History PlayingWith / FourOneNineScam

* '''Zig Zagged''': Prince Bob turns out to be real, but the scammers are using him as a figurehead. He then manages to contact Alice for real and is freed from the scammers, and Alice finally receives her reward. Except this was the real scam, whatever sources Alice found that claim Bob is a real prince where faked. Furthermore Bob's luxurious palace is actually a rental, which Bob quickly abandons, leaving Alice with the bill.

** Prince Bob has no friends because although he is "real," all the other characters are ssvy enough to delete these emails, or at least their spam filters send emails proclaiming to be from the Prince of {{Bulungi}} to their spam folder.

** Alice replies that she doesn't believe Prince Bob, and that she's not going to help him. He replies indignantly that he'll just give the money to someone who "deserves it." Meanwhile, Carol agrees to do as asked in the same email missive...and within weeks, Carol is selling her house and [[PerpetualTourist moving to a private island]].

* '''Zig Zagged''': Prince Bob turns out to be real, but the scammers are using him as a figurehead. He then manages to contact Alice for real and is freed from the scammers, and Alice finally receives her reward.

** Prince Bob has no friends because although he is "real," all the other characters delete these emails, or at least their spam filters send emails proclaiming to be from the Prince of {{Bulungi}} to their spam folder.

** Alice has been sending money to "Prince Bob" for years, or even decades. While she used to be [[FictionFiveHundred a bajillionaire]], when she dies, she is ''millions of dollars in the red. And her will stipulates that all her remaining money is to go to "Prince Bob."

Back to FourOneNineScam

* '''Invoked''': Alice, a NaiveEverygirl who is down on her luck and living in PerpetualPoverty, receives an email promising her a large fortune for only a small amount of effort.

* '''Subverted''': Alice receives an email from her friend Bob, who just happens to be the Prince of {{Bulungi}}.

** Alice has been sending money to "Prince Bob" for years, or even decades]]. While she used to be [[FictionFiveHundred a bajillionaire]], when she dies, she is ''millions of dollars in the red. And her will stipulates that all her remaining money is to go to "Prince Bob."

** Alice has been sending money to "Prince Bob" for years, or even ''[[OlderThanTheNES decades]]''. While she used to be [[FictionFiveHundred a bajillionaire]], when she dies, she is ''millions of dollars in the red. And her will stipulates that all her remaining money is to go to "Prince Bob."
** Alice receives this missive as ''snail'' mail, despite it being the PresentDay or TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture (and thus much more common to see such missives as emails.)

* '''Zig Zagged''': ???

* '''Double Subverted''': He asks for her assistance in shuffling money around or accessing a trust fund he can't get into.

* '''Exploited''': The scammers send out this email (and its older snail-mail forms) to as many people as possible, hoping that ''someone'' out there will be gullible enough to take the bait.

'''Basic Trope''': A character is told that he/she will receive a large amount of money in exchange for moving money around for someone who can't, or is to receive a large UnexpectedInheritance from a LongLostRelative, provided he/she pays [[MovingTheGoalposts increasingly large fees]] [[LameExcuse to speed things along, fix problems, etc]].

** Alice has been sending money to "Prince Bob" for ''years,'' or even ''[[OlderThanTheNES decades]]''. While she used to be [[FictionFiveHundred a bajillionaire]], when she dies, she is ''millions'' of dollars in the red. And her will stipulates that all her remaining money is to go to "Prince Bob."
** Alice receives this missive as ''snail'' mail, despite it being the PresentDay or TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture (and thus much more common to see such missives as ''emails.'')
* '''Downplayed''': The amounts promised and asked for are on the scale of tens or hundreds of dollars, not zillions or millions.

** Prince Bob has no friends because although he is "real," all the other characters are GenreSavvy enough to delete these emails, or at least their spam filters send emails proclaiming to be from the Prince of {{Bulungi}} to their spam folder.

* '''Justified''': ???

** Alice receives it as a ''telegram," or a hologram message a la ''Franchise/StarWars'', and grumbles about spam.

* '''Basic Trope''': A character is told that he/she will receive a large amount of money in exchange for moving money around for someone who can't, or is to receive a large UnexpectedInheritance from a LongLostRelative, provided he/she pays [[MovingTheGoalposts increasingly large fees]] [[LameExcuse to speed things along, fix problems, etc]].

* '''Exaggerated''': The email missive is actually addressed to Alice personally, instead of just "Dear Sir or Madam," (or some variant thereof), and promises not only half the money, but that she will, if she wants to, [[RagsToRoyalty become his bride]], with all the privileges extended to a royalty.

* '''Parodied''': Prince Bob has no friends because although he is "real," all the other characters are GenreSavvy enough to delete these emails, or at least their spam filters send emails proclaiming to be from the Prince of {{Bulungi}} to their spam folder.

* '''Conversed''': "Oh, please. That's like one of the OldestOnesInTheBook!"

* '''Exploited''': ???
Defied: ???
Discussed: ???
Conversed: ???

** Alice has been sending money to "Prince Bob" for ''years,'' or even ''[[OlderThanTheNES decades]]''. While she used to be [[Fiction500 a bajillionaire]], when she dies, she is ''millions'' of dollars in the red. And her will stipulates that all her remaining money is to go to "Prince Bob."
Downplayed: ???
Justified: ???
Inverted: ???
Subverted: ???
Double Subverted: ???
Parodied: ???
Zig Zagged: ???
Averted: ???
Enforced: ???
Lampshaded: ???
Invoked: ???
Exploited: ???