[Karl's Home] [Scam Intro]

Links

Introduction

t seems I'm not the only one having some fun with these jellyheads.

The 419 Coalition	A basic, straight forward informational resource on the scams and what to do about it if you get one of these emails (assuming you don't want to have fun with them).
Scamorama	A centralized watering hole for all those who track the scattergun English of the Nigerian scam emails as an emerging literary form.
Buddy Weiserman	The yard stick by which all other scam-the-scammers must measure themselves against.
The Adventures of Wendy Willcox	One of the more brilliant scammer scams. "Wendy" located a couple live web cams in Amsterdam and told her scammer to meet her where the web cam was watching. And the dickhead actually showed up!
The Kizombe Correspondence	Probably one of the funniest of the reverse scams. Freelance copywriter Elizabeth Hanes gets a Nigerian bank scammer to fall in love with her and makes him consider the financial opportunities in angora wool.
Scam Joke Page	It took me a few readings to like this page, now I love it. At first blush it seems a bit jocular, but there's a method to their madness. A pair of office mates (Jason and Jeff) work the scammers. They've assumed the identity of David Lee Roth, a president of a Fortune 1000 company who happens to look like the David Lee Roth. His brother also happens to look like Sammy Hagar. Their quest is two fold 1) to get the scammer to send a picture of himself holding a sign saying "David Lee Roth" 2) to get the scammer seething mad. There's nothing quite as funny as an African bank scammer threatening to have the Nigerian mafia put the hit on David Lee Roth: "I HAVE YOU FULL DETAILS I HAVE SENT PEOPLE TO YOUR ADDRESS AND THEY TOLD ME THAT THE PICTURE AM HAVING IS ACTUALLY YOUR PICTURE AND I HAVE GIVEN IT TO A VOODOO PRIEST IN UNITED STATES AND YOU WILL SEE I AM ONLY GIVING YOU ONE MONTH YOU WILL SEE WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO YOU. I DO NOT NEED TO TALK SO MUCH AS I HAVE THE NUMBER OF YOUR CAR AND OTHER SECRET INFORMATIONS ABOUTS."
A Victim's Story	How a couple Nigerian bank scammers had a good time on a greedy Australian's tab.

Some End Thoughts

Reviewing not only my email exchanges but the exchanges published by others, it's rather interesting how readily these thieves claim to be honest Christians. They drop the names of Jesus and God as often as they drop the names of Nigerian bank presidents and trusted lawyers. At first I assumed this was all part of the confidence scam, make the victim think he's dealing with a trustworthy Christian. But now I think they really DO think themselves as Godly, honest men. Stealing from Westerners with too much money is no more immoral than you stealing cable or reusing postage the cancellation stamper missed. I'm certain they truly believe God has lead them to this vocation and lead them to you. Does the cheetah feel malice towards the ibex as he drains away the creature's life blood? Does the dying ibex feel malice towards the cheetah? Hakuna Matata!

It's also interesting how sophisticated they're getting yet how stupid they still remain. They set up web sites. They make up official looking stationary. They know how to work offshore banks. And yet they're stupid enough to travel to the airport expecting to pick up David Lee Roth on evidence of nothing more than a few emails. And then they can be fooled into doing it a second time! Even funnier they do things like send pictures cut out of magazines claiming it's them, although you can see the photo's half toning and text from the page's opposite side showing through.

What I think is going to eventually happen, as I've hinted on the Intro page, these scammers are rapidly soiling their own nests by sending out too many scam letters and using the same mailing lists. Coupling that with newspapers, magazines, and online new sources regularly reporting about the scam, you will find the scammers finding slimmer pickings on this side of the pond. They'll turn their attentions elsewhere. Remember people don't only speak English in the UK, Canada, the USA, Australia, and New Zealand. It's the world's lingua franca. More ready victims will be found in Asia and South America. These people will be less put off by the scammer's broken English and more accustomed to underhanded corruption as simply another way business gets done. Then again, never misjudge the stupidity of the Canadian/American public. Despite the fact warnings for things like envelope stuffing, loan brokers, and credit repair have been around for decades, people are still suckered in.

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