Yeah , I got taken in by a girl i met and had talked to for several months.... I have been unable to workfor 4 years and living off of a disability check for a year—when she offered this to me , I was to be a “business partner” to recieve and send payments to her from people in the united states… Once I finally agreed , I was then told to send the money to another partner (actually in the united states)..... Needless to say , I did as I was told… The first money order I recieved was for $2000—i had the bank run a check on it and it showed to be good .. I thought to myself , this is wonderful, then about 3 weeks later , I recieved 4 more money orders - each for $2000 and was told to take my 10% and send the rest to the other partner as i did before .... Well , before I could get to the bank with these , my bank called me and told me the other money order had came back as a fraud....
That really sucked , I had to pay the bank back or get put in jail myself aned since i am only living on a small disability check , this really hurt… When I reported this to the police , they took my infomation and told me there was nothing they could do in this matter…
Seems that our police here in the united states really does not care about us getting scammed , but they will put us in jail if we are unable to pay back the money we got scammed for...... That really sucks-- You would think that the american government would actually do something to help , but they do not care.....
Presently , I still get e-mails from all kinds of people from nigeria & china claiming to be in need of a business partner ... All I do is just reply “What kind of fool do you take me for..”

I’d like to know where I can report all these money scam e-mails that I’ve been receiving. Some of them are using the name Swiss Bank and even send you a certificate of payment with the name Swiss Bank on them.  We all know that it’s not for real.  I’ve tried to find an e-mail address for the Swiss Bank without any luck.  Thought they should know about it.  Before I use to get lots of these e-mails from Nigeria, but now it’s coming from Ethiopia, Togo and even the UK.

Never mind “The Five Rules for Doing Business in Nigeria”.  I’ve got one:  Don’t do business with anyone in Nigeria.

Maybe then the corrupt Nigerian government will get the message and do something abut these 419 scams.

I get one of these Nigerian e-mails a week and have saved them in my “Nigerian Fraud File.” I have a funny collection. A friend told me this summer he got an e-mail from an ad he placed on Craig’s List looking for a tenant for his house. A “future tenant from England” with a Nigerian name sent a fake check and “official letter.”
One tip off is as mentioned above - the bad grammar and spelling.
I was never cheated - nor my friend - because we never wanted to get involved in greed or dishonesty.
There is nothing for nothing.

My name is Obit Collom, I am a Nigerian Army
Colonel working with the Nigerian Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission. Our annual budget
of US $5,250,000 allows us to pay informants that
help us catch and prosecute 419 scammers. We will
pay out US $5000, plus your expenses, if you help
us in this endeavour.
To apply, send your check for US $250 (a paltry
sum, intended only to certify that you are of
good character and a patriotic American)to us at:
“Help the Poor Colonel Out”
888 Yokohama Mama Avenue
Timbuctu, Georgia, USA

haha haaaaaa! gotcha!

If you want to see the morons that run these scams get scammed in return, see http://www.419eater.com

LOL @ bugjackblue, George S Semsel, Talapus Pete!!

Uhm, by the way, how do we know fer sure this article isn’t a mOrE creative scam?

Maybe you’re not into the financial angle, but, if you’re trying for a psychological wrangle, we’ll be in big trouble.

Especially with that Christian Therapist not around anymore to help.

I’m amazed that people are still falling for this.  Honestly, how dumb do you have to be to expect something that’s too good to be true? 

What greed does to some people.

Personally, I like responding to the ads--turning the money down, explaining why the “lost relative” wasn’t really lost, but had been chased out of town for a host of unsavory and unnatural acts.  I figure if these people are going to annoy me with their emails, I might as well have a little fun with them.

Why should we feel sympathy for the losses of duped people working with corrupt officials trying to launder and steal money that really belongs to the people of West and Central Africa?  Nigeria, Togo, Ivory Coast, these are some of the poorest nations in the world.  Africa has suffered terribly from the dictators, coups and civil wars resulting from the actions of the American government and CIA.  I can’t feel much sympathy for Americans stupid and selfish enough to fall for these schemes.  Call it “reverse imperialism”.

PURE GREED !!!!!!
I AM SURE FROM ALL THE SAD TALES, NO ONE SUGGESTED THAT A GUN WAS ON HIS/HER HEAD. VICTIMS WERE ALL PARTICIPANTS

Stupid is as stupid does.

I had puppies for sale last year that I advertised on Craigslist and in the SF Chronicle online classifieds. Although I sold all the puppies to legitimate buyers in the US through those ads, I got probably 10 different people emailing me from out of the country trying one of the same scams described in the article: A money order for more than twice what I was asking for my dogs, then wire the money to their “shipping company” who will pick up the dog and ship it to them, and totally clueless answers to questions about what sort of home the dog would be going to. (Also ignoring my statement that I do a purchase contract for all buyers, and with a neuter agreement for pups going to pet homes). The emails were identical in wording, and a couple of them even referred to different breeds of dogs rather than the red standard poodles I had.

I contacted the secret service number mentioned in the article, and they really were not interested. They also had no way to email them or to forward the emails so they could trace the origin from the header info (!). So I just deleted the emails, and compared notes with other poodle people I know, all of whom had been approached with the same scam. In one case in the East, the person came to her home and had to be escorted off the property by the local police after she had refused to sell him a puppy.

