Dateline: Abuja; Nigeria Fights Email Scam 197
dosten writes "Computerworld.com is reporting that the Nigerian government is tired of being known as the Spam/Scam capital of the world and setup a web site to combat the common email scam.
The web site is almost as funny as the Spam Letters. There is even a place to report your victim "experiences" so they can be published.
One of the "coming soon" features will be a lineup of bad guys so you can avoid them in case you end up in Nigeria to collect your loot."
Excelent! (Score:1, Interesting)
Re:Excelent! (Score:5, Funny)
Spam is bad enough, wouldn't want to run into the guys that actually send it out :)
Maybe the above person wouldn't, but I would. Especially if I had a staplegun full of sharp, rusty staples. ;)
Re:Excelent! (Score:1)
Re:Excelent! (Score:2)
I can't wait to tell mom, she'll be so proud.
Re:Excelent! (Score:1)
Re:Excelent! (Score:2)
;)
a little joke, but also a cautious reminder of how things work in most third world nations.
Dead right (Score:2)
Sad but true. That's exactly what would happen.
You'd need more than that... (Score:2)
Nigerian spam site (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Nigerian spam site (Score:1)
I've gotten a couple of (slightly) different variations of it.
Re:Nigerian spam site (Score:2)
RECEIVED Sun, 24 Mar 2002 17:50:12
ALHAJI SULEIMAN ABUBAKAR.
Lagos, Nigeria
FAX NO: 234 1 7590573
PrivateAddress:sule_abubakar@consultant.com sule_abubakar@mail.com
ATTN.: THE MANAGING DIRECTOR / C. E. O.
REQUEST FOR URGENT (CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP OF THE TRANSFER OF US$45,560,000.00 (FORTY FIVE MILLION, FIVE HUNDRED AND SIXTY THOUSAND UNITED STATES DOLLARS ONLY).
I hope this letter will not embarrass you since we have not had any previous communication. I got your reference from the United States trade department under private enquiry that is not related to my aim of writing you this letter and went further to have it confirmed by the Nigeria Exports Promotion Council(NEPC).
I, on behalf of my other colleagues from different Federal Government of Nigeria owned parastatals decided to solicit your assistance as regards the transfer of the above stated amount into your bank account. This fund arose from the over-invoicing of various contracts awarded in my parastatals to certain foreign contractors some time ago.
We as holders of official positions in various parastatals, were mandated by this new civilian government to scrutinize all payments made to certain foreign contractors by the past Military Government and we discovered that some of the contracts they executed were grossly over-invoiced, either by omission or commission. Also we discovered that the sum of $65,560,000.00 (Sixty-Five Million, Five Hundred and Sixty Thousand United States Dollars Only) was lying in a suspense account, although the foreign contractors were fully paid their entitlements after executing the said contracts. We all agreed that the over-invoiced amount be transferred (for our own use) into a bank account provided by a foreign partner, as the code of conduct of the Federal Civil Service does not allow us to operate foreign accounts.
However, we have succeeded in transferring some of these money, precisely US$20,000,000.00 (Twenty Million United States Dollars Only) into a foreign account in GENEVA (SWITZERLAND). But unfortunately, the provider of the account has severed all forms of contacts with us as he has refused to adhere to our earlier mutual agreement insisting that the total amount be paid into his nominated bank account before disbursement will take effect. If for US$20M (Twenty Million United States Dollars Only) we are not compensated, how can one guarantee full compensation on remittance of the balance of US$45.560M (Forty-Five Million, Five Hundred and Sixty Thousand United States Dollars Only).
We are therefore seeking your assistance based on the balance amount of US$45.560M, which can be speedily processed and fully remitted into your nominated bank account. On successful remittance of the fund into your account, you will be compensated with 25% of the amount for assistance and services and 5% set aside for expenses contingency.
This transaction is closely knitted and in view of our SENSITIVE POSITION we cannot afford a slip, I assure you that this transaction is 100% risk free. We will avail you with our identities as regards our respective offices, when relationship is fully established and smooth operation commences. I am at your disposition to entertain any question(s) from you in respect of this transaction, so contact me immediately through the above private email addresses( Presidency & mail) and fax number for further information on the requirements and procedure. Please note that the DEAL needs utmost confidentiality and your immediate response will be highly appreciated and we will use our own share of the money to establish a lucrative business in your country. Please you should contact me immediately with your private fax and telephone numbers where further details in respect to this transaction would be sent to.Please do not disregard my email for any reason because it was addressed to and from myself, it is for security reason to avoid problem. Yours truly,
ALHAJI SULEIMAN ABUBAKAR.
