OT- The Best Nigerian Scam yet

[Baron Munchausen]

Originally posted by dogscoff:
I saw a TV program about these nigerian scams, and ppl do fall for them. They get you to withdraw loads of money from the bank, fill a suitcase with money and then fly to Amsterdam (or sometimes other places) to meet with some guy who puts a load of spiel on you. All the while there are armed heavies watching you from a discrete distance.

Then they invite you to go with them to a secluded location to "complete the transaction", and I'm sure I don't have to spell that one out for you all.

Getting you to bring them the money is the old style of scam. They used to fish for victims by sending actual paper (snail mail) letters instead of email, too. But that leaves a clearer trail for investigation. My father's business (insurance) got a letter from one of these scammers more than a decade ago.

Now they just con people into wiring money through email and rob them without even having to meet them. And yes, people have been falling for variations on this scam for ages. The offer of 'something for nothing' just seems to render some people completely witless. What's really funny is that some people have even committed crimes with other people's money trying to get the offered loot.
http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,55329,00.html

A secretary at a law firm embezzled $2 million dollars from the firm's acounts and wired it to some South African scammer working this scheme. She didn't get the payoff, of course, and was discovered when the law firm's checks started bouncing.

Wired Magazine has covered this booming fraud business in the past:
http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,53818,00.html

On the lighter side, there are people who have made a hobby of scamming the scammers. I guess it's a natural outcome of the constant annoyance of these spams. Sooner or later someone is going to decide to turn the tables. It's funny what they have been able to get some of them to do in hopes of fleecing a pigeon. But just like the victims they are seeking, the hope for free money can cloud their thinking.

http://www.419eater.com
http://www.ebolamonkeyman.com

[ April 19, 2004, 17:26: Message edited by: Baron Munchausen ]