Tuesday, November 04, 2003
They always say that you can't fall for a scam unless you're greedy, stupid, or both. After reading this story I'm convinced this guy has the market cornered on both counts.
First of all, variations of this Nigerian scam have been around forever. In the days before the internet people would get these mysterious letters offering untold riches. I can remember my dad getting one claiming to be from various Nigerian government officials who had skimmed oil profits and needed a way to get them out of the country. The amount was very high....20 million? The letter claimed that my dad had been referrred to them by an acquaintance in the government. This had just a small ring of truth since my dad had been in the oil exploration field for many years and had travelled the world. He was skeptical and concerned enough about it that he took the letter to a local attorney who said....."Its a fraud"!
Since then I have heard this over and over again. Now with the internet they can send out these tempting little missives to millions at no cost. Sure, 99.9% of the people will laugh and click delete. But as the referenced article illustrates P.T. Barnum was absolutely right. There's a sucker born every minute.
Want to read more about scams? Check out this site.
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First of all, variations of this Nigerian scam have been around forever. In the days before the internet people would get these mysterious letters offering untold riches. I can remember my dad getting one claiming to be from various Nigerian government officials who had skimmed oil profits and needed a way to get them out of the country. The amount was very high....20 million? The letter claimed that my dad had been referrred to them by an acquaintance in the government. This had just a small ring of truth since my dad had been in the oil exploration field for many years and had travelled the world. He was skeptical and concerned enough about it that he took the letter to a local attorney who said....."Its a fraud"!
Since then I have heard this over and over again. Now with the internet they can send out these tempting little missives to millions at no cost. Sure, 99.9% of the people will laugh and click delete. But as the referenced article illustrates P.T. Barnum was absolutely right. There's a sucker born every minute.
Want to read more about scams? Check out this site.
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