Re:Nigerian spam site (Score:2)
Re:Nigerian spam site (Score:2)
Re:Nigerian spam site (Score:1)
Re:Nigerian spam site (Score:1)
I have. In fact, I've seen even more than usual of that spam this year! And, much to my relief, the spammers have bought a new keyboard - you know, ones that has lower-case letters too. =)
Re:Nigerian spam site (Score:1)
nigeria scams... (Score:4, Informative)
in any case, the Spam letters guy also has this link [rica.net] which has good information about fighting the nigeria scam...
Re:nigeria scams... (Score:1)
Re:nigeria scams... (Score:1)
Back in the day, it was propagated solely by snail-mail, then fax, and now email. It's been going on a long time, and the US government has ongoing investigations.
The problem is that the Nigerian govt is supposedly corrupt, and involved in the whole thing. Frankly this doesn't suprise me, but I dunno if it's actually true.
Anyway, I work for a web-host, and one of our clients has this: http://www.superhighway.info/IIS/INDEX.HTML
Moderators - Please don't mod this up too high, because this server above cannot take a slashdotting.
Re:nigeria scams... (Score:2)
Damn that makes me feel old. I'm enough of an old timer to remember when that was the current scourge of the net! We had to carry our over-full bitbuckets back to the ISP (upsteam both ways, of course) in order to get rid of the damn thing. Now these young whippersnappers with their newfangled-- </joke loses steam and evaporates abruptly />
Dear resident... (Score:4, Funny)
And in a burst of inspired irony, their first order of business was probably the purchase a 5,000,000 name e-mailing list to tell people about this new anti-spam site. =)
Not necessary (Score:1)
/.-ed (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:/.-ed (Score:2)
Do you understand what a slashdotting is? It means a shitload of people are viewing your page. So you'd rather send all this traffic to a spammer.
Gee, I bet they'd be so upset.
Somewhere in Nigeria... (Score:5, Funny)
in the corner of some ISP, a shiny new server is crying "You published a link to me WHERE?!?"
Re:Somewhere in Nigeria... (Score:1)
Re:Somewhere in Nigeria... (Score:2)
Nigerian Scams (Score:1)
Anyway my friend got bored and actually told him that he knew he was a spammer etc. It was kind of funny all the denials and so forth. (I ought to get my friend to write the full story for you all as it was kind of funny and I'm sure I've screwed up part of the story)
Yeah, a scam, right (Score:4, Interesting)
___
OT - Your sig (Score:1)
Denis Diderot, "Dithyrambe sur la fete de rois"
You can see this at http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/quotes/didero
Positive Atheism and the need for kings & prie (Score:2)
Ironic that God's view of things kind of parallels this.
Judah wanted a king to lead them instead of God, and they also refused to deal with God directly for their spiritual needs, therefore raising a need for intermediary priests (Aaron and then the Levites) for this purpose.
When it comes down to fundamentals, both priests and kings were raised by Atheism diluting Theism. I guess that makes `positive atheism' a perpetual self-employment program - albeit not normally a Latin-based one - exactly like the assumption-based preisthoods that they in principle oppose.
Have you had enough irony in your diet today? (-:
Honest Nigerian Politicians Looking For Help (Score:2)
Real Corruption in Nigeria - and Shell Oil [greenpeace.org]
Snail Mail (Score:1, Interesting)
I guess all countries' people have scams too.
Uh guys ... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Uh guys ... (Score:2)
If they were really serious.. (Score:2)
As an incentive, if you reported it, they'd send you the video of the person getting the Cowboy Neal done to them.
Re:If they were really serious.. (Score:2)
Actually, it's often the other way around.
While it's all well and good to laugh at the 419 scams we get in our mailbox, people have been kidnapped and murdered [fraudaid.com] as part of these scams.
Maybe the spam you got today was from some joker in a trailer park trying his luck. But I've seen some with headers that do indicate points of origin in Nigeria or other third-world countries.
I follow the advice of the 419 Coalition [rica.net]'s website, and forward them to the U.S. Secret Service, clearly indicating that I have suffered "NO FINANCIAL LOSS", and that my report is merely for the benefit of their archives.
