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The 3rd Annual Nigerian EMail Conference
Jacek Fedorynski writes "I present to you an urgent and confidential request: I request your attendance at The 3rd Annual Nigerian EMail Conference. This is an excellent opportunity to meet your distinguished colleagues, learn new marketing techniques, and spend your hard-earned money. Attending this conference demands the highest trust, security and confidentiality between us."
I wonder if George W Bush plans on attending?
A Nigerian diplomat was shot and killed once by someone who fell for the "Nigerian scam." It was very tragic, as the country had nothing to do with it.
"I present to you an urgent and confidential request" Confidential here in Slashdot?
* Nigerian scams reloaded
* Free viagra
* Penis or breast enlargements (1 per person)
how to type convincing 419 scam letters.
1) capslock, what is is, and how to avoid it.
This Message and all replies are the Property of the Fox network. © 2002
...then I have a 25 million dollar wire transfer I need your help to complete!
Funny site, for sure.
I am the widow of Makeu Safeglouglou, who was minister of useless things. My husband was killed as he was about to mount a lap dancer in a Ouagadougou stripper bar.
Help us transfer several billion sperm celles frozen in a sperm bank account!
when spam gets submitted to slashdot as a story.
Of course it runs NetBSD. BTC: 1NT7QvbetmANwaMzhpVL6
I thought the Nigerians were very good at writing email. I am constantly getting email from them asking me to send my bank details so they can deposit large sums of money. They are always very polite.
Saying your OS is the best because more people use it is like saying MacDonalds make the best food
It's not there chief. I got a 404 error. Right, slightly off-topic. It's close to 419, but not quite. Maybe next time.
I have colleages?
In Nigeria of all places... hmmmm.
I never knew.
I will insist that my boss sends me again this year, and I'm sure I will report that it was once again a must-attend event.
__
cheap web hosting Dragon life-like action figures
Eh, we are now June 1st, not April 1st.
After dupe posts I'm wondering if there is no comspiracy to bring Slashdot reputation down !
You know a scammer needs some training when he get fooled into sending real gold to his "victim". :-)
I just got this one yesterday!
FROM THE DESK OF:MR.UMAR MOHAMMED
REPLY TO : umohammed@postmaster.co.uk
Good day,
I am MR UMAR MOHAMMED, head of the accounts/operations dept. of one of the leading merchant banks in Nigeria..I have an urgent and very confidential business proposition for you.
On December 8, 1998, an American Oil consultant/contractor with the
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Mrs.Ann Barbara Myers 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 her forwarding address but
got no reply.After a month,we sent a reminder and finally we
discovered from her contract employers, the Nigerian National
Petroleum Corporation that Mrs.Ann
Barbara Myers died from a ghastly automobile accident.On further
investigation,I found out that she died without making a WILL, and
all attempts to trace his next of kin was fruitless.
I therefore made further investigation and discovered that Mrs.Ann
Barbara Myers did not declare any next of kin or relations in all her
official documents, including her 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 this fund.
Consequently, my proposal is that I will like you as a foriegner to
stand in as the next of kin to Mrs.Ann Barbara Myers so that the
fruits of this woman'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 services 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.
We would need you as a Foreigner acting as the next of kin and sole
benefactor to the inheritance of Mrs.Ann Barbara Myers to travel and
claim this money in a SECURITY COMPANY based in Europe which is used
by my bank as an offshore payment center to the bank.The money will
be paid to you 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 head of the accounts/operations dept
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:umohammed@postmaster.co.uk
Thanks and regards.
MR UMAR MOHAMMED
b/c I am checking out "Free Hot Teen Girls Who Want To Sleep With You"
From the article:
A round table discussion: Is email now Nigeria's top export?
I couldn't imagine a better way to start my sunday! What a hearty laugh!
In all seriousness, does anyone know of any action taken by a real nigerian to protest/combat this kind of scams? Myself, I'd be pretty pissed to see my country's reputation dragged on the mud by oportunistic creeps.
No sig
Some of the other links from the blog page are even funnier, especially the one about M$ spam
And the one about the periodic table of elements... some people are just odd.
An infinite number of monkeys will eventually come up with the complete works of
#!/usr/bin/perli le(){
$wget = "/usr/bin/wget";
$spammer_url = "http://j-walk.com/blog/docs/conference.htm";
wh
$do = `$wget $spammer_url`;
}
Try deleting the space out of the url first.
let's hope there'll be won next year too.
.consumption. that's the spirit.
from the recently re-unbaled pateNTdead eyecon0meter(gpl):
so that the Godless greed/fear/death based payper liesense softwar gangsters & their murderoUS countyourparts upon the capitollist hill annex of wall street of deceit, may become wwworld readabull.
consult with yOUR creator. avoid premature debt/death buy
get off it robbIE, you fauxking phonIE. mynuts won to you too.
Hello Taco, MY NAME IS William Gates and I have been having some problems with the AMERICAN GOVERNMENT and a nasty company called AOL TIME WARNER who think they are going to get a LARGE SUM OF MONEY from me.
BECASUE OF GOVERNMENT SCRUTINY I NEED YOUR HELP IN TRANSFERING THE SUM OF 750,000,000 TO A SWISS BANK ACCOUNT.
FOR YOUR HELP, I WILL STOP FUNDING SCO'S ATTACK ON LINUX.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP IN THIS MATTER
WILLIAM GATES
I'm a friend of a friend of the working class.
Remove the space in the url. It works fine...
...is just a *wee* bit racist?
You should.
All attendees should be aware that the contact address is wrong. The address on the page is the place where the conference will take place.
For registration, please send the registration fee and your address here:
Fede Raltra
Decom Mission
CRC-240
600 Penn Syl Vania Ave, NW
Wa Shing Ton, D.C. 20580
Nigeria
Sincerely yours
Fede Raltra
Irene KHAAAAAAN!
Not April 1st.
This is a joke. And not even a funny one you racists.
Since Slashdot is now running tongue-in-cheek stories, for your entertainment here's one: http://www.blackpeopleloveus.com/
If the content wouldn't tip people off at the hoaxc one thing would for sure... :)
the Grammar, ITS GOOD and the spelling is good... so everyone knows there is no way Bush 43 wrote that
"Nimis exaltatus rex sedet in vertice - caveat ruinam!"
AP. June 1, 2003
Anonymous sources within SCO (SCOX Nasdaq) have today announced a lawsuit in Utah against the Nigerian government for misappropriation of of SCO's intellectual property via Nigeria's use of email to take money from the stupid and the weak.
In a related announcement SCO is advising all users of the Linux operating system that there is a large sum of money to paid pro rata to all Linux users in a secret Nigerian bank. All linux users are requested to contact SCO directly for confidential instructions on how to receive their funds.
