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Jail 'Greedy' Scam Victims, Says Nigerian Diplomat
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."
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
I applaud his forward thinking in trying to get rid of stupid people, but I really don't think jail is an option. We're just gonna have to put up with them. Sorry man.
"16MB (fuck off, MiB fascists)" - The Mighty Buzzard
"It's hard to con an honest man."
http://www.419eater.com
why not block all automatic financial/bank transactions with Nigeria? Make it so some body has to sign for it, etc.
heck....if both parties are "guilty", why not put road-blocks to block both?
I wonder how much money financial institutions and law enforcement agencies spend following up on people burned by unbelievable scams. All sympathy to people who were swindled by seemingly legitimate superfund schemes, but a fool and his money is soon parted.
Scientists point out problems, engineers fix them
altslashdot.org: The future of slashdot.
If you agree to help someone launder stolen money, that is a crime in most countries even if the money doesn't exist.
One of the more successful scams now involves stealing email accounts of travellers and sending all their friends a note describing some sort of robbery and asking for money.
Since the summary doesn't make this clear and I'm sure plenty of people won't RTFA, the good professor is referring to jailing those people who fall for scams in which they believe they are aiding embezzlers in order to get rich. It'll never happen of course, but it's not that unreasonable either really.
Somehow being a greedy criminal is OK as long as you're dumb enough to wind up as the victim in the attempt.
Spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, and stupid comments are intentional.
On a brighter note, Agbi went on to say how wonderful it was that our reporter had won the first true Nigerian national lottery. After his small down payment clears he will soon be the proud recipient of 1 million Nigerian dollars! Congratulations John.
"If you want a vision of the future, Winston, imagine a boot stamping on a human face forever." - George Orwell, 1984
Who would guard them? All of us are stupid from time to time. And according to the statistics I just made up, 80% of all people are chronically stupid.
...many are greedy and get what they deserve, if not far more. I was an adopted child and never once believed my "real" parents were royalty. I remain unaffected by similar fantasies later in life. That said, many elderly do not have the cognitive function required to identify these scams for what they are... many suffer at the hands of these fraudsters and deserve neither jail, nor the financial loss.
Mate, My name is Steve Oakland of Sydney Australia. Recently I have received a large sum of USD 25,000,000 from Mr Aruba of Nigeria. However due to some new legislation I may be having some problems with our bottom-up laws. So I have to transfer that money to a third country ASAP. I will offer you 20% of the money in exchange for your small inconvenience, 70% will be for me, and 10% for the transaction costs ...
If enithin kan gow rong it whil. (Murfey)
The very idea that a real flesh-and-blood Nigerian diplomat actually exists feels so strange. It would be like meeting the real Duke Nukem.
Table-ized A.I.
This is simply an argument to try to divert blame. I don't really care that the other side is a willing victim. Fraud is fraud, and I have a hard time believing that the Nigerian goverment is really doing all that much about it. Nigeria is a Kleptocracy, so corruption is endemic in the society. I'm sure a few well placed bribes keeps the cops away. It's not really that hard to find these guys after all since the money eventually has to go somewhere.
AccountKiller
I suppose in the classic 419 scam the victim thinks he's conspiring to launder money. I wonder though, who would press charges?
Nigerian High Commissioner Olu Agbi said if I don't send him $1,000 by Western Union in the next 24 hours that he'll throw me in jail!
Swing and a miss. Gotta try harder for a Funny mod.
$_ = "wftedskaebjgdpjgidbsmnjgcdwatb"; tr/a-z/oh, turtleneck Phrase Jar!/; print
Not so outrageous now is it?
If you go up to a cop who is posing as a prostitute on the street and make an offer you're going to get busted.
If you're at home and a cop calls you, posing as a prostitute, makes you an offer, and you accept, you're not going to wind up busted (for long, anyway).
So, this is somewhere in between. We should therefore arrest the victim's parents for raising such dolts.
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
First Slashdotters blame copyright holders for not protecting their works better. Then it is Nigerians blaming scam victims. What's next? Don't lock your door, you deserve to be robbed? And women who dress provocatively deserve to be raped?
Isn't this the same Web site that wants the government to intervene to lower the price of Windows, or supports early iphone adopters who paid the stupid tax suing Apple because they had the audacity to lower prices?
I'm all for passing a Digital Consumer Rights Act to protect fair use and end user licensees, but some of the amoral "logic" here boggles the mind. If it is bad for Microsoft or Sony to rip off consumers, it's bad for you to rip off them.
