Has anyone else received a business solicitation in your PM from a new member? I PM'd a sheriff with the text and name of the new user.

No...

What kind of solicitation? "Hey, you want to buy my awesome stove? I don't camp much anymore." Or is it more like "I have an exciting investment opportunity with a Chinese oil company in Nigeria, and you need to get in on the ground level now!"

no

Not in ETS. However, on my work e-mail, I used to get lots of junk mail about blue pills and such.

Thanks to the mods for keeping this a safe place.

Send me your bank account information. I am the dying widow of a Nigerian oil billionaire and need your help to give away his money. You can keep 10% of his billions for your trouble. God bless you for your help.

ILBob is a fraud. He is not in Nigeria. He can spell English and his grammar is more or less correct.

Dude, in order to be the widow, you must BE the widow.

Errm, I'm pretty sure ILBob was just parroting the usual dead-obvious schtick for our general amusement. It's not a sales pitch. I only respond because he may be in the "naughty chair" right now and unable to clarify his intent.

LOL
Not only Nigerian billionaire but we got such e-mails from "daughters of" Gaddafi and Saddam as well. LOL

I used to laugh at these e-mails until one day I read a foolish businessman was compalining to the chamber of commerce to protect them from such fruad !!!!! Seems there are enough fools to encourage such faudulent messages to continue !!!

There are enough fools. Around here regularly cases make it to the news. We call the cause for that "greed eats brain". The trick is they do not ask for upfront payments. They ask for your ID and bank account data and actually send you money to transfer. It runs really smooth until the police knock down your door and the judge gives away a stay at a government funded zero star hotel for money laundry and participation in frauds. Of course the transferred money has to be refunded to the original owner. You may have guessed it: It´s the victim who has to refund as that´s the only one the police actually catches.
So fear the Nigerian billionaires especially when they bring gifts.