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Don’t Touch That Mail!Posted on Jan 25, 2007
(Page 2)
With this, you are in for another round of “Nigerian roulette.” Once they secure your confidence, they start asking for the usual things—processing fee, handling charges, legal/documentation charges etc. The Yahoo-guy criminals are quite creative. No one can claim to have an exhaustive list of their tricks. An American soldier may need your help to move 10 boxes of gold and diamonds belonging to Saddam Hussein out of Iraq to a safe place where you can both enjoy the loot. Advertisement An art/antiques dealer may need you to be his representative in Europe and America. A dealer in African haute couture may want you to be his/her representative in America. The son of a white Zimbabwean farmer who was murdered by Mugabe’s hit squad may need your help to get his father’s money out of Zimbabwe. A wealthy South African HIV-positive couple may wish to leave their children in your care after they pass on. Your mail may originate from an African country other than Nigeria or from Europe or even the United States. But it is the same scam. Yahoo guys have broad-spectrum connections. They have collaborators of all races. They may also use space aliens and flying saucers for effect. Voodoo, witchcraft, black magic, curses, hexes and spells may be used to suck in those who have a taste for the exotic. And when Yahoo guys decide to be really mean, they invite you to come to view your “investment” in Nigeria, South Africa or somewhere in Europe. This often happens when the mugu or maga (the person being scammed) is trying to be smart or inquisitive. Going on such a trip is like going into extreme sports. The next turn could be a last lap. One such visiting “business partner” was found with a knife in his heart in a Lagos hotel some years back. * * *
If a scammer persists in trying to ensnare you, snail-mail whatever scam documents s/he sends to the United States Secret Service, Financial Crimes Division, 419 Task Force, 950 H Street, Washington, D.C. 20001-4518, USA. Mark the documents “No Financial Loss—For Your Database.” Or, you may e-mail the task force at 419fcd@usss.treas.gov. You may also write the e-mail provider of a potential scammer and include the 419 message with its headers. Complain about the 419 message and ask that the account be shut down. Among the forms of the Nigerian scam is the over-invoiced or double-invoiced oil, health, defense, peacekeeping or other supply and service contract: The Nigerian government overpaid on some contract, and we need a front man to get it out of the country before authorities discover the error. Apart from protecting your financial self-interest, there is an ethical question here. Should you really be helping this fellow to defraud his government? This is clearly an under-the-table deal—and you would have to crawl to get under the table. Nice people don’t crawl. A bequest may be left you in a will by some long-lost relative whose lawyer is a Nigerian or by a wealthy childless Nigerian who is on his deathbed and wants to punish his greedy relatives by leaving all his money to a stranger or to your church. As usual, you pay processing fees, documentation fees, handling charges. You may even have to chip in toward the burial expenses or memorial rites. It goes on until the scales fall off your eyes. For the bizarre, try the money-cleaning scam: Someone has a lot of currency that needs to be “chemically cleaned” before it can be used. He needs to share the cost of the chemicals with you so that you get a percentage of the money when it is cleaned. The story here is that the money was smeared with black grease to escape detection by customs X-rays and this grease needs to be cleaned off with chemicals that are very expensive. And for the absurd, the spoof bank scam is unbeatable. Here, there is supposedly money in your name or a name that looks like yours already on deposit in some bank and you have to pay fees to regularize the transaction. You may also be asked to pay some money into the account as proof of your commitment to the deal. Call it “counterpart funding.” The secret shopper variation offers some melodrama. Someone orders items on trading and auction sites on the Web and pays with fake money orders or checks.