0306011049
Hilton Abuja
From their site:
Creditcard confirmation required
-- Multics
"The hotel was very, very upscale. The running water was a nice touch! - Dr, Collins Mdadiwe
is the comma after "Dr"
Might be a spoof. Might not. All of it rings eerily plausible.
An MSN tech speaks
An infinite number of monkeys will eventually come up with the complete works of
IMMEDIATE ATTENTION NEEDED :
HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL
FROM: GEORGE WALKER BUSH
DEAR SIR / MADAM,
I AM GEORGE WALKER BUSH, SON OF THE FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA GEORGE HERBERT WALKER BUSH, AND CURRENTLY SERVING AS PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. THIS LETTER MIGHT SURPRISE YOU BECAUSE WE HAVE NOT MET NEITHER IN PERSON NOR BY CORRESPONDENCE. I CAME TO KNOW OF YOU IN MY SEARCH FOR A RELIABLE AND REPUTABLE PERSON TO HANDLE A VERY CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS TRANSACTION, WHICH INVOLVES THE TRANSFER OF A HUGE SUM OF MONEY TO AN ACCOUNT REQUIRING MAXIMUM CONFIDENCE.
I AM WRITING YOU IN ABSOLUTE CONFIDENCE PRIMARILY TO SEEK YOUR ASSISTANCE IN ACQUIRING OIL FUNDS THAT ARE PRESENTLY TRAPPED IN THE REPUBLIC OF IRAQ. MY PARTNERS AND I SOLICIT YOUR ASSISTANCE IN COMPLETING A TRANSACTION BEGUN BY MY FATHER, WHO HAS LONG BEEN ACTIVELY ENGAGED IN THE EXTRACTION OF PETROLEUM IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AND BRAVELY SERVED HIS COUNTRY AS DIRECTOR OF THE UNITED STATES CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY.
IN THE DECADE OF THE NINETEEN-EIGHTIES, MY FATHER, THEN VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, SOUGHT TO WORK WITH THE GOOD OFFICES OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF IRAQ TO REGAIN LOST OIL REVENUE SOURCES IN THE NEIGHBORING ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN. THIS UNSUCCESSFUL VENTURE WAS SOON FOLLOWED BY A FALLING OUT WITH HIS IRAQI PARTNER, WHO SOUGHT TO ACQUIRE ADDITIONAL OIL REVENUE SOURCES IN THE NEIGHBORING EMIRATE OF KUWAIT, A WHOLLY-OWNED U.S.-BRITISH SUBSIDIARY.
MY FATHER RE-SECURED THE PETROLEUM ASSETS OF KUWAIT IN 1991 AT A COST OF SIXTY-ONE BILLION U.S. DOLLARS ($61,000,000,000). OUT OF THAT COST, THIRTY-SIX BILLION DOLLARS ($36,000,000,000) WERE SUPPLIED BY HIS PARTNERS IN THE KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA AND OTHER PERSIAN GULF MONARCHIES, AND SIXTEEN BILLION DOLLARS ($16,000,000,000) BY GERMAN AND JAPANESE PARTNERS. BUT MY FATHER'S FORMER IRAQI BUSINESS PARTNER REMAINED IN CONTROL OF THE REPUBLIC OF IRAQ AND ITS PETROLEUM RESERVES.
MY FAMILY IS CALLING FOR YOUR URGENT ASSISTANCE IN FUNDING THE REMOVAL OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF IRAQ AND ACQUIRING THE PETROLEUM ASSETS OF HIS COUNTRY, AS COMPENSATION FOR THE COSTS OF REMOVING HIM FROM POWER. UNFORTUNATELY, OUR PARTNERS FROM 1991 ARE NOT WILLING TO SHOULDER THE BURDEN OF THIS NEW VENTURE, WHICH IN ITS UPCOMING PHASE MAY COST THE SUM OF 100 BILLION TO 200 BILLION DOLLARS ($100,000,000,000 - $200,000,000,000), BOTH IN THE INITIAL ACQUISITION AND IN LONG-TERM MANAGEMENT.
WITHOUT THE FUNDS FROM OUR 1991 PARTNERS, WE WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO ACQUIRE THE OIL REVENUE TRAPPED WITHIN IRAQ. THAT IS WHY MY FAMILY AND OUR COLLEAGUES ARE URGENTLY SEEKING YOUR GRACIOUS ASSISTANCE. OUR DISTINGUISHED COLLEAGUES IN THIS BUSINESS TRANSACTION INCLUDE THE SITTING VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, RICHARD CHENEY, WHO IS AN ORIGINAL PARTNER IN THE IRAQ VENTURE AND FORMER HEAD OF THE HALLIBURTON OIL COMPANY, AND CONDOLEEZA RICE, WHOSE PROFESSIONAL DEDICATION TO THE VENTURE WAS DEMONSTRATED IN THE NAMING OF A CHEVRON OIL TANKER AFTER HER.
I WOULD BESEECH YOU TO TRANSFER A SUM EQUALING TEN TO TWENTY-FIVE PERCENT (10-25 %) OF YOUR YEARLY INCOME TO OUR ACCOUNT TO AID IN THIS IMPORTANT VENTURE. THE INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WILL FUNCTION AS OUR TRUSTED INTERMEDIARY. I PROPOSE THAT YOU MAKE THIS TRANSFER BEFORE THE FIFTEENTH (15TH) OF THE MONTH OF APRIL.
I KNOW THAT A TRANSACTION OF THIS MAGNITUDE WOULD MAKE ANYONE APPREHENSIVE AND WORRIED. BUT I AM ASSURING YOU THAT ALL WILL BE WELL AT THE END OF THE DAY. A BOLD STEP TAKEN SHALL NOT BE REGRETTED, I ASSURE YOU. PLEASE DO BE INFORMED THAT THIS BUSINESS TRANSACTION IS 100% LEGAL. IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO CO-OPERATE IN THIS TRANSACTION, PLEASE CONTACT OUR INTERMEDIARY REPRESENTATIVES TO FURTHER DISCUSS THE MATTER.
I PRAY THAT YOU UNDERSTAND OUR PLIGHT. MY FAMILY AND OUR COLLEAGUES WILL BE FOREVER GRATEFUL. PLEASE REPLY IN STRICT CONFIDENCE TO THE CONTACT NUMBERS BELOW.
