Nigeria Returns $4.5N to Fraud Victim

[NVMojo]

Incredible, someone actually fell for one of these scams ...and, of course, it was an elderly person. How sad ...

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Nigeria Returns $4.5N to Fraud Victim LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) - Nigeria returned $4.5 million seized from scammers to an 86-year-old Chinese woman last month, the West African country's financial crimes agency said Saturday.

A Nigerian fraud ring swindled Juliana Ching, of Hong Kong, through false promises that she and her daughter would benefit from a contract supposedly offered by the state-owned Nigerian oil company, said Osita Nwajah, spokesman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

The scammers told Ching they needed to use her account to temporarily deposit $25 million, promising her 25 percent of the sum. Instead, between 1995 and 2000, they withdrew $4.5 million of Ching's own money.

more...

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/w-af/2005/oct/08/100802240.html

[spindrifter]

1. When do the rest of us get compensated

for the time we've wasted with the scammers sending out all those ridiculous spam letters trying to get us to help out? Some weeks I've gotten as many as three of them.

[NVMojo]

2. good point ...

[TreasonousBastard]

7. You're lucky-- I get at least three a day. n/t

[LostinVA]

9. Me too! Including those from Mrs. Arafat, etal.

[gardenista]

3. My name is Mokumbo Sowane. I am one of the swindlers who

perpetrated this unfortunate situation. I must pay back, by wire transfer, $1.4 million dollars to Mrs. Juliana Ching, of Hong Kong. As you must understand, there is no expeditious manner for such large sums to be transferred directly from my country, due to the civil war.

I ask you, sir, for your kind help as I redeem my reputation and seek a position once again at the Nigerian National Oil Fund. In order to do so, we will require your assistance to deposit these funds into your American bank account in order to facilitate this important justice. You will receive 25% fee for this service, and we will wire these funds to you immediately upon receipt of your information.

I respectfully thank you and wish for you and your family great health and prosperity.

Sincerely,

Mokumbo Sowane

[NEOBuckeye]

6. You must be out of your mind.

Don't you people ever give up?

[gardenista]

10. LOL. Now *that* is funny!

I think I forgot to put a satire warning on my post.

Don't worry, it was just a joke. Sorry to offend.

I think Skinner would be mad at me if I tried to run a 419 scam on DU, and I don't want to make Skinner mad.



:toast:

[jim3775]

4. I used to scam-bait

You set up a throwaway email account and plant your email address in guestbooks. When they contact you, you string them along and make weird requests for them to send you documents and pictures, they usually go along with it too.

These people are despicable, every time a new tragedy comes along they exploit it; 911, the tsunami and hurricane katrina are the most recent examples.

[TroubleMan]

5. Here's a website that gets back at the 419 scammers:

http://www.419eater.com/

[RebelOne]

8. Yes, one of my favorite Web sites.

I don't scam bait, but I love reading what those guys do to those scammers.

[RebelOne]

12. Here is another great site

http://www.thescambaiter.com

[PennyK]

11. Nigerians Awarded Prize!

I attended the Ig Nobel Prize Awards Ceremony Thursday night at Harvard...the Nigerian scammers were awarded the Prize for Literature!!!!!

[RebelOne]

13. Not all Nigerians are scammers.

I think you are sterotyping. Most Nigerians condemn the scammers.

[Karmakaze]

14. So when is this rich Chinese woman going to be charged?

I mean after all, she was conspiring to commit a crime - money laundering.

These idiots that get scammed like this DESERVE to lose every cent they have.

[Sabriel]

15. I guess this answers my burning question:

Does anyone actually fall for those emails?

Yep.