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Sydney 419 Scammer Jailed
kjots writes "The ABC is reporting that the Sydney District Court has sentenced a disability pensioner to more than five years in jail for his part behind a Nigerian email scam. One down ..."
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How come when they finally get busted, it's not the stereotypical sleazeball you hope for? Life would be easy if it were 1 dimensional. Oh well, still good to see crime being punished.
I modify the namea/dates/amounts/etc, and fire this off:
Dear DR.ONORIODE BOBOLO,
It is so good to hear from a fellow-countryman, having been raised and lived for many years in our most beautiful homeland, Nigeria. I want to send you my sincere thanks and gratitude for your kind offer of USD$25,000.000.00 (TWENTY FIVE MILLION UNITED STATE DOLLARS) for taking part in this funds transfer transaction.
However, I am a businessman too, and I make my living transferring large sums of money from and to my friends, relatives, and business associates in Nigeria. Therefore, I know that you would agree, that in order to participate in this wonderful opportunity, I must have an advance monetary commitment from you -- a good faith gesture on your part -- in order to proceed.
Therefore, I ask that you deposit just 10% ($2,500,000) of the $25M into my PayPal account as an indication that you truly possess the funds and are actually authorized to release them. Using the online PayPal service is a very convenient and secure way to transfer funds. All you need do is access the PayPal web site -- http://www.paypal.com -- open a PayPal account, deposit the funds into your new account, and then transfer the money into my existing account, which has already been set up to receive the $25M.
You only need my email address, which you already have, to transfer the funds into my account. Therefore, the complete safety of your account, as well as mine, is guaranteed and insured unconditionally. You have asked that this matter be handled with the strictest confidentiality, and I will agree to that condition, provided that the transfer takes place in a reasonable period of time, say by Friday, 5 October.
If the money has not been received by that time, I must assume that you are not making a legitimate offer, and that you might be someone other than who you say you are -- although I can tell by the exceptional language of your email, that is probably not the case. However, if that is the case, then I will be forced to embark upon a most unpleasant course of action that I would prefer not to undertake.
Because I have so many loyal friends in the Government of Nigeria and the Military, and many close ties within the Security Service where you work, it would be quite easy to locate your office and your home, as well as learn the identities of your friends and relatives.
I truly don't believe that you would want to jeopardize their health and well-being, and your own future. I will access my PayPal account on next Saturday to verify that your good-faith payment has been made. Once that takes place, we can move forward with the final transfer.
I trust that you will not disappoint me in this matter, since the consequences for non-compliance could be quite severe. I look forward with great anticipation to working with you.
Yours faithfully,
Issa Gidada, JD, MMB,
President & CEO
U.S./Nigeria Funds Transfer Organization
Beverly Hills, CA
Although scammers are nasty creatures, shouldn't people know better than to send money to pay for something they supposedly won? This isn't a troll; I'm totally serious. Are people not taught common sense and critical thinking skills? In any case, I'm glad this person's going to jail.
US businesses that currently accept chip and PIN/signature
With due respect,trust and humanity,I write this letterto you seeking your help and assistance,though its difficult since we have not met before.I got your address from the SOUTH AFRICA INFORMATION EXCHANGE (S.A.I.E)regarding your business profile and sincerity.I believe that you are capable and reliable in handling this urgent international transaction of this sort.
I am MR.RUFUS MUKHENZE,the first and only son of COMRADE.BORDER D.MUKHENZE,the Zimbabwean former Minister for Youth & Gender Equality who is also a businessman and politician,in the Zimbabwean political arena.My father was the famous politician who stood firm against President Mugabes idea of continuous fight in Democratic Republic of Congo and my father also stood against the seizure of white owned farms and the distribution of it to the blacks without Compesiation to the white owners.Before my father's death, in his "WILL"he specifically drew my attention to this sum of US$21,320Million,(TWENTY ONE MILLION,THREE HUNDRED AND TWENTY THOUSAND UNITED STATE DOLLAR)which he deposited in a safe box of a private security company in south Africa,INFACT MY FATHER SAID IN HIS WILL AND QUOTE:-
"MY beloved son,I wish to draw your attention to the sum of US$21,320,000.00(TWENTY ONE MILLION,THREE HUNDRED AND TWENTY THOUSAND UNITED STATE DOLLAR), which I deposited in a box with a security company in Johannesburg,South Africa. Incase of my absence on earth caused by death,only you should solicit for reliable foreign partner to assist you to transfer this money out of south Africa for investment purpose.I deposited the money in your name and it can be claimed by you alone with the deposit code.Your mother has all the document.Take good care of your mother and
sister
From the above,you will understand that the lives and future of my family depends on this money,I will be very grateful if you can assist us,we are
now living in South Africa as political asylum seekers and the financial laws of south Africa does not allow asylum seeker certain financial rights to such huge amount of money.In view of this,I cannot invest this money here in south africa,hence I am asking you to assist me transfer this money out of south africa for investment purpose.
