FOT Forum
FOT Community => General Discussion => Topic started by: Miss on March 18, 2010, 02:54:17 PM
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I have no idea if this is a scam or not, trying to figure out a way to confirm if it is really him or not. I don't believe it is.
Some of us got a frantic email from Rob today, explaining he was in London for vacation and got robbed. He has no money, nothing, and is terrified. He needs a little over $1k to get his hotel bill paid and get back to the US. However, I don't have even $10 to give him.
He wants to pay it back as soon as he gets to the states. Please contact me if you're willing to help.
1st Email:
How are you? Honestly I'm doing pretty awful. I'm visiting London for vacation and so far a lot of crap has been spewing.I got robbed by a gang of Lebanese at the train station last night,the cold,wet,darkness didn't help things and everything I had on me including my wallet,passport and cell phone got stolen.It was a traumatic experience for me and you can't imagine how scared I was when it happened.I'm completely paranoid and all garbled in my mind right now and am just waiting for a miracle to happen.I've just been to the Consulate and luckily after standing in line for what seemed like hours,I got to a customs agent and she said they can issue a replacement passport so I don't have to be stuck here for weeks.I'm tight up here and need to clear my hotel bills so that my luggage can be released by the hotel management.I'm just wondering if you can help out by loaning me some money so that I can sort things out on time and catch a flight back home today,I promise to refund you as soon as I arrive home.
Pls get back to me Asap.
2nd Email, after I offered to try and raise him some funds here.
Oomggg,r u kidding me?? I'm having such a hard time here and I'm just about to get in a line up at the consulate in order to get my replacement passport stamped.It's been so embarrassing for me but I guess it's just this post-9/11 world we live in and the government lines that suck.I really need your help,just need you to loan me 870 British pounds,that's equivalent to $1240.77,you can send it by going with cash to any Western Union location close to you or sending it online via the western union website.
Here is my information.
{MSG ME FOR IT.}
As soon as it's sent,email me the pickup number that I need to receive it here,also let me know how much they charge in sending fees.I will reimburse you the full amount as soon as I arrive home.
I really appreciate it.
Hackers. It sounded way too fishy, but if it was true, I didn't want to leave him hanging.
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I got the same email. Unfortunately, I'm not in a financial position to help him either. I feel awful for him - hopefully someone will be able to help him out.
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I'm trying to figure out a way to confirm that it is Rob, not some sort of scam.
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That's not Omar.
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I'm trying to figure out a way to confirm that it is Rob, not some sort of scam.
The message I got came from an email address I don't recognize, but when I replied to the email address I normally use for him, I got a response fairly quickly and in the same voice as the original. If this isn't him, I have to assume it's someone who has access to all of his accounts.
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I'm trying to figure out a way to confirm that it is Rob, not some sort of scam.
The message I got came from an email address I don't recognize, but when I replied to the email address I normally use for him, I got a response fairly quickly and in the same voice as the original. If this isn't him, I have to assume it's someone who has access to all of his accounts.
He's probably been hacked.
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I'm trying to figure out a way to confirm that it is Rob, not some sort of scam.
The message I got came from an email address I don't recognize, but when I replied to the email address I normally use for him, I got a response fairly quickly and in the same voice as the original. If this isn't him, I have to assume it's someone who has access to all of his accounts.
He's probably been hacked.
I had my doubts. The message is definitely not in anything resembling his usual voice. Has anyone spoken to him or confirmed that he is not in England or that he is OK?
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I had my doubts. The message is definitely not in anything resembling his usual voice. Has anyone spoken to him or confirmed that he is not in England or that he is OK?
Yeah it didn't sound like him, and two of the emails were copied and pasted.
Tom messaged me back on FB and said he gave him a call. He is not in England, he is a okay. :)
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I had my doubts. The message is definitely not in anything resembling his usual voice. Has anyone spoken to him or confirmed that he is not in England or that he is OK?
Yeah it didn't sound like him, and two of the emails were copied and pasted.
Tom messaged me back on FB and said he gave him a call. He is not in England, he is a okay. :)
Happened to a friend of mine last year. She basically had to shut down her email and start a new one.
