OT- The Best Nigerian Scam yet

[tesco samoa]

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/04/16/cosmic_419er/

[Arkcon]

This is all over the new today. I don't get it -- is this a news media spoof or web page satire or is someone actually sending this out -- again, as a joke or does someone actually expect the explanation to tug on heart strings and get some money?

I'm pretty confused. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/confused.gif

[General Woundwort]

14 years in space!?!?! Where's the Guinness Book people? They gotta hear about this! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/tongue.gif

Seriously, if he *had* been up there that long, he'd never be able to come back - earth gravity would kill him.

And what is that thing on the Register's masthead - a buzzard? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

[narf poit chez BOOM]

Originally posted by General Woundwort:

And what is that thing on the Register's masthead - a buzzard? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Spoken, not sung. Everything with a dash in it is drawn out. Everything with a slash is spoken quickly.

Three charcoal buzzards.
Three charcoal buzzards.
Three charcoal bu-uzzards.
Sitting in/a dead/tree.

Oh, Look! One has flown Away!
What A shame.

Two charcoal buzzards.
Two charcoal buzzards.
Two charcoal bu-uzzards.
Sitting in/a dead/tree.

Oh, Look! One has flown Away!
What A shame.

One charcoal buzzard.
One charcoal buzzard.
One charcoal bu-uzzard.
Sitting in/a dead/tree.

Oh, Look! One has flown Away!
What A shame.

No charcoal buzzards.
No charcoal buzzards.
No charcoal bu-uzzards.
Sitting in/a dead/tree.

Oh Look! One has Re-turned!
Let us Re-joice!

One charcoal buzzard.
One charcoal buzzard.
One charcoal bu-uzzard.
Sitting in/a dead/tree.

Oh Look! One has Re-turned!
Let us Re-joice!

Two charcoal buzzards.
Two charcoal buzzards.
Two charcoal bu-uzzards.
Sitting in/a dead/tree.

Oh Look! One has Re-turned!
Let us Re-joice!

Three charcoal buzzards.
Three charcoal buzzards.
Three charcoal bu-uzzards.
Sitting in/a dead/tree.

Done right, it's pretty funny. I got this one from a friend of my sister. She also taught me how to fold my upper eyelids over themselves and gross people out. Is that explaination enough? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

[ April 17, 2004, 20:45: Message edited by: narf poit chez BOOM ]

[Kamog]

That letter is a joke, right? Who's going to believe a story like that?

[Fyron]

You would be surprised.

[dogscoff]

I saw a TV program about these nigerian scams, and ppl do fall for them. They get you to withdraw loads of money from the bank, fill a suitcase with money and then fly to Amsterdam (or sometimes other places) to meet with some guy who puts a load of spiel on you. All the while there are armed heavies watching you from a discrete distance.

Then they invite you to go with them to a secluded location to "complete the transaction", and I'm sure I don't have to spell that one out for you all.

[Randallw]

What a coincidence, I just happened to win EuroLotto......Don't remember buying a ticket though. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/confused.gif

[Atrocities]

Originally posted by Imperator Fyron:
You would be surprised. <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">More people than you would ever believe would.

[Atrocities]

We should all respond by saying that we have surface to space missiles available to us and we would be happy to blow his arse out of space so that his burned and chard body will return to his precious Nigeria. The center of scum and villinary on the planet Earth.

All we need is $15,000 US dollars and the missile is away. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

[Baron Munchausen]

Originally posted by dogscoff:
I saw a TV program about these nigerian scams, and ppl do fall for them. They get you to withdraw loads of money from the bank, fill a suitcase with money and then fly to Amsterdam (or sometimes other places) to meet with some guy who puts a load of spiel on you. All the while there are armed heavies watching you from a discrete distance.

Then they invite you to go with them to a secluded location to "complete the transaction", and I'm sure I don't have to spell that one out for you all. <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Getting you to bring them the money is the old style of scam. They used to fish for victims by sending actual paper (snail mail) letters instead of email, too. But that leaves a clearer trail for investigation. My father's business (insurance) got a letter from one of these scammers more than a decade ago.

Now they just con people into wiring money through email and rob them without even having to meet them. And yes, people have been falling for variations on this scam for ages. The offer of 'something for nothing' just seems to render some people completely witless. What's really funny is that some people have even committed crimes with other people's money trying to get the offered loot.
http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,55329,00.html

A secretary at a law firm embezzled $2 million dollars from the firm's acounts and wired it to some South African scammer working this scheme. She didn't get the payoff, of course, and was discovered when the law firm's checks started bouncing.

Wired Magazine has covered this booming fraud business in the past:
http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,53818,00.html

On the lighter side, there are people who have made a hobby of scamming the scammers. I guess it's a natural outcome of the constant annoyance of these spams. Sooner or later someone is going to decide to turn the tables. It's funny what they have been able to get some of them to do in hopes of fleecing a pigeon. But just like the victims they are seeking, the hope for free money can cloud their thinking.

http://www.419eater.com
http://www.ebolamonkeyman.com

[ April 19, 2004, 17:26: Message edited by: Baron Munchausen ]

[rdouglass]

Originally posted by Atrocities:
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Originally posted by Imperator Fyron:
You would be surprised. <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">More people than you would ever believe would. </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">I read somewhere (can't remember specifically, but seen it more than twice) that for any given day, there are on average 5 people waiting for a Nigerian in a hotel lobby somewhere in the world.