SINCERELY WITH WARM REGARDS,
GEORGE WALKER
Now *that* was funny ;-)
-psy
IMMEDIATE ATTENTION NEEDED :
HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL
FROM: GEORGE WALKER BUSH
DEAR SIR/MADAM,
I AM GEORGE WALKER BUSH, SON OF THE FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA GEORGE HERBERT WALKER BUSH, AND CURRENTLY SERVING AS PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. THIS LETTER MIGHT SURPRISE YOU BECAUSE WE HAVE NOT MET NEITHER IN PERSON NOR BY CORRESPONDENCE. I CAME TO KNOW OF YOU IN MY SEARCH FOR A RELIABLE AND REPUTABLE PERSON TO HANDLE A VERY CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS TRANSACTION, WHICH INVOLVES THE TRANSFER OF A HUGE SUM OF MONEY TO AN ACCOUNT REQUIRING MAXIMUM CONFIDENCE.
I AM WRITING YOU IN ABSOLUTE CONFIDENCE PRIMARILY TO SEEK YOUR ASSISTANCE IN ACQUIRING OIL FUNDS THAT ARE PRESENTLY TRAPPED IN THE REPUBLIC OF IRAQ. MY PARTNERS AND I SOLICIT YOUR ASSISTANCE IN COMPLETING A TRANSACTION BEGUN BY MY FATHER, WHO HAS LONG BEEN ACTIVELY ENGAGED IN THE EXTRACTION OF PETROLEUM IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AND BRAVELY SERVED HIS COUNTRY AS DIRECTOR OF THE UNITED STATES CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY.
IN THE DECADE OF THE NINETEEN-EIGHTIES, MY FATHER, THEN VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, SOUGHT TO WORK WITH THE GOOD OFFICES OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF IRAQ TO REGAIN LOST OIL REVENUE SOURCES IN THE NEIGHBORING ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN. THIS UNSUCCESSFUL VENTURE WAS SOON FOLLOWED BY A FALLING OUT WITH HIS IRAQI PARTNER, WHO SOUGHT TO ACQUIRE ADDITIONAL OIL REVENUE SOURCES IN THE NEIGHBORING EMIRATE OF KUWAIT, A WHOLLY-OWNED U.S.-BRITISH SUBSIDIARY.
MY FATHER RE-SECURED THE PETROLEUM ASSETS OF KUWAIT IN 1991 AT A COST OF SIXTY-ONE BILLION U.S. DOLLARS ($61,000,000,000). OUT OF THAT COST, THIRTY-SIX BILLION DOLLARS ($36,000,000,000) WERE SUPPLIED BY HIS PARTNERS IN THE KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA AND OTHER PERSIAN GULF MONARCHIES, AND SIXTEEN BILLION DOLLARS ($16,000,000,000) BY GERMAN AND JAPANESE PARTNERS. BUT MY FATHER'S FORMER IRAQI BUSINESS PARTNER REMAINED IN CONTROL OF THE REPUBLIC OF IRAQ AND ITS PETROLEUM RESERVES.
MY FAMILY IS CALLING FOR YOUR URGENT ASSISTANCE IN FUNDING THE REMOVAL OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF IRAQ AND ACQUIRING THE PETROLEUM ASSETS OF HIS COUNTRY, AS COMPENSATION FOR THE COSTS OF REMOVING HIM FROM POWER. UNFORTUNATELY, OUR PARTNERS FROM 1991 ARE NOT WILLING TO SHOULDER THE BURDEN OF THIS NEW VENTURE, WHICH IN ITS UPCOMING PHASE MAY COST THE SUM OF 100 BILLION TO 200 BILLION DOLLARS ($100,000,000,000 - $200,000,000,000), BOTH IN THE INITIAL ACQUISITION AND IN LONG-TERM MANAGEMENT.
WITHOUT THE FUNDS FROM OUR 1991 PARTNERS, WE WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO ACQUIRE THE OIL REVENUE TRAPPED WITHIN IRAQ. THAT IS WHY MY FAMILY AND OUR COLLEAGUES ARE URGENTLY SEEKING YOUR GRACIOUS ASSISTANCE. OUR DISTINGUISHED COLLEAGUES IN THIS BUSINESS TRANSACTION INCLUDE THE SITTING VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, RICHARD CHENEY, WHO IS AN ORIGINAL PARTNER IN THE IRAQ VENTURE AND FORMER HEAD OF THE HALLIBURTON OIL COMPANY, AND CONDOLEEZA RICE, WHOSE PROFESSIONAL DEDICATION TO THE VENTURE WAS DEMONSTRATED IN THE NAMING OF A CHEVRON OIL TANKER AFTER HER.
I WOULD BESEECH YOU TO TRANSFER A SUM EQUALING TEN TO TWENTY-FIVE PERCENT (10-25 %) OF YOUR YEARLY INCOME TO OUR ACCOUNT TO AID IN THIS IMPORTANT VENTURE. THE INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WILL FUNCTION AS OUR TRUSTED INTERMEDIARY. I PROPOSE THAT YOU MAKE THIS TRANSFER BEFORE THE FIFTEENTH (15TH) OF THE MONTH OF APRIL.
I KNOW THAT A TRANSACTION OF THIS MAGNITUDE WOULD MAKE ANYONE APPREHENSIVE AND WORRIED. BUT I AM ASSURING YOU THAT ALL WILL BE WELL AT THE END OF THE DAY. A BOLD STEP TAKEN SHALL NOT BE REGRETTED, I ASSURE YOU. PLEASE DO BE INFORMED THAT THIS BUSINESS TRANSACTION IS 100% LEGAL. IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO CO-OPERATE IN THIS TRANSACTION, PLEASE CONTACT OUR INTERMEDIARY REPRESENTATIVES TO FURTHER DISCUSS THE MATTER.
I PRAY THAT YOU UNDERSTAND OUR PLIGHT. MY FAMILY AND OUR COLLEAGUES WILL BE FOREVER GRATEFUL. PLEASE REPLY IN STRICT CONFIDENCE TO THE CONTACT NUMBERS BELOW.
SINCERELY WITH WARM REGARDS,
GEORGE WALKER
You know, people in nigeria do more then just spam people. I can't belive this racist bullshit made the front page.
autopr0n is like, down and stuff.
Desperate... "Free Hot Teen Girls Who Want To Sleep With You"...you tabasco lover you.
1) Learn how to type
2) Learn how to connect
3) Learn how to enlrage pennis
4) Learn how to enlarge breasts
5) Learn how to make ppl send you money willingly
6)Last but not least, learn how to make viagra..
The lunatic is in my head
No discussion of the nigerian fee scam is complete without a link to the single funniest thing I've read from Slashdot: a guy who went to a lot of trouble to scam the scammers. Trust me, you'll like it.
This one actually scared me. Imagine starting to receieve these scams on your mobile phone... That would very quickly render text-messages useless.
