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Nigerian Email Scammers Are More Effective Than Ever (wired.com)
You would think that after decades of analyzing and fighting email spam, there'd be a fix by now for the internet's oldest hustle -- the Nigerian Prince scam. But the problem, a new report suggests, has only grown to become more widespread and sophisticated. From the report: There's generally more awareness that a West African noble demanding $1,000 in order to send you millions is a scam, but the underlying logic of these "pay a little, get a lot" schemes, also known as 419 fraud, still ensnares a ton of people. In fact, groups of fraudsters in Nigeria continue to make millions off of these classic cons. And they haven't just refined the techniques and expanded their targets -- they've gained minor celebrity status for doing it.
On Thursday, the security firm Crowdstrike published detailed findings on Nigerian confraternities, cultish gangs that engage in various criminal activities and have steadily evolved email fraud into a reliable cash cow. The groups, like the notorious Black Axe syndicate, have mastered the creation of compelling and credible-looking fraud emails. Crowdstrike notes that the groups aren't very regimented or technically sophisticated, but flexibility and camaraderie still allow them to develop powerful scams.
On Thursday, the security firm Crowdstrike published detailed findings on Nigerian confraternities, cultish gangs that engage in various criminal activities and have steadily evolved email fraud into a reliable cash cow. The groups, like the notorious Black Axe syndicate, have mastered the creation of compelling and credible-looking fraud emails. Crowdstrike notes that the groups aren't very regimented or technically sophisticated, but flexibility and camaraderie still allow them to develop powerful scams.
Well, by this point, after decades of reports on it, I wouldn't call it "fraud" exactly, more like some sort of tax... Idiot tax? Greed tax? Take your pick.
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A friend fell hard for an American nurse he meet over the Internet who works for a hospital in Nigeria. This "relationship" went on for a whole year. When he lost his job and started having financial difficulties, I found out about his Internet girlfriend and started asking his questions. It was too late. He wired his entire savings of $5K on the promise that he would get back his money plus $10K to "hold" for her until she got back to the US. When the check didn't show up, the amount that he would hold gradually increased to $20K. He got mad when I told him he got scammed by a Nigarian confidence scammer. The only proof that he has that this "woman" exist are pictures and texts. No video, no audio. A year later he is still waiting for his check, still thinks he has a girlfriend and believes that she is the victim of the Nigerian government because the president is too ill to sign anyone's paycheck.
There is an old con artist trick that easily predates the Internet. Someone approaches you with a "winning" lotto ticket. They say they can't claim the prize themselves because they owe the government money. If you'd pay their fines they could claim the prize and they are willing to offer you a substantial share in return.
This is retold in various ways, like they have a winning stub for a race horse. But the winnings are too large to pay in cash and the race track requires a wire transfer. But the con will ask for some money to open a bank account. Then this can easily go to where he convinces you that the winnings should go into your bank account, but he says he doesn't want to get ripped off so maybe you should pay him some of it first just prove that you're honest. Like maybe $200. (or whatever is the typical maximum you can pull from an ATM at once)
That people can do this anonymously and over the internet makes it far more scaleable of a con. But it's a very old con. The Internet just makes everything BETTER.
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