Fighting the Nigerian Money Scam

An anonymous reader writes "One of the most notorious spams, the Nigerian Money Scam, or 419, has reared its head again with the recent arrest of a California woman who embezzled $2.1 million from her law firm. However, anti-spammer Brad Christensen has apparently been having some success scamming the scammers. This exhibit contains some of his more successful exchanges. It seems he even managed to get some of the Nigerians to fly around the world to meet him. All in all, Bravo!"

Comments

I got an "anti-419" today

[rpjs]

Today I got an email supposedly from the Federal Presidency of Nigeria, apologising for all the 419s I've been receiving and asking for full details of the senders and the organisations they claimed to be defrauding.

I really don't think it's genuinely from the Nigerian gov, although it was posted from an IP address (195.166.233.102) RIPE says is allocated to a Nigerian ISP, rather than being routed through some open relay in Asia. However, I'm finding it hard to work out what the scam is. Spam quality control to see which addresses apply is the most likely reason I guess.

Another 419 example

[cscx]

If you want to read an exceptionally funny example of the Nigerian Fee scam, head on over to haxial.com -- the results are side-splitting. This all happened last week (check the dates).

Re:*yawn*

[singularity]

You obviously do not get as many of these emails as I do.

My mail runs fairly unfiltered on the server, so my mail client gets to download most everything. (Not complaining here, I realize I could change that - I am just stating a fact).

The fact is, I get more Nigerian Scam emails than I do actual spam anymore.

I would say that about 10% of my "junk" email is Klez virus, 40% is regular spam, and about 50% is Nigerian scam emails.

Look at those last two paragraphs - I get more Nigerian scam than I get actual spam anymore. I probably get between 10-12 of the Nigerian emails *a day*.

We might complain about bandwidth being used by spam, but these days Klez takes the cake on my account, followed by Nigerian crap.

That is why I care about cutting down on people using it.

And before you jump on my back about me complaining about my bandwidth, I am talking about between SMTP servers, since ultimately I pay for that one way or the other. An ISP pays per GB transferred, and anytime I get email like that, my ISP (school anything else) pays, and will eventually pass that expense on to me.

That is why I care.

Scams as old as the hills

[Moorlock]

It will probably not come as a surprise to know that the "Nigerian Scam" predates the internet and really, in its essential form, predates Nigeria. If you're interested in historical examples of this sort of thing, you might want to check out sniggle.net's Scams page.

'This guy I knew' received something like this

[guttentag]

Dear Valued Customer,

We would like to cut you in on a deal that will earn you a very fast computer with Windows for only $900. What we need you to do is go to your local store and buy our X-1000 PC for $1,500. Don't worry about the price. We will reimburse you. Remove your X-1000 PC UPC code and mail it to us with your name, address, date of birth, social security number, household income and preferred shoe size, and we will send you a check for $600.

Sincerely. XXXXX Marketing Department

So he buys the PC, clips the UPC and sends them his data. But no check arrives. Not even a burly, ill-tempered Czech mafia guy with a baseball bat. So he writes to them demanding his check, or Czech.

Dear Valued Customer,

You did not provide the proper X-1000 UPC code in your mailing. Please send us the correct UPC code and we will send you your check.

So he writes them back and tells them there are no other UPC codes on the PC.

Dear Valued Customer,

We are sorry to inform you that you have apparently purchased the wrong computer, and since you have removed the UPC code, you cannot return yours to the store. We do not keep UPC codes we receive on file, so we cannot return it to you. We recommend you go back to the store and buy the correct X-1000 PC. If you send us the correct UPC code this time, we are authorized to send you a check for $700 since you purchased two computers. Please hurry, as this offer is only good for 60 days.

Sound familiar? There's a thin line between 419 scams and "accepted American business practices." Either way, there are plenty of gullible people just waiting to be exploited.

Re:'This guy I knew' received something like this

[EricWright]

You never buy anything with a mail-in rebate, do you?

I had a friend actually get a check with his name spelled wrong (on the check) but spelled correctly on the envelope. The address was incorrect, and the ZIP code was off in the second digit (ie, 28xxx, not 27xxx). The company did everything in it's power not to pay the rebate without breaking any fraud laws... It's a wonder he got the thing at all.

Eric

The CONGOLESE money scam

[Edward W.]

I wouldn't want you folks to think that all of these "Out of Africa" scams involve Nigeria. I got an African scam e-mail a few days ago that claimed to be from the Congo. Here it is:

FROM: MR TEMI JOHNSON
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO.
EMAIL:temijohnson@rediffmail.com
TEL:44 7775770781(SATELLITE PHONE)
Dear Sir,

SEEKING YOUR IMMEDIATE ASSISTANCE.
Please Permit me to make your acquaintance in so
informal a manner. This is necessitated by my urgent need to reach a
dependable and trust wordy foreign
partner. This request may seem strange and
unsolicited but I will crave your indulgence and pray that you view it
seriously. My name is MR TEMI JOHNSON of the
Democratic Republic of Congo and One of the close aides to the former
President of the Democratic Republic of Congo
LAURENT KABILA of blessed
memory, may his soul rest in peace.

