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Nigeria Detains 500 419 Fraudsters

Posted by timothy on from the bet-you-pray-real-nice dept.

Traicovn writes "Nigeria's agency against economic and financial crime said on Monday that it had detained more than 500 suspects and seized property worth more than $500-million from suspected fraudsters. 'Presently we have over 500 suspects in custody, seized assets and recovered properties worth over $500-million with over 100 cases at various stages of prosecution,' agency chairman Nuhu Ribadu told a seminar. For the rest of the article, visit IAfrica. Personally, I like this 419 spoof."

8 of 42 comments (clear)

  1. Cottage Industry by ericspinder · · Score: 4, Funny

    Silly me, I had always assumed that at least most of the 419 scams just *said* that they were from Nigeria. More than a Half-A-Billion dollar cottage industry in a poor country like Nigeria and that was just what the fraudsters had left for the government to take, WOW, A whole economy based on stupid, greedy people.

    --
    The grass is only greener, if you don't take care of your own lawn.
    1. Re:Cottage Industry by codexus · · Score: 3, Insightful

      WOW, A whole economy based on stupid, greedy people.

      Best definition for "capitalism" I've ever seen!

      --
      True warriors use the Klingon Google
  2. It must be said by Ann+Elk · · Score: 4, Funny

    They just need a way to get the $500 million out of the country. They heard from a mutual friend that you are a trustworthy person...

  3. If they arressted 500 people by dcocos · · Score: 3, Interesting

    and they had $500 million, that's 1 million per person in a country where the average per capita income is $290 a year, the scammers should have stopped while they were a head.

    1. Re:If they arressted 500 people by Saganaga · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Never underestimate the human capacity for greed.

  4. Re:/huh by ChipMonk · · Score: 4, Informative

    Short-circuit explanation: Read the spoof linked from the article. Does it sound familiar? No? I am truly jealous.

    The name "419" refers to the Nigerian criminal code section that this spam violates. No idea how many victims it has claimed, but it has been a cottage industry there for about three years now. These arrests should put a dent in the operation.

  5. Re:Does any one know anything about Nigera? by Tackhead · · Score: 3, Funny
    > I read the article. I was glad that 500 people were "detained" for fraud. I wasn't thrilled when I read the sentence "although the identities of those in EFCC custody are not formally revealed, observers noted that they included legislators, lawyers, politicians, bankers and public functionaries."
    >
    >I hope this wasn't 419 rich people were detained while their government took $500 million of their money and other assets.Reading the article, it sounded all above board that the Nigerian government was doing this for the public good. I just felt terrified that I might be reading proganda. Is there any one that knows anything about the government of Nigera and their policies?

    1. Issue press release claiming detention of 500 419 scammers and $500M of defrauded funds.

    2. Make Slashdot posting to speculate that instead of it being 500 419 scammers, it's 500 innocent people been shaken down for $1M apiece.

    We know that 4. must == "Profit!!!", and therefore we solve for 3. to obtain:

    3. 500,000,419 emails, all reading:

    "GOD BLESS! I am Crown Prince N'Krumba Fubar! The Nigerian government has issued a false press release claiming a crackdown on the 419 scammers that bedevil our great and proud nation. The truth is that 500 innocent legislators, lawyers, politicans, bankers, and public functionaries have had the sum of FIVE HUNDRED MILLION U.S. DOLLARS ($500,000,000) unawlfully seized from them! I am but an innocent victim of this horrible atrocity, and wish to enlist your assistance in recouping only MY FAIR SHARE of what was taken from me - the sum of ONE MILLION U.S. DOLLARS ($1,000,000)! If you can help, please send details of your account to..."
  6. Related links by JuggleGeek · · Score: 4, Interesting
    A woman was sentenced recently after having fallen for a 419 scam, and then stealing money from her employer (and their customers) to send to the scammers.

    Some people have hobbies where they pretend to be falling for the scam, just to see what kind of wierd nonsense they can get the scammer to do. This site has some funny pictures...

    http://tbp.berkeley.edu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=303

    More scammer-baiting can be found at http://www.419eater.com. And if you want more, just click on their links page - their are lots.