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My mother recently got a few emails like this from a friend of hers who is a journalist. The gist of them was that she was on assignment in Europe somewhere and all her stuff had been stolen. Because they had a few details that made it seem like it was really her (claims that she had been there working on a story, etc.) a bunch of people sent her money, but it turned out she'd been hacked. Her friends and family sent over two thousand dollars before she figured out what was going on. Awful stuff.
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Hopefully nobody sent anything.
My boyfriends' senile grandmother got a call a few months ago from someone claiming to be her grandson, my boyfriend. "It's me, grandma. I drove to Canada, got pulled over for drunk driving and now I'm in jail there. I need some money."
1) Boyfriend doesn't have his license, or a car.
2) Boyfriend doesn't drink.
She hung up on them.
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I had my doubts. The message is definitely not in anything resembling his usual voice. Has anyone spoken to him or confirmed that he is not in England or that he is OK?
Yeah it didn't sound like him, and two of the emails were copied and pasted.
Tom messaged me back on FB and said he gave him a call. He is not in England, he is a okay. :)
Good to know. Like you, I had my doubts, but I also didn't want to leave him hanging if it really was him.
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Omar would never use the expression "line up" (or, for that matter, say "Oomggg,r u kidding me??" except, I suppos, in jest, which one would hardly expect from someone in the dire circumstances described). In any case, had he been stranded in London, I have no doubt helpful embassy personnel (and it would have been an embassy, not a consulate) would have allowed him to use a telephone. Still, were further proof necessary, here's more evidence that the FOT are a nice bunch of folks.
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Hopefully nobody sent anything.
My boyfriends' senile grandmother got a call a few months ago from someone claiming to be her grandson, my boyfriend. "It's me, grandma. I drove to Canada, got pulled over for drunk driving and now I'm in jail there. I need some money."
1) Boyfriend doesn't have his license, or a car.
2) Boyfriend doesn't drink.
She hung up on them.
My grandmother, who lived alone, lived in the same town as me. Once I was around 11, I was in her part of town on my bike so I figured I'd surprise her and say hi. She came to the door and must have looked through the peephole but would not open it -- said I wasn't her grandson and to go away or she'd call the cops. It was weird.
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Somebody let him know they have his facebook account too.
21pmRob
How are you
6:22pmJason
Bad back, also getting over a stomach virus.
And you?
6:30pmRob
i'm visiting London and am having a problem with the hotel management where i lodged.
6:31pmJason
London?
Are you visiting that guy?
6:31pmRob
i had expected that a place set up for tourism should have a better payment policy considering how much of tourist $$ they let get away.it's been a drag with the hotel management so i need to pls loan me some $$.
6:31pmJason
What are you doing in London?
I thought you'd lost your passport.
6:34pmJason
Hey buddy, I'm worried.
About you.
6:34pmRob
yea
6:35pmJason
yea what?
6:35pmRob
I've visiting
been
6:36pmJason
So tell me what happened.
6:37pmRob
it's too much to talk on im,what's important is that i wasn't hurt or injured.
right now i just need you to loan me some money
can you help me out?
6:38pmJason
i think so
6:38pmRob
k
6:38pmJason
where are you staying?
6:38pmRob
I'm at the heathrow airport right now
at the health center to be precise.
6:39pmJason
There's a health centre in airport!!!
Thats pretty fancy.
Why are you in the health centre?
6:39pmRob
yea
i got lambasted.
6:40pmJason
what happened bro?
6:40pmRob
i was mugged and shanked with a knife
6:41pmJason
holy freaking shitballs!!!
A KNIFE!!!
I read about knife crime in the UK.
6:43pmRob
it wasn't just the knife
i was also beaten with a cane
i feel like shit right now.
how can you get some money to me asap,i'm trying to book a hotel room for the night.
6:43pmJason
Not sure how.
Will think of a way.
Why didn't you use Karate?
6:44pmRob
can you try western union
online?
6:45pmJason
Why study Karate for 15 years, under some of the best teachers on the planet, if you're gonna get with a cane.