Due to the military campaign of LAURENT KABILA to
force out the rebels in my country, I and some of my
colleagues were instructed by Late President Kabila
to go abroad to purchase arms and ammunition worth of
Twenty Million, Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars only
(US$20,500,000.00) to fight the rebel group. But when
President Kabila was killed in a bloody shoot-out by one of his aide a day
before we were schedule to travel out of Congo,
We immediately decided to divert the fund into a private security company
here in Congo for safe keeping. The security of
the said amount is presently being threatened here following the arrest
and seizure of properties of Col. Rasheidi Karesava
(One of the aides to Laurent Kabila) a tribesman, and some other Military
Personnel from our same tribe, by the new
President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the son of late President
Laurent Kabila, Joseph Kabila.
In view of this, we need a reliable and trustworthy foreign partner who
can assist us to move this money out of my country
as the beneficiary.
WE have sufficient ''CONTACTS'' to move the fund under Diplomatic Cover to
a security company in the europe in your
name. This is to ensure that the Diplomatic Baggage is marked
''CONFIDENTIAL'' and it will not pass through normal
custom/airport screening and clearance.
Our inability to move this money out of Congo all
This while lies on our lack of trust on our supposed good friends (western
countries) who suddenly became hostile to those
of us who worked with the late President Kabila, immediately after his son
took office. Though we have neither seen nor
met each other, the information We gathered from an associate
who has worked in your country has encouraged and convinced us that with
your sincere assistance, this transaction will
be properly handled with modesty
and honesty to a huge success within two weeks. The said money is a state
fund and therefore requires a total
confidentiality.
Thus, if you are willing to assist us move this fund out of Congo, you can
contact me through my email address above with
your telephone, fax number and personal information to enable us discuss
the modalities and what will be your share
(percentage) for assisting us.
I must use this opportunity and medium to implore You to exercise the
utmost indulgence to keep this Matter extraordinarily
confidential, Whatever your Decision, while I await your prompt response.
Thank you and GodBless.

Best Regards
MR TEMI JOHNSON

This sounded to me like such a good deal that I immediately sent the following reply:

Mr. Johnson:

No need to negotiate on the terms. We both recognize that your intentions are less than honorable, and we likewise both recognize that both of us are motivated by greed. My terms are these: 37.5% of the total, a new Mercedes S-Class V-12 (fully equipped) discretely purchased from a local dealer that I will specify, and a two-week all-expense-paid trip to Norway and Switzerland (there to establish a new bank account). Take it or leave it.

My daytime phone number is (218) 246-2776. Do not call me at home in the evening. I do not keep my wife advised on private matters of this nature, if you get my drift.

EW

The phone number I sent is actually that of the local District Attorney's office. So far, I have not received a reply

Money from these scams funneled to terrorists

[Linuxathome]

I'm am willing to bet that some of this multi-million dollar scam is going to "perpetrators of terror," especially after hearing countries like Siera Leone is involved. Hey, NSA, FBI, CIA, Secret Service, and US Postal Police, and all pertinent law enforcement agencies, listen up! If you're reading this, you need to work overtime to follow every single lead that a victim of this scam sent to you. This is a great way for terrorists to "hide in numbers" and get funding for their weapons. It doesn't take much money to finance these scumbags. Maybe instead of the DEA running ads about how drug money funds terrorists, there should be commercials of how gullible idiots can do the same by falling for these stupid scams!

Here's what I don't understand...

[sdo1]

One has to assume that the Nigerian scammers are sending out millions of spam, right? They're not using unique reply-to addresses for each one right?

In this case, the address mikeaba@mail.com is at, of course, mail.com. Surely mail.com must have gotten dozens, if not hundreds, of spam reports altering them that a mail.com address was being used for a scam.

What I don't understand is how on earth that address didn't get taken offline by mail.com within a very short time of the original scam/spam being sent. My experience has been that yahoo.com and hotmail.com do a pretty decent job of deleting accounts of addresses that are being used a spam dropboxes. But not mail.com?

Can someone explain what I'm missing here?

-S

I don't buy it ....

[vlad_petric]

Indeed, there are a lot of idiots in this world ... but I don't think that an accountant could do that, unless there was some money for her as well. Think about it ...

You steal ~2mil $ from your company and wire it to offshore accounts. When the fraud is discovered, claim idiocy and stay 3 years in prison. But after 3 years you are with 2 milion $.

The Raven

Open database of scammers and fraudsters

[prostoalex]

There is a need for a database that collects information on various scam artists and fraudsters. And I don't mean just the 419 scam. eBay frauds, PayPal schemers, auction sellers who want their money for cheap digital camera wired to Indonesia or Eastern Europe, etc.

The database needs to be open, i.e. anyone is allowed to submit information to it, but it also should allow anyone to provide detailed explanations in case of libeling, as this kind of database can certainly be misused and forged. I'd agree to even pay some nominal amount, let's say, $10 per year, to be able to do a search and find information on the guy I am planning to buy a $999 item from with eBay's help.

Re:Don't Try This At Home

[stephanruby]

I have to reiterate: NEVER TRY TO SCAM A SCAMMER.

I have to agree with your sentiments about not trying to scam a scammer but I don't think you should be showing them that you're afraid of them. Who knows. They could be watching us right now?

Scammers are rational business people, they act out of their economic self-interests. They wouldn't hurt me or you unless there was a logical economic benefit. On a side note, I was almost attacked once in Budapest for trying to explain to the crowd that they were being scammed. When I started explaining things, most people in the crowd started turning on me. It turns out most of them were part of the scam too.