Post your Nigerian fan mail - Grrrrrrr

Here's my most recent fan mail from Nigeria. They're obsessively in love with me I think, I get these things on a daily basis. In this one I get 2.5 million dollars, whooooooooohoo! Arrrrgh!

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Attn:

I know that you might be surprise on this mail, but I am telling you the truth. I know that it is against my official duty to release confidential issue like this to an outsider.There is nothing I can do to help you beside this; I am taking this bold step because of my belief as a Christian.

What I want to tell you is about your fund with the Federal Government of Nigeria, there are a lot forces working against you right from the last CBN Governor Chief Joseph Sanusi and the current Governor Prof. Charles Soludo, they have been frustrating you by demanding upfront payment from you constantly, If I tell you that they are using all these money you sent to them to work against you, you might not believe it. But it is reality.

There is a way I can assist you get your fund without you paying any charges to get your fund, it is risk but one have to take it, I have assisted one woman from Mexico with it, it worked out though her fund was US$2.5m. What you have to do is to open another bank account any where, if you can open it in another place, it will be nice, but what you have to bear in mind is that you have to re-transfer the fund to another account immediately you confirmed it in your account,

I know why I want it this way. If you want me to go ahead, let me know as soon as you get this mail, if I make the transfer on this week, it might be next three months that they will find out and by then, you have re-transferred the fund into another account.
Get back to me as soon as you get this mail ([email protected]) so that I will be in better position to know what to do.

Mrs. Veronica Amadi
KTT Dept CBN.

Mod edit: added ex-tags

[edit on 2007/8/28 by Hellmutt]

I hope you're reporting those to the Federal Trade Commission. I have a Gmail account so I usually do it through them, but the FTC has a dedicated page.

I've also gotten one from someone claiming to be an English banker, and one supposedly from elsewhere in Europe.

I can't believe anyone is dumb enough to fall for this stuff, but they do.

I just remembered some hilarious sites by people who are doing what is called "scambaiting." They toy with the Nigerians and make them do ridiculous things and send proof for a few laughs and to put the scammer in his place.

This is one good site

Here's another dedicated site

One more just for laughs

If you think these are funny and want more, google "Nigerian scam baiting"

[edit to add: why is the word filter changing N I G E R I A N to n-word ian? Anyone? ]


[edit again to add: Oooohhh. I get it, small "n" Nigerian sets off the word filter. OK now we know. The forum software does not appreciate a proper name being uncapitalized. At least if its Nigeria!]

[edit on 27-8-2007 by MajorMalfunction]

They are all over yahoo messenger also, least they were I havent been there in a year or so.
I chatted with one person and told them I was tracking them and was about to arrest them. I think they were kinda scared for a little bit, was kinda funny.

Yeah i heard of one not tool long ago and the guy gave his cell phone number in the mail. Our local radio station also got it and one of the guys phoned this dude. He said that someone with TONS of cash passed away and they could not find the next of kin. So what was proposed was that, for a small fee, they would falsify papers that would make you the next of kin or rather the nominated beneficiary. The fee was a couple of hundred $US. Well they kept phoning this dude as different people and then called back and told him that it was the same person and how could he do this etc etc... It was a laugh. BUt people do fall for this in hopes of huge financial gains - yeah right. Like i got a mail once saying i won money in the UK lottery. Something like 1.6m pounds. Asling for banking details to make deposits and credit card numbers to pay a "admin" fee...

aghhhhhhhh... how can anyone fall for this.

Originally posted by shearder
aghhhhhhhh... how can anyone fall for this.

I've had my share of Nigerian scams in my email accounts and I've often wondered whether anyone was stupid -- or greedy -- enough to respond to one of these solicitations. Frankly, I thought that "word" had gotten around to the point that these scams would have simply disappeared by now.

However, the other day I was talking with my wife's uncle and he told me about how a friend of his had actually sent away $2,500 to one of these Nigerian email scams! Unbelievable but true. The "friend" was, in typical fashion, lured by promises of millions in what must have been a convincing cover letter and tale of woe and potential wealth. The thing is, the "friend" is educated and had held down a highly skilled, professional position. This person, my wife's uncles' friend, should have seen through this scam.

The only explanation that I can see, or understand, is that the person in question is now retired and in his early 70's. It leads me to wonder whether the elderly are especially trusting or gullible?

Like Spam, these sorts of scams won't go away because, apparently, "they work"! Considering that the cost of sending out millions of solicitations cost next to nothing via the internet, these professional con men work on the premise that "a sucker is born every minute".

Originally posted by benevolent tyrant
The only explanation that I can see, or understand, is that the person in question is now retired and in his early 70's. It leads me to wonder whether the elderly are especially trusting or gullible?

Like Spam, these sorts of scams won't go away because, apparently, "they work"! Considering that the cost of sending out millions of solicitations cost next to nothing via the internet, these professional con men work on the premise that "a sucker is born every minute".

I have to agree with your post. Quite possibly the elderly are more susceptible to being caught in something like this. They are old and have a small income, if any, every month and something stashed away to keep them going and the thought of being "better off" for the rest of their lives is a lure they may not be able to ignore.

And i am sure out of the millions of mails they send, if 100 people fall for it is is 100 people x money they would not have had. It is true - it obviously works. Perhaps TV channels need to highlight this sort of thing as an ad. But i guess it won't bring in any money so why alert the public using that technique hmmmm... :bnghd:

reply to post by MajorMalfunction


Ha those are great, reminds me of another story I read about the scammers getting what they deserved.

The Holy Church of the Fish, Bread and Wine .

AH man i read the emails from the post above. hilarious to say the least. What goes around hey.

This particular exchange is insane, and I can't believe the scammer was so greedy he just kept going along with it.

The pictures are hilarious.

The scam really is a huge industry, despite how few people could be ensnared by it. It is estimated that less than 1% of recipients reply to these mails, but that is enough to rake in (at least) hundreds of thousands of dollars per year in total.

Often, it does play upon greed, but not in all cases. In many instances, the solicitation is for nothing more than charity. While the same gullibility factor is present, the scam plays upon both selfish and noble instincts.

These guys are everywhere. The scam runs through e-mail, IM, dating/social networking sites, auction sites, classified ad sites, etc. Sometimes they'll even try to scam retail stores either by e-mail, phone, or fax. They cover every angle.

At first glance, the horribly flawed missives are laughable. Apparently, the 419 scammers use 19th century English literature as their model, in an effort to appear formal and professional. Of course, the finished product ends up appearing bizarre, archaic, and still horribly-written. Yet somehow enough people do send money. The scammers will operate out of internet cafes, paying a tiny amount for the promise of much higher returns, as well as for the anonymity they provide. The scammers operate out of many places worldwide - Nigeria, South Africa, the Netherlands, the UK, and Spain are some of the big hot spots.

Some people have been kidnapped and ransomed, beaten, or even killed trying to get their money back. It's true that many of the scammers are small-time bumblers, but that doesn't mean they aren't dangerous. If you want to scambait them, make sure you cover your identity well. If you want to avoid the spam, be careful where you put your e-mail address. Scammers often troll guestbooks on websites and other areas where people commonly list their e-mail addresses. You can spot a scammer-infested guestbook by looking for keywords such as "mugu," and "guyman" accompanied by almost unintelligible comments written in broken English.