Tuesday, August 10, 2004
Snopes.com
This site offers a good description of how these cute little scams operate. Here's a quote:
The Nigerian scam is hugely successful. According to a 1997 newspaper article:
"We have confirmed losses just in the United States of over $100 million in the last 15 months," said Special Agent James Caldwell, of the Secret Service financial crimes division. "And that's just the ones we know of. We figure a lot of people don't report them."
It's very difficult to see how post-modern man could fall for something like this, but I guess keeping up with the Joneses can really work a number on one's clarity of thought.
Here's some more from the same site, but I'm too lazy to put the hyperlink in:
The Secret Service asks if you have been victimized by the Nigerian scam to forward appropriate written documentation to the United States Secret Service, Financial Crimes Division, 950 H Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20223, or telephone (202) 406-5850, or contact by e-mail. Per their automated response system, they no longer want faxed copies of the various Nigerian scams.
One more nugget before I get back to work:
...sources close to some of the so-called Nigerian e-mail scam's perpetrators insist that those overwrought messages fuel a thriving industry, employing thousands of people around the world who successfully manage to extract money from a multitude of Internet pen pals.
The Nigerian scam is hugely successful. According to a 1997 newspaper article:
"We have confirmed losses just in the United States of over $100 million in the last 15 months," said Special Agent James Caldwell, of the Secret Service financial crimes division. "And that's just the ones we know of. We figure a lot of people don't report them."
It's very difficult to see how post-modern man could fall for something like this, but I guess keeping up with the Joneses can really work a number on one's clarity of thought.
Here's some more from the same site, but I'm too lazy to put the hyperlink in:
The Secret Service asks if you have been victimized by the Nigerian scam to forward appropriate written documentation to the United States Secret Service, Financial Crimes Division, 950 H Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20223, or telephone (202) 406-5850, or contact by e-mail. Per their automated response system, they no longer want faxed copies of the various Nigerian scams.
One more nugget before I get back to work:
...sources close to some of the so-called Nigerian e-mail scam's perpetrators insist that those overwrought messages fuel a thriving industry, employing thousands of people around the world who successfully manage to extract money from a multitude of Internet pen pals.
