They say brevity is the soul of wit, but it’s apparently not the soul of spam. I received this in my inbox not too long ago:

From: IMF ADMIN <admin@imfpaymentcenter.com>
Subject: May Good Decision

INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND (IMF)
DEPT: WORLD DEBT RECONCILIATION AGENCIES.
ADVISE: YOUR OUTSTANDING PAYMENT NOTIFICATION

Attention Wing Chan

A power of attorney was forwarded to our office this morning by two gentle men, one of them is an American national and he is MR DAVID DEANE by name while the other person is MR… JACK MORGAN by name a CANADIAN national.

This gentlemen claimed to be your representative, and this power of attorney stated that you are dead, they brought an account to replace your information in other to claim your fund of $12.5 Million Usd which is now lying DORMANT and UNCLAIMED, below is the new account they have submitted:

BANK.-HSBC CANADA
Vancouver, CANADA
ACCOUNT NO. 2984-0008-66

Be further informed that this power of attorney also stated that you suffered and died of throat cancer. You are therefore given 24hrs to confirm the truth in this information, If you are still alive, You are to contact us back immediately, Because we work 24 hrs just to ensure that we monitor all the activities going on in regards to the transfer of beneficiaries inheritance and contract payment.

You are to call this office +44(0)7778022499 immediately for clarifications on this matter as we shall be available 24 hrs to speak with you and give you the necessary guidelines on how to ensure that your payment is wired to you immediately.

I have attached a copy of the last part payment of $500,000.00 which was paid into your provided account last week, please check is this is the same account submitted by this two men who claimed to be your representative. Reply this email to [redacted]

Kindly reply

Rev. David Churchman
International Monetary Funds Agents

I get what they’re trying to do here. The victim is supposed to think they got a message intended for someone else (“Wing Chan”) who has a whole lot of money tied up in some account, but they think Wing Chan is dead and would he please confirm that? I assume that the victim is supposed to decide to commit a little fraud himself and reply, “No, I’m Wing Chan and I’m totally alive so give me all that money now please,” followed by the usual, “But wait…you have to wire us a bunch of money first.”

But what a twisty, turny, tricksy route they take to get there. It’s a real adventure, what with the two “gentle men,” the throat cancer and the involvement of the International Monetary Fund.

Here’s the thing about the IMF: I’m fairly certain they don’t handle individual estate accounts for anyone living or dead or allegedly dead. They don’t mention it on their own website.  They deal with financial situations in and between nations. $12.5 million is a lot of money to most individual people. To the IMF, it’s like a nickel dropped down a storm drain. They’re not going to get involved.

So yes, this is an obvious example of spam. I wanted to show it to you, though, because it’s kind of weird. As always, “do this to claim your free money” is forever a scam and always has been.