At the end of the line, you will be paid for the purchase with a check in excess of the amount required for some reason that appears genuine at first. Your “client” will ask you to forward the overpayment to a third party via a cashier’s check or money order. Your bank will later inform you that you were paid with a bad check. You will then have to pay back whatever you took from the bank in addition to the goods you have now lost. All efforts to contact your “business partner” will be unsuccessful. The chat room and romance variation is the most interesting. It is usually combined with one of the other forms of 419. You meet someone in a chat room and fall head over heels in love. (Do such things really happen?) The object of your affection secures your confidence one way or the other. S/he then begins to play on your emotions, making what look like harmless requests at first (small change, camera, mobile phone etc.). But as the plot thickens, you begin to part with more valuable things. An offer of marriage is made to further suck you in. Undying love is declared on both sides. You need to send engagement rings and money for a traditional betrothal ceremony at this point. You also need to send gifts to an extended family of in-laws. The “love of your life” is a poor, cash-strapped African, and you need to give financial muscle to the relationship. You need to pay the bride price. You may even be asked to pay for a virginity test, or, if the distant loved one is male, for a manhood test. There will also be a wine-carrying ceremony. There will be sacrifices to appease the ancestors for the sacrilege of a “prince/princess” marrying a stranger. Before you know it, you have invested heavily in what should have been a simple matter of the heart. Elsewhere: . CommentsAre you a Truthdig member yet? Login now, or register with Truthdig. Add Your Comment
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By sandra Woods, February 19 at 9:46 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
These peolpe have no compassion for anyone! Mr Osas Henry of Lagos Nigeria.
Report thisBy nobody special, September 26, 2007 at 9:15 am #
(Unregistered commenter)
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….
Report thisThat 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..”
By Virginia, March 29, 2007 at 12:27 am #
(Unregistered commenter)
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.
Report thisBy Serginho, February 2, 2007 at 3:51 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
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.
Report thisBy Lou, January 31, 2007 at 7:14 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
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.”
Report thisOne 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.
By Obit Collom, January 31, 2007 at 2:33 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
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!
Report thisBy Scott, January 31, 2007 at 1:51 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
If you want to see the morons that run these scams get scammed in return, see http://www.419eater.com
Report thisBy Maysun, January 31, 2007 at 10:16 am #
(Unregistered commenter)
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.
Report thisBy Chris, January 29, 2007 at 8:02 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
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.
Report thisBy Just Desserts, January 29, 2007 at 5:41 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
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”.
Report thisBy bull, January 28, 2007 at 7:33 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
PURE GREED !!!!!!
Report thisI AM SURE FROM ALL THE SAD TALES, NO ONE SUGGESTED THAT A GUN WAS ON HIS/HER HEAD. VICTIMS WERE ALL PARTICIPANTS
By DennisD, January 28, 2007 at 12:11 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
Stupid is as stupid does.
Report thisBy LauraK, January 28, 2007 at 6:28 am #
(Unregistered commenter)
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.
Report thisBy bugjackblue, January 28, 2007 at 12:42 am #
(Unregistered commenter)
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…
Report thisBy Gonnuts, January 27, 2007 at 8:04 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
Biggest scam ever still is 9/11.
Report thisBy lawlessone, January 27, 2007 at 3:59 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
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]
Report thisBy Talapus Pete, January 27, 2007 at 1:38 am #
(Unregistered commenter)
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.
Report thisBy Michael, January 26, 2007 at 4:11 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
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 Houses 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….
Report thisBy George S Semsel, January 26, 2007 at 3:02 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
When I look at who was voted into office in this country, it’s not hard to believe these scams are successful.
Report thisBy FrikkenKids, January 26, 2007 at 1:52 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
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.
Report thisBy Sseb, January 26, 2007 at 12:30 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)
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.
Report thisBy Laughing out loud!!!, January 26, 2007 at 11:13 am #
(Unregistered commenter)
OMFG!! - Well, what can you do . . some people are just complete and utter retards!!!
Report thisBy Michael Spencer, January 26, 2007 at 9:31 am #
(Unregistered commenter)
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.
Report thisBy Herman Schmidt, January 26, 2007 at 9:21 am #
(Unregistered commenter)
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.
Report thisBy Mad As Hell, January 26, 2007 at 8:59 am #
(Unregistered commenter)
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.
Report thisBy Ichthus, January 26, 2007 at 3:21 am #
(Unregistered commenter)
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?
Report thisWHY NOT A TRUE DEMOCRACY? POWER TO THE PEOPLE.