Scams

The Gorse Fox has received and emailed, purporting to be from his cousin.

I am writing this with tears in my eyes. My family and I came down here to Manila,Philippines on a short holiday unfortunately we got mugged at the hotel park where we stayed, all cash, wallet, credit cards and phones were taken away, but luckily for us we still have our passport back in our hotel room...We've been to the embassy and the Police here but they're not helping issues at all and our flight is leaving in a couple hours time from now but we're having problems settling our hotel bills.

We're very sorry if we're inconveniencing you, but we have only very few people to run to now. We'll be indeed very grateful if we can get a quick loan of (£2,450  GBP) from you... this will enable us sort our hotel bills and get our sorry self back home. We'll appreciate whatever you can afford in assisting us.We promise to refund it in full as soon as we return. Please, let me know if this is possible so i can send you my details.

Thank you in advance for your help. 

Now... he was immediately suspicious. She didn't address the Gorse Fox by name to start with, and why would she take her family to Manila? It's half term week... nobody in their right minds travels that far for a week.

The Gorse Fox checked with her sister that everything is ok and she is actually safe and sound in London. She is.

So the Gorse Fox decided to have some fun...

Dear Cousin,
As it happens I've spent the last couple of weeks diving at Cebu. I arrive in Manila this morning. I will be staying at the Manila Hotel on Bonifacio Drive. Come along, ask for me at reception and let's see if we can sort things out.
The Gorse Fox. 

He suspects he will hear no more - but will string it along for a while if he does.