419 Emails From A Cultural Perspective

dasboy writes "The LA Times has an article entitled I Will Eat Your Dollars about Nigerian 419 scammers that presents some of the cultural basis for the crime. They follow some young men in Lagos who toil over computers all-day and long into the night to snag a new victim. They even have a fight song entitled 'I Go Chop Your Dollars.'" From the article: "Scammers, he said, 'have the belief that white men are stupid and greedy. They say the American guy has a good life. There's this belief that for every dollar they lose, the American government will pay them back in some way.' What makes the scams so tempting for the targets is that they promise a tantalizing escape from the mundane disappointments of life. The scams offer fabulous riches or the love of your life, but first the magha has to send a series of escalating fees and payments. In a dating scam, for instance, the fraudsters send pictures taken from modeling websites."

Comments

heh

[Anonymous Coward]

"have the belief that white men are stupid and greedy."

Heh. White men have the same views about black men. Kinda funny.

Ebay

[Darksoftnet]

I love getting 'questions' from Romanian people on ebay when I'm selling something saying: "Can please you end auction early and ship product Romania me! I have wife, she likes fun games to play. We like product and offer good dollar!"

Re:Why wouldn't they think it's OK?

[DigiShaman]

Check out Spuns post history. He's a flaming angry liberal. He fit's the classic American profile of a liberal.

Sorry for my harsh post folks, but truth must be said. Judge for youself before modding me please.