Saturday 23 August 2008

John B. Lee targeted in Pulitzer Prize hoax


This is bizarre. Brantford, Ontario, Poet Laureate John B. Lee is among those targeted by an email phishing scam that seeks to exploit the fragile egos of poets, asking them to fork over a "handling fee" of 1,555 Euros to process their nomination for the newly international Pulitzer Prize.

In fact, the Pulitzer Prize is still only open to American citizens, so Canadians needn't worry themselves about it. Lee admits he had "a sliver of hope," but quickly realized the email was bogus. So far, it doesn't seem this scam has been successful, as no one has handed over the fee. The phishing here is laughably obvious. The Pulitzer Prize wouldn't ask nominees for money, let alone in Euros. As crime goes, this one belongs in the Stupid Criminal Files.

This story was reported by the Brantford Expositor. Read about it here.

3 comments:

Remi said...

I'm just amazed that someone thinks poets are rich enough to be worth scamming. Who knew?

Paul Vermeersch said...

Too true, Remi. Another reason it's such a ridiculous scam.

RowenaBCherry said...

Not just poets. They are now trying low mid-list Romance fiction authors. I received this email just now, however, the vile spelling of the cover letter would have alerted me, if my own modesty hadn't done so first.

Rowena Cherry