If the headers indicate (say, a city name on the reverse DNS of the dialup or cablemodem used to inject the spam) a point of origin, I usually add a note to the effect that the spammer may be based in whatever region the headers indicate. A little digging around WHOIS servers can usually get a probable country of origin.
The one thing I never do is tip off the scammer that I know what he's up to. Remember, no SMTP header can tell you whether you're dealing with a chickenboner in a trailer park, or the outer edge of a real organized crime syndicate.
Suppose that only 1% of your 419 scammers are "serious". Your mileage may vary, but thumbing your nose at 100 people, one of whom is running an organized crime syndicate, still qualifies as a cheap ticket out of the gene pool in my books. Are the cheap laughs from trolling the 99 trailer-park denizens really worth the risk?
Let the Treasury guys take care of it. That's what they're paid for.
Re:If they were really serious.. (Score:2)
Killing 100 people, one of whom is the grandson of a senator, qualifies as a cheap ticket out of the mobster business. Are the cheap laughs from killing the 99 trailer-park denizens really worth the risk?
All the deaths mentioned in your link were people stupid enough to fall for it and walk right into their hands. No criminal organization can afford to start killing too many people for the heck of it. Large scale random deaths of upright citizens tends to get the police on your trail, something to be minimized if possible.
bad slashdot! no donut. (Score:3, Insightful)
Who came up with the idea of linking to a third world website? good grief, you know the telcos there can barely handle a slashdotting, much less a single website.
BTW, I am constantly amazed at the sheer stupidity of the people of this earth. Reminds me of the old vegas scam: I have a bunch of counterfit chips, you give me $1000-2000 for them, but since I can't go inside because I have been banned, you cash them for me while I take your money and run. Nifty...uninformed people often receive nasty wake-up calls...then they tend to be like the rest of us, wary and skeptical.
Re:bad slashdot! no donut. (Score:2)
IP address: 217.204.238.51
Host name: nigerianfraudwatch.org
Alias:
pccorner-3.dsl1.easynet.co.uk
Third-world country is right. I hear they're not even circumcised. The savages!
Slashdotted (Score:2, Funny)
Huzzaaah
Kind of ironic... (Score:1)
I very, very rarely get spam, but I got the Nigerian message literally two or three minutes before reloading /. to see this story posted. And it's already Slashdotted. :)
Howto Make Millions Fast!!!! (Score:4, Funny)
There is even a place to report your victim "experiences" so they can be published.
Dozens of individuals JUST LIKE YOU are making thousands of dollars daily on the Internet everyday!!!!
I know, I was skeptical, too, until I read about this fantastic offer that a friend told me about. He was cashing checks every couple of days for thousands of dollars!!!!
Our free guide offers testimonies from thousands of clients that are ready and willing to buy the services that YOU, TOO, can offer over the Internet - for FREE!!!!
Poor DSL link in .uk (Score:4, Informative)
51.238.204.217.IN-ADDR.ARPA domain name pointer pccorner-3.dsl1.easynet.co.uk
Poor DSL link...
Congolese variant (with Slashdot relevance) (Score:1)
The Slashdot relevance of this is that it is addressed to the email address that I use ONLY for Slashdot, which I allow to be shown but only through spam-armoring. Chinks in the armor, it appears.
Re:Congolese variant (with Slashdot relevance) (Score:2)
Use Spamblock XP (Score:3, Funny)
Spam Cannot Be Reduced (Score:1, Insightful)
Unfortunately, if you examine the problem from an information-theoretical viewpoint you'll find that that is impossible. Shannon's basic theorem was that noise is a property of communication. When you communicate, you have noise as a byproduct no matter what you do. Email is communication, spam is the noise. Web traffic is communication, popups are the noise. Slashdot is communication, trolls and crapflooders are the noise.
One possibility for a solution is to reduce the communication itself via filters. For instance, some central agency could set up a computer to monitor all communication and delete targetted email messages or web traffic. As an act of communication-reduction this would guarantee at least a small amount of relief from noise. That's why I support Ashcroft in his plan to set the FBI up with Carnivore.
Re:Spam Cannot Be Reduced (Score:2)
When my e-mail on this message starts getting too much spam, I'll just blackhole it and make a new random address. I've got different addresses for everyone, so I can tell where the spammers are harvesting.
