VCISP.NET in 419-style solicitation shocker

The marketing tentacle of the mighty Register is always on the look-out for novel ways to sell products to our loyal readers, but some at Vulture Central feel that its latest strategy to give away free dial-up email accounts at VCISP.NET is a punt too far.

For those who have not heard of the snappily-titled Vulture Capitalist ISP, it's our very own UK ISP, run by Affinity Internet and offering a range of services, including a highly-competitive broadband package and free dial-up accounts. It's the latter of these which is the subject of the following press release. Regular readers will immediately recognise the inspiration:

DEAR SIR,

I AM MAKING THIS CONTACT WITH YOU BASED ON OUR NEED TO FIND A LARGE NUMBER OF INDIVIDUALS WHO IS WILLING TO ASSIST US WITH A SOLUTION TO A FREE EMAIL ACCOUNT TRANSFER.

WE ARE THE INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDER ARM OF THE REGISTER VESTED WITH THE RESPONSIBILITY OF PROVIDING TOP-CLASS INTERNET PRODUCTS TO THE PEOPLE OF UK. IN THE COURSE OF THIS ASSIGNMENT WE HAVE DISCOVERED HUGE AMOUNTS OF FREE PAY AS YOU GO CONNECTIONS AND EMAIL ACCOUNTS LODGED WITH VULTURE CAPITALIST ISP (VCISP). AS SERVANTS OF THE COMPANY WE ALREADY HAVE MORE EMAIL ACOOUNTS THAN THE STICK CAN BE SHAKEN AT, AND ARE THEREFORE PROPOSING A JOINT VENTURE WITH YOUR GOOD SELF AS FOLLOWS:

YOU WILL TRAVEL TO VCISP.NET WHEREUPON PAY AS YOU GO ACCESS AND A FREE EMAIL ACCOUNT WILL BE PROVIDED. UPON COMPLETION OF THE TRANSACTION, YOU WILL BE ASKED TO PAY THE SUM OF £0.00 (NO POUNDS STERLING WHATSOEVER) FOR THIS SERVICE.

WE FEEL SURE THAT YOU WILL NOT LET US DOWN WITH THIS REQUEST AND TRUST TO HEAR FROM YOU AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. PLEASE, IF THIS IS OF YOUR INTEREST, KINDLY PROCEED TO HERE FOR IMMEDIATE COMMENCEMENT.

BE REST ASSURED THAT THIS BUSINESS IS 100% RISK-FREE AND AT NO COST TO YOUR GOOD SELF.

BEST REGARDS

VCISP.NET

Well, you've got to give them full marks for effort. Who knows, someone in the US might get over-excited and transfer $2.1 million to the El Reg offshore account. Stranger things have happened.

However, it's not your hard cash VCISP.NET is after. No, they just want as many people as possible to support The Reg and sign up for a free "easyconnect" Internet account.

True, it's a dial-up account but the email is web-based and therefore available through any connection you might already be running. An extra account is always useful, so what have you got to lose?

You can have a shufti at the full dial-up package here. ®

Bootnote

We are informed by our merchandising tentacle that they still have a few Nigerian 419 limited editions in stock. Get 'em before the authorities move in.