUMBER AND SERIAL NUMBER FOR SECURITY REASONS.

Helcio Rangel Orlande
Public Relations Officer
Microsoft Corporation
Liverpool, United Kingdom,
Europe Headquaters.