Re:Spam Cannot Be Reduced (Score:1, Interesting)
> Email is communication, spam is the noise.
Email is communication. Spam is noise. Spam is a type of email. Thus, spam is communication. Perhaps it is not communication you wish to receive, but it is communication nonetheless. And hardly random. In fact, those email's are highly structured sets of information some refer to as "sentences."
A drastic solution to spam and 'noise'. (Score:2)
This is a drastic solution, but is slightly more scalable than a 'white list'. The first two rules alone should eliminate spam, the 'trust relationship' eliminates the remaining 'noise'.
The big advantage is that it allows me to receive email not only from my friends, but also from friends-of-friends. If I expand the 'meta-trust' relationship further (friends of friends of friends, etc) then the pool eventually includes everybody, assuming you believe the 'six degrees of separation' theory :-)
(BTW, nice troll there, PhysicsGenius.)
419 Coalition (Score:5, Informative)
"Beware 419" (Score:2)
I asked my Nigerian friend what this meant. She said 419 is the criminal code for fraud. Foreigners in Lagos looking to buy or rent houses are taken by fraudulent estate agents to see nice villas. They get a nice tour of the hours (thanks to a corrupt servant), sign a lease or agreement, pay a deposit (usually up to a year's rent), and then receive the keys. When the real owners turn up, all hell breaks loose.
This is a whole industry. Ironically, one of my friend's uncles did this as a living.
Nigeria is an interesting country. The scam letters, faxes, and emails are nothing compared to the incredible behaviour of some people on the ground.
However... don't get the wrong idea about Nigeria and Africa in general. The vast majority of people are, like everywhere else, decent and hard working. Getting up at 5am, getting home at 9pm, this is the standard rule for most employees. Given the lack of any long-term prospects for most people (a bank once told me a 'long-term' loan, for an established business, was 3 months) it's actually not surprising people turn to fraud and corruption.
Attention Slashdotters: Nigeria is closed! (Score:1, Funny)
A group of hackers who call themselves
Slashdotters today successfully shut down the
whole internet in Nigeria. The Nigerian head
of information declined to comment, it is reported
that he is still on hold with AOL tech support.
Banks and spam scams (Score:2)
They are something to the effect of
These most of the time are check fraud cases, but sometimes they are legitimate checks used in various money laundering schemes. Don't fall victim yourself.
Re:Banks and spam scams (Score:2, Interesting)
I used to work in the IT department of a Major Australian Bank. This has been going on for years.
About 10 years ago the faxes were usually in the form of trying to get people involved in "theft of money" from their employer. Or an investment scheme with the bank account in Nigeria.
This was something that was clamped down on hard by Management within the Australian Banks at the time, to prevent some newly employed teller from being involved (along with drilling it into the staff about any form of fruad, highlighting the fact that anyone partaing will be carted off by the Australian Federal Police).
There was a standard letter that the Nigerian scam at the time used, and it was used as an example within the Internal memos on the subject in general.
Wish I had a copy of that letter from back then. It would be interesting to compare it to what we have now.
I joined the club (Score:1)
Here's my reply to those things (Score:5, Funny)
Dear DR.ONORIODE BOBOLO,
It is so good to hear from a fellow-countryman, having been raised and lived for many years in our most beautiful homeland, Nigeria. I want to send you my sincere thanks and gratitude for your kind offer of USD$25,000.000.00 (TWENTY FIVE MILLION UNITED STATE DOLLARS) for taking part in this funds transfer transaction.
However, I am a businessman too, and I make my living transferring large sums of money from and to my friends, relatives, and business associates in Nigeria. Therefore, I know that you would agree, that in order to participate in this wonderful opportunity, I must have an advance monetary commitment from you -- a good faith gesture on your part -- in order to proceed.
Therefore, I ask that you deposit just 10% ($2,500,000) of the $25M into my PayPal account as an indication that you truly possess the funds and are actually authorized to release them. Using the online PayPal service is a very convenient and secure way to transfer funds. All you need do is access the PayPal web site -- http://www.paypal.com -- open a PayPal account, deposit the funds into your new account, and then transfer the money into my existing account, which has already been set up to receive the $25M.
You only need my email address, which you already have, to transfer the funds into my account. Therefore, the complete safety of your account, as well as mine, is guaranteed and insured unconditionally. You have asked that this matter be handled with the strictest confidentiality, and I will agree to that condition, provided that the transfer takes place in a reasonable period of time, say by Friday, 5 October.
