October 12, 2005

Donation Disappointment

It's not every day that the Mozilla Foundation gets an email like this:

I would like to make a $10,000 contribution to your noble cause. Also put me on your mailing list for updates, newsletters, or anything you think I should know about. Call me at 555-555-5555 with details needed for my check. I also want to introduce you to some corporate friends of mine who can make a much larger donation. Keep up the good work...

Wow, jackpot, right? Then again, this sort of thing is usually too good to be true. So we did a little research. Yes, the guy existed, and his phone number in an online directory matched the one in the email. Yes, he was a bigwig in an large company, and an ex-banker, so he's probably loaded. Yes, he'd previously made charitable donations to other organisations. It was all looking really promising.

So eventually, we called the number - only to find an answering machine telling us that his account had been hacked, and to ignore any messages sent in his name.

:-(

Posted by gerv at October 12, 2005 11:35 PM
Comments

Doh.

Posted by: David Naylor at October 13, 2005 9:03 AM

LOL, bummer. Tell him to proove it, and hold em to it! ;)

Posted by: Kris Silver at October 13, 2005 4:41 PM

How much did the call cost? I guess a call to 555 number is exceptionally charged. Or, I'd be not surprised if it was so, at least.

Posted by: funtomas at October 13, 2005 6:34 PM

Er, the real number has been removed. "555" numbers are the ones used in the US when you want to have a real-looking number which isn't real. Like in movies.

Posted by: Gerv at October 13, 2005 11:07 PM

555 isn't always used (unfortunately). 867-5309 is the most famous.

A few years ago, when Jim Carey filmed Bruce Almighty, they didn't make Gods number a 555 number... as a result, people with that particular number were getting a lot of calls from people trying to phone God. IIRC there was a sappy article about how one of the people with that particular number happened to be a priest (not sure if that was really true, or some reporter who wanted a good article).

Posted by: Robert Accettura at October 14, 2005 12:26 AM

Robert Accettura: According to the IMDb, they've actually edited that scene on the DVD so it's 555-0123.

(Hmm, this really isn't worth posting four or five days later...)

Posted by: Peng at October 19, 2005 1:55 AM