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Jail 'Greedy' Scam Victims, Says Nigerian Diplomat

Posted by timothy on from the chutzpahgall dept.

AcidAUS writes with this nearly unbelievable snippet from today's Sydney Morning Herald: "The Nigerian high commissioner in Australia says people who are ripped off by so-called Nigerian scams are just as guilty as the fraudsters and should be jailed. Responding to a story in yesterday's Herald, which revealed Australians lose at least $36 million a year to the online scams, Sunday Olu Agbi said Australians had failed to heed repeated warnings not to deal with shady characters on the internet."

11 of 809 comments (clear)

  1. dumb people lose money, not freedom by Dan+B. · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If you are dumb enough to fall for one of the oldest fraud methods in existence, you deserve to lose you money, but not your freedom.

    --
    Dan. -- So what if it's spelt wrong, nobody's perfect
    1. Re:dumb people lose money, not freedom by clarkkent09 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      If you are dumb enough to fall for one of the oldest fraud methods in existence, you deserve to lose you money, but not your freedom.

      I don't know if it's as clear cut as that. Typically the victims of this scam agree to break the law in some way, in some cases to participate in committing a massive financial fraud. Kind of like those guys who sell crappy speakers dressed up as the expensive ones, and justify the low price by hinting that they are stolen. If the speakers were in fact stolen people would be breaking the law by buying them, so why is it different if they just believe that they are stolen?

      No, I don't really think these poor suckers should go to jail, I just don't think it's unbelievable to even suggest that, as the summary says.

      --
      Negative moral value of force outweighs the positive value of good intentions.
    2. Re:dumb people lose money, not freedom by Detritus · · Score: 5, Insightful

      No, they don't deserve to lose their money. Not everyone is born with above-average intelligence and a skeptical view of their fellow man. By definition, a large percentage of the population is stupid. That doesn't mean that they deserve to be victimized by the criminal classes of society.

      --
      Mea navis aericumbens anguillis abundat
    3. Re:dumb people lose money, not freedom by Haoie · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I'm pretty sure that Nigerian scams [and its variants] existed before 1992.

      The internet just made it a lot more visible.

      --
      If each mistake being made is a new one, then progress is being made.
    4. Re:dumb people lose money, not freedom by ceoyoyo · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Really, they're very lucky. If the scam wasn't a scam they'd be rotting away in some Nigerian jail for money laundering or fraud. Instead, all they lost was money.

    5. Re:dumb people lose money, not freedom by mellon · · Score: 5, Insightful

      It's not just dumb people. It's your mom or dad, if they wind up with some kind of aging-related disease that affects their judgement. Or you, in a few years. Losing everything because of that is a pretty harsh outcome.

    6. Re:dumb people lose money, not freedom by statusbar · · Score: 5, Insightful

      A fool and his money are best parted, because the last thing you want in this world are fools with economic power.

      --jeffk++

      --
      ipv6 is my vpn
    7. Re:dumb people lose money, not freedom by Pantero+Blanco · · Score: 5, Insightful

      A fool and his money are best parted, because the last thing you want in this world are fools with economic power.

      True, but having leeches who live off of others and don't mind wrecking a stranger's life isn't any better.

      Someone willing to cheat a fool is probably willing to cheat you too, and there are plenty of fools in positions that will let them do it.

    8. Re:dumb people lose money, not freedom by GradiusCVK · · Score: 5, Insightful
      1: Entrapment is when a law enforcement official convinces you to break the law. If a drug dealer walks up to you on the street and convinces you to buy a kilo of heroin, you're going to jail buddy.
      2: Making a habit out of something is irrelevant. In fact, a person's history of criminality is inadmissible as evidence for or against them (thanks to the Constitution, I think). It may be used in determining their punishment if convicted, but not in determining their guilt. Only evidence relating to their current trial is admissible for that. That said, records of their communications directly related to the current trial are most certainly admissible, and the police would no doubt get a warrant to obtain that obvious source of information.

      As far as their attempted fraudulent financial transactions...

      ...they are illegal. Look up "fraud".

      I dunno, IANAL

      No kidding... neither am, I but this is pretty basic stuff here. How does something like that earn +5 insightful??

    9. Re:dumb people lose money, not freedom by jacquesm · · Score: 5, Insightful

      In general there is a really simple rule to protect yourself from scams: If you did not initiate the transaction it is with high probability a scam.

      --
      MP3 Search Engine
  2. Re:Just to be clear... by hkz · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Sorry, but the victims are innocent until proven guilty. They haven't _yet_ undertaken anything criminal, just arguably shown intent. I don't want to be a stickler, but that means they get the benefit of the doubt.