Bill Gates is a worldwide name.

People recognize him as the founder of Microsoft, and as a contributing force to pop culture for decades. He’s as well-known of a brand name as Coca-Cola or Escobar in modern times, and perhaps even more.

What this apparently means for spam writers is that an email from Mr & Mrs Bill Gates must be a way to grab the right attention.

I wish I was kidding. Unfortunately, I’m not.

A while ago, I found a message in my Spam inbox entitled, “Hello!!”

It’s one of those messages that manages to cross over the boundaries of just being obvious spam – and right into the territories of being hilariously bad.

According to the email, the sender as a donation to share. The same message also states the sender as Mr & Mrs Bill Gates.

Why wouldn’t anyone jump at the chance to respond and share some of their banking details to an unknown Hotmail address immediately?

Now, I’m not Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Poirot, but I know that Melinda’s second name isn’t Bill. I also know that this message violates every single red flag for a scam that I could possibly think of to list.

If you’ve ever had a computer with an internet connection in your life, spam will have reached it. Spam selling Viagra, spam advertising products and dating sites, spam that informs you of long-dead relatives – and then apparently, spam that impersonates the Gates Foundation.

Even if this is obviously bad spam that’s so terrible it can be laughed at, that doesn’t take the sting out of it. It’s still dangerous spam that could be harvesting information even if they don’t manage to dupe anyone into sending through cash.

I’ve reported this one as doing the rounds.

If you see something, say something.

Have YOU spotted spam claiming to be from Bill, Melinda or the Gates Foundation itself? Contact phishing@gatesfoundation.org and let them know.