If the money has not been received by that time, I must assume that you are not making a legitimate offer, and that you might be someone other than who you say you are -- although I can tell by the exceptional language of your email, that is probably not the case. However, if that is the case, then I will be forced to embark upon a most unpleasant course of action that I would prefer not to undertake.
Because I have so many loyal friends in the Government of Nigeria and the Military, and many close ties within the Security Service where you work, it would be quite easy to locate your office and your home, as well as learn the identities of your friends and relatives.
I truly don't believe that you would want to jeopardize their health and well-being, and your own future. I will access my PayPal account on next Saturday to verify that your good-faith payment has been made. Once that takes place, we can move forward with the final transfer.
I trust that you will not disappoint me in this matter, since the consequences for non-compliance could be quite severe. I look forward with great anticipation to working with you.
Yours faithfully,
Issa Gidada, JD, MMB,
President & CEO
U.S./Nigeria Funds Transfer Organization
Beverly Hills, CA
Re:Here's my reply to those things (Score:1)
Re:Here's my reply to those things (Score:2)
If you scam them, they will kill you.
I've been involved with 3rd world banks
(only as a programmer, thank God), and stuff like that does happen.
Theres nothing like the military walking into the CEO's office, killings him, then declaring himself the new CEO, to really wake you up.
Re:Here's my reply to those things (Score:1)
Well, Don't Do That Then.
Re:Here's my reply to those things (Score:1)
in other news... (Score:1)
Protest! (Score:3, Funny)
oga? wetin happen for dis server now?
You fools! (Score:5, Funny)
You're going to kill the percussion section of the Nigerian Symphony Orchestra by posting to Slashdot!
"ATTENTION NIGERIA: All your bandwidth are belong to us!"
Re:You fools! (Score:1)
I was going to copyright / trademark / patent this tomorrow.
Oh well ... I'll just go ahead and do it ... then sue you later for royalties ...
Re:simple. (Score:2)
That said, most of the Nigerian Foreign Bank Account Scam spam is probably from some thug in a smoke-filled back room behind Joe's Leather Shop in Muncie (sp?), Indiana with a PFY spoofing IP's. Or something like that. Regardless, it's fun to speculate what "high-tech" must be in third world countries.
Nigeria Population (Score:1)
The country has a lot more people than you might guess, considering its size:
Population of Nigeria: 108.20 million.
Source: Nigeria Business Info [nigeriabusinessinfo.com]
Nigerian Advance Fee Fraud (Score:3, Informative)
The moral of the story is that sometimes spam is not just annoying, but potentially fraudulent and therefore dangerous. I'm glad to see something is being done about this, not only to curb spam, but also to prevent the scam from growing.
I actually got a snailmail Nigerian letter once... (Score:1)
Beautiful paper in the envelope and letter - sort of a marbled blue/white. Handwritten in incredible penmanship (not laser or inkjet).
I felt really bad turning it in to the Postal Inspection Service (and even that guy thought it was "one of the prettiest scam letters" he'd ever seen. You just don't get that sort of workmanship with email.
Who is worse? The scammer or the accomplice (Score:1)
Re:Who is worse? The scammer or the accomplice (Score:2)
One classic example is the "money duplicator" scam. The pitch revolves around a gadget that can supposedly produce perfect counterfeits, but takes several hours per bill (the scammer is supposedly willing to sell it because he needs a large amount of money right away). The gadget is demonstrated using a concealed real bill. By the time the victim realizes that the machine isn't producing any more money (another reason for the "several hours per bill" bit), the scammer is long gone and the victim has had time to realize that he can't call the cops without admitting his own intent to print and circulate funny money.
Yeah, it sounds too stupid to fool anyone capable of walking upright, but then so does the Nigerian bank scam.
Reported on TV here (Score:1)
There was a report on this on Channel 12 News in Portland, OR. The EFF guy in the article seems to think no one will fall prey to such a cheesy scam, but according to the TV report, people were (big surprise here) quite stupid enough to become victims. I guess one guy in the Portland area lost his savings or something to it.
Apparently, the first part required something like $5,000 to be deposited. They said the money was in Canada first. Then it went to the UK. Then...well, it got withdrawn one way or another and the people lost track of it. The scammer then sent them another message telling them that they had to put in more money to get past some customs post or another, and they sobered up and didn't give him any more of their dough.
