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Why 'Nigerian Scammers' Say They're From Nigeria
angry tapir writes "'Nigerian scams' (also known as '419 scams' but more accurately called 'advance fee fraud') continue to clog up inboxes with tales of fantastic wealth for the recipient. The raises the question: Do people still fall for this rubbish? The emails often outline ridiculous scenarios but promise millions if a person offers to help get money out of a country. The reason for the ridiculous scenarios seems obvious in retrospect: According to research by Cormac Herley at Microsoft, scammers are looking for the most gullible people, and their crazy emails can help weed out people who are savvy enough to know better. Contrary to what people believe, the scams aren't 'free' for the scammers (PDF): sending an email might have close to zero cost attached, but the process of getting money out of someone can be quite complicated and incurs costs (for example, recruiting other parties to participate in the scam). So at the end of the day, the scammer wants to find people who will almost certainly fall for the scam and offer a good return."
is therefore a good tactic, perhaps when we get these we should make a response, to lower their average rate of return.
They found my neighbours* - a couple whom my mother (a psychologist) took one look at and said "adult mental health" - and they thought they'd won £450,000 in the lottery. It's a funny story.
They knocked on my door and asked if they could use my computer to register with the bank as they couldn't register on their phone. The first red flag was that URL he typed in sounded incredibly long, but not reason enough to say anything. Anyhow, when he was done, they mentioned they were looking forward to getting a laptop & television like mine as they'd just come into some money, $450,000 to be precise.
I was too dumbstruck to say anything, so called a mate and started the conversation with "you're going to laugh, but it's not funny", he wasn't helpful so I called my mum as she's had plenty of experience dealing with people like this. My main concern was that they'd think I was making fun of them when I told them, or that they'd want to shoot the messenger - they'd already started spending the money mentally.
The next morning I knocked on their door and told them that my computer flagged that I'd visited a dodgy site - they one he went to - and that before they do anything they should talk to their bank, thus absolving me of not telling them the previous evening. And that was the end of it, so I though.
However, they told the police - fair enough. They also told the scammer - they'd got a call from him after entering their details - and told him they knew it was a scam and that they'd informed the police - fair enough.
Then, about a week later, I bumped into them and they showed me an email they'd received. it read:
I am the man sent to kill you. I have been watching your house for two days. I will be paid £1,200 for this job, but if you pay *me* half I will not kill you.
So they tell the police again, they also tell the council who then have to send out a risk assessment team to determine whether they have to be moved.
In short, there are always people that will fall for these scams, and they tend to be the lowest common denominator, or just greedy and unethical. However there's always a cost, even if you catch the scam before any money changes hands.
* These are the same people who asked if they could use some of my weed killer (enough for 400 sq m) and used it neat on their garden (20 sq m)
The real answer is because they are actually from Nigeria. I think the researchers are over-thinking this problem.
For once in my life, I want to say "FIRST POST!"
Congratulations, you have one the "first post" prize. This was set up in the year 1922 by President Nboko of Nigeria, who felt that those who posted first to Slashdot on the 20th of June each year (his birthday) should receive a million US$. However to release these funds some small charges apply....
"According to research by Cormac Herley at Microsoft, scammers are looking for the most gullible people"
Well no shit sherlock!
He might have had experience in their "OEM pre loaded" department
I'm not sure I buy it. Those emails tend to be in the same Nigerian English I often hear Nigerians I know speak with. The reason for the ridiculous scenarios is that they want it to be blatantly obvious that you are agreeing to something illegal if you go to the police. When the Nigerian authorities see an email where you are knowingly agreeing to money laundering or theft from their government it gives them the excuse to simply file the whole thing as on thief ripping off another and then the whole thing becomes too low of a priority to be worth the trouble of investigating further. The reason they need this is that
paying the police off only works if the police a justifiable reason to not investigate in case someone higher up asks about it.
