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There's also scamorama.com; IIRC they got several dollars from scammers.

Sorry to post a "me too", but you stole my thunder.

I would agree, in principle, to punishing those who are guilty of "conspiracy to commit" a crime. IANAL, so I'm not really sure how conspiracy charges work when the crime never existed.

The problem with this, outside of principle, is that punishing people who do this would deter victims from admitting to having been duped. It also would be hard to separate out those with genuinely criminal intent from those who seek to play with the scammers.

Think if all the Nigerian children had access to internet, perhaps then we would be oversaturated with 419 scams, and people would get some commonsense.

(I actually do hope they will take advantage of people in the rich world. Sadly I'm guessing almost all of these children are to decent for that)

For more examples of this, people at 419Eater and scamorama have been reverse scamming 419ers for years now. Oh and then there's my sig.

If they succeed, I'll sure miss the lads of lagos. But this might also mean that nigerian scam could be distributed through Windows Update!1

I'd call it "moronware". It's designed to troll for idiot users who believe everything they see and fall for stupid schemes. We can lump the Nigerians into this category too, with their stupid cashier's check and phony inheiritence schemes.

Fine with me, except that I usually keep idiotic software and idiotic social engineering far separate issues. Annoyware is one thing, 419 scams are another.

By the way, if you really want to combine best of the both worlds, you may want to read on how people used (reverse) "moronware" to fool 419 scammers! Hilarity ensues! Screenshots included! =)

Got Mike. Mo meets a pretty woman is a classic.
Scan-O-Rama
Insolitology
Tastes like gold
Ebola monkey man. Well worth a read, very funny.
Quatloos, The Brad Christensen Exhibit. Check out ROSEMARY KABBAH -- Romancing the Pickle Taco.
and last but not least 419 Eater which has a personal recommendation on the front page.

Enjoy!

Completely pales in comparison to the time when the scammers tried to scam the head in a jar... That was a really beautiful way to merge Lovecraftian horrors and popular Internet sports. As the page says, a masterpiece.

See also: "I AMA DILDO" (source)

See also: "I AMA DILDO" (source)

Spam costs the user nothing to send because the recipient either buys in or deletes. What would happen if recipients who have no intention of buying string the spammer along, pretending to want to buy, getting quotes for bulk orders, wanting to know about origins, asking all kinds of pointless questions, etc..

Of course, if only a few people did this, it wouldn't have any effect, but if it happened on a huge scale, it would make spammers' lives more difficult.

Several folks have done this with the Nigerian Bank Frauds, sometimes getting the would-be fraudsters to make multiple trips to the airport, spend a lot of time in correspondence, and so on. Some have even gotten a bit of cash out of the scammers.

I may be redundant, but at Scam o Rama, you have a few stories (the red links) where scammers are baited and scammed (one baiter has won $100, and another story shows you pictures of a sexy male in female undies)

I may be redundant, but at Scam o Rama, you have a few stories (the red links) where scammers are baited and scammed (one baiter has won $100, and another story shows you pictures of a sexy male in female undies)

Yeah, well, it does sound convincing until you see the similar scam where some distant relative of Saddam or a shady US general you've never heard of asks a little bit of help of moving tons of money out of Iraq. (Yes, it's happening.)

In other words, scammers trying to tie the scams to some real recent event - be it a recently assassinated African dictator or the aftermath of US invasion - is not really new. It has happened for quite a while now.

Yeah, the background story they may tell may sound believeable but does the thing they want to do sound believeable?

As for how it got past the Google mail filter - well, no filter is 100% spamproof.

• Surfs 5, Lads 0
• The Legendary Dorito "The Black Spider" Bambini
• Santa Cons - the lads attempt to scam Kris Kringle)
• Harry Potter and the Cauldron of Scams - target pretends to be Harry Potter. Conmen do not catch on.
• Iamad Ildo - getting a photo of a scammer holding a ridiculous sign
• It's-a Me, Luigi!
• The Angle of the Dangle - this one's short. Ahem.
• Who Ya Gonna Call? - Drs,. Spengler, Stanz, and Basil Rathbone
• Quit While You're a Head - Scammers attempt to con a disembodied head at Miskatonic University
  