6:45pmRob
huh
6:46pmJason
Just wondered what happened to your karate skills bro.
6:46pmRob
i don't need apologies now,i need help.
6:47pmJason
I'm not apologising!
Why are you saying that!
6:47pmRob
can you loan me some money?!
6:47pmJason
They must have knocked the sense out of you.
YES I ALREADY SAID I CAN LEND YOU SOME FUCKING MONEY
WHAT IS YOUR FUCKING PROBLEM?
Is that about Cindy?
I told you, I fucked her once, we were drunk, and you two had already broken up.
6:49pmRob
lolz
6:49pmJason
WTF?
6:50pmRob
I'm mortified.
6:50pmJason
You do not sound right in the head, wat did the doctor say?
6:50pmRob
I mean i'm completely paranoid right now
6:50pmJason
That's understandable, English people are vile animals.
I will never visit that country again.
6:51pmRob
i can't hold up here much longer
6:51pmJason
what do you mean?
You're worrying me.
6:51pmRob
how soon can you send it via western union.
6:51pmJason
My cousing lives in london I can get him to come help you.
6:52pmRob
fuck
ure just messing with me?
k
cool
6:52pmJason
I have travellers checks, I can fed-ex them to you if you get a room or an address you can use.
6:53pmRob
just go to the western union website and send it online using a credit or debit card
i can get it in minutes
right after you send
brb
6:54pmRob is offline.
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I got this, too. But I already sent all my money to Mrs. Maryam Abachka back in '96.
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I have to admit, though, "I got lambasted" is one of the most creative hacker sentences I've ever seen. Also: the title of my new album and/or autobiography.
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Sorry about your back and your belly, Jason. Also, I love you.
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Also, in the original post there was a reference to Customs Agents that he supposedly spoke to at the Consulate.
Why would there be US customs agents working in an embassy? Even if they were there for some reason, they wouldn't be issuing emergency passports.
This whole thing is weird and a little scary. It is also coincidental as I was just reading this NYT article http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/17/technology/17privacy.html about privacy and (apparently very erroneously) just said to myself it is scare mongering and went on to something else.
Now I think I'll go read the rest of it.
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When these hacker goons learn proper grammar we'll all be in big trouble.
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I just thought of a good job for myself.
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Jason, that was awesome.
When the real Omar comes back I want him to tell us all about this gang of Lebanese.
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Jason, that was awesome.
When the real Omar comes back I want him to tell us all about this gang of Lebanese.
Nobody spills the dirt on the Lebanese Lambasters. Nobody.
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Jason, that was awesome.
When the real Omar comes back I want him to tell us all about this gang of Lebanese.
Nobody spills the dirt on the Lebanese Lambasters. Nobody.
We have to assume that Jamie Farr has moved into the next phase of an all out, elaborate campaign against the Best Show, and Omar was only the first victim of which we are aware.
Like Sarah, I wanted to inquire about Jason's back and stomach problems, but I was afraid that this was part of the initial scam as well and that Jason might be perfectly fine. This is why I usually don't care if any of you live or die.
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I can feel bad for Jason's (or indeed anyone's) back and belly (or indeed any body part) at any time (or indeed fitfully and mostly not), Wes, so even if his saying they were suffering was part of the performance, my sympathy stands.
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Jason, that was awesome.
The line "I read about knife crime in the UK" is still making me smile.
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Jason, that was awesome.
The line "I read about knife crime in the UK" is still making me smile.
he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he
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I read about knife crime in the UK. (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1035798/Thugs-committing-350-knife-assaults-EVERY-DAY-menace-spreads-rural-areas.html)
(There's now a link there, just in case you don't notice.)
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I had my doubts. The message is definitely not in anything resembling his usual voice. Has anyone spoken to him or confirmed that he is not in England or that he is OK?
Yeah it didn't sound like him, and two of the emails were copied and pasted.
Tom messaged me back on FB and said he gave him a call. He is not in England, he is a okay. :)
Thanks for your concern, Swiss (and others!).