Slashdot "libertarians": Small government for me, big government for those I disagree with. -1, I disagree with you
Yeah, right.
Honest people are the easiest to scam. People tend to project their attributes onto others, and honest people tend to be more trusting than the rest of us. Although an honest person would certainly not fall for this scam.
Scamming honest people makes for poor movies. Their is only one double-cross, and no twists. It's too easy.
Write your own Choose Your Own Adventure. http://www.freegameengines.org/gamebook-engine/
It's may be harsh, but he's got a point. If you actually bother to read any of these things, they often do sound like getting the fortune out of the country involves breaking the local laws. Just because your partner screws you does not immediately render you innocent if you were in fact plotting illegal activity.
Jailing the victim is asinine and a sure sign that the authorities are lazy and stupid themselves.
How is this any different to saying that a girl that goes into a rough neighbourhood in a mini-skirt and is raped should also be jailed? Just because someone puts themself in a position where they are easy prey doesn't mean that we should lash out against them if we find it difficult to prosecute the criminal.
What they'll do is make it a crime to send money. A few years ago they made it illegal in NSW, Australia to leave your car unlocked. The rationale was that stolen cars were being used to commit crime and a deterent was needed to stop people making their cars easy to steal. Never mind the inconvenient fact that glass windows are trivial to break. Personally I think this had more to do with car insurance fraud than a crime epidemic. So now rushing to work and forgetting to lock your car makes you a criminal, rather than just making you negligent (and possibly causing you to forfeit an insurance claim).
I think people who don't understand their role as a public servant and propose solutions like making a victim a criminal should be sacked, if not jailed themselves.
These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
'Nuff said.
-- Cerebus
Like we're going to listen to Nigerian officials when it comes to money matters. Hell, they can't even keep their Princes from losing access to their fortunes, requiring honest, hard-working Americans to help them out!
No portion of this post may be rebroadcast without the express, written consent of Major League Baseball.
I approve.
-Darwin
There is a reason for laws against entrapment. Also in many of these scams they try to make it look like you are doing the "honorable" thing to help avoid some corrupt government. Now if they said something like "help use move this money so we can buy weapons and kill civilians" maybe I would be more sympathetic. A little too self serving of a comment from Nigeria.
Here in the US it's supposed to be ok to be a "stickler" about your due process rights. I'm not sure how things work down under, but my guess is it's supposed to be about the same (only bigger?)
It's just a tax on people who don't understand math.
I somehow doubt he actually believes in jailing these people. He's simply pointing out their guilt, to reduce the guilt of his own country's people.
FTA - He said media coverage of fraudulent activity stemming from Nigeria had given the country "a bad image"
He does have a point, if Australians had never reported being scammed, then Nigeria wouldn't have a bad image. Yeah, this is really all the fault of those racist Australians. This pattern reminds me of the Jena-6 myths, that were all shown to have originated from journalists that were seduced by a false narrative of racial injustice.
... who will attend the University of Nigeria?
It's true no man is an island, but if you take a bunch of dead guys and tie 'em together, they make a good raft.
And the diplomatic world, too.
...Lorenzo / I'm into kinky crustaceans. I just discovered internet praWn.
Punishing someone for assenting to a fake crime is equivalent to entrapment.
People agree to what they believe is a criminal scheme. But outside of the world of elaborate illusions, they're not dangerous or criminal at all. So it's a waste to jail them.
It would be like imprisoning someone because they _might_ commit a real crime in the future.
The stupid will always be the prime target for those who will take their money. The prime candidate is, of course, government lotteries, you know, taxation for those who are lacking math skills.
Anyone who sends money to an entity that can not be properly vetted is a greedy fool.
Is that a criminal action? No. If we locked up everyone that was stupid and greedy, we wouldn't have any police, state level politicians, public school teachers, car salesmen, plumbers, electricians, car mechanics, etc.
dont know if it's tru? forwarding just incase! love to everyone!
>>> Nverian Hig h Commisioner Ololu Ogelvi warned all RED BLOODED AMERICAN PATRIOTS
>>> that if they don't send him $1,000 by Western Union in the next 24 hours that he
>>> will kill a kitt
>>> en.
