02-03-2003, 01:20 PM | #1 | ||
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Mays Landing, NJ USA
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OT: Do People Actually Fall for This?
Sorry, just had to rant. I just got one of those "I have X Millions of dollars that I need to get to the US, please give me your account information so I can deposit the money into your account" emails.
Are people that stupid that they would get an email like that and say, wow, I need to send this person my bank information? |
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02-03-2003, 01:21 PM | #2 |
Morgado's Favorite Forum Fascist
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Greensboro, NC
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Eagle:
According to Clark Howard, the answer is yes. People have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars to this scam apparently.
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The media don't understand the kinds of problems and pressures 54 million come wit'! |
02-03-2003, 01:23 PM | #3 |
Pro Starter
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Fairfax, VA
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You mean that's a scam?
err....I have to go take care of something... |
02-03-2003, 01:34 PM | #4 | |
Morgado's Favorite Forum Fascist
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Greensboro, NC
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...from clark howard's web site...
Quote:
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The media don't understand the kinds of problems and pressures 54 million come wit'! |
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02-03-2003, 01:40 PM | #5 |
Resident Alien
Join Date: Jun 2001
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Ya know, I was wondering when he'd get around to paying me...
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02-03-2003, 01:45 PM | #6 | |
Morgado's Favorite Forum Fascist
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Greensboro, NC
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How about these stats from internetfraudservices.com:
Quote:
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The media don't understand the kinds of problems and pressures 54 million come wit'! |
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02-03-2003, 01:46 PM | #7 |
College Starter
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Berkeley
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I think I read that that scam is either the #1 or #2 source of income for the entire country of Nigeria... hence why the government tends to look the other way.
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02-03-2003, 01:49 PM | #8 |
General Manager
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: The Satellite of Love
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Bee, LOL
As for the scam, let it keep going around. Anyone dumb enough to fall for this deserves to have their money taken from them. Well, that's a little harsh, but when people do stupid things liek fall for this, it amazes me how we can even function as a society. |
02-03-2003, 01:49 PM | #9 |
Pro Starter
Join Date: Feb 2002
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Yeah Slate.com had a whole article about it...
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"General Woundwort's body was never found. It could be that he still lives his fierce life somewhere else, but from that day on, mother rabbits would tell their kittens that if they did not do as they were told, the General would get them. Such was Woundwort's monument, and perhaps it would not have displeased him." Watership Down, Richard Adams |
02-03-2003, 01:54 PM | #10 |
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Mays Landing, NJ USA
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I knew it had been circulating, just had no idea that many people were falling for it. Amazing. I guess what they say is right, there is one born every minute.
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02-03-2003, 01:56 PM | #11 |
College Starter
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Berkeley
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If all they need is your bank routing number and checking account to withdraw funds from your account, aren't you at risk everytime you pay a bill by mail with a check? (since that info is printed on every check)
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02-03-2003, 01:59 PM | #12 | |
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Nov 2000
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Quote:
Another good reason to never pay bills. :-) |
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02-03-2003, 02:00 PM | #13 |
College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Neptune Beach, Florida
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That's my question as well Daimyo..
By the way, I really don't think anyone I know would be so naive as to go along with something like this. I mean how stupid do you have to be.. My thoughts are these scam artists are raking in the majority of this money from Sally Jessie and Jerry Springer lovers that sit at home in the trailer all day eating pounds of bacon at a time and becoming more obese by the second..
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IT'S ALL ABOUT THE BLACK & GOLD!! |
02-03-2003, 02:01 PM | #14 |
Head Coach
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: North Carolina
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This scam still depends on the scammee being stupid AND greedy. You have to be willing to help someone circumvent the (Nigerian) law in exchange for a cut of the profits.
American Gods mentions how it is much harder to scam an honest person than a dishonest person. Somewhat on topic--what are some good scams/cons about which you have heard? I find the subject interesting because it plays on human nature and money--two things I find interesting in themselves. |
02-03-2003, 02:02 PM | #15 | |
Morgado's Favorite Forum Fascist
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Greensboro, NC
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Quote:
While passing this off on the "lower end" of society might seem expeditious, I doubt it is accurate. If the figures I posted above are accurate, the AVERAGE loss is over $6500. Some people of means are falling for this.
