agaricus5
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It's extremely non-DRODish, but I was so when I read this that I thought you might also like to share in the fun with me.

Look at what I just received in my e-mail today:

I NEED YOURN HELP.

Dear,
How are you doing and your people too, I am directing this letter of
assistance to you. I am PRINCE Williams Ali. the only son of late
KING Ali from LIBERIA city of CALMLY. in desire to get
somebody who will safe guard my interest.. Briefly, my father KING
Ali was a wealthy Oil Dialer in LIBERIA.

But when he was about to die, he called me and told
me that he deposited the sum of FIFTEEN Million United State Dollars
(US$15.M) in a SECURITY FIRM in U.A.E. This money was kept for me in my
name, his only son. Right now, I am a first year student of business
management in one of the Universities here. My only problem now is that
since my father has been killed to death,because of LIBERIA war.
I dint even trust any person here again including my father's brother.
Right now
,Please I want you to help me in the following ways:
( 1)I want you to provide a personal / company's bank account where this
amount here in Dubai (US$15 M) can be transferred in your custody.

( 2)You are going to be my partner in the Management/investment of this
fund in your country and also my personal guardian until I finish my
studies.

(3)You are going to procure admissions for me to continue my studies in
one of the universities in your country.

(4)That you will be contacted,by the diplomatic couriers service.
(b) The consignment code will be send
to you after proper documentation,

( 5) You are going to receive 20% of the total sum for safe guarding
this fund. I will appreciate if you consider my condition and help me,
and I will be willing to proceed with you as soon as I receive your
response.

AS YOU CAN SEE THE WAR PROBLME IN MY COUNTRY IN LIBERIA.

For this every reason i have just decided to be in Dubai
now,till the fund is secured in a reliable hand,here is my contact
Email: <e-mail address was here>



THIS BUSINESS IS HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL BECAUSE MY LATE FATHER'S BROTHER
KNOWS NOTHING ABOUT THIS.Waiting for your immediate response Please.
Thanks for your understanding

PRINCE Williams Ali.

I need your Telephone number and Fax for easy communication.

Quite self-explanatory, I think.



[Edited by agaricus5 on 11-26-2003 at 06:51 PM GMT]

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Oneiromancer
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So they've moved from Nigeria to Liberia, eh? Is this the first time you've gotten or heard of one of these e-mails? The "Nigerian e-mail scams" have been the butt of quite a few jokes...although perhaps only in nerd circles, I wouldn't know since I don't go outside them very much.

But I agree, it is funny how pathetically bad they are. And I have heard (not sure if it's true) that at a certain hotel in London there are always 10-15 Americans a week checking in hoping to meet their Nigerian contact. Amazing. How did those people survive to get to the point where they could afford a plane ticket like that?

Game on,

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agaricus5
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Oneiromancer wrote:
So they've moved from Nigeria to Liberia, eh? Is this the first time you've gotten or heard of one of these e-mails?

Yes. It's the first time. I don't believe a word of it though. However, I did an IP scan on the Symantec Website and traced it to an internet Café in Dubai, so there is a little grain of truth in it, I suppose.

The "Nigerian e-mail scams" have been the butt of quite a few jokes...although perhaps only in nerd circles, I wouldn't know since I don't go outside them very much.

But I agree, it is funny how pathetically bad they are. And I have heard (not sure if it's true) that at a certain hotel in London there are always 10-15 Americans a week checking in hoping to meet their Nigerian contact. Amazing. How did those people survive to get to the point where they could afford a plane ticket like that?

Game on,

Hmm... I haven't a clue.



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eytanz
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Wow... I find it realy, really surprising that this is the first you ran into this - I get about 4-5 similar emails every day. They come (or claim to come) from all over Africa these days, and occasionally from the Middle East.

A good page of info about this family of scams is at:

http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/scams/nigeria.htm

There are more links at the bottom of that page if you're interested.

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Oneiromancer
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Snopes is the best site. If I ever get a chain letter from someone claiming that file.exe is a virus and should be deleted from your Windows folder, or that Clinton was really a Nazi sympathizer, I quickly find the page on Snopes that will easily debunk it and forward it back to them. We must educate the masses!

Game on,

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eytanz
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Yeah, they're a great site. There are a few more out there with a similar goal, but they're the most informative, and I like the writing style too.

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Mattcrampy
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Incidently, the guy who runs the Nigerian scams in Australia got arrested a few weeks ago. He's getting tied up near Circular Quay with a few officers there inviting passers-by to kick him in the balls or whatever else they feel is appropriate.

In Australia, we take spam very seriously.

Matt

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DiMono
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Mattcrampy wrote:
Incidently, the guy who runs the Nigerian scams in Australia got arrested a few weeks ago. He's getting tied up near Circular Quay with a few officers there inviting passers-by to kick him in the balls or whatever else they feel is appropriate.

In Australia, we take spam very seriously.

Matt

Holy crap that's the coolest thing I've ever read.

Or it's 1:20am and I'm overtired. Either way, it's amusing to me right now.

My favourite similar spams are the ones that say "I've spent my entire life amassing a great fortune (usually over $80M) but I've never really been loved by anyone because I stab them all in the back. If you help me give it to charity, I'll give you 20% of what I have."

I once responded by saying "I've contacted my lawyer, and he advises me not to assist you. He also told me he would contact your government to help you distribute your money." Oddly enough, I didn't get a reply to that email...

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bandit1200
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I advertised one of my motorcycles on a number of UK websites and have had over 100 replies that were obvious scams and only one genuine reply. (Unfortunately he lived to far away to buy.) One of the scams was amusing in that the writer purported to be the wife of an Iraqi prince who was escaping the coalition forces. She wanted to pay more than my asking price for my old Suzuki to ride across the desert to rescue her husband. It was so plausible I was taken in immediately. Heh.

DiMono
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At least it was half-way creative

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eytanz
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I wonder why this field hasn't died of overcrowding. I mean, look at this thread - Wesley got one such message, and was surprised and didn't know whether to take it seriously or not. He didn't, because he's an intelligent person, but he could have. It's just plausible enough that one African millionaire randomly chose your name to help him (or even that he spammed a lot of people hoping that one will answer).

But for most of us, who get many different scam letters every day - how are they supposed to work? Why would I ever believe that ex-politicians from *every* African country and some Middle Eastern nations happened to choose me to help with their money problems? Am I known for my great money laundering skills? Did they all see my website and figured that no-one will suspect an Israeli grad student in NYC of aiding an Iraqi Princess (an Iraqi prince? they weren't a monarchy)? I mean, even the stupidest people around should figure something is weird the moment they get their third scam mail...

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ErikH2000
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There's a bunch of people that make it a hobby to scam the scammers. Take a look at this site:

http://419eater.com/html/letters.htm

Very funny. The people that send out scam e-mails as a whole don't seem very bright, and are easily taken in by counter-scams.

-Erik

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bandit1200
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ErikH2000 wrote:
There's a bunch of people that make it a hobby to scam the scammers. Take a look at this site:
-Erik

Feckin' brilliant! I've tried a couple of reverse scams over my bike, but this is excellent.

Really, there are a number of authorities to inform if anyone tries scam you, depending where you live. Do a search for Nigeria scam or 419 scam. If you get one, report it; it's the only way to try to stop it.

krammer
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I've never seen this kinda thing before, but my email isn't very well publicised - only on things as popular as this forum manly, and frankly I don't think many spammers will read these boards. Although you never know.

Anyway, I ahd a look at that site and it's great. I just wonder whether that bloke actually has any kind of life...

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