>> Thx Maude! I just sent t>
>> his to everyone on my ma
>> iling list! Why does
>>> PLEASE SUPPORT OUR TROPS IN WESTERIA
>>> FORWARDING THIS EMAIL TO EVERYONE
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Permit me to introduce myself, my name is TheSHAD0W and I was an officer in a now defunct company that performed 419 advance fee fraud scams and was based in Nigeria. This company's bank account now holds $36 million dollars which was scammed from Australian citizens. I am the only officer who was not arrested and murdered in jail and I now seek assistance in transferring these funds to the United States. The person who will assist in transferring this money will receive $3 million dollars and my gratitude. If you are interested please email your full name, social security number, birth date, and bank routing and account number to scammer@iamadoodyhead.co.ng please.
> WRONG. The scammer wants to make money from the deal. How are they going to coax the mark into giving them money when they claim to already have lots.
He's saying that honest people are also easy to scam, but that you have to use different methods on them (e.g. via fake charity scams).
He's not saying that the people who got scammed in 419 scams like those in this story are honest (they usually have you agree to break some financial law).
"It is not in the character of Nigerians to be engaged in this kind of scam."
Professor Olu Agbi said there were almost 140 million people in Nigeria and fewer than 0.1 per cent were involved.
140,000 scammers? Gee is that all? :P
People scammed by these scams are attempting to be criminals, even if they are not succeeding.
Engineering is the art of compromise.
They're like...trying to outlaw natural selection!
You are making more stupid people, please don't do it!
Uuhh shiny...
If you quote this signature there'll be 72 copies of Windows ME waiting for you in Heaven.
That the scams often are not proposing anything illegal. My latest two (all that I have in my trash bin currently) say that I've won a lottery and that there is an estate which I am due money from. Nothing illegal in the slightest about trying to collect money in either of those situations.
If these people were actively looking for opportunities to commit wire fraud, ok fine. However it is just unsavvy people getting duped. Often the offers are not at all illegal on the face of it, other times people might easily believe it's ok.
I get more than a little tired of the blame the victim mentality. Especially since many geeks are notoriously un-street smart and thus fall victim to some kinds of crime much easier than many other people.
The blame for this lies squarely on the people perpetrating these scams. Yes, it would be nice if people were better educated and didn't fall for it but guess what? Reality is not everyone is smart and even those that are smart aren't smart about every thing.
Sounds more to me like he is making excuses for the fraudsters. "Hey, they're only scamming greedy people! Since they're greedy anyway, how is it wrong to scam them?" That's pretty much the spiel scammers spout, rationalizing their crimes by saying that the victims were just as bad they are themselves.
I dream of a better world... one in which chickens can cross roads without their motives being questioned.
troll
I don't know why Enormoushop.com is taking so long... I gave them all the info they requested!
In many of these nigerian scams, the scamster persuades the mark to commit an illegal act. Although punishment for the victims is morally justifiable in these circumstances, I think that the loss of significant money is probably sufficient chastisement.
There is a huge difference in helping out someone at payday and helping a suspected criminal bypass the law. If one of those check cashing operations was helping the Mob handle their transactions they'd get stung for money laundering.
Engineering is the art of compromise.
Their whole nation in mired by these scams. I would never trust a nigerian even if he was trustworthy.
while greed itself isn't a crime, I can't help but wonder how this nigerian "official" is benefiting from these scams.
After all, he is the nigerian high commissioner. He probably has a wonderful business opportunity for us.
They're using their grammar skills there.
As much money is lost, perhaps it's time to consider military action. Given that they're attempting to hide behind a corrupt jurisdiction and they will not clean house, justification exists. That, and it provides another base of operations that isn't taken by China.
Twitter supports and protects racists - by smearing their critics with the "Hate Speech" label.
Oh crikey!
Have you never worked in the white collar world?
Most of the people there are fucking coasting!
Work ethic, BAH!
Sure, blame it on the poor, it's easy, they can't defend themselves.
Way to go buster.
If it don't GO... chrome it. ~ Frank Banks
I do NOT think that scam VICTIMS need to be jailed, whether they are greedy or not.
