OT: Do People Actually Fall for This?

[EagleFan]

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?

[Ben E Lou]

Eagle:

According to Clark Howard, the answer is yes. People have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars to this scam apparently.

[Bee]

You mean that's a scam?

err....I have to go take care of something...

[Ben E Lou]

...from clark howard's web site...
Nigerian e-mail scam still works
Many of you have heard about the Nigerian scam e-mail that claims the royalty of Nigeria cannot get their millions out of their country and they’ll pay you a certain amount if you just give your checking account. But many people haven’t. The Secret Service reports that more than $100 million has been taken from people just in the past few months. If you own a business and have gotten this e-mail, or another one like it from another country, THROW IT AWAY. It’s unbelievable that people continue to get swindled by this, but they do. When you give your checking account number, these scam artists can easily take money out of your account and stash it in an overseas account.

[Kodos]

Ya know, I was wondering when he'd get around to paying me...:(

[Ben E Lou]

How about these stats from internetfraudservices.com:

Money Lost
The amount of money consumers are losing to Internet fraud, is increasing. Losses overall are $4,371,724, up from $3,387,530 in 2000. The average loss per person rose from $427 in 2000 to $636 in 2001. There are significant differences in the per person averages for each category.
.
Top Scams
Average Loss Per Person

Online Auctions $478
General Merchandise Sales $845
Nigerian Money Offers $6,542
Internet Access Services $568
Information Adult Services $234
Computer Equipment/Soft. $1,102
Work-At-Home $120

[Daimyo]

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.

[sabotai]

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.

[Qwikshot]

Yeah Slate.com had a whole article about it...

[EagleFan]

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.

[Daimyo]

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)

[EagleFan]

Originally posted by Daimyo
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)

Another good reason to never pay bills. :-)

[MylesKnight]

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..

[albionmoonlight]

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.

[Ben E Lou]

Originally posted by MylesKnight
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.. Myles:

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.

[MylesKnight]

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..

[Daimyo]

You don't have to be smart to end up rich...

[Kevin]

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.

[lcjjdnh]

Originally posted by albionmoonlight
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. [/B]

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.

[vex]

This is just pitiful.

[ACStrider]

Originally posted by MylesKnight
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..

Don't worry, MK, they can make up for the loss by suing the company that made the Bacon. :D

[lynchjm24]

Originally posted by lcjjdnh
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.


Copied by all the *selection* services in the USA Today and other publications - every other call gets the opposite team.

[kcchief19]

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.

[Axxon]

These scams apparantly do work and if you check their history they've been going on for a while.

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.

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. :)

[bbor]

Swampland...Florida...sold!