I do get some great, fanciful, badly written and mind boggling "
419 fraud, Nigerian scam " emails coming through my mailbox. I've deleted some absolute classics. Thought maybe we could share them here for entertainment purposes, and to help people from falling for them
My latest (not the greatest), almost fell for it:
" HOW ARE YOU DOING FRIEND,
My name is Mr. Freddy Edgardo Gonzalez from Nicaragua South America , I work with United Nations Victims Compensation Cambodia , I am in-charge of funds release for the past twelve years now.
Presently , I have decided to do a deal of usd10,000,000.00 with you, for our mutual benefit. This money will be cash in disguise as Family Valuables concealed in box ,covered with Diplomatic Immunity to avoid Customs Checks or can be transferred VIA Bank to bank Transfer,
But for more information kindle get back to me for a brief explanation and also send me your full details.
Thanks and God Bless you
Mr. Freddy Edgardo Gonzalez "
Kindle, that is just superb!
what's always with signing off with "god bless you" etc in 419s Is that what they think the official UN signature bar consists of?
Ahahaha, $10,000,000.00 in a box!! He could have at least thought about how big that would be.
Not from my inbox, but a friend a few years back got a variant of this:
" "
They aren't all so amusing and harmless...
This guy has some very entertaining counters for them though: http://www.ebolamonkeyman.com/
Dear Fridge, what if before you got that email you actually thought that someone was out to kill you? Wouldnt be so funny then huh
You missed this bit then?
Can you believe it, I actually got a 419 scam by post last week... from Zimbabwe !!
My wife was dead chuffed as she collects stamps...
If they keep on doing it then SOME people must fall for it.
1 Like
So: How many millions was the stamp for a letter to Switzerland?
I find this very odd... the reason for scams getting so popular was the low costs involved to send emails. If you send physical mail, your costs must kill your profits. Except if they manage to fake stamps or have an insider in the postal service to steal them... anyway this would be a scammer worth to bait...
Or if they've identified a specific person an an uber-mug, someone worth investing in. Maybe she's previously fallen victim to a scam without even knowing it?
I once received a handwritten scam, including actual paper photographs, from Russia.
Some people must fall for these things to justify the time and expense, surely.
Also I'd think the ratios must increase massively with a handwritten note and photos. Where 1 in 10 million emails generate cash, maybe for a handwritten scam it's 1 in 5 thousand or better.
stop registering to porno sites DB :P
My favourite response to a 419 scam was when 'Derek Trotter' replied to the scam email saying they weren't interested in the scam proposition, but since the scammer had the contact details for Derek Trotter Fine Arts & Artist Scholarships, they probably knew about the bursaries on offer and did they happen to know anyone who might be interested in applying for some generous art scholarships...
Full story here (this might take some time but it's worth it):
http://www.419eater.com/html/john_boko.htm
I personally know a very trusting, gulliable, naive (70+ man) who unfortunately did
Also pretty common for people to steal facebook accounts and try to ask all of your friends and family for help/money... here is an example:
The "London scam"
Once a scammer has access to a trusted friend's Facebook account, one of the most common ways to manipulate others for financial gain is through the London scam, or similar means. Often through Facebook chat, the scammer, posing as one of your friends, will explain that he or she is stranded on a trip to London after a robbery, leaving him or her with no way to get home. Then you'll be asked to wire money to get your friend home. Make sure you verify the identity of a friend with this kind of request before you oblige.
To report this kind of scam to Facebook, visit: http://www.facebook.com/help/contact..._form=419_scam
I like the ones where someone has claimed that the money is left over from an airplane accident or some natural disaster or whatever, they include a link to prove that their case is "obviously genuine". I honestly once had one regarding an alleged 9-11 victim and there was a CNN link to the towers going down. Strange that, I really needed that link to make the whole thing "real". Tw@ts.
We get these at a rate of about one a week, as we have business in Nigeria. We also get CV's and covering letters from people with 4 PhD's (allegedly), who can't spell for toffee.
The 419eater.com site is absolutely brilliant. The best one I heard of was the guy who pretended to be 'The Fall Guy' Lee Majors, who said something along the lines of 'I can't give you any money, but I am looking for a successor, and a young, fit African might just be the ticket.'
He then gets the poor sucker to send in videos of himself jumping off a roof, crashing a bicycle, taking a punch etc. I nearly wet myself watching these (I believe they're now on Youtube too). Each time before he puts himself in hospital, the muppet announces "I'm the unknown stuntman who makes Eastwood look so fine!"
Also check out the following upcoming conference:
http://www.j-walk.com/other/conf/
Very, very funny.
On a more serious note, a Greek guy was so taken in by one of these e-mails, he went to South Africa to claim his 'money'. The scammers held him hostage and when his family couldn't pay, they burned him alive.
Ba5tards.
Jim