Yes, you'd have to be a total numbskull to believe some of the stories that scammers use. But if you read the next paragraph, you'll see that even someone who isn't "stupid" can be fooled. Ridiculous and obvious scams come with stories that your uncle's long-lost twin (separated at birth) who lived in Zimbabwe and ran a diamond mine just died in a tragic car accident and you were the only beneficiary in his will, please email over your bank account number and routing info, or that Nigeria's silicon tycoon needs to transfer a billion dollars to a company in the United States but due to some extremely complicated circumstances related to a jacked up political climate, they need to park the funds in the bank account of someone who is trustworthy and you came highly recommended, and they'll leave you 1% of the money as a fee for your troubles (that comes out to ten million bucks), please email us your bank account number, routing info, a photocopy of your driver license and passport, etc., etc., etc., well, all I can say is that if you actually believe any of this shit, you need to be educated. Read about the so-called 419 Scam among others. Yes, you'd have to be "greedy" to fall for such a scam. Should you be jailed? No. You're still the victim of a crime.
Some scams sound more realistic than the ones above. For example, I once received an email bearing a friend's email address as the "From:" address and claiming that he had lost his passport and/or wallet while on vacation in Africa, and due to complications with the local authorities, he needed to borrow $1000 to pay some fine and get out of jail (money which he would supposedly pay back upon returning home). I called my friend on the phone and it turned out that he was safe and sound here at home, not in Africa. Someone had jacked his email password or otherwise hacked into his email account. Apparently, everyone in his address book received such an email. This is the type of scam that even discerning people could fall for. You have to be really, really, really careful not to fall for some of this stuff.
McCain/Palin '08. Now THAT's hope and change!
And money laundering is money laundering.
Were the scam 'real', the 'victim' would be guilty of multiple felonies.
That's the only REAL difference here. If you ACTUALLY helped wire a few million out of an African country, you'd be a criminal. But if you fall for someone else PRETENDING that you're helping wire said money, then you're a victim.
A few thousand dollars lost to a scam is a small price to pay when the alternative is that it's NOT a scam and you get to spend a few years in prison instead.
paintball
Apparently you don't have a handle on the Australian slang word "bogan", because it appears to me that it refers to the working poor.
"Bogan From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogan The term bogan (pronounced /bogn/, rhyming with slogan) is Australian and New Zealand English slang, usually pejorative, for a person who is, or is perceived to be, of a lower-class background. According to the stereotype, the speech and mannerisms of "bogans" indicate, poor education, cheap clothing and uncultured upbringing. 'Bogans' usually reside in economically disadvantaged suburbs (often outer metropolitan) or rural areas[1]."
I believe it's the part about "economically disadvantaged", i.e. "poor", that may explain it for you.
If it don't GO... chrome it. ~ Frank Banks
Someone is using logic on Slashdot!
Yeah, it's not like the parent article is real important, same old boring /. jokes, yawn.
Calling out racism is way more fun!
If it don't GO... chrome it. ~ Frank Banks
"I'm not misusing statistics, like your counter-example is."
While I'll agree that my counter example was totally weak, I now feel the need to point out your incongruities as well.
You show us the example: "White on black rapes are often in the single digits, per year.".
Which proves what?
It's a statistic all by itself, and can be use any way one wants, it proves nothing.
Why don't you provide the statistics that show how many white men date black women, I'll betcha it reflects your "statistic" (i.e. not many) because white men don't date black women as a general rule, so rapes will follow that curve as well.
Hey, I'm kinda liking this statistic thingy.
Oh, so when looking deeper, that makes your argument a straw man as well.
Touche.
I'll be back to spar with you after I finish washing my dinner dishes.
If it don't GO... chrome it. ~ Frank Banks
"If whites in your town commit 90% of the rapes, and they're 90% of the population, it's to be expected. If whites in your town commit 90% of the rapes and they're less than half of the population, it's a sign that something is seriously fucked up. I'd say that the whites in this hypothetical town need to figure out why their youth has such a tendency towards rape."
There ya go jumping to conclusions that aren't reflected in the real world.
My town has 7,500 people in it, and has roughly a rape every two months, what do your statistics say about that?
Is my town "seriously fucked up", like you say?
Did you even check the statistics before you judged mine?
Uh, no.
I don't understand you, first you tout statistics, then you make broad sweeping judgments about my town without first checking the statistics of the incidence of rape in towns before you judged mine?
Tell you what, you can dis my town after you find the statistics that prove it.
If it don't GO... chrome it. ~ Frank Banks
Pull you head in mate.
War is the statesman's game, the priest's delight, the lawyer's jest, the hired assassin's trade.- Shelley
Awww, crap, I missed your italics...
No excuse, I'm lame sometimes.
I have no umbrage with you, I apologize.
If it don't GO... chrome it. ~ Frank Banks
To do nothing about overt racism under the guise of apathy, makes you a tacit racist.