For your efforts,am prepared to offer you 25%of the total fund, while 5%will be set aside for local and international expenses and 70%will be kept by my family and me.All I want you to do is to furnish me with your entire personal phone and fax numbers for easy communication. Note that this transaction is 100% Risk free and absolutely confidential.
Looking forward hearing from you.
Yours Faithfully
MR. RUFUS MUKHENZE
sig.
How disabled? If he's one of those "disabled" people that you see up on the roof fixing tiles despite a "bad back", then this is no huge surprise. If we're talking wheelchair then I officially lament how times have changed. It used to be that wheelchair-bound geeks ran the local BBS.
You followed the election last week, didn't you?
Make them work for dell customer support for the rest of there lives.
Selling software wont make you money, selling a service will.
Presumably he's already spent some time in jail while he was awaiting trial.
418 to go.
When calculating prison sentences, if the person has already been held on remand prior to and during trial then that time will be considered part of their punishment. While admittedly one year does seem an exceptionally long time, it's at least a possibility that he has been in remand that long, and that's why he'll be eligible for parole at that time.
419 Eater is one of the funniest sites on the net. Check it out when you need a good laugh.
You mean the disability pensioner who claimed "I have 220 African brothers worldwide" and was able to scam millions from people? Yeah, I can't imagine why they would think this guy would be a flight risk.
They even have an annual conference. Check out this site for a laugh!
Come to think of the NYC Video Festival Red vs Blue extra.
- Hi, I am Nigerian royalty, and I want you to send me money. Please disregard the fact that I can't spell Nigeria or royalty.
THIS IS THE INTERNET. PLEASE PICK UP YOUR SERIOUS BUSINESS SUIT AT THE FRONT COUNTER.
Don't be consumed by greed. Although people taken by this scam are indeed victims, I have trouble feeling really bad for them. They thought they could get something for free, with no work, effort or percieved risk and they end up paying for it. Life teaches really hard lessons if you don't take notes before hand. Either way, you will learn these lessons. Just hope you are a good student so you don't have to be taught by example.
"If you are a dreamer, a wisher, a liar, A hope-er, a pray-er, a magic bean buyer
Hopefully these accounts will then be shut down before any potential victim can respond. The fact that the scammers often use a different email address in their follow-up communication indicates that these accounts are indeed often short lived.
I have thought of mail bombing these accounts until they are shut down, preferably with legit looking bogus responses that the scammers have to read one by one, wasting their time and hopefully having them pay for extra online time in their Lagos cybercafe. It would help if each of you would send a response on any scam e-mail you receive (don't use your regular email account).
Frankly I don't have the time and the talent for elaborate scambaiting (http://www.419eater.com/html/joe_eboh.htm is hilarious!), but I am interested in any other simple but efficient ideas for frustrating these scambags.
Presumably he's already spent some time in jail while he was awaiting trial.
He has been in jail since October 2003 (according to The Register). If there is a significant risk that an alleged criminal will flee the country, then it is standard practice to deny bail. Someone who claims to have "African Brothers" throughout the world who will help him flee probably fits this description.
There is more information here.
The war on spam is a very tough one. I have found that there are some email databases on sale at MercadoLibre (eBay branch for Latin America). Vendors also offer software for capturing emails on the Internet and for sending (up to 30000 emails per hour). You may see my finding here: http://abundando.blogspot.com/2004/11/se-lucran-eb ay-y-mercadolibre-con-el.html
I'm sorry guys. Post is written in Spanish.
Regardless of how old someone is or what mental / physical state they are in. Ripping people off is not acceptable.
This news item is little old. Many nigerian scammers have been prosecuted.
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Company scammers who do paid-for posts on weblogs without attribution (i.e. This is a paid advertisement) are criminals and should do jail time for fraud.
First, I must request your anonymous cowardice in this transaction. This is by virtue of its nature as being 'Top Taco'. I am sure and have confidence of your abaility and moderation points to prosecture a transaction of this great magniture.
I am Timothy of the slashdot editoral staff review board who is interested in the distribution of moderation points and karma points in return for never pointing out duplicate posts. These points are currently trapped in an NT4.0 box. In order to commence this business we solicit your moderation to enables us to transfer into your account said karma.