He was a “Christian” psychotherapist?  I imagine he must have specified this when interviewed: “It’s important to make it clear that I’m not just a therapist.  I’m a Christian therapist.” I don’t understand then-- why didn’t Jesus warn him?  I guess we’re supposed to have greater sympathy for him because well after all, he’s not just your standard garden-variety greedy criminal?  No, he’s a Christian, so he’s forgiven for being a criminal.  A lot of folk in prison become Christians, you know.  That way you have to forgive them their crimes.  Like Jesus would.  Otherwise, well, there must be something wrong with you because after all you’re a good Christian, aren’t you?  So this guy had his excuse ready before he even engaged in the criminal behavior-- good thinking, eh?  I wonder how someone so smart (and virtuous) got caught?  But hey, he’s a Christian, and a therapist too, I mean his job is helping people, right?  He’s really a good person, he goes out of his way help people.  Selflessly.  As a good Christian.  “A Christian therapist.” So cut him some slack, judge, ok?  He’s a Christian.  He deserves forgiveness, not a jail sentence…

Although if you think about it, maybe this is a step in the right direction?  When the jails are filled with Christians they’ll be much nicer places than they are now.  And if they’re Christian “therapists,” well they’ll all be able to help each other.  To help each other be better Christians.  To be better “Christian” “therapists.” You see, it’s all part of God’s plan…

Biggest scam ever still is 9/11.

I could not help but notice how much Bush’s entire Iraq War scam is like the Nigerian con games, both as to the techniques and the public’s astonishing gullibility.  No wonder there seems to be no way to stop either one.

[more irreverence at resistence-is-possible.blogspot.com]

I’ve sent some of scammers the chance to invest in helping us Indians get the missing trust fund money, if they’ll just email Tonto Lone Feather at hotmail.com… Others I tell I’m writing a book about the Nigerian scams and ask if I have their permission to include their emails in it.

Hahaha! Now I know where my village idiots are. This baffles me. How about the scam about “duplicating money” for you, sort of “counterfeit” scam? I once took these guys on a wild goose chase. Responded to their e-mails using my designated junk e-mail address. They bought my stories, gave me their numbers and were getting pissed off for failing to follow instructions. It was a matter of “urgency” as they put it. At one point I said I had never dialed international and so they instructed me and told me the next day that they had waited. They asked me for my address. I gave them the White House’s and for some reason, they never questioned it!!! Then I told them I had no long distance on my line, they told me where to buy a calling card and that it would be refunded. I got bored/tired and started coping other junk e-mails to them. One of them told me God was going to punish me. So next time you want, cuss them out and you will see how offended they become and how fast they quote God. That’s if you have time. I do, sometimes....

When I look at who was voted into office in this country, it’s not hard to believe these scams are successful.

Somehow, I’m not able to feel any sympathy to somebody stupid enough to fall for these scams - especially when stories about them are so common.  I can’t help but think that people blinded by greed get what they deserve.

How can these people be so naive? If the funds were legitimate, and all they needed was someone with a bank account in the U.S., then they could contact the Nigerian Embassy in DC. Duh.

OMFG!! - Well, what can you do . . some people are just complete and utter retards!!!

Greed.

The only reason people get involved in this is simple, unadulterated greed. Something for nothing. The big action.

There are some sad stories, to be sure, but in some sense they get what they deserve.

I have received some of the scams from Nigeria. And have often read about them. What I am curious about is why Nigeria. What is it about Nigerians that make them so creative and energetic when it comes to scams? Why is the country so corrupt, and I don’t think that is unfair to say so. Certainly, it suggests that there is a great deal of talent which can be channeled to make Nigeria a far better place.

If it sounds too good to be true it is. Strangers don’t offer you easy money unless they are scam artists.  Ever.  Your “ship” doesn’t come in.

I’ve had scads of all these scams come by me on eMail--the internet is The Street.  I also get lots of eMails saying “Your credit card is expired” and it’s for things like eBay, PayPal, or a national ISP.  But they are scams too.

Read them carefully...They will say “Your VISA card has expired...” Well, that’s a good clue, ESPECIALLY if I use MasterCard for that service!

But all these “victims” all had larceny in their heart.  W.C. Fields used to say:
“You can’t cheat an honest man, but never give a sucker an even break, and don’t wisen up a chump.”

He even named two movies from this.

I have seen SO many “Nigerian Scams” that I’m amazed anyone can fall for them.  Lots of them come from other places now, not just Nigeria.

But you can’t cheat an honest man.

STAY FOCUSED ON THE ISSUES!

THE NORTH AMERICAN UNION IS QUICKLY TRANSFORMING INTO AN UNION OF THE AMERICAS.

WAR WITH IRAN IS LOOMING.

THE ELECTION IS TWO YEARS AWAY, STOP THINKING ABOUT IT!

WE SHOULD IGNORE ALL THESE POLITICIANS UNTIL THEY CONFRONT THE REAL ISSUE: DECEPTION.

REAL ID ACT COMING.

RFID AND SURVEILLANCE EVERYWHERE.

DEBT FORCING OUR COUNTRY INTO A HOSTILE POSITION.

SHOULD WE BE AFRAID OF OUR PRESIENT?
HOW CAN A PEOPLE BE AFRAID OF THE PERSON WHO IS SUPPOSED TO REPRESENT THEM. WE THE PEOPLE ARE THE BOSS OF THE GOVERNMENT!

WE THE PEOPLE CONTROL THE GOVERNMENT!
THERE IS NO REASON TO WAIT TWO YEARS FOR CHANGE. WHY NOT ACT NOW?

WHY NOT A TRUE DEMOCRACY? POWER TO THE PEOPLE.