It's not the nanny states job to stop racism or Slash Dot's, it's yours, and mine, and everybody's who cares about humanity.
Quick, while a few are still alive, find a WW2 concentration camp survivor, talk to them about what it was like before Hitler came to power, they acted just like you.
Instead of jailing marks who fall for this crap howabout a system which reviews the trap they fell into if it comes under the heading of "Only an idiot" would fall for this then the next time they touch a computer 20KVa gets whacked down the line to them and the same to the orginator of the spam.
Result: One less idiot, one less spammer. Average IQ of world goes up :)
(And same goes for people who respond to the I am your bank and have lost all your details please tell me them again emails - if they've lost all the details how do they know to email you ;> )
--- Users are like bacteria -> Each one causing a thousand tiny crises until the host finally gives up and dies.
The problem is that putting the victim in jail also causes problems for freedoms and can have wide reaching affects to other parts of the law.
Face it. The victim is someone who is; "a fool and his money are soon parted".
That should be enough. He ain't gonna get it back once it leaves the country.
All content in this message is copyright (c) 2008. All rights reserved. RIAA is prohibited here.
The fact still stands that any simple moral analysis of the state of the 'victims' showed that they conspired to defraud either a sovereign state or certain inhabitants of one - and lost out as a result.
Honesty in these cases would have saved them their losses
I have been a user for about 10 years. This ends Feb 2014. The site's been ruined. I'm off. Dice, FU
Yes, i saw letters which were about smuggling money out of Nigeria, and some which were about literally laundering money which came from a botched bank robbery.
People who fell for these DESERVE the punishment.
If those cases were real and they caught, they would sit in prison.
Patents Drive Free Software as Hurricanes Drive Construction Industry
The forms of the scams I have seen are asking you to help transfer funds of a deceased person by pretending to be their heir. It is a blatantly dishonest thing to do. So at least for that form of the scam, I have zero sympathy for the people who lose thousands of dollars.
On the other hand these scams might make up a significant percentage of Nigeria's GDP, so the position that government officials have on the issue is suspect.
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
Yeah, it's unbelievable that a Nigerian government official would deign to notice the problem.
But it's a damned good idea, because the victims who volunteer to help, for example, supposed bank employees embezzle funds are themselves attempting to commit fraud. Which is a crime. For which they should be punished.
This is the nigerian scam we are talking about, the grand-daddy of them all AND the scam would involve the "victim" commiting fraud. This is illegal.
Let me try this on you.
Say a drug dealer sell you 1 kg of cocaine. Are you then a criminal and deserve to go to jail?
Now say that drug dealer is a scammer and sells you a bag of baking powder instead. You however think it is cocaine, would you go to jail for this?
Probably not, because it is NOT a crime to buy baking powder for an insane price. Morally? Maybe, after all, you thought you were dealing in drugs.
But with the nigerian scam you tend to actually have to attempt to commit a crime, fraud to get it all going.
Do you think people who buy "cheap" goods that are obviously stolen should be done for receiving?
The nigerian guy is just upset that this scam is giving his country a bad rep when the victims are hardly victims but instead people who in their greed were ready to defraud the nigerian goverment. Let us not forget what the scam is, these "victims" were ready to steal millions from a 3rd world nation.
Not everyone who falls for a scam deserves sympathy.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
Newsflash... Greedy man enters Nigerian scam, looses money. If he thinks he will be charged with something leading to imprisonment, he will _never_ go to the Police reporting the scam. No crime here move along! Guess the scammers will be happy!
e.g. the length of time a victim retains his money is inversely proportional to his foolishness.
Everybody is at least a little foolish, some of the time. It follows that everybody will be scammed, sooner or later. Sooner if you are credulous and naive, later if you are skeptical and well informed.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
This guy sounds like a crook himself! Oh, we shouldn't do anything about it! You guys shouldn't fall for it! This is the typical sort of response you'd expect from the criminals after being caught. Throw this guy in jail, please!
I'm guessing its like the US health system. Guess you couldn't afford an education?
You should come here, we look after our citizens with free education all the way through tertiary, free health care and government paid unemployment benefits. We also look after our migrants and minorities.
We also let the lower-class countries do most of the fighting for us. So, ya know, keep up the good work in the middle east.
3laws: No freebies, no backsies, GTFO.
BUY political power.
