Nigerian Scammers Scammed

sbinning writes "At least one Nigerian scammer has had the tables turned. A website admin retaliates against the fraudsters, with hilarious results." From The Age article: "When he found a willing victim, his anti-scam unfolded in much the same way as a typical 419 scam, promising payment only after a substantial investment had been laid down — in this case the receipt of a series of commissioned wooden carvings from a local artist. With some creative photo editing, Shiver Metimbers was able to string along his quarry with claims that the two carvings sent had mysteriously been damaged enroute, the first through a mysterious shrinking process, and the second by a rogue African hamster."

Comments

Re:Amazing

[A1rmanCha1rman]

What's generally unrecognised in the world at large is the VERY REAL fact that several foreign entrepreneurs return from very dicey investment forays into Nigeria with up to 100 times their initial investment! The multitudes of successful freebooters include barely literate working-class type adventurers like laundrymen and gardeners returning home with the wherewithal to buy yachts and luxury homes, and attracting a lot of local attention due to their meteoric rise in lifestyle (which, due to their lowly beginnings, they hardly disguise). They also pass along by word of mouth exaggerated tales of a bottomless pit of largesse for the taking out there... This, rather than simple gullibility and greed, coupled with the no-questions-asked-if-you pay-a-bribe policy of the Nigerian authorities is what serves as an irresistible magnet for the "greedy and stupid people" osgeek refers to. I cannot imagine coming to the USA or Australia with a million dollars and leaving with 100 million without being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission, Inland Revenue or similar authority in those countries, but that's contemporary Nigeria for you... There is a personal account from an undercover FBI agent assigned to investigate the scams which actually describes how he could feel himself being slowly drawn into the hope that there really was money at the end of the undertaking!!! The only reason these scams endure is that there is really a lot of dirty money to be made out of a country blessed with the "unaided bounty of nature - Crude Oil" and cursed with institutionalised corruption that allows its wealth to be drained by unscrupulous forces within and without its borders.

The Register

[tres3]

Yeah, it made TheRegister last week. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/06/30/419_plonke r/

Re:oh, bullcrap

[Anonymous Coward]

I am a scambaiter at 419eater and can tell you that your assumptions are quite incorrect - they have connections abroad. I know cases in which Nigerian scammers showed up in Houston, London, Glasgow, Amsterdam, Bangkok and Madrid (we get them on webcams by agreeing to "meet them" on a specific location). The ones that e-mail you are the lowest level idiots in Internet cafes but once they think they have a victim on the hook they pass you on higher up in the gang and you notice a significant improvement in their English.