I was able to restore access to my primary Gmail account quickly, although not before many people I know had some interesting e-mail exchanges with this cretin. There does not appear to be anything compromised in my actual Gmail account and there is no trace of any e-mails to/from the cretin. He also took hold of a Hotmail account I haven't used in about five years and another rarely-used Gmail account.
I was, however, booted from Facebook as a result of this incident. (Considering the guy was scamming people using my account, I don't really blame them.) I'm attempting to have my account reactivated, but based on what I've read about Facebook's non-existent tech support that will probably take 6 years. I guess there is some kind of "appeals" process. I'll just send Mark Zuckerberg my Social Security Card, Passport, and a box of fuuuuuuuuuuudge.
What's particularly odd is that I was in fact traveling when this all went down on Thursday. It was domestic travel for a family wedding, and while the trip was harrowing in many ways, there was no Lebanese lambasting. Now that I think about it, that would have been preferable to the hmotel my uncle inexplicably selected for just about everyone attending from out of town.
The only online activity I engaged in Thursday morning was a few failed attempts to use the free in-flight Wi-Fi via an iPhone. Is it possible this is the source of the hacking?
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WiFi could be a source, if it's a bogus hotspot. But did you use the same password on the previously-hacked Recidivism website as any of your emails? Then, a bad guy could search through your email for further passwords and more opportunities for malice. That, or malware on your actual computer.
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So glad you weren't lambasted!
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WiFi could be a source, if it's a bogus hotspot. But did you use the same password on the previously-hacked Recidivism website as any of your emails? Then, a bad guy could search through your email for further passwords and more opportunities for malice. That, or malware on your actual computer.
I checked my computer for malware and there was nothing (I use the avast! anti-virus software and also scanned using malwarebytes). I have a recidivism.org address that forwards to my primary Gmail account. My username/password combos for the Recidivism Movable Type account/FTP site has never matched any of my other email accounts.
The timing of the hacking seems to suggest that the attempts to use the Wi-Fi is the culprit, but who knows. Can I sue AirTran? I changed all my passwords to fetidbeetroot so I should be fine for awhile at least.
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Good to have you back, Omar. And in one piece, no less.
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If you access Gmail with your web browser, make sure you select "Always use https" in Settings > General so your Gmail password and other passwords you might have stored in your mailbox aren't flying through the internet in clear text.
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I just went to my gmail account to do this and read the following: "We've recently made the 'Always use https' setting the default behavior in Gmail (the default used to be http)."
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I just went to my gmail account to do this and read the following: "We've recently made the 'Always use https' setting the default behavior in Gmail (the default used to be http)."
Let it be known that I was doing this way before they made https the default setting.
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Just checked my settings: the option for https was still there. Is there any reason why you shouldn't do the https thing? I check my gmail on my laptop 90% of the time.
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Just checked my settings: the option for https was still there. Is there any reason why you shouldn't do the https thing? I check my gmail on my laptop 90% of the time.
I can't think of a reason why you wouldn't. It does, in theory, take more processing power on both ends, because there's encryption/decryption and a security certificate involved but you won't notice it.
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Thanks; done!
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Thanks -- I made sure this was selected on my recovered Gmail account and a new one I set up as a backup. My previous backup Gmail account was compromised and Google won't give it back because I am unable to answer their recovery questions to their satisfaction. I barely used it, so if it's gone, so be it, as long as it's not being used to extract cash.
My sister told me that her friend's Dad actually wired someone money as part of a similar e-mail scam about a year ago.
This is what happens when bastard companies like Microsoft, Facebook, and Google run amok while the likes of Geocities go under. I'd Ask Jeeves about all of this, but he's passed out after too many sniffers of brandy.
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Just checked my settings: the option for https was still there.
I imagine this is so that those who for some reason want regular old http can make that choice and then change their minds later. Gmail says https is now the default.
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This is what happens when bastard companies like Microsoft, Facebook, and Google run amok while the likes of Geocities go under. I'd Ask Jeeves about all of this, but he's passed out after too many sniffers of brandy.
