Nigerian 419 scam

by fairchild 5 Replies latest jw friends

  • fairchild
    fairchild


    Has anyone here heard of the Nigerian 419 scam? I got one of those scam mails in my in-box the other day. The mail intrigued me, and I did some searching on it through the internet. I even found a site where they scam the scammers, it is pretty hilarious. I'm thinking about joining them, there is no money involved in scamming the scammers, just some wit and perserverance. I wrote my first e-mail to the scammer, but haven't sent it yet. It just doesn't feel right. Has anyone done this before?

    For people who have not heard of the Nigerian 419 scam, here's a short explanation. Although the phrasing, the name of the senders and the amount of money can be different in the mails, they came down to the same thing. A rich guy in Africa is dying, he has little time left in this world. He wants to give his fortune away for a good cause, but he needs help doing so. He offers 10% of his fortune to the person who wants to help him transferring his money to an American bank account. Apparently, many people fall for this scam and end up losing large amounts of their own money. They have set up a police dept. in the UK, just to deal with the 419 scams. It is very widespread.

    Here is a link to one of the people who scammed the scammer. It is a long read, but it is worth reading. I laughed so hard at times, the tears were rolling down my face. At one point, I actually started to feel sorry for the scammer.

    WARNING, some of the language and some of the pictures are pretty harsh. (edited to remove the link), it really IS harsh and might not be appropriate here. If anyone wants the link, I can pm it.

  • tetrapod.sapien
    tetrapod.sapien
    Dear Peter AKA (?)Thank you for the email. My dancing was good this weekend until I slipped off the stage and sprained my ankle. You see, I do this show with another girl and we use baby oil and that can make the floor slippery. Anyway, I'm glad you answered all my questions. From what you have told me, Ghana sounds a lot like Kentucky.

    ROFL!!

    nice one. have fun!

    TS

  • fairchild
    fairchild

    tetra!!! How are you doing?? LOL, I ended up removing the link, I don't know if you read through the whole thing, but especially the picture at the very end made me think that perhaps I should not post the link here. I can't make up my mind whether I should try and scam him or not, but I am leaning towards not. it is not the same guy, I'm sure that peter aka has learned his lesson, and he'll think twice before he'll try to scam someone again. There are many stories where this link came from, but the Peter aka story is the best by far.

    Hugs to you,

    fairchild

  • Undecided
    Undecided

    If there was anything I could do to those Nigerian scammers I would. They have ruined my son-in-laws life to a great degree by way of his father. He(his father) lost several million dollars as well as his business and is living on SS. My son-in-law lost his home on 40 acres in the country.It's a long story. I don't understand how he could have been so dumb to fall for it though.

    Ken P.

  • Amazing1914
    Amazing1914

    Some time ago, I receivd a hand mailed letter from Canada with a variation of the Nigerian story, and a plea to help secure the fortune. Because I work in financial services, I had to notify the authorities. The FBI took the letter because it could have finger prints that they can follow. Although, the matter normally gets turned over to the US Secret Service. I always thought the Secret Service only protected the President. Evidently, they also investigate international fraud schemes. Because Al Qa'eda and various terror organization use scams to get money, Homeland Security may get involved. Since the Secret Service, FBI and other authority are well aware of the Nigerian scam, I guess all there is left for us to do is warn others who need it.

  • fairchild
    fairchild

    Indecided,

    I am so very sorry to hear that. It is outrageous. those people stop for nothing. After doing some more research, people have lost their lives, trying to get their money back. The scam is a very serious issue, as Amazing1914 confirmed.

    I am still toying with the idea of teaching one of the scammers a lesson. I am not sure as to what to do yet. But then, we might be able to stop one, but we can't stop them all. It does not surprise me though that people would fall for this. Some just are gullible, and that is what the scammers count on.

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