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The media don't understand the kinds of problems and pressures 54 million come wit'! |
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02-03-2003, 02:04 PM | #16 |
College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Neptune Beach, Florida
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Good Point.. Surprising, but a Good Point. You just never know what's going on in those Co-Workers heads, do ya?
It could be anyone..
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IT'S ALL ABOUT THE BLACK & GOLD!! Last edited by MylesKnight : 02-03-2003 at 02:04 PM. |
02-03-2003, 02:19 PM | #17 |
College Starter
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Berkeley
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You don't have to be smart to end up rich...
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02-03-2003, 02:26 PM | #18 |
High School JV
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Nova Scotia
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I've been getting the Nigerian faxes and e-mails for 9 years now. Then last month I got one of the same scam, but with a diiferent location. I can't remember if it was in Africa or South America this time.
In Canada, the successful ones seem to be the small scale ones from Quebec who confirm your fax listing and send you the directory along with a bill for $200. The company kept changing its name. I had lots of fun asking for Mr. Wiseman whenever they called only to hear a prolonged silence followed by a click as they realized I knew who they were. Toner phoners were also big for a while, but I haven't heard of them lately.
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02-03-2003, 04:18 PM | #19 | |
College Prospect
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: NJ
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Quote:
Actually saw a very interesting on the TV show Ed a wile ago. Danny DeVito played some guy who pulled a sceme. What he did was pick a baseball game a send 500 people a letter telling them one team would win and 500 telling them the other team would. Now you have to be right on at least 500, so you send 250 another team and the other 250 the other. 250 are still right so 125/125 and so on. Eventually you will have gotten 5 or 6 in a row right for some of the people so you send them a letter telling them to send money for your next prediction so they can bet. You might be wrong this time but you already have there money. I don't know whether it has ever worked in real life, but it sounds very plausible that it could have. |
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02-03-2003, 04:20 PM | #20 |
Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Tulsa
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This is just pitiful.
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02-03-2003, 05:13 PM | #21 | |
High School JV
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Austin, TX
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Quote:
Don't worry, MK, they can make up for the loss by suing the company that made the Bacon.
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02-03-2003, 06:42 PM | #22 | |
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Quote:
Copied by all the *selection* services in the USA Today and other publications - every other call gets the opposite team. |
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02-03-2003, 10:17 PM | #23 |
Pro Starter
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Kansas City, MO
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I have no idea who this Clark Howard guy is, but I would officially doubt anything he has to say based on the clip above.
He cites the Secret Service as a source -- except that the Secret Service Web site has NO information about this. He also says people have lost $100 million -- except it is later cited that InternetFraudServices.com, which seems to be a somewhat reliable source, cites that there was only $4,371,724 lost in Internet fraud in 2001, including the Nigerian scam. Also, these scams aren't being pulled by Nigerians -- they are being pulled by scam artists right here in the good ol' USA. The worst scam I have ever heard about was during my reporting days. These guys would call people over the age of 65 and tell them they were conducting a survey. They would ask them some questions, then call them back the next day to see if they remembered the original conversation. If not, then they would call them back the next day and ask them where the money was at -- they would pretend that they had made a business deal and make the old person think they had forgot. They would make the person feel so guilty and ashamed for forgetting that they would fork over the money. What makes that scam so bad to me is that it doesn't take advantage of people's greed and stupidity -- it took advantage of people who aren't able to protect themselves. |
02-04-2003, 12:02 AM | #24 |
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Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Phoenix, AZ
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These scams apparantly do work and if you check their history they've been going on for a while.
[edit] can't get the snopes link to work but go to snopes.com and search for nigerian. This scam has been going on since the 1920's by letter. These guys have had YEARS to figure out how to scam americans apparantly. [/edit] Scamming this way since the 1920's. Wow! There are some people who are dedicated to annoying the piss out of the scammers and generally wasting their time. My favorite is this person: http://www.wendywillcox.50megs.com/ Priceless!! Here's a whole page of antiscammers if you will. http://www.scamorama.com/ Hope you enjoy.
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There are no houris, alas, in our heaven. Last edited by Axxon : 02-04-2003 at 12:11 AM. |
02-04-2003, 12:06 AM | #25 |
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Swampland...Florida...sold!
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Pumpy Tudors Now that I've cracked and made that admission, I wonder if I'm only a couple of steps away from wanting to tongue-kiss Jaromir Jagr and give Bobby Clarke a blowjob. |
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