Worry not. I'm working on something called DracMail. Not only will it make a pleasantly caressing sound whenever you receive a new e-mail, but it will also be 100% secure and unhackable by scammers, phishers, snoopers, terrorists or governments. ETA: 2023 A.D.
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I was able to restore access to my primary Gmail account quickly, although not before many people I know had some interesting e-mail exchanges with this cretin. There does not appear to be anything compromised in my actual Gmail account and there is no trace of any e-mails to/from the cretin. He also took hold of a Hotmail account I haven't used in about five years and another rarely-used Gmail account.
They still have the real Omar, and you all ignored his hidden plea for help! He did get kind of sloppy with where he put the d and the final s and e, though, so serves him right.
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I got this email the other day, wondered what it was about. I made a dicky reply, didn't make the connection to Omar though from the name on the email. Dur.
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They must be targeting FOTs, because I got hit with this crap tonight. Somehow they were able to get into both my gmail account and the hotmail account I'd used as a backup for emergency password recovery, so I'm all kinds of screwed.
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My gmail account got hacked yesterday as well, although I was able to log in and change the password, so it looks like I'm OK. It is a weird coincidence, especially since my wife (who is not a forum member) got hacked last week.
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They must be targeting FOTs, because I got hit with this crap tonight. Somehow they were able to get into both my gmail account and the hotmail account I'd used as a backup for emergency password recovery, so I'm all kinds of screwed.
You may have discovered this by now, but if you go here:
https://www.google.com/support/accounts/bin/request.py?ara=1&hl=en&contact_type=ara&ctx=ara
... you should get an e-mail to begin recovery in about 30 minutes.
For Hotmail restoration, go here:
https://support.live.com/eform.aspx?productKey=wlidvalidation&ct=eformcs&scrx=1
I got a response within 48 hours using the above form.
Also, when you get your Gmail back, check to see if the cretin put in some bizarro forwarding e-mail and remove it. When I first regained access, all new messages were going to my trash folder and being forwarded to the hacker's address, which is what allowed him to respond to people seemingly through my account.
He likely altered your Windows Live ID/Hotmail profile as well. In my case, he changed the answer to my Security Question, so I could not use the standard password recovery feature.
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Ibdont have time to read this whole thread, but I sent Omar a couple grand to help him out and the jerk never even said thank you.
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The angels know what you did, Andy. That's what matters.
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They must be targeting FOTs, because I got hit with this crap tonight. Somehow they were able to get into both my gmail account and the hotmail account I'd used as a backup for emergency password recovery, so I'm all kinds of screwed.
You may have discovered this by now, but if you go here:
https://www.google.com/support/accounts/bin/request.py?ara=1&hl=en&contact_type=ara&ctx=ara
... you should get an e-mail to begin recovery in about 30 minutes.
For Hotmail restoration, go here:
https://support.live.com/eform.aspx?productKey=wlidvalidation&ct=eformcs&scrx=1
I got a response within 48 hours using the above form.
Also, when you get your Gmail back, check to see if the cretin put in some bizarro forwarding e-mail and remove it. When I first regained access, all new messages were going to my trash folder and being forwarded to the hacker's address, which is what allowed him to respond to people seemingly through my account.
Yeah, I got the gmail stuff squared away, and found a fishy redirect to a yahoo account under my name that I never created. I killed that noise right away.
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definitely a scam. I've heard about this before and today I read this on CNN.com http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/03/28/greene.email.scam/index.html?hpt=Sbin
I wouldn't wire any money.
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Thanks for clearing that up!
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Apparently the hijacker tried contacting pretty much everybody I have ever corresponded with. And I mean everybody. (http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100331/ANSWERMAN/100339989/1023)
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Apparently the hijacker tried contacting pretty much everybody I have ever corresponded with. And I mean everybody. (http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100331/ANSWERMAN/100339989/1023)
That is so funny. I can't stop giggling about that.
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Apparently the hijacker tried contacting pretty much everybody I have ever corresponded with. And I mean everybody. (http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100331/ANSWERMAN/100339989/1023)
That is amazing.