Tuesday, June 03, 2008

As per your request

Fellow blogger, scientist and Nature Network celebrity rpg requested that I post this bit of literature that was recently sent to me, so here it is. It ain't exactly the kind of quality effort you might find over at LabLit, but it amused him. And me.

To: [alternate name for Ricardipus]
From: [a forum muppet]
Subject: PhD position
Message: Dear [alternate name for Ricardipus]. I went thru your profile and found ur connection in academics. I want to do PhD. I have scholarship of US $100,000 and wants a PhD position in Canada. Can you help me.

Very flattering. Just a few problems with this:

  1. Ricardipussssssssss doesn't wants nasssssty PhD studentssssssss. Wants fishesssssss, tasssssty fishessssssssss.
  2. I'm not a university professor, and therefore don't have an appointment in the local graduate school. Which makes it difficult, nay impossible, for me to take on a graduate student.
  3. Any student with a $100k scholarship ought to be able to choose any lab, anywhere, pretty much. This guy/gal sounds desperate.
  4. I will never hire anyone who uses the word "ur", even in a forum message. I've complained about this before.

The whole thing stinks of desperation, or perhaps with the sulphurous stench of a 419 scam. I suspect that if I responded positively, the next email would have asked me to help "liberate" the aforementioned scholarship from a nice, safe, but surprisingly inaccessible offshore bank account.

Sigh.

6 comments:

WrathofDawn said...

Methinks you've nailed this one on the head.

Now about those funds in Nigeria...

Wonderferret said...

Nothing wrong with the word ur*.





* You can tell I did classical studies and ancient history can't you...It's my sekrit shame.

Anonymous said...

Problem with the 419 hypothesis is that the sum involved is an order of magnitude too low.

I suspect his organization has said "Oh furrfu, here's a hundred grand, now just go".

Either that or he means 100,000 rupees, which is (calculates) 2.5k US$.

#Debi said...

Who knew that lolcats were smart enough to get $100K scholarships?

I haz collej moneez, I can haz job?

Richard Wintle said...

Debi - I iz teh LOLzing at your comment.

rpg - both are good theories.

w'ferret - ah yes, I meant to write something clever about Ur, but I furgot.

WrathofDawn said...

My collej moneez. Let me show you them.

hee hee