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This is a great article on the people inside the Nigerian scams. It talks about how they view rich white Americans as fair game, they are dumb enough to be tricked so they deserve it...almost makes sense really.
Sad on all fronts, poor Nigerians trying to make money and people getting conned. This sort of thing makes me appreciate living in this country.
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The scary part is they employ people HERE to "finish off" the scam. I've thought about "playing" with them, but when they start showing up at my house...
-------------------- And now for something completely different... Posts: 4164 | From: Alabama | Registered: Oct 2005
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In fact, the use in the United States of a con game recognized as "The Spanish Prisoner" goes back at least to the 1870s. And I suspect that -- if we knew where to look -- we could find still earlier attempts with the stereotypical form of the swindle (with its trapped political prisoner or prisoner or war, his fortune and its secret hiding place, and perhaps his beautiful daughter) on the continent.
I'm reasonably sure that "The Spanish Prisoner," which was in the 19th century frequently referred to as "The Spanish Swindle" and "The Spanish Estate Swindle," was born out of a generic estate-swindle format that was popular and prevalent on both sides of the Atlantic in the 19th century. (And I'm especially dubious of the claim that "The Spanish Prisoner" itself emerged in the late 16th century.)
-- Bonnie
-------------------- Se non č vero, č ben trovato. Posts: -99014 | From: Chapel Hill, North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2000
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The gallery I volunteer at got hit by the buying merchandise with the phony credit card scam.
In some ways it is a little satisfying to think of some "ugly American" greedy rich guy being taken in by the standard bank account version. But having seen a variant happen to a struggling art gallery run by an 84 year-old made me lose any sympathy for these people.
-------------------- Bender: Though you may have to make a metaphorical "deal with the devil". And by "devil", I mean the robot devil, and by "metaphorically" I mean get your coat. ------------ My sad site: A new way to be bored. Posts: 722 | From: Colorado | Registered: Mar 2004
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quote:Originally posted by Doug4.7: The scary part is they employ people HERE to "finish off" the scam. I've thought about "playing" with them, but when they start showing up at my house...
You never give them any kind of identifying information. No phone, fax or address - nothing. The idea is that you string along the scammer for as long as possible. They can't find you by an e-mail address alone. If you get one of these and you want to have fun, then you create a Hot Mail address for yourself and cut and paste the text of scammers' e-mail from your real account to the Hot Mail accout.
Check this site: 419 Eater for some tips.
Posts: 403 | From: Ontario, Canada | Registered: May 2002
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Yeah, I like stringing them along, too. I'll act all excited, like "This sounds great! What do I do next? Do you need my bank account number, social security number, or both?"... then, I start asking them for THEIR personal information. It's fun seeing the excuses they come up with for not wanting to tell me their address or phone number.
BTW, the email address that I usually get the Nigerian Scams at doesn't even have a name in the address, nor is there any personal info in the profile.
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The company I work for has had several calls from people using a "TDD" and a relay operator to buy products from us. They acn only use a creditcard and need huge amounts of product right away. Fortunately, we have not lost any money on these scams.
Posts: 94 | From: Milwaukee, WI | Registered: Jul 2005
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quote: It talks about how they view rich white Americans as fair game, they are dumb enough to be tricked so they deserve it...almost makes sense really.
Hmm. Would there be a tad bit more outrage if the fair game "fools" in this article were poor Africans who had been tricked by slick-talking Americans? If you deserve to be ripped off just because you don't know any better, then why have any anti-fraud laws at all? If what I'm saying doesn't make sense to you, PM me your bank account information and I'll be happy to explain it better.
Also, that house I'm trying to sell you - it really is for sale despite what that sign says. I just put that sign up because I really want you to buy it and no one else. Just give me the suitcase full of cash and it's yours.
-------------------- Your ultimate source of superfluous flummery. Posts: 595 | From: South Carolina | Registered: Jun 2005
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quote: It talks about how they view rich white Americans as fair game, they are dumb enough to be tricked so they deserve it...almost makes sense really.
Hmm. Would there be a tad bit more outrage if the fair game "fools" in this article were poor Africans who had been tricked by slick-talking Americans? If you deserve to be ripped off just because you don't know any better, then why have any anti-fraud laws at all? If what I'm saying doesn't make sense to you, PM me your bank account information and I'll be happy to explain it better.
Also, that house I'm trying to sell you - it really is for sale despite what that sign says. I just put that sign up because I really want you to buy it and no one else. Just give me the suitcase full of cash and it's yours.
When I read the article I wondered how the scammers know that the person on the other end of the e-mail is a white American. You may be able to make an educated guess that the person is American based on the source of the e-mail, but white? If the scam started to progress and the scammer found out the victim was not a white person, would they back down?
Posts: 403 | From: Ontario, Canada | Registered: May 2002
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rodh- on the 419 site someone posted above, the scam baiter actually sent a picture of 'themselves'...a picture of an attractive black woman.they still wanted the money...and they wanted her to send naked pictures... in fact I usually answer these emails with some bull about how i'd love to help my 'fellow black people' in africa and it never changes their mind
Posts: 73 | From: Ohio | Registered: Jul 2005
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When my friend, who is black, was in Ghana with the Peace Corps, her village's nickname for her was apparently Ghanaian for "white person." She said that "white" was sort of a catch-all for middle-class Americans, regardless of their skin color.
Just thought that might be some useful info for the discussion.
-------------------- Suddenly she realizes that amongst a crazy drunken schoolmarm, a navy swim instructor with a food fetish, a southern hick farmer, a porn star turned used car dealer, and a horny ex-football player, she won't be this strange outsider. Posts: 701 | From: Colorado | Registered: Dec 2000
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This is freaky. I visit taught this woman up in Kent who had a Nigerien Boyfriend that she met online. We all wondered about it, because she's about 45, heavy-ish, with diabetes and other problems, as well as two children and rarely washes. The pictues she showed us of the "boyfriend" picture a handsome young black man, in the prime of life. He also, IIRC, claimed to be the disinherited son of a very wealthy family. She sent him money several times so he could visit, but something always happened. He also ran money through her bank account, and when she started having second thoughts about the relationship, the FBI supposedly got involved, saying she would go to jail if she didn't pay them back the money that was laundered through her account, or something.
Having read this story, it's now obvious what was going on, and what still may be going on. I feel bad, I wish there was someway to contact her or email her this story, but I barely remember her name. Hopefully she'll come to her senses herself, but she was a very lonely woman.
-------------------- "To begin with take warning, I am surely far different from what you suppose;" ~Walt Whitman
posted
Twice in recent weeks we were sent fake traveler's checks in one of those scams. The weird thing was that neither one of us was contacted beforehand and told what to do with them, they just arrived in our mailboxes.
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