Remember "News for Nerds, Stuff that Matters"? Help make it a reality again! http://soylentnews.org
but you CAN give it a direction. I've said this a thousand times. There will always be people stupid/desperate/greedy enough to do something like this. Hell, two good friends of mine who I always thought were very intelligent fell victim to an Amway like scam. (Same company different name).
When I showed them all of the websites talking about the scam they realized what a big mistake was. At least they only lost $400. Most people who fall for this lose their life savings.
My mother is internet stupid. She's not a dumb person this is just alien to her. I showed her the power of google to answer her questions and now she uses it all the time to research businesses that she wants to work with. In fact, I think google helped her become Internet savvy.
I truly believe that people who fall for scams like this should be forced to serve time. Give them solid time to think about their actions and how society should be forced to help the Darwin award winners of today.
That's ok. With the millions that he will make, he could easily afford some top notch golfing lessons.
Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power lost.
How does this help with the masses of people who try to rip you off with fake ebay accounts, etc? I know what you mean & I agree. But your way is not 100% secure.
"... and lead us not into temptation" has the corollary "Thou shalt not tempt". In the Nigerian and Australian cases under discussion, I suppose it is somewhat debatable who is tempting whom.
go to http://www.sweetchillisauce.com/ this guy winds up the scammers all the way in, hilarious stuff. If more people did this, now that would slow the scammers! Jerry
Simply disable western union, paypal and wire money transfer to Nigeria, "cut" then off from online or untraceable money transfer.
Religion: The greatest weapon of mass destruction of all time
I agree. Stupidity is tolerated too much nowadays and now we have to have warnings that coffee is hot, winter is cold, and not to fold up the baby carriage with the child still inside. A little natural section can be good thing especially in a democratic society who is letting themselves be taken advantage of. However getting ripped off and humiliated by these scam artists is punishment enough . . . at least for now.
"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety" Franklin
Greedy people with economic (and other) power...
you had me at #!
Because a great way to encourage potential investors in your country is to chastise people for being gullible enough to trust your country.
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
Actually, that raises a good point. I wonder how many sites there are peddling illegal or borderline goods that don't delivery?
For example, I remember a joke (on a TV show or something) about billing a person for fetish items under "gentlemen's club inc" and then upon receiving complains, refunding them via a cheque from "men's assvibrators inc" or something of the like, on the premise that not everyone would be willing to walk into a bank and cash a cheque from that name.
Now, given the number of spams I've seen that advertise products that aren't only illegal to sell, but often to purchase (illegal pr0n etc), how many would be stupid enough to buy them, but wouldn't exactly be in a position to complain that "Illicit goods X" weren't properly delivered?
If it's so easy, why doesn't everyone own ILM?
If I have seen further it is by stealing the Intellectual Property of giants.
Cowboy Neal died and left you all of his money in the sum of $26,000,000 USD. Simply reply and you will get your due!
It won't happen. They seem to want to compete with /b/ for that audience.
Obvious is the point. It's part of the traditional rules for flying the flag that flying it or hanging it upside down is a distress signal. We probably got that tradition from your country, after all.
That it's obvious rather than discreet (not really completely covert if it's hanging there for all to see) means it can signal farther away but that enemies of the state might notice it more quickly as well. It's a trade off.
If all you have left for signaling is a flag rather than an encrypted radio, clear signal radio, flare, spray paint, air horn, or signal mirror then you're probably needing help pretty quickly. You'll use the flag you have, even if it's not ideal for your situation. Using a GB flag in that way might get an American soldier's attention, but probably not an American civilian's. An American is much more likely to be carrying an American flag than the Union Jack, anyway.
So yeah, if discretion is called for then you're lucky to be a Brit. If a clear signal from farther away is called for, then the US or Australian flags work better. Russia and Germany would be in the same boat as the US if they use the same symbol (do they? how universal is this?). If you're French or Italian I guess you find a different way to signal distress.
Yes, you're wrong. They're not being ignorant bigots on the basis of skin color and ethnicity. They're being ignorant bigots on the basis of nationality and class standing and thinking it makes them better than other ignorant bigots.
Let them have their superiority complex. You're just helping them flood the thread. It's like trying to have a reasonable discussion with the Ku Klux Klan about a dark-skinned Catholic who is ethnically half Jewish. They have their point of view about the people they hate and you're not going to change it.
The biggest problem here is the Nigerian government. They are well aware that the 409 scams bring in millions of dollars a year into their economy, and is probably one of their biggest revenue streams for the country. Since they have little else to offer the world, they are not about to stop the money flow
It would be fairly easy to put a policy in place that says actual human contact with the bank's customer must take place only for the first transfer to Nigeria. This would have minimal disruption while still preventing these scams.