Dear brother Fede,
Is Decom Mission catholic or protestant mission?
How did this make it past the lameness filter?
We were arranging an essay competition once in my university. Because I was the chief editor (or some crappy designation) of a student club, I was supposed to come up with an email advert, which, after getting approved by the student club president, would have gotten mass-mailed to everyone in the faculty. Needless to say, I was pissed off with the arrangement; surely, there were better ways of spending a Sunday night. More to the point, writing emails wasn't fun.
So, as an effort at having some fun, while at the same time, creatively getting the message across, I took the George W Bush spam and modified it for university use:-
Surprisingly enough, I had to mail my prez thrice to get this through; seems the first two times, he mistook it for an actual Nigerian scam. Poetic success I guess.
No, we didn't mass-mail this version.
More than mere navel gazing.
At the bottom of the page it says :
OK. The joke's over. Nothing more to see here.
The J-Walk Blog
More Humor
That must have been a real skim read by CmdrTaco!
"Hey! Unless this is a nude love-in, get the hell off my property!!"
[Off Topic sig post]
Capitalism != (innovation|democracy|freedom)
You should change it to
Capitalism != Innovation != Democracy != Freedom
The way it is written implies it is against all those things instead of just an independent aspect of a society. I too get pissy when people say "democracy" but mean "everything we have." Democracy is just a good guard against change, which is why the first act of many democracies is to elect a dictator (think Africa) - a dictator is exactly what they had before.
.sig Karma out the wazoo, better to spend points elsewhere if this is above 2 or below 0
this is offensive
If thousands of recipients of such scams wrote back to the senders and engaged them in long, drawn out conversations, they would be so swamped with email that they would have to give up eventually. So everyone, hit reply every time you get a Nigerian/Angolan/Whatever scam letter that has a real return address. Their business depends on suckers replying to them, so GIVE THEM WHAT THEY ASK FOR!
Here's an example of such a conversation I had! It's actually kind of fun to see how long you can string them along.
It goes without saying that you should not give out your personal information to these slimeballs.
it's = "it is"; its = possessive. E.g., it's flapping its wings.
This guy pretends to be Randolph Carter from the writings of H.P. Loveraft. You know, the guy who created that great literary monster, Cthulhu.
:-)
It's quite a funny read.
Take off the blinders and look at http://j-walk.com/humor.htm
"Insanity in individuals is something rare, but in groups, parties, nations, and epochs it is the rule." - Nietzsche
Do SCO plan on attending?
were you expecting to see a sig here? perhaps you'd rather see the inside of an ambulance!
I really wish I had mod-points to mod you up.
Of course, any reasonable person would spot this web site for what it is -- hateful -- and respond with well-deserved scorn. However, since I am typical Slashdot reader, I am so intellegent and above-the-fold that these lowly issues do not touch me. I am beyond the hard black and white of issues, able to see through to the underlying grey as Neo sees through to the underlying truth of the Matrix. And though I am an unparalleled genius, I'd rather not waste a nanosecond of my valuable time to think about what I am reading. No! Such consideratioins flit through my massive brain without impression, inconsequential as gnats swarming an elephant. After all, the site is Just. A. Joke. And as all enlightening minds know, the guise of humor makes any topic acceptable.
Even racism.
Ha Ha Haaaaa!
Breakfast Kickoff Session
Your choice: A hard boiled egg, or two slices of white bread and a cricket
It's hard to find people who know how to make good cricket sandwiches anymore.
It seems that someone has taken the liberty of replying to the 419ers by leading them on until they go mad. Its quite a good way of treating these spammers with a taste of their own medicine.
The appropriate location is: http://www.geocities.com/scamjokepage/
How much further down can it go?
zeke
While everyone is making fun of these spammers, it might be worth noticing that these nigerians, perhaps unlike the people behind the penis enlargers, are truely serious criminals.
Only this week in amsterdam 6 nigerians got prison sentences up to 4.5 years for fraud, laundring money, and swindle, all related to these email scams.
This site makes it fun and easy to generate letters for your ligimite biziness proposals.
One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
ROFL. Very close to reality(IMHO) and funny at the same time! But why post this as AC?
I can't afford a sig!
Well, an SMS is probably too short (only 160 characters) to explain your scheme/scam in detail, so that might not be very useful.
But there have been reports of normal phone calls where money transfer offers have been made. See for example this newsgroup thread.
Local & General Info
Location:
Primary city
abuja 93m se trans: w r
General area
city downtown
Other points
abv 15m nw trans: t
???hod/locd
Abuja Sheraton
Now I'm not so sure...
"The likes of Facebook and WhatsApp are free to those whose privacy is of zero value."
That's bullshit. The Nigerian government IS part of the 419 scams. They always have been. There are numerous and confirmed accounts of people going to Nigeria to meet with the supposed Dr. Whatever or whatever title he claimed and being given tours of Nigerian Government buildings by people in the government. Saying that the Nigerian government isn't part of the scam is absolute bullshit. It's like saying that George W's administration didn't have a hand in bailing out Worldcom and lessoning the impact on the Enron execs. We all know what really happened there. Check your facts next time before you post. Oh, that's right. This is Slashdot. We don't check facts here.
Can we stop linking to these stupid fuckers blogs?
Telecommunications: Soliciting via cell phone text messaging: Can it work?
Having just recently acquired a wireless phone, this is something I'll be looking for...
Always look on the briight side of life! (whistle, whistle)
Dear Sir/Madam,
0 0.html for complete report on this incident.). May is gentle soul rest in peace. A curfew has been imposed in my country and the current president; Mr. Laurent Gbagbo has ordered my immediate arrest and detention. A lot of my father's close friends and relatives who are believed to have a connection in the coup are currently behind prison bars and under unbearable torture. Fortunately I was smuggled out of the country by men still loyal to my late father.
SOLICITATION FOR BUSINESS VENTURE AND PARTNERSHIP
I am the first son, of the late president of the Federal Republic Of Ivory Coast, (General) Robert Guei, who was murdered along with the interior minister on the 19th of September 2002 (please visit http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-421336,
Right now, I am safely away from all the trouble; another African country has offered me refuge. However all is not well, as President Laurent Gbagbo(the current president)has virtually frozen all my father's entire known asset. Face with this situation it is not wise for me to personally invest our foreign fund neither is it advisable to continue to leave it under my family's name. Hence I make this proposal to you, to graciously assist me, take custody of Twenty-seven Million United States Dollars (US$27,000,000.00). Also you are to front for me and my family in the areas of business you deem profitable.
