419 Scam

Message

Quest For Glory Fan · #1 Post by **Quest For Glory Fan** » Sat Jul 15, 2006 8:40 pm

I just got this in not one but two of my email accounts... it gave me a chortle.

From Engr Ibrahim Wahala
Lot 857 Rue 21 Zone 4

Abidjan Cote D'Ivoire

Dear Sir,

I am contacting you from my office confidentially concerning the immediate transfer of an amount of money from here in Abidjan West Africa.This money in Question is USD 2.2 Million America Dollars and the fund is currently in the Bank Of Africa in a suspense account and I want you to help me to receive the money in your bank account so that I can come over to meet with you for the sharing of the fund as I have agreed to offer you 20% of the total fund while the rest of 80% remains in your bank account until I will be there to meet with you.

Please send me your direct and confidential telephone number so that I can call and talk with you in details.

I am waiting urgently for your mail.

Thanks.

Engr Ibrahim Wahala

I remember we used to have a topic about this and I was wondering if anyone's gotten any good ones lately.

Spikey · #2 Post by **Spikey** » Sat Jul 15, 2006 11:09 pm

Yup received it few weeks back.

Boogeyman · #3 Post by **Boogeyman** » Sun Jul 16, 2006 4:42 am

I still get some. Now go over to 419Eater, please.

Quest For Glory Fan · #4 Post by **Quest For Glory Fan** » Sun Jul 16, 2006 6:10 pm

Thanks Spike, that's all I really wanted to know... I heard there were people that respond back flaming but it ends up getting them more spam.

#5 Post by **Anonymous Game Creator 2** » Sun Jul 16, 2006 6:42 pm

If you want to enter into 'scambaiting' correspondence with them, don't reply from your original email account, as then the scammer possibly has access to your personal details, name etc. You don't want criminals being privy to that kind of personal information. So play it safe at all times.

It's recommended that you open a new gmail account (which hides your IP number) and reply to them using a completely fake name, and using completely fake info. Never believe a word that they say either. These scammers are thieves and they can be very emotionally manipulative when they want to be -- particularly if it means getting money out of their victims. You'd be surprised at how many people enter into a correspondence with them thinking of them as thieves, and later end up questioning whether perhaps the scammer is really in trouble and/or might actually be telling the truth. They're not. It's all a big confidence trick intended to relieve you of your money. They will often center their scams around large-scale disasters and tragedies like 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, the Tsunami, The Madrid and London bombings, and often ask for donations, relying on people's generosity to line their pockets. Not a cent goes to any charity organizations; it all goes back to the scammer's hip pocket. These scumbags deserve all the abuse they get.

I actually got one of these scammers to paint the cover of the QFG2 box for me a while back. The artwork kind of sucked, though. :\

Boogeyman · #6 Post by **Boogeyman** » Sun Jul 16, 2006 9:00 pm

Maybe we need to start an "AGDI Scambaiting Club"!

#7 Post by **navynuke04** » Sun Jul 16, 2006 9:08 pm

Anonymous Game Creator 2 wrote:I actually got one of these scammers to paint the cover of the QFG2 box for me a while back. The artwork kind of sucked, though. :\

Definately worth sharing though. I'd like to see it.

Da_elf · #8 Post by **Da_elf** » Sun Jul 16, 2006 9:36 pm

ive been getting scam emails like that for the last couple of years. nothing new there. someone would have to be a total moron to fall for crap like this. but hey. a sucker is porn every minute i guess.

Bigfan · #9 Post by **Bigfan** » Sun Jul 16, 2006 10:25 pm

Da_elf wrote:but hey. a sucker is porn every minute i guess.

A Freudian Slip is when you say one thing and mean a mother. ;-)

Da_elf · #10 Post by **Da_elf** » Mon Jul 17, 2006 2:51 pm

too true (:

#11 Post by **Anonymous Game Creator 2** » Wed Jul 19, 2006 6:19 pm

someone would have to be a total moron to fall for crap like this.

Not necessarily. Like I mentioned, some of them rely on people's generosity (as opposed to their ignorance) by posing as charities. They also use official websites and news stories to give their scams credibility. I've often received such emails which look extremely convincing and I can see how it would be easy for someone who has never heard of the scams before to be taken in. Regardless of that, they still make the scammers millions of dollars every year and supposedly, 419 crime is Nigeria's 2nd biggest revenue generator, aside from oil.

Definately worth sharing though. I'd like to see it.

Okay I dug them up. This guy wasn't a particularly bright spark. I had to explain to him about 5 times that I wanted a picture painted in return for sending him $50,000 (which I had no intention of sending, of course) before he finally caught the drift.

First I sent him this and asked him to duplicate it as closely as possible:

About two weeks later, I received this by email attachment:

I asked him what the hell that crap was and told him he'd better taking things seriously. Another few weeks passed and he forget what he was supposed to be painting (too many other scams running simultaneously?). I ended up sending him the first picture another three or so times.

After many delays and broken promises, he delivers this much better (but still pretty dismal) effort. You think he'd put a bit more effort into it for fifty G's!

I told him that he has to do better than that if he wants the money. He got to work on another version which he said would be much better, but then I never heard back from him again. Maybe I'll have to follow him up on that.