Pseudo-Spam

[drplokta]

The following is a perfectly genuine email chasing payment for services supplied by a major US Internet company (whose name I have elided), so why does it read exactly like a Nigerian 419 scam email?

Dear xxx customer,

We would like to make sure that our invoice number xxx due on 13-JUL-07 has been well received.

We thank you in advance to confirm that the payment has been made on due date. Should you have any
queries, do not hesitate to contact us.

Way of payment and all details for it are shown on the invoice; you may pay with the following credit
cards: VISA, Eurocard / Mastercard, American Express, or issue a bank transfer to our Bank account at
your convenience. Important! Please make sure invoice number is quoted at time of payment.

The attachment is in Portable Document Format (PDF). You need Acrobat Reader from Adobe to read this
document. If you do not have Adobe Reader, please visit the Adobe website to download a free copy from
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html

Your promptness is appreciated and we thank you in advance for your timely collaboration.

Comments

[vampwillow]

:: write letter in English ::

:: translate to another language using babel ::

:: translate back to English using a different online service ::

:: send to customer ::

[stillcarl.livejournal.com]

so why does it read exactly like a Nigerian 419 scam email?

Because Nigerian scammers copy the style of legit business letters?

[redbird]

Legit business letters don't normally include phrasing like "We thank you in advance to confirm that payment has been made" or "invoice has been well received."

[adela-terrell.livejournal.com]

It was Timely collabortaion that got me hehe.

[animoose.livejournal.com]

The problem is the phrasing - not just that it is marginally ungrammatical, but also because there are deeply entrenched conventional forms for letters like this, and it doesn't quite follow them.