"Nigerian" Spammer Arrested

Roger_Wilco writes "According to The Globe and Mail, a "Nigerian" spammer has been charged with with first-degree attempted larceny. Hopefully we'll get a few less of that spam now."

Comments

Check out the hilarious Nigerian Spam responses at

[i_want_you_to_throw_]

TheSpamLetters.com. The guy who runs the site spends time writing back people who send him spam and has some great ones related to Nigerian Spam. He keeps a running documentation of the give and take. It's a really good read if you need a laugh.

Really funny is this one where the alleged Nigerian is requesting contact info and the guy sends him the phone numbers for the Secret Service division that handles the Nigerian Scam. Priceless. He never heard back from the alleged Nigerian after that.

That explains it

[Saint Aardvark]

No wonder this guy never got back to me.

Shame, really. I was looking forward to a long, hard talk about things with him...

You can't arrest him!

[Audent]

That guy owes me $US45,000,000!

aw, sheesh... now how am I gonna pay my SCO licence?

similar scams

[tarzan353]

this 'nigerian spam' idea has appeared in other forms as well.

i'm trying to sell my car and posted it on a few free car sales websites. so far, i've received 4 of emails exactly like this:

"We have a client who is interested in purchasing
your ( 2000 vw gti vr6 glx ) for the price of $( 14,500 ).Please forward me your final asking price "

of course, i then reply with the price confirmation, but then i get this:

"Hello,

Thanks a lot for your mail and the information, also for all your efforts towards making this transaction a success, i really love it and wish to buy as soon as possible. Anyway, this is how we are going to seal this transaction there is an associate of mine in the US who is owing me $19,800 i am going to instruct him to send you a cashier's check for that amount,and when it clears your bank you can now send my balance by Westernunion. Although i know that the value of the check is more than the price of the 2000 VW GTI VR6 GLX, but i am willing to trust you with my balance So if this offer is acceptable to you,let me have your contact information so that i can instruct my associate to send you a check,that is your name,address and phone number Please get back to me as soon as soon as you get this mail so that i can know your decision regards this transaction. I am banking on my balance so that i will be able to settle my shippers here in there local office because it is cheaper and faster.My regards to the family

Banks"

so this scam basically falls upon the same principle. obviously we all know where this is going, but i decide to play along anyway and sent him a bogus PO box to send the check to.

the next email was this:
"Thanks so much for the mail and the rightful information. Anyway, i just want you to know that what is required is your physical address and phone number, so as to deliver the payment to you in person. So, do well to let me have your Full name, physical address and phone number, in order to get the payment to you as soon as possible. And what do you mean by "terrifc deal"?. Waiting to hear back from you soon. Thank you and God bless.

Regards

Banks"

my question: why does he need my physical address and phone number? it's obvious at this point he will let me know about some snag and that i need to send him some money for whatever reason.

on a side note, i am selling my Volkswagen GTI VR6 GLX if anyone is interested.

so, people selling their autos online, be wary of this scam.

Wait a second - Nigerian Scam run from Canada?

[Aging_Newbie]

Now even Nigerians are outsourcing their functions? Will Wonders Never Cease!

Re:similar scams - how this one works

[ShinyBrowncoat]

From snopes:

The scam works because the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) requires banks to make money from cashier's, certified, or teller's checks available in one to five days. Consequently, funds from checks that might not be good are often released into payees' accounts long before the checks have been honored by their issuing banks. High quality forgeries can be bounced back and forth between banks for weeks before anyone catches on to their being worthless, by which time victims have long since wired the "overpayments" to the con artists who have just taken them for a ride.