In fact, I think this policy is a good idea for any transaction that falls greatly outside the normal patterns of a bank account. If I suddenly arrange for a large transfer of money from my checking account to some place in Uzbekistan, just for example, then I really think I should be getting a phone call from my bank asking if I really meant to do that before it goes through.
If you mod me Overrated, you are admitting that you have no penis.
VB is truly shit - I mean piss. You're better off with a Coopers for sure.
you had me at #!
But he was born in Spain, and actually knows how to cook.
you had me at #!
It's for the courts to decide whether you're competent to stand trial, at least in the US. Being charged is not the same as being convicted. Intent is also a factor in crimes in the US. Being stupid is often a possible defense if you can get a jury to believe it was stupidity and not willing participation in the crime. Some people would be too embarrassed to admit being duped, but that's their problem. Insanity or lack of intelligence is not generally a pass from being brought before a hearing.
Sounds like the perfect temperature for Guinness/stout.
you had me at #!
Or have close relatives that do. Nearly everyone there is involved in some nefarious activity.
They're most likely already victims of Microsoft (the corporate criminal class).
you had me at #!
Well,I guess it's a strange sense of relief to realize that gov't. officials everywhere are microcephalic retards and it's not just limited to
the U.S. Republicrats. It's also interesting to note that from my only information about Nigerians(the scammers,the diplomat,warnings from health officials,news of muslim activities,etc.)that Nigeria is one big Darwin Award just waiting to happen.I would hope that isn't really so,but it re-enforces the idea that immigration control is a very good thing.
*Repent!Quit Your Job!Slack Off!The World Ends Tomorrow and You May Die!
... that some people regularly say "dumb" or "stupid" people get what they deserve, but they never mention anything about callous a-holes. Weird.
You know, there is a difference between trolling and pointing out the flaws in your reasoning. Just saying.
Lock 'em up for their own safety, since they're obviously too dumb to live in the modern world unassisted.
Wow. Really?
You don't have a family member or friend that would/could fall for this? You don't know an 80+ year old that, new to all-things-Internet, may fall for a con?
Your statement, and that of the Nigerian "High Commissioner," are unfortunately typical of what happens often in society, we re-victimize the victim.
Just because somebody exhibits naivete or guilelessness does that make them fair game for cons?
Or if they wear a short skirt, responsible for their own rape?
Or "they should know better than to hike alone" so they're complicit in their own murder?
Though there's an obvious difference between the severity of these cases, the rationale is the same, and to me frankly is repugnant.
Crime victims have enough to contend with already.
JAGga.me ----> Producing video games addressing emotional health and wellness issues affecting teens.
> If you're so dumb, you DESERVE to be ripped off.
We must make stupidity more painful.
I know that goes against everything the Democrats who run the government schools who trained you shoveled into your young skull full of mush, but it's the only way... for them and us. Understanding the wisdom in that one line will set you on the road to freeing your mind so please turn off the computer for a few minutes, put whatever music you do your best thinking to on the iPod and ponder it a few meinutes.
Democrat delenda est
As much as this this guy is a useless troll, i do love the fact that Slashdot loves free speech enough to let him be.
Dance like you're hurt, Love like you need money, and work when somebody's watching.
-Scott Adams
Not while that "special relationship" with the USA exists (massive CIA bases on Australian soil, etc, etc).
you had me at #!
Why is Bill Gates dying "a crime"? If it happened right now, it would be about 30 years too late to do much good, but it's an inevitability, so I think you can relax, Mr A.C. When it happens, nobody's gonna come track you down.
you had me at #!
proof of motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, or absence of mistake or accident Not nearly as all-encompassing as it appears. Generally speaking, it can be submitted as evidence that you either
-Are experienced in performing said crime, you knew what you were doing, so it wasn't all just a crazy accident, and it wasn't a one-time heat of the moment thing, but rather a planned action (opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowlede, absense of mistake or accident)
-Are the person the prosecution says you are (eg John Doe, born 01/01/1970) (identity)
So basically, it doesn't help to prove that you did it at all... all it does is help to remove some specific affirmative defenses you might use. In other words, if it's well proven with other evidence that you murdered your wife, then evidence that you have murdered your last 5 wives may be admitted to eliminate your heat of passion defense.