You might say, "jeeze these guys are bloody idiots!" Well yes they are...heh...but to the layman it is pretty convincing. According to the report, the fellow who the TV victims responded to sent them all manner of official-looking waste paper to convince them. If one is not up on this sort of thing, I can see how he could be taken in.
Third largest industry in Nigeria (Score:3, Insightful)
This has become a huge industry. According to some published reports, this has become the third largest industry in Nigeria. During the last thirteen years, there are estimates that the scam has taken in $5,000,000,000 in total, and hundreds of millions of dollars every year. These estimates may be underreported, as many victims may not wish to admit that they have been defrauded.
If taking money from gullible people can net you that much, well... More power to them!
A scam email I received today (Score:1)
Dear Sir,
I am Mr. Joseph Okoli. Bank Manager of Diamond
Bank of Nigeria, Lagos Branch. I have urgent and
very confidential business proposition for you. On
June 6, 1997, a FOREIGN Oil consultant/contractor
with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation,
Mr. Barry Kelly made a numbered time (Fixed)
Deposit for twelve calendar months, valued at US
$25,000,000.00 (Twenty- five Million Dollars) in my
branch. Upon maturity, I sent a routine notification to
his forwarding address but got no reply. After a
month, we sent a reminder and finally we discovered
from his contract employers, the Nigerian National
Petroleum Corporation that Mr. Barry Kelly died
from an automobile accident. On further investigation,
I found out that he died without making a WILL, and
all attempts to trace his next of kin was fruitless. I
therefore made further investigation and discovered
that Mr. Barry Kelly did not declare any kin or
relations in all his official documents, including his
Bank Deposit paperwork in my Bank. This sum of US
$25,000,000.00 is still sitting in my Bank and the
interest is being rolled over with the principal sum at
the end of each year. No one will ever come forward
to claim it. According to Nigerian Law, at the
expiration of 5 (five) years, the money will revert to
the ownership of the Nigerian Government if nobody
applies to claim the fund. Consequently, my proposal
is that I will like you as an Foreigner to stand in as
the next of kin to Mr. Barry Kelly so that the fruits of
this old man's labor will not get into the hands of
some corrupt government officials. This is simple, I
will like you to provide immediately your full names
and address so that the Attorney will prepare the
necessary documents and affidavits, which will put
you in place as the next of kin. We shall employ the
service of two Attorneys for drafting and notarization
of the WILL and to obtain the necessary documents
and letter of probate/administration in your favor for
the transfer. A bank account in any part of the world,
which you will provide, will then facilitate the
transfer of this money to you as the beneficiary/next of
kin. The money will be paid into your account for us
to share in the ratio of 60% for me and 40% for you.
There is no risk at all as all the paperwork for this
transaction will be done by the Attorney and my
position as the Branch Manager guarantees the
successful execution of this transaction. If you are
interested, please reply immediately via the private
email address below. Upon your response, I shall
then provide you with more details and relevant
documents that will help you understand the
transaction. Please observe utmost confidentiality,
and rest assured that this transaction would be most
profitable for both of us because I shall require your
assistance to invest my share in your country.
Awaiting your urgent reply via my email:
Thanks and regards.
MR. JOSEPH OKOLI.
Robin Miller's Letter (Score:3, Funny)
-Waldo Jaquith
---------------
FROM THE DESK OF: MR. WORGEE G. SHUB
Corporate (Special) Trust Fund,
United Political Parties of America,
Contract Award Committee,
Washington DC USA
Dear Esteemed Nigerian Sir:
I am the Chairman of the Contract Award committee and my committee is solely responsible for awarding and payment of contracts on behalf of the United Political Parties of America. My Committee has received payments from Enron, Microsoft, Walt Disney, and many other large American companies that we then disbursed in accordance with United States law to the intended politicians in return for government services rendered to The Corporations. We overshot the contracted sum by USD35 Million. We have paid the politicians and withholding the balance of Thirty-Five Million United States Dollars. Since the existing domestic laws forbid civil servants from opening, operating and maintaining foreign accounts, we do not have the expertise to transfer this balance of funds to a foreign account.