The source of this fund is as follows; during the slashdot buyout by OSTG corrupt editors setup fake usrs and awarded them insightful posts, which were grossly overrated. The present moderating team has set up a topic review panel (although as you know it is ineffective) and have identified a lot of karma poitns which are presently floating in a cardbox box underneath CmdTaco's bed.
By virtue of my position as editor I am free to ignore any emails pointing out duplicate posts but I cannot acquire the karma points in my name. I am therefore looking for an overseas partner into whose 0wn3d windoze box we can transfer this karama, to a grand total of SDK1024 (ONE THOUSAND AND TWENTY FOUR slashdot karma). I are writing this email as I am willing to share the karma points with you, 20% for you, the account owner, 70% for us, 10% to bribe people to shut up about duplicate posts.
Please note this transaction is 100% safe as we will use paypal and we hope to commence the transfer latest 7 banking days after the next topic which attacks Microsoft without ever reading the links in the topic.
Please email by return your username, password, IP address, inside leg measurement and pictures of Natalie Portman, naked, petrified and covered in grits.
I look forward to doing business with you.
YOURS FAITHFULLY,
Timothy
NOTE; PLEASE QUOTE THIS REFERENCE NUMBER (KARMA/WHORE) IN ALL YOUR RESPONSES.
Off by 1 ?
It are sadly a common problem in many computer programs also.
Just saying it like it are.
One of my favourite anti-spam sites (including the name) is What's the bloody point?? I especially like bait number 8 featuring Miss Maureen Adje Charlse only surviving daughter v Norman Gorman Smith-Bidet III & Gonad McDangle.
Kevin
"It's not the cough that carries you off, it's the coffin they carry you off in" O. Nash
Perhaps I'm in the wrong here, I honestly don't recall any convictions, but how come the US, supposedly the most technically advanced nation in the world, is always way behind on upholding the law involving cyber crime?
Every article you read always comes out of somewhere else.
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!
Kevin
"It's not the cough that carries you off, it's the coffin they carry you off in" O. Nash
Apparently his disability is a mental illness.
r ian_busts_2003.htm
http://www.crimes-of-persuasion.com/Nigerian/nige
Woe be on to them, all who rise against poor people, shall perish in a the end. Buju Banton
....while I've certainly read about people elsewhere that are suckered too, I think it really fits well to the american mindset. What mindset? The dream to make it big. Real big. The american dream and all that. Like "The apprentice" and Donald Trump.
Many people realize that they aren't going to be the next Bill Gates, but they still dream. So they play on the lottery and hope that one day their dream will be fulfilled. Along comes this email promising the riches you desire.
Of course people aren't convinced at once, but they become convinced through smooth words. Why? Because they want to believe. They want to believe that their luck has changed, that they will become rich, and that everything is true. There is no critical thinking because they've already accepted the premise - that their luck has changed - and thus this offer must be real. Flawed logic at its best.
Once you live that lie, you're caught. Your life stops revolving around what is real and starts revolving around what it will be. Not what might be, what will be. And you just have to get there, do what it takes to get there. Once you do, everything will be so great that any sacrifice you make along the way doesn't matter. And so people sell all they have and believe.
When you're first on that path, it is as if you're falling and the prize is there at the bottom to catch you. You can dismiss all your friends, family, bank manager, lawyers and even the police. You will believe any lie of how getting to the prize is harder, and how they need more money. But you can't accept that there is no prize.
It is quite simply circular reasoning - because there's a price at the bottom, you're going after it - and because you're going after it, the price must be there. Most people can't see a cirular argument if it kicked their butt. (Example: God created Nature, hence Nature exists. Nature is a divine creation, hence God exists.)
Kjella
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
I'd like to send him an email saying that I can get him out of jail and have a ton of lawyers standing by prepared to give him free legal representation. All he needs to do is send me $30,000 in processing fees.
"Anyone who falls for this deserves to be stripped of all assets."
Bullshit. This post is another glaring example of ignorance and insensitivity.
Quite frequently, scam targets and victims are the elderly, often poor in a relative sense, sometimes desperate and lonely. They fall for the scam not out of greed, but out of need.
Sure, many victims are in fact victims of their own greed, but to paint all with the same brush is absurd and just plain wrong.
Ignorance is curable, stupid is forever.
I love that game. Fun to play, easy to win.
Sysadmins need to be given legal authority to throw people in jail.
Hmm. Maybe not.
Assume I was drunk when I posted this.