This sum of US$27M has been secretly deposited into a reputable security company, where it can easily be withdrawn or paid to a recommended beneficiary. The fund will be released to you by the security company based on my recommendations, on that note, you will be presented as my family business partner who will be fronting for me and my family in any subsequent ventures.
To show my preparedness and appreciation to conduct this business with you, I shall give you and your family US$5.4M of the funds and 20% commission on all proceeds realize from the investment of this fund. Also US$1.35M is to be set aside for any eventual cost that may occur in the process of this transaction.
Please, I need your full support and co-operation for the success of this venture. I plead with you to treat as urgent and confidential. This is a delicate issue, which demands a great degree of secrecy. Have my current political status in mind.
I sincerely will appreciate your express acknowledgement of the receipt of this mail.
Yours truly,
MR. SOLOMON GUEI.
The other day I got an "e-mail" from Slobodan Milosovich's wife but with the same style wording as the Nigerian e-mails. She was saying that she needed access to her husband's money which was locked in an account.
Ok all things considered, would you really feel right with his money considering the things he did?
ATTN: CHAIRMANMANAGING DIRECTOR SECRECT & CONFIDENCIAL First I must solicit your confidence in this Transaction, this is by virtue of its nature as being Utterly confidential and top secret. Though I know That a transaction of this magnitude will make any one Apprehensive and worried, but I am assuring you o f the authenticity and originality. We have Decided to contact you due to the urgency involve, we are using this medium of contact as being the only option open to us for now so therefore bear with us. we have been reliably informed of your Discreetness and ability in a transaction of this Nature. I am Mrs. Hajia Mariam Abacha, the wife of the late Nigerian Head of State who died on the 8th of June 1998 while in active services. Following the sudden death of my husband, General Sani Abacha, the present Civilian Government has thrown me into a state of utter confusion, frustration,and hopelessness. I have been subjected to in human physical and physiological torture by the security agents in my country. My first son is still under detention, arraigned before the Federal High Court of Nigeria for an offence committed by his late father. The incumbent civilian administration of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo has intensified his probe of my late husbands activities while in the office and he has frozen all our local and foreign accounts together with other assets of my family as a retaliation for what my late husband did to him when he was alive as the Head of the Military regime in Nigeria. As a matter of fact, we have been declared bankrupt and they are not relenting to make us poor for life. As a widow that is so traumatized, I have lost confidence with anybody within my country as all those who benefited immensely during the regime of my late husband have openly abandoned all my family. You must have heard over the media reports and the Internet on the recovery of various huge sums of money deposited by my late husband in different Banks and security firms abroad. Some of these banks and security firms willingly gave-up/divulge their banking secrets and disclosed to the present civilianadministration of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, all my familys cash lodgement and monetary transactions with them. Please, I repose great confidence in you, and I hope you will not betray my confidence in you. I have secretly deposited the sum of $25,000,000.00(twenty five million united states dollars) with a security firm abroad whose name is withheld for now until we open communications,this money is part of the bond secretly deposited with the london club,which through a Dutch Auction we were able to sell us$25,000,000,00 being part of the bonds.for more clarification of this matter log on to one 0f our local news papers www.thisdayonline.com ,Achive,december 9th, 2002 issue,for more
clearification I shall be grateful if you could receive this
fund into your Bank account for safekeeping. I am proposing a 20% share
of the fund to you for your kind assistance 5% for local and
international expenses incured by both you and me. I shall provide for
you all the documents of the fund deposit with the
security firm,and raise a power of attorney `to enable you claim and
receive this fund. Please honesty is the watchword in this transaction.
And the transaction is 100% risk free. Also this transaction demands
absolute confidentiality. On no condition m
ust you disclose it to anybody irrespective of your relation with the
person. Any contact should be made through our family
lawyer, his name is Barrister Idris gwazo,
email address: (gwazo_and_associates@juno.com)
I look forward to your urgent and positive
response.
Best regards,
Mrs.Hajia Maryam Abacha
if you need to contact me you can reach me on my private email address ABACHAWIDOW@37.com
__________________________________________________ _
GO.com Mail
Get Your Free, Private E-mail at http://mail.go.com
Dear Mr/Mrs ,
You may be surprise to receive this letter from me, since you
don'tknow me personally; I am Mr,Okunta Aboyethe son of
Tamamba Aboye who was recently murdered in a land dispute in
Zimbabwe.
I am writing this letter to request your assistance and
confidentiality to handle a transfer of fund into a Foreign
account and I decided to write you,my late father was among
the few black Zimbabwean rich farmers murdered in cold blood
by the agents of the ruling Government of President Robert
Mugabe, for his alleged support and sympathy for the
Zimbabwean opposition party controlled by the white minority,
Before my fathers death, he has taken to Europe and
deposited the sum of Twelve Million United State Dollars
($12million)with a Security and Finance Company as if he
foreseen the looming danger in Zimbabwe.
This money was allocated for the purchase of new Machinery and
chemical products for Agro allied farm and for the
establishment of new farms in Lesotho and Swaziland. These
land problems arose when President Robert Mugabe introduced a
new land act that wholly affected the rich white farmers, and
the blacks vehemently condemned the "modus operandi" adopted by
the government. This resulted to rampant Killings and mob action
by the war veterans and some political thugs,precisely more than three
thousands(3,000)people have so far been killed.
Heads of government from the west, especially Britain and United States
have voiced their condemnation of Mugabe's plans. Subsequently,
South Africa Development Community (S.A.D.C) has continuously supported
Mugabe's new land act, it is against this background that my entire family
who are currently residing in Nigeria have decided to
transfer my father's money into a foreign account. As the
eldest son of my father, I am saddled with the responsibility
of seeking a genuine foreign account where this money could be
transferred without the knowledge of my government who are
tactically freezing our family's wealth and South Africa
government seem to be playing along with them. I am faced with
the dilemma of investing this money in Africa for the
fear of encountering the same experience in the future,since
African countries have the same political history.
More so, The African Foreign Exchange policy does not
allow such investment, Hence I am seeking for political asylum
in The Europe.As a business person whom I entrusted my
future and that of my family into his hands, I must let you
know that this transaction is 100% risk free and the nature of
your business does not necessarily matter. For your
assistance,we are offering you 25% of the sum 70% for me and
my family, while 5% will be mapped out for any expenses that
we may incurred during this transaction.We wish to invest our
money on commercial properties based on your advice.
Finally, I will demand for assurance that you will not sit on the money
when it gets to the account you are going to provide in your country.If
this proposal is accepted by you,
please confirm your interest by sending me an email
Thank you and God bless you.
waiting your urgent respond.
Best Regard
Okunta Aboye.