Congratulations, you have one the "first post" prize.
s/one/won/;
Surely the spelling mistake was intentional... to "find people who will almost certainly fall for the scam". Because we all know lawyers in the real world would be able to spell such a simple word. :)
All you have to do, is tell them that you are not available to meet them personally, but you have a friend who lives nearby and can meet them (wherever they suggest). This will result in immediate cessation of contact on their part, because they suspect they will be meeting authorities instead.
It worked for me, when I received one of these scam letters (this one ostensibly from the Netherlands) and I replied to them just to find out how far they would go. They wanted me to meet them in Amsterdam to seal the deal (which they claimed was worth millions).
I told them that rather than travel many thousand miles, I had a friend who lived a few miles away, just outside of Amsterdam, and she would meet them to talk about it.
I never heard another word out of those people.
All you have to do is pretend to be interested in their offer, then propose something other than THEIR plan, but which is perfectly reasonable. They will back down every time.
The article didn't explain why Nigeria, instead of (say) Kenya or Uganda -- or Sri Lanka or Bolivia or Uzbekistan.
"The Greens lynched a hacker in Chicago. Last month, but I think the body's still hanging from the old Water Tower."
It could be the same phenomenon that causes Intelligent Design advocates to exclaim - "My gosh, it's inconceivable that it wasn't deliberate!" ; 419 scams are just a successful phenotype (or memotype?) that happens to fit a niche. Their total incompetence selects a very particular kind of credulous idiot that previously would not have been available in such numbers, but the internet produces a global village, with a ready supply of village idiots. Interpreting it as being an intentional tactic may be reading too much into it.
I've learned to bait them to increase there time cost. If everyone wrote them back, they would be overloaded with non paying contacts. Set up a bait email account and always write them back using a ficticious persona.
One to send me my inheritance asked for my details including my photo.
I wrote back and asked about the format needed for the photo. Is a family portrait needed? Would a snap at the beach last summer be OK?
They took the time to read my reply and write a personalised reply requesting a passport photo.
I wrote back saying I didn't have a Passport Photo so I need to get one taken. String them out and waste their time. Google Scambaiting for more info.
Never fake and send government ID such as a passport or drivers license. It's illegal in many locations. Find excuses to delay forever till they give up.
The truth shall set you free!
You're sorely mistaken. As a retired scambaiter I know quite a lot about them. Scambaiters on 419eater.com have probably scoured every article and news report on the internet about 419 scams as well as lured scammers into disclosing more about themselves in correspondence (e.g. by pretending to be a journalist that realizes that it's a scam and promising them a reward if they answer questions honestly). They are significantly better off than most Nigerians and would have better opportunities to an honest job, if they just chose to work. They have better internet access because they often own the cafes they run their scams from and despite their English being crappy, the fact that they speak it makes them more qualified for many jobs than Nigerians that don't speak any foreign languages. Sadly, scamming people out of money instead of working for it is often viewed as respectable in Nigerian culture. You're seen as powerful, if you're in a position to do that. Consequently Nigerians that don't participate in the scams themselves object to government measures against the scammers. Finally, westerners that have been lured into traveling to Nigeria with suitcases filled with cash are lucky if they only lose the money. There have been several cases where victims have disappeared without a trace.
I know of an 85-year old retired engineer who FELL for this scam two years ago. I got into assisting him after he had lost $500,000, his life savings (which he had wired to a Swiss bank account). The scammers contacted him after he had lost his money, pretending to be attorneys in London who could help him "recover" a part of the money for an additional $40,000. He was to fly to Amsterdam with the money, and give it to them. I got involved after he came back, when he requested that I assist him in finding the "London attorneys". Turns out he actually had flown to Amsterdam with $40,000 in a money belt, and saw the men outside the terminal holding up a card with his name on it. But the Amsterdam police found his money belt, and deported him back to America. Those police saved his last dime! It took me two weeks of intense persuasion to get through to him that he had truly lost his money, and all he could do was turn in a futile report to the FBI. He finally got it, and is truly a sadder but wiser man now. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't been a part of it. With that kind of return on their investment of scamming time, I see why they put so much energy into it!!!!