Saturday, February 26, 2005

Those Crazy Nigerians How many emails like this one do you get a week? MRS. VORKE IDAHO PLOT 13 VICTORIA GARDEN CITY, LAGOS, NIGERIA.. FAX :234-1-7594297 Email:PS Reply to-( emeida 22@netscape.net) Sir, INTRODUCTION: My name is Mrs. Vorke Idaho. I know this proposal will come to you as a surprise because we have not met before either physically or through any correspondence. I have no doubt in your ability to handle this proposal involving huge sum of money on my family's behalf. THE SUBJECT: My husband Chief Joseph Omoruyi Idaho (Now Late) was the Royal Head of my Community, Jesse (an oil rich town) in Nigeria. My late husband's community produces 0.5% of the total crude oil production in Nigeria and 0.05% of the Dollar value of each barrel is paid to my husband as royalty by the Federal Government through the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation NNPC. Blahblahblahblahblah... eventually getting to the point: I promise to give you 20% of the total funds (Twelve Million US Dollars ($12M)) transferred to your vital bank account as compensation for your assistance. Five percent (5%)would be set aside to take care of all expenses we may incur during the transaction. To indicate your interest, contact me urgently and confidentially for more information and the roles you will play in this business. Wow.  Twenty percent of twelve million dollars and all I have to do is help them move some money out of the country?  Lucky f'-ing me. Should be painfully obvious to most people that this is a scam.  Get rich by doing little.  And since you probably get at least several of these a week, it should even be more obvious that you couldn't possibly be the most trustworthy person on the planet, a person the whole country of Nigeria seems to want to trust their millions with. Sadly, many people fall for this rip-off, called the 419 scam, every week.  They end up losing thousands in fees requested by the Nigerians to complete the transactions.  Luckily, some people fight back.  419 Eater is devoted to those who reply to the scammers and string them along, wasting the thieves' time and resources.  These scambaiters will even convince the scammers to send photos of themselves holding ridiculous signs or making silly poses in order to prove their sincerity.  The site contains a hilarious gallery of these scammers who, just like some of their victims, seem more than willing to go to any length in the name of greed.  Better yet, sometimes these scammers get tricked into sending some of their own money to their potential victim to prove their honesty. So check out 419 Eater and see the faces and read some of the stories behind the Nigerians who want to make you rich. Related links: Snopes.com:  entry on the Nigerian 419 scams United States Secret Service:  advisory regarding these scams 2:51:17 PM     |

It's A Small World After All World's smallest website. 1:51:26 PM     |

© Copyright 2005 Alex L. Mauldin.