Due to the salubrious investment and taxation climate in Nigeria, as outlined in FMF A26 Unit 3B paragraph "D" of the Auditor General of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Report of NOV. 1999 about annual estimated petroleum revenues of 28billion US Dollars, and especially opportunities relateed to the late Head of State General Sani Abacha who died on 8th June 1998, which we have become aware of through various emails we have received from your countrymen about the supply of Agricultural Machines and spare parts to the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources, we have prepared to pay a commission to a worthy individual like yourself equal to 25% of the total sum transfered while 5% will be reserved for incidental expenses that both parties will incur in the course of actualizing this transaction and the balance of 70% will be kept for the Committee members.
If you know you are capable of helping us actualize our life's dream, you should send to me immediately the details of your bank particulars or open a new account where we can transfer the money(US$35M)which you will hold in trust for us until we come over there for our own share.
As soon as you open the account, send by e-mail to me immediately the details of the account viz: Name of bank, address, routing number, telex number, Account number, Tel and Fax number.You should also include the name of your company, your personal address, Tel and Fax numbers for further communication.
Note that this transaction will be concluded within 10 working days from the day you give your consent.
Sincerely yours,
Worgee G. Shub
Chairman of Disbursements,
Corporate (Special) Trust Fund,
United Political Parties of America,
Contract Award Committee,
Washington DC USA
tel: 1-900-CON-4YOU
NOTE THAT FOR THE CONFIDENTIALITY OF THIS TRANSACTION, WHEN YOU CALL ME THE FIRST THING YOU DO IS FOR YOU TO ASK ME WHAT IS THE CODE, AND MY RESPONSE WILL BE (055).IF I DO NOT TELL YOU (055) THEN KNOW YOU ARE NOT TALKING TO ME. DROP THE PHONE IMMEDIATELY AND CALL ME BACK TILL I GIVE YOU THE CODE WORD. THIS IS DUE TO JAMMING TELECOMMUNICATION DEVICES IN YOUR COUNTRY AS A RESULT OF THE BOMB EXPLOSION IN A LAGOS MILITARY BASE.
This isn't going to help. (Score:1)
My kind of town (Nigeria is)... (Score:1, Informative)
-_-_-
Re:My kind of town (Nigeria is)... (Score:1)
Actually she was granted a reprieve when the appeals court said that since she committed adultery before the law was passed she shouldn't be stoned.
Re:My kind of town (Nigeria is)... (Score:2)
Re:My kind of town (Nigeria is)... (Score:2)
So while that might not stop them from carrying out sentences, it is certainly not something that affects all of Nigeria.
That aside though, my girlfriend has some quite horrifying stories about the level of crime in Nigeria, and for white people there's the added issue that we're practically signposts saying "tourists" and "easy targets" for criminals.
Re:My kind of town (Nigeria is)... (Score:2)
I think the issue that makes it worse for white people visiting Nigeria (or other African countries for that matter) is that a large part of the white people visiting will be from relatively wealthy countries compared to the country they are visiting, so a white guy visiting Nigeria will be relatively likely to have what to a local would be a lot of money. That incentive isn't as likely to be there for criminals in Scotland that see a Nigerian tourist.
But your point is well taken, any outsider is an easier target because they are less likely to know what places to avoid, where to get help, or how to act.
I certainly don't think Nigerians in general are any worse than people elsewhere (I would certainly not be living with a Nigerian woman if they were). Just that as you say there are some bad people everywhere, but more of them will be ready to take the step from minor things to serious crimes when their most likely alternative is poverty, and even more so when there are easy, tempting targets available...
Unfortunately it reflects badly on good people as well. In the case of developing countries like Nigeria that effect is perhaps even worse than the crime itself - being deprived of foreign investment and aid because of fear of being defrauded or otherwise becoming victims of crime likely costs developing countries billions.
Any more (Score:1)
Goran
You get what you deserve! (Score:2, Interesting)
My feeling on this scan is this: It's a litmus test for idiots, to separate money from greedy morons that don't deserve to have it. I actually like this scam circulating because it's quite efficient at keeping lusers occupied with the idea that they can get something for nothing so they don't bother the rest of us with their boneheaded get-rich-quick schemes.
I could do without the spam for sure, but this scam serves two useful purposes:
1. It reinforces my impression that Nigeria is probably the last place on earth I would want to visit or do business with.
2. It helps extricate money from people who don't deserve to have it. If you fall for this scam, you deserve to lose your money. It's like financial survival of the fittest.