Dear friend,
I am Mrs. Becky Coleman wife to the late Chife Paul Coleman from
Sierra Leon. I am writing you in absolute confidence primarily to seek
your assistance to transfer our cash of thirty Million Dollars
($30,000.000.00) now in the custody of a private Security trust firm in Europe
the money is in trunk boxes
deposited and declared as Precious stones by my late Husband as a
matter of fact the company does not know the content as money, although my
husband made them to under stand that the boxes belongs to his foreign partner.
Source of the money:
My late Husband Chief Paul Coleman , a native of Mende District in
the Northerh province of Sierra Leone, was the General Manager of Sierra
Leone Mining co-operation (S.L.M.C.) Freetown . According to my
Husband, this money was the income accrued from Mining Co-operation's over
draft and minor sales.
Before the peak of the civil war between the rebels forces of Major
Paul Koroma and the combined forces of ECOMOG peace keeping operation that
almost destroyed my country, following the forceful removal from power
of the civilian elected President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah by the rebels. My
Husband had already made arrangement for I and my two children to be
evacuated to Ivory coast with the CERTIFICATE OF DEPOSIT he made with a
security firm in Europe through the aid of U.N evacuation team.
During the war in my country, and following the indiscriminate looting
of Public and Government properties by the rebel forces, the Sierra Leone
mining coop. Was one of the target looted and it was destroyed. My
husband including other top Government functionaries were attaked and
killed by the rebels in November 2000 because of his relationship with the
civilian Government of Ahmed Tejan Kabbah.
As a result of my husbands's death , and with the information we got
that the rebelsa are out for us the burden became too much for me to
handle coupled with the ill health of my dauther she died in the process as
i could not afford her a decent medical care.
Our only hope now is in you and the boxes deposited in the Security Firm
To this effect, I humbly solicit your assistance in the followings ways.
1. to assist me claim this boxes from the security Firm as our beneficiary
2. to transfer this money (USD$30M) in your name to your country
3. to make a good arrangement for a joint business investment on our
behalf in your country and you, our Adviser/ Manager
For your assistance, I have agreed with my only surviving son that 20%
of the total amount will be for your effort and another 10 % to cover
all the expenses
that may incur during the business transaction, Last, I urge you to
keep this transaction strictly confidential as no one knows our where
about.
Please as you show your willingness, Forward to us your full name,
address and Tel/ Fax numbers, to me via my private email address as
indicated bellow, this is for security reasons as i will only be accessing my
private email earnestly awaiting your response.
Thanks.
May God bless you as you assist us.
Mrs. BECKY COLEMAN.
Mr.Jolly Moolman
Dear Friend,
I am an accountant and a member of the Contract Tender Board (CTB) of the Petroleum, Oil & Gas Corporation of South Africa (PTY) Ltd also known as Petro SA. I am presently on a special diplomatic duty in the South Africa foreign office in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. I got your contact through discreet inquiries in my search for a reliable individual or company who can handle a strictly confidential transaction that involves the transfer of a reasonable sum of money to a foreign account. I have no doubt in your ability to handle a financial business of considerable amount, which will form the bedrock of an extensive business partnership in due course. In unfolding this proposal, I want to count on your status that you will handle this transaction with all maturity and confidentiality it deserves.
The money we want to transfer to you amount to a total of US$15.500,000.00 (Fifteen Million, Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars) only. It was extracted from various over-invoiced contracts, masterminded by myself and some of my colleagues for our mutual benefit when the contracts was awarded by the Contracts Tender Board (CTB) of the Petroleum, Oil & Gas Corporation of South Africa (PTY) Ltd. The above over-invoiced sum has been drafted and short-listed for final payment to a foreign bank account and it has been reflected as an amount to be paid to a foreign contractor for contract that has been executed for the Petroleum, Oil & Gas Corporation of South Africa (PTY) Ltd. The money is currently floating in the suspense account of the South Africa Reserve Bank (SARB) awaiting claim by a foreign partner, which status we absolutely want you to assume. The code of conduct bureau in South Africa has made it an offence for civil servants like us to(A) operate a foreign account (B) own a foreign company and (C) take up contract while still in active service. This is why we need your assistance.
Now is the optimum period to realize this fund following the recent directive given to all-federal parastatals and corporations to pay off all foreign debts. I therefore seek your assistance to allow the remittance of this fund to be made to your personal or company's bank account. We have agreed that 30% of the total sum will be given to you and 70% will be for me and my colleagues after the successful transference of the fund to your bank account.
I want to assure you that all modalities for the successful transfer of this money to your account has been perfectly worked out and as such, there is no fear of failure. However, I would want to believe that you are honest enough and will not raise any misgiving attitude In any aspect of the transaction. Most importantly, you will keep this transaction very confidential so as not to tarnish the confidence reposed on these officials by the nation's financial house.
If this business proposal interest you, kindly indicate your willingness to me through email Address: jollymool@netscape.net for immediate commencement of the transaction. To enable this fund to be successfully transferred to your account, you will also have to provide the following information:
1.Your company name and address that you wish to use as the beneficiary to claim the fund.
2.Your private telephone,fax Numbers.
3.Your Bank name, address and account number where you would want the money remitted.
More information about the remittance of the fund to your account will be sent to you when I receive your response. Meanwhile, your swift response will help us to meet the ultimatum given to all foreign contractors in this payment quarter to ensure that funds are claimed.
We also wish to discuss investment strategy with you. We have the plan of investing part of our fund in real estate with your assistance in your country.
Please, treat this information as confidential.
Yours faithfully,
Jolly Moolman
Hey if Clinton can't get enough money from drug running Chinese army officers why not go to Nigeria and get some spam money.
How'd you get past the lameness filter, anyway?
Anyone who beleives that the Nigerian Scams are actually sent by Nigerians probably beleives in Santa Clause and the Tooth Fairy.
The spam is sent by cowards of no particular color race or nationality. Is it easy to post something like this because Nigerians are black ?
Free Web based FTP
The article failed to mention that the conference will be held entirely in the Click-Clack language.
That was certainly an amusing read. But you believe it? He somehow received gold sent to him? But he clearly pointed out in the series of e-mail exchanges that he was careful not to give the scammer an actual address, even when the scammer wanted to send him the fake documents via DHL.
Time to use the "travelling out of the office" gambit to avoid sending an address. .......2) I'm travelling between offices this week so finding an office to DHL to forms to is problematical. It would be much simpler and more efficient to email or FAX the forms to me.
This was supposedly after he already had the gold. Maybe he wasn't the only one being scammed! It would have been hard to get that gold with giving an address!
I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.