• Surfs 5, Lads 0
• The Legendary Dorito "The Black Spider" Bambini
• Santa Cons - the lads attempt to scam Kris Kringle)
• Harry Potter and the Cauldron of Scams - target pretends to be Harry Potter. Conmen do not catch on.
• Iamad Ildo - getting a photo of a scammer holding a ridiculous sign
• It's-a Me, Luigi!
• The Angle of the Dangle - this one's short. Ahem.
• Who Ya Gonna Call? - Drs,. Spengler, Stanz, and Basil Rathbone
• Quit While You're a Head - Scammers attempt to con a disembodied head at Miskatonic University
  

• Surfs 5, Lads 0
• The Legendary Dorito "The Black Spider" Bambini
• Santa Cons - the lads attempt to scam Kris Kringle)
• Harry Potter and the Cauldron of Scams - target pretends to be Harry Potter. Conmen do not catch on.
• Iamad Ildo - getting a photo of a scammer holding a ridiculous sign
• It's-a Me, Luigi!
• The Angle of the Dangle - this one's short. Ahem.
• Who Ya Gonna Call? - Drs,. Spengler, Stanz, and Basil Rathbone
• Quit While You're a Head - Scammers attempt to con a disembodied head at Miskatonic University
  

• Surfs 5, Lads 0
• The Legendary Dorito "The Black Spider" Bambini
• Santa Cons - the lads attempt to scam Kris Kringle)
• Harry Potter and the Cauldron of Scams - target pretends to be Harry Potter. Conmen do not catch on.
• Iamad Ildo - getting a photo of a scammer holding a ridiculous sign
• It's-a Me, Luigi!
• The Angle of the Dangle - this one's short. Ahem.
• Who Ya Gonna Call? - Drs,. Spengler, Stanz, and Basil Rathbone
• Quit While You're a Head - Scammers attempt to con a disembodied head at Miskatonic University
  

• Surfs 5, Lads 0
• The Legendary Dorito "The Black Spider" Bambini
• Santa Cons - the lads attempt to scam Kris Kringle)
• Harry Potter and the Cauldron of Scams - target pretends to be Harry Potter. Conmen do not catch on.
• Iamad Ildo - getting a photo of a scammer holding a ridiculous sign
• It's-a Me, Luigi!
• The Angle of the Dangle - this one's short. Ahem.
• Who Ya Gonna Call? - Drs,. Spengler, Stanz, and Basil Rathbone
• Quit While You're a Head - Scammers attempt to con a disembodied head at Miskatonic University
  

• Surfs 5, Lads 0
• The Legendary Dorito "The Black Spider" Bambini
• Santa Cons - the lads attempt to scam Kris Kringle)
• Harry Potter and the Cauldron of Scams - target pretends to be Harry Potter. Conmen do not catch on.
• Iamad Ildo - getting a photo of a scammer holding a ridiculous sign
• It's-a Me, Luigi!
• The Angle of the Dangle - this one's short. Ahem.
• Who Ya Gonna Call? - Drs,. Spengler, Stanz, and Basil Rathbone
• Quit While You're a Head - Scammers attempt to con a disembodied head at Miskatonic University
  

• Surfs 5, Lads 0
• The Legendary Dorito "The Black Spider" Bambini
• Santa Cons - the lads attempt to scam Kris Kringle)
• Harry Potter and the Cauldron of Scams - target pretends to be Harry Potter. Conmen do not catch on.
• Iamad Ildo - getting a photo of a scammer holding a ridiculous sign
• It's-a Me, Luigi!
• The Angle of the Dangle - this one's short. Ahem.
• Who Ya Gonna Call? - Drs,. Spengler, Stanz, and Basil Rathbone
• Quit While You're a Head - Scammers attempt to con a disembodied head at Miskatonic University
  

• Surfs 5, Lads 0
• The Legendary Dorito "The Black Spider" Bambini
• Santa Cons - the lads attempt to scam Kris Kringle)
• Harry Potter and the Cauldron of Scams - target pretends to be Harry Potter. Conmen do not catch on.
• Iamad Ildo - getting a photo of a scammer holding a ridiculous sign
• It's-a Me, Luigi!
• The Angle of the Dangle - this one's short. Ahem.
• Who Ya Gonna Call? - Drs,. Spengler, Stanz, and Basil Rathbone
• Quit While You're a Head - Scammers attempt to con a disembodied head at Miskatonic University
  