Nigeria. President Bush, theres undisclosed wmd there and not to mention lots of sweet oil. Okay thats taken care of. Lol! just kidding...
If you get a call/email/cell call/whatever about your auto warranty expiring, they are most likely bogus.
They've been spamming me on my cell phone.
Weaselmancer
rediculous.
Clarification: "A stupid tax" is a phrase that is likely going to be expected to mean the same thing as "A tax which is ill advised." I deliberately chose the wording of "tax stupidity" because it is clear. EvanED is also clear, but missing the entire point.
Those who spend a dollar a week, or even five dollars a week, are not playing the lottery in a stupid fashion, nor are they the major contributors the the hosting state's income. It is the people I have seen buying tickets in significant numbers and the people sure that they "usually beat the odds" and the people who feel they are due who are playing in a stupid fashion. Those who purchase large numbers of tickets generally do so, not because it significantly increases their entertainment value, but because they believe they will have a better shot of winning. (They do not understand the actual numbers involved.) The people who "usually beat the odds" are the ones who forget the losses they incur over time. Those who feel they are due do not understand how statistics work nor for that matter really understand that the universe does not in fact revolve around them. These are the stupid who play the lotteries, and in a stupid fashion.
State funded lotteries do some good, in my state for example, most of the revenue goes into the "general fund" of which around 80% goes to the cost of state funded education. Most states actually use the income in their budgets which in turn saves them from having to raise revenue through additional or higher taxes. The income generated has essentially the same use as would traditional tax revenue, and since it comes mostly from stupid people, it is fair to call it a tax on the stupid.
The effect on society is one of segregating wealth on an index of intelligence. Is it good that stupidity should be punished? Certainly there is some merit in encouraging people to make good decisions, but at the same time, many people are not intelligent and seem to be unable to make wise decisions, not through their own lack of effort alone, but also because of their environment and because of their physical limitations. It is, in short, harder for some people to learn than others which is really a physical handicap rather than the choice usually assumed.
What society really benefits from is productive and self sufficient citizens, regardless of intellectual prowess. If you really want to see improvements in state income, find a way to tax the lazy for laziness (which is a choice and which is also rewarded once significant levels of dedication are reached.)
B) Eliminate all the stupid users. This is frowned upon by society.
That's what this is about. These scams are a significant part of the revenue for Nigeria and he's probably in on them. Nowadays, most of the scams aren't from people "ripping off the government" as claimed, but fake "mail-order bride" or "help me feed my starving children" claims.
These claims are beyond disingenuous. He's right is saying it's only a handful of people running theses scams. That's because they KNOW WHO THESE PEOPLE ARE. They're as recognizable in Nigeria as Al Capone was in Chicago. The authorities don't do anything to them because they ARE the authorities.
The proper response is to either:
A) Have the foreign office threaten Nigeria with sanctions if they don't enforce the laws and extradite scammers to Australia.
B) If Nigeria is unwilling to do A, send kidnappers to Nigeria to simply seize the criminals and take them back to Australia and/or shoot them on the spot.
Human stupidity can be fixed. Simple:
Kill adults who can not read. Kill adults who
can not do basic math.
Prohibit birth control. Require all fertile adults
to report for sperm donation or insemination if
they go 3 years without a birth.
From age 5 to 12, test kids several times a year.
Those who are bottom-ranked for several tests in
a row get executed. You set the bar such that the
total cull is well above 50%.
Average family: 8 to 16 kids born, 2 to 4 survive
brilliant
(needs to be tagged with "suddenoutbreakofcommonsense")
Another point worthy of note is, Bogans are proud to be bogans. Go rent The Castle. Australians myself included tend to be proud of our anti-heroes, we turned Ned Kelly and Chopper into heros, and we tend to idolize the Larrikin as part of our humour and national identity. Sometimes it's a slur, but no more so than the way we use terms like "cunt" as a term of endearment. Insults in Australia tend to be based more around the Taller poppies than the average Joes. Wasn't trying to bite your head off, but when people call us bigots for how we refer to ourselves in and amongst ourselves it seems a tad like the kettle and pot syndrome. There are the few that look down on bogans but bearing in mind they make up most of our population its narrow minded to take the instant view that its a term of derision. Just because you don't understand the relation doesn't mean it's an insult. Do you jump on African Americans when they drop the "N" bomb? Because that is what you guys are doing here.
War is the statesman's game, the priest's delight, the lawyer's jest, the hired assassin's trade.- Shelley