Well the Nigerian scheme is nothing but the reflection of a culture, in other words, if you are lazy and want to get more for nothing what else would you do?. (Just in case not all nigerians are lazy, the honest and prepared ones are mostly overseas, or are trying to get out from Nigeria, for their good I dare to say) These are some interesting facts about Nigeria that maybe will help to understand the why of the Nigerian Mail Scheme: Nigeria is one of the countries with most Mercedes Benz and BMWs than a middle east country, if not they are battling for the title. The weird thing is that the streets seems like being bombarded or are a tribute to ancient roads, so why do you have such expensive car to drive along this awful streets?. People preffer to have one of these cars than having a house. When a Nigerian greets you there is a good chance for him to say: What do you have for me?. Nigerians preffer a contractor to pass them money than get a job well done. This reffers to telecomunications, oil industry and other economic activities. Nigeria is second to Bangladesh on the most corrupt country in the world. Sorry I've got to leave but I'm oppening an account for my friend Otiki deposit some founds from the Nigerian goat and cheese ministry. Cheers!!!
How in the world did you get that past the lameness filter? It's all in caps!
I actually fell for this one, same name and everything (Kaffour), and we went through the whole transaction, and I got approximately $900,000 out of it [the price of gold has risen]. But now I'm worrying, because I am afraid that he'll be robbing my bank accounts the next time this goes through.
I can't belive this is even on slashdot! many people have died in
niger believing that they are actually going to get money.
I'm totally in favor of this scam. I think it's a litmus test for greedy idiots. Anyone foolish enough to fall for this scam, or order the $153 Leptoprin weight loss pills, the $9.95 commemorative colored US quarter, or any other overhyped useless product deserves to be ripped off.
The only missing part is to wait a few months, then put these scrupulous marketers in the same room with the people they ripped off, lock the door, and move on to a better, more productive society.
I am skeptical of anything with "Nigeria" and "Email" in it. Sorry, Dan
This one was making the rounds last year:
Subject: REQUEST FOR CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS TRANSACTION
ATTN: President/CEO
I am the widow of the late President George W. Bush of the United
States of America. I am writing you this letter in confidence
regarding my current circumstances.
I escaped the United States ahead of death squads with my husband and
two children Jenna and Barbara, moving first to England and then, when
my husband's political enemies took power there, to Austria. All of
our wealth, obtained legitimately through baseball, oil drilling and
insider trading, was seized by the new government of the USA under the
despotic regime of (Dr.) Noam Chomsky, except for the contents of a
few Swiss bank accounts. These bank accounts, which contain social
security lock-box funds and the bulk of the 2001 budget surplus, could
not be accessed by me or my children, due to agreements made between
the socialist government of the USA and Swiss bank regulators. They
seized our ranch in Crawford, Texas and now use it to teach
homosexualist propaganda to schoolchildren.
When my husband died during a visit to the Mr. Salty factory here in
Vienna, I decided to lay low, changing my identity and communicating
only through Mrs. Peggy Noonan. However, now that Chomsky is dead of
apoplexy, my advisors suggest that the time is right for me to
transfer some of these funds. I will wish to deposit $1,250,000,000 in
a bank account for certain purchases, investments and other safe and
reliable business opportunities. Please respond to this letter and
indicate your interest in receiving the money for us. I will stress
again how important confidentiality is; my husband's political enemies
would like nothing better than to see me made penniless and our
hard-earned retirement funds turned over to Tom Daschle.
Please respond with your contact information, including fax and
telephone numbers, to signal interest in this mutually beneficial
transaction. I will provide an introduction to my son (Frank), who
will work with you in determining the logistics of the transfer and
the method and amount of your remuneration. I would contact you via
phone directly, but a spot of trouble in my youth has made me doubt
myself around heavy machinery.
In sincere anticipation of a productive relationship,
Mrs. George W. Bush
According to this article in the Beeb, corruption is costing Nigeria 1billion usd per year....
:^]
Makes you wonder how many of these scams are true
Jaj
Dear friend, You may be surprised to receive this letter from me since you do not know me personally, although I am sure you know me by reputation. I am William Gates, "Bill" to many, and as you know, a recent refugee from the company Mi*ft. I got your contact through network online hence decided to write you. Before my flight from the United States to Swaziland I had accumulated tens of billions of dollars which I secreted in several private security companies, foreseeing the looming dangers and my own personal risks in the U.S. This money was deposited in a few boxes in the form of compile-and-run ".net" modules to avoid much demurrage from the Security Companies. This amount was meant for the purchase of new machines and chemicals for the Farms and establishment of new farms in Swaziland. But I have traveled to the Netherlands and I am currently staying in the Netherlands where I am seeking political asylum and more so have decided to transfer my money to a more reliable foreign account. Since the law of Europe prohibits a refugee (asylum seeker) to open any bank account or to be involved in any financial transaction throughout the territorial zone of European Union. As the richest child of my father, I am saddled with the responsibility of seeking a genuine foreign account where this money could converted to cash and transferred without the knowledge of my government who are bent on taking everything we have got. The South African government seems to be playing along with them. I am faced with the dilemma of moving this amount of money through the Netherlands for fear of going through the same experience in future. Both countries have similar political history. I am seeking for a partner who I have to entrust my future and that of my family in his hands, I must let you know that this transaction is risk free. If you accept to assist me and my family, all I want you to do for me is to make arrangements with the security companies to clear the Consignment (funds) from their affiliate office here in the Netherlands as I have already given directives for the consignment to be brought to the Netherlands from South Africa. But before then all modalities will have to be put in place like change of ownership to the consignment. I have three options for you. Firstly you can choose to have certain percentage of the money for nominating your account for this transaction. Secondly I can share with you the backdoor login and password to the Passport system. Thirdly you can go into partnership with me for the proper profitable investment of the money in your country. Whichever the option you want, feel free to notify me. I have also mapped out 2% of this money for all kinds of expenses incurred in the process of this transaction. If you do not prefer a partnership I am willing to give you 10% of the money while the remaining 88% will be for my investment in your country. My goodness that's four alternatives, isn't it? Contact me immediately. I implore you to maintain the absolute secrecy required if you enter into this transaction. Thanks, BLESS YOU. Best regards. I know that there are many in this world who do not trust me very much so I am prepared for a difficult search to find my partner. Please pass ths plea on to those of your acquaintance who you know can be trusted with this information.
Breakfast Kickoff Session:
Your choice: A hard boiled egg, or two slices of white bread and a cricket.
What kind of a meal is that? If I am going to pay almost a thousand dollars to go to this conference, I expect at least three slices of bread with my cricket!
there could be only one explanation: TACO IS TROLLING!
Deny it all you want, Scam 419 IS Nigeria's second largest revenue source, the first being crude oil.