• Surfs 5, Lads 0
• The Legendary Dorito "The Black Spider" Bambini
• Santa Cons - the lads attempt to scam Kris Kringle)
• Harry Potter and the Cauldron of Scams - target pretends to be Harry Potter. Conmen do not catch on.
• Iamad Ildo - getting a photo of a scammer holding a ridiculous sign
• It's-a Me, Luigi!
• The Angle of the Dangle - this one's short. Ahem.
• Who Ya Gonna Call? - Drs,. Spengler, Stanz, and Basil Rathbone
• Quit While You're a Head - Scammers attempt to con a disembodied head at Miskatonic University
  

...is as interesting site found when researching these scams, Scam-o-rama. It contains lots of e-mail conversations with scammers and also some funny pictures. They also have an interesting case when somebody actually scammed the scammers (see the stories marked in red)

Interesting, but sad article. I just find it so difficult to believe that people continue to fall for this oh so obvious scam....makes you wonder if some people would still fall for the "I've got a bridge in Brooklyn for sale" line.

FYI: For some funny accounts of how would be victims turn the tables on 419 scammers check out this site:

http://www.scamorama.com

or thats what it seems, what about other developing countries that dont have access at all, surely they would be better served with project like this ?, dont get me wrong im all for charity (if you can call 120$ for a 120gig hard drive and $112 p&p charity) but Nigeria already has quite good network access, (judging by the amount of internet cafes and budding enterprise) perhaps we should let them develop with what they already have and concentrate on bringing computing and networks to those who are even less fortunate

120$ for a 120gig hard drive seems rather steep (and 75$ for a demo USB box) as this is more than a complete computer in the local classifieds, (not to mention a shitload of cash in developing countries) is this a charity or a commercial profit making venture ?
i always am suspicious when i see the face of a charity/good cause but then they charge for the service at above-cost especially when other companies are supplying their services for free)

cough*scam*cough ?

Bah! You have no idea of true scambaiting art. This is art. A gripping tale of dark dark horror and greed. Guaranteed to spook you silly. Or not. =)

Seriously, anyone can get scammers to pose for silly photographs, but this tale was something completely extraordinary.

Okay, the 419eater scams are still funny enough, though... I particularly liked the one where the scammer tried to pass off photo from Vatican as a photo of their church =)

I had fun with one of these guys here.

The 419 folks also operate under disguise of lotteries. A few scammers apparently built their computer center in an old dusty NASA facility. Maybe they could help?

• Websites Fighting the Nigerian Scam/419
• Nigerian Advance Fee Scam
• US Secret Service on 419
• Break The Chain
• 419 Coalition (as noted in the article)

• 419 Eater
• Scam Joke Page
• ScamOrama
• the spam letters
• spl's soapbox

LOL

Gotta love those Nigerians, just when you think you thought you've seen everything, they prove you wrong every time.

Here's the story behind that picture, and yes, it's real. =)

-Grym

LOL

Gotta love those Nigerians, just when you think you thought you've seen everything, they prove you wrong every time.

Here's the story behind that picture, and yes, it's real. =)

-Grym

People (including myself) have tried engaging the scammers in conversation to have some fun and possibly steer them down a dead end. However, these folks have far more time to devote than we do at creating these bogus stories.

I've also heard of people replying and attaching image files so that they're mailbox quota gets used up. Most of the scammers are using free email services so it doesn't take much to fill their quota. I;ve done this a few times, choosing suitably bizarre images (nothing pornographic, just bizarre).

While your at it, giving the gift of Snopes can't hurt either.

My favourite anti-scam-scam on that site is the one where they got the Nigerian guy to pose for a business card photo under the name "IAMA DILDO." It's laughalicious!

There are a whole host people replying and stringing along the thieves and potential kidnappers - the Lads from Lagos have some great stories and images, Scamjunky (be kind, he's on geocities), and the obligatory Snopes link. There are also tons of links at Google Directory.

It is kind of funny how scamorama.com beat them to it. But they steal they limelight. Oh well its all for a good cause i suppose.

This site has tons of correspondences between the scammers, and people having fun writing back. Some even manage to get money from the scammers!

You can find tonnes of stories like this on The Lads of Lagos site. There's even one from me. Some highlights include:

THE LADS FROM BAGHDAD - Saddam Hussein & Chemical Ali need your help?

