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The Long, Weird History of the Nigerian E-Mail Scam
Boston Globe ^ | MAY 19, 2013 | Finn Brunton

Posted on 05/21/2013 2:33:52 PM PDT by nickcarraway

Edited on 05/21/2013 3:32:50 PM PDT by Sidebar Moderator. [history]

EARLIER THIS YEAR, thousands of people checked their e-mail and found a surprise: An American soldier needed help, and there was something in it for them. Their correspondent was a sergeant stationed in Iraq, he explained. He had accumulated millions in hundred-dollar bills

(Excerpt) Read more at bostonglobe.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Computers/Internet; Weird Stuff
KEYWORDS: 419; nigeria; nigeriaemailscam; spanishprisoner
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1 posted on 05/21/2013 2:33:52 PM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

You mean there aint a zillion dollars sitting in a bank
just waiting for me........

I’m shocked.......!


2 posted on 05/21/2013 2:36:07 PM PDT by njslim (St)
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To: nickcarraway

I don’t like where this writer is going with this. These letters are not all frauds are they?


3 posted on 05/21/2013 2:41:54 PM PDT by Raycpa
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To: njslim
You mean there aint a zillion dollars sitting in a bank just waiting for me........

Not if I get there first!
4 posted on 05/21/2013 2:43:17 PM PDT by Sopater (Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? - Matthew 20:15a)
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To: nickcarraway

I particularly enjoyed reading the account of the Harvard professor who lost over $50,000 in this scam. So smart. So educated. So much one of the minds who train our presidential contenders each election season.


5 posted on 05/21/2013 2:44:30 PM PDT by a fool in paradise (America 2013 - STUCK ON STUPID)
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To: nickcarraway

The most successful advance payment con in history is Social Security, closely followed by Medicare.


6 posted on 05/21/2013 2:46:59 PM PDT by Standing Wolf
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To: njslim

I owned a small financial services company in 1989. One day I got a typewritten 2-page letter, with the pages attached by a straight sewing pin. It was mailed from Nigeria, and was a classic Nigerian scam.

I had never heard of such a scam before, but after checking around to see whether we should make the investment, we decided against it.

So we didn’t lose any money in my first Nigerian scam solicitation.

But we did lose our shirts a few years later and had to put our company into state receivership. But that’s another story.


7 posted on 05/21/2013 2:47:11 PM PDT by Maceman (Just say "NO" to tyranny.)
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To: Maceman

Sometimes answer them using name Do We Cheat’em Howe

Just to mess with ‘em.........


8 posted on 05/21/2013 2:50:39 PM PDT by njslim (St)
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To: Standing Wolf

My choice would be government inflation as the best advance payment scan.


9 posted on 05/21/2013 2:52:14 PM PDT by ex-snook (God is Love)
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To: nickcarraway
This is all pure buulshit.

I've rented the hall and the catering, the church is prepped and my Nigerian bride will be here Saturday .... You'e All Invited To The Wedding !!!

10 posted on 05/21/2013 2:52:51 PM PDT by knarf (uals-two logic)
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To: nickcarraway

I must be on all of the scammers email list because I get at least 2 a day.


11 posted on 05/21/2013 2:54:47 PM PDT by Blood of Tyrants (Inside every liberal and WOD defender is a totalitarian screaming to get out.)
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To: Standing Wolf

Social Security was great when the life expectancy was 64 years.


12 posted on 05/21/2013 2:59:08 PM PDT by Blood of Tyrants (Inside every liberal and WOD defender is a totalitarian screaming to get out.)
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To: njslim

There was a FReeper who “played” several of these scammers VERY well,and posted the utterly ludicrous photos he insisted his “investors” demanded. Much hilarity ensued.


13 posted on 05/21/2013 3:03:10 PM PDT by Don W (There is no gun problem, there is a lack of humanity problem!)
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To: a fool in paradise

You need to go to www.ebolamonkeyman.com to get the lowdown on people fighting back against the scammers!

A hilarious website.


14 posted on 05/21/2013 3:03:34 PM PDT by Bartholomew Roberts
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To: Blood of Tyrants; All

Try this link for some info and laughs about those scam artists. http://forum.419eater.com/forum/index.php

It is fun to read what happens when the scammers’ get scammed.


15 posted on 05/21/2013 3:04:17 PM PDT by fudimo
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To: Don W

See my post above!


16 posted on 05/21/2013 3:04:37 PM PDT by Bartholomew Roberts
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To: Don W; lowbridge
There was a FReeper who “played” several of these scammers VERY well,and posted the utterly ludicrous photos he insisted his “investors” demanded. Much hilarity ensued.

Calling Lowbridge.


17 posted on 05/21/2013 3:15:59 PM PDT by uglybiker (nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-BATMAN!)
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To: Standing Wolf

I found Algore’s lockbox in the Lost Dutchman Mine.


18 posted on 05/21/2013 3:19:38 PM PDT by TurboZamboni (Marx smelled bad & lived with his parents most his life.)
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To: nickcarraway

Any scam succeeds merely because someone hopes to get something that they do not deserve....call it greed. The embarrassment and sometimes shame that goes with being conned prevents people from filing criminal complaints. All too frequently the scammers prey on those in their older years who may not have their full faculties about them.


19 posted on 05/21/2013 3:20:17 PM PDT by Nifster
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To: njslim

Duey Cheatem and Howe aren’t they the Tappet Brothers legal team???


20 posted on 05/21/2013 3:21:16 PM PDT by Nifster
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