If you care to call the phone number provided in the various Scam 419 spam emails, you would find that those are REAL phone numbers, connected to REAL Nigerian governmental ministries.
No, I haven't fall for the scam, but several of my friends did.
Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
I had posted earlier without reading the link, but yes, after reading about crap such as eating cricket for lunch, I must agree with you. The webpage is, indeed, disgusting racist humour. We may hate spam, but there's no need to vilify whole nations or ethnicities in the process.
Moderators, please mod me down for not getting it.
More than mere navel gazing.
At the bottom of the page is found:
got one of these guys to believe my name was Hugh G. Reckshun, as can be seen in this lovely "legal document" he prepared for me.
Thanks Mr. Savimbi!
Vonal Declosion
so Stupidity is the West's biggest export, then?
-don't take this as a poke at the u.s. - there are stupid bastards all over the world....
How in the hell is this off topic?
autopr0n is like, down and stuff.
BLAIR IN WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION CRISIS
Jun 2 2003
By Bob Roberts
mirror.co.uk
TONY Blair last night faced demands to prove that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction or risk his future as Premier.
Amid growing doubts over whether there were any such weapons, former Cabinet Minister Clare Short claimed the country was "duped" into war by Downing Street spin.
And ex-colleague Robin Cook called it a "monumental blunder", adding: "There was no compelling need to go to war."
Labour MPs demanded the evidence be made public and for an inquiry into the run-up to war to see if Downing Street manipulated intelligence.
And they warned Mr Blair's Premiership would be at stake if the public cannot be convinced the Government told the truth.
But Mr Blair insisted he had seen private proof that Iraq had biological and chemical weapons and said he would publish a dossier.
Robin Cook joined the growing row yesterday, saying: "It is beginning to look as though the Government has committed a monumental blunder. The reality is that there was no compelling need to go to war."
He spoke as a series of Labour MPs demanded that Tony Blair publish the evidence for Saddam Hussein's chemical and biological weapons - and warned that his Premiership is at stake.
In a dossier of "evidence" before the war Downing Street claimed that Iraq could launch WMDs within 45 minutes.
But intelligence sources have claimed this was based on only one unreliable source - and that they were ordered to include it in the dossier by Downing Street chief spin doctor Alastair Campbell.
Mr Cook said: "We have not found any of these chemical shells capable of being used in 45 minutes or 45 hours.
"We have been in Iraq since the war ended for over 45 days and we have not found a single chemical shell. It is obvious that that statement was wrong."
Former International Development Secretary Clare Short claimed the country was "duped" into going to war.
She said Mr Blair and US President George Bush had agreed as far back as last September to start the war in the spring.
And she claimed intelligence was manipulated to make sure the invasion date was met.
Ms Short said: "We were duped bythe speed. The claiming that stuff was weaponised and might be used in 45 minutes was part of a secret commitment to a date which meant everything had to be hurried along."
She added:"I think on a question as big as this, where lots of people have lost their lives, we've got to get to the truth."
She also claimed the PM "duped" her about France's determination to veto a second UN resolution - to persuade her to stay in the Cabinet.
Former Armed Forces Minister Doug Henderson called on Mr Blair to publish all his evidence.
He said: "I don't think the Government have any alternative but to err on the side of giving the public every bit of evidence to justify their position. If we don't get a satisfactory conclusion to this issue then I think the public - and indeed Parliament - are going to be extremely wary about believing the Government on anything else." Labour backbenchers said the Prime Minister's job was on the line if he was found to have deliberately lied to Parliament.
Veteran Tam Dalyell said: "Bluntly, if it was a question of gullibility, that is not a resigning issue. If it was done on purpose then the Commons would have to come to a judgment." Leading anti-war campaigner Alice Mahon said: "He has staked his political career on this."
The Tories are giving "serious consideration" to joining calls for an independent inquiry. Leader Iain Duncan Smith, who strongly supported the war, discussed the issue with senior colleagues Michael Ancram and Michael Howard at the weekend.
Mr Howard said there was "a good deal of strength" in the argument that an inquiry would be the best way to get at the truth.
If Mr Blair exaggerated intelligence to win support for the war it would be "an im
I've been a lurker on slashdot for a while now (close to a year), and whenever this topic comes up, I feel more than just a little bit....embarrased. It really is sad that my country should become world-famous for something as hateful as 419.
Now I know that many will probably not see this post at all (being close to 72 hours late and all) but who knows? I just thought I should try and shed some more light on the situation than has been done already.
419 has been a problem in Nigeria for YEARS...the advent of e-mail simply enabled the scamers to spread their wings further beyond our shores. Wealthy Nigerians have since grown wise to the scams, so the boys began to target foreigners, who are generally more trusting and gullible. These days, with the advent of the Internet and programs such as Worldcast, they've turned to spam, and as such have become a worldwide issue.
The truth is, the Government has little or nothing to do with 419 spam. The money made from this is absolute peanuts compared to what they rake in daily by misappropriating crude oil funds.
Similarly, the popular slashdot view that SPAM is Nigeria's main use for the Internet is just plain wrong. While awaiting my compulsory Youth Service scheme upon graduating, I worked at a number of cybercafes as a sysadmin. We had some igbo men (That tribe practically breeds conmen...) come in and pay special rates for 'Night Browsing' which simply meant sending 419 mail. However most of the time what we had were students and people desperate to keep in touch with relatives studying/living abroad, and (get this) anime/game freaks coming to use Imesh and Kazaa. The Biggest source of revenue, by the way, is Net2Phone. We could charge as much as 50 Naira a minute for this and still suffer overcrowding. Remember, this was 1999 before GSM made its Nigerian debut. Even now, Cafes still charge as much as N30 a minute for Net2Phone, and the business is still going strong (as far as I know,that is.I left Cybercafes behind a long time ago and now make a living writing Databases)
Now I'm not trying to downplay the scale of the problem (it is a major one- and simply barring 419-ers from using your cafe isnt the end of the story. One of the cafes I worked at did this, and the spammers simply walked across the road to the next guy and continued.) but it may become easier to understand why it is such a problem when you realise that the perpetrators of this are a relatively small, largely invisible subset of the society. You can't trace them, and you don't know who is one. Time was, 419-ers would share a taxi with you, strike up a conversation, and continue from there. Sometimes they use phone calls. Other times they offer to help you cheat at school. (Uni over here is a cut-throat affair. The schools are overcrowded and competition is extra-keen. Fail at school and you are a failure for life. I'm glad that phase of my life is over.)
I guess I should stop here- I've written a lot considering I dont expect many to read this. Just hoping this would clarify some things for some people and provide another point of view.
Shinsengumi de gozaru