WE WANTS IT, PRECIOUS - Lord of the Rings version

THE LADS MEET SANTA CLAUS - he's making a list, he's checking it twice

WHERE NO LAD HAS GONE BEFORE - Collins Abu demands an apology from Capt. Kirk

THE DUMBEST CRIMINAL ON THE PLANET - Kindly Contributor in Philippines GETS $3 from a Lad

You can find tonnes of stories like this on The Lads of Lagos site. There's even one from me. Some highlights include:

THE LADS FROM BAGHDAD - Saddam Hussein & Chemical Ali need your help?

WE WANTS IT, PRECIOUS - Lord of the Rings version

THE LADS MEET SANTA CLAUS - he's making a list, he's checking it twice

WHERE NO LAD HAS GONE BEFORE - Collins Abu demands an apology from Capt. Kirk

THE DUMBEST CRIMINAL ON THE PLANET - Kindly Contributor in Philippines GETS $3 from a Lad

You can find tonnes of stories like this on The Lads of Lagos site. There's even one from me. Some highlights include:

THE LADS FROM BAGHDAD - Saddam Hussein & Chemical Ali need your help?

WE WANTS IT, PRECIOUS - Lord of the Rings version

THE LADS MEET SANTA CLAUS - he's making a list, he's checking it twice

WHERE NO LAD HAS GONE BEFORE - Collins Abu demands an apology from Capt. Kirk

THE DUMBEST CRIMINAL ON THE PLANET - Kindly Contributor in Philippines GETS $3 from a Lad

You can find tonnes of stories like this on The Lads of Lagos site. There's even one from me. Some highlights include:

THE LADS FROM BAGHDAD - Saddam Hussein & Chemical Ali need your help?

WE WANTS IT, PRECIOUS - Lord of the Rings version

THE LADS MEET SANTA CLAUS - he's making a list, he's checking it twice

WHERE NO LAD HAS GONE BEFORE - Collins Abu demands an apology from Capt. Kirk

THE DUMBEST CRIMINAL ON THE PLANET - Kindly Contributor in Philippines GETS $3 from a Lad

You can find tonnes of stories like this on The Lads of Lagos site. There's even one from me. Some highlights include:

THE LADS FROM BAGHDAD - Saddam Hussein & Chemical Ali need your help?

WE WANTS IT, PRECIOUS - Lord of the Rings version

THE LADS MEET SANTA CLAUS - he's making a list, he's checking it twice

WHERE NO LAD HAS GONE BEFORE - Collins Abu demands an apology from Capt. Kirk

THE DUMBEST CRIMINAL ON THE PLANET - Kindly Contributor in Philippines GETS $3 from a Lad

You can find tonnes of stories like this on The Lads of Lagos site. There's even one from me. Some highlights include:

THE LADS FROM BAGHDAD - Saddam Hussein & Chemical Ali need your help?

WE WANTS IT, PRECIOUS - Lord of the Rings version

THE LADS MEET SANTA CLAUS - he's making a list, he's checking it twice

WHERE NO LAD HAS GONE BEFORE - Collins Abu demands an apology from Capt. Kirk

THE DUMBEST CRIMINAL ON THE PLANET - Kindly Contributor in Philippines GETS $3 from a Lad

You know a scammer needs some training when he get fooled into sending real gold to his "victim". :-)

Scam o Rama is devoted to receipients of 419 scam letters responding in commical replies. Very funny and entertaining. One guy convinced a scammer to send him a gold sample which he used to buy beer.

As a matter of fact I've been thinking about something like that to counter the nigerian e-mail scams. It would probably work even more efficiently against them I think. The scammers try to manually keep track of many victims and if they would all of a sudden have a great deal of trouble if they get 2k semi-sensible replies (such as "I might be interested in your business proposal, please give me more information") and have a hard time determining which victims have really fallen for it (and thus they would hopefully fail). Some people of course have fun with fooling the scammers check some examples. The best one was a "scammer scam" where the scammer was persuaded to send 5 g of gold as a sample to the "victim" (so the scammers are not very clever). So creating such a reply-to-scam-and-spam-program might indeed be a very good project for slashdot. Anybody else interested?

Well, they are obvioulsy not the brightest.

Insightful, but if they're supposed to be smart, wouldn't they get it if they're being reverse-hoaxed by James T. Kirk or Mr. Big Mac from McDonald's Corporation?

Of course that means they haven't been exposed to that much western/popular culture.

I want my three dollars!

Long but funny. Make sure to read to the end.