Similar - the "Letter of Invitation" (Score:1)
Here's another thing to consider - I was hosting a horse show once and got a request from someone in Nigeria for a "letter of invitation" to attend.
A woman who works at a college told me that often a letter of invitation is needed to travel to North America from certain countries. Also, it might also make you responsible for the person.
I ignored the email.
Best,
C.
The Easiest Way to Fight Dishonesty on the Web (Score:1)
And it is a free service. Non profit with an employee base of over 300k.
Captain Neal should set up a service and charge companies for this. IT could work both ways.
1. Pay for your companies URL never to appear on slashdot.
2. Pay for your competitors,enemies, inlaws etc.
Yep, I am a capitalist.
Some Nigerian scam resources (Score:2)
A reply to a Nigerian scammer on the Spam Letters (Score:2)
Subject: Re: confidentaility
If you disturb me again i will use african vodoo agaainst you. You will loose your manhood and may die infact i am looking at you now from a calabash of water and wondering if i should strike you dead but i see a girl an innocent girl, her spirit is strong i will let you pass this time. Hamza.To: hamza kalu <hamzakalu@yahoo.com>
From: Jonathan Land <jland@incomplete.net>
Date: 08/08/2001
Jonathan Land,
Even pros go for it (Score:2)
Olavi J. Mattila was previously Finnish Foreign Minister, Minister of Trade and Industry, and Minister of Foreign Trade. That is, a major political figure. He was also the CEO of some large Finnish multi-billion-dollar companies (such as Valmet, a world-known machinery company) and a presidential councellor. His education was a Master of Engineering and Master of Economic Science. He retired in 1982.
So he wasn't just a dabbler in business. Perhaps he was getting senile at his current age of 84.
So no wonder people fall for the scams...
Re:i was sent this email (Score:2)
It's simple. You give them your bank account # and permission to withdraw funds. Then they do. Duh.
Read the thread over at spamletters.com [thespamletters.com] if you want to get a better idea.
Re:i was sent this email (Score:4, Interesting)
I think this scam is called The Spanish Prisoner. A good movie of the same name explains the age old scam (Ed Oneil's part). The dumb thing is that the scam presented in the movie doesn't seem to be a variation of the scam they describe.
-B
Re:i was sent this email (Score:4, Insightful)
1. You respond with an account number. They make a deposite to the account just like they said they would.
2. They come back to you and say "Please give us back $X of the money we sent you". Since you have the money in your account you write them a big fat check.
3. After a few big fat checks clear your bank, you you find out from your bank that the first big deposit did not auctually clear, you now have an account that is overdrawn because of all those big fat checks.
And since your name is the only name on the account you are entirly responsable!
Re:i was sent this email (Score:2)
Re:Nigeria has computers and Internet conections? (Score:1)
some nigerians please stand up and spank this dude.
of course they have computers. computers are like whores, they are everywhere.
Re:Nigeria has computers and Internet conections? (Score:1)
Seriously, there's no lack of computers. Its the telephone system that sucks, and getting 1200 baud connections id very hard!
On the up side: If Nigeria decides that Spam is unIslamic, then, bearing in mind they are into stoning people to death for adultery, and chopping their arms off for theft, there is a reasonable chance that spammers might get the penalties they so richly deserve.
Re:Nigeria has computers and Internet conections? (Score:2)
Re:Nigeria has computers and Internet conections? (Score:1)
Re:Nigeria has computers and Internet conections? (Score:1)
Last night I crafted this [slashdot.org] beauty of a troll. I woke up this morning with 0 karma much to my surprise! (up from -6)
Re:Desk top murderers? (Score:2)
But it is hard to do so efficiently when the military is still incredibly strong, when heavy arms is easy to get hold of, and the country is split both along religious lines (christian and muslem) and along tribal lines
However, this is NOT about spamming. This is about fighting organized crime. Several people have met their death from following up on 419 letters and then trying to get their money back. This is about crime syndicates getting funding through fraud. They are a major part of the reason Nigeria is in as deep trouble as it is.
And they cause problems not only for people directly affected, but for Nigerians everywhere. In many places credit cards issued in Nigeria aren't accepted by some companies (British Airways is a recent case, don't know if they changed their policy again) because the amount of fraud done by the crime syndicates is too high for them to bear.
It also causes problems for legitimate Nigerian businesses, who are scrutinized extra, or even just not considered for business deals because of the risk of fraud.
Re:Islamic Law? (Score:2)