Nigerian scams

[mark_t5]

<p>Just in case others get the same email... the IP is from Nigeria. </p>

<p>Why do they always use UK as their base...I don't get that. It's like a dead giveaway, but at least grammar/spelling in this one is "better" than the usual scam.</p>

<p>Dear X<br />This is a requisition for your<br /> photography services. I am Guojun<br /> Li. Based in UK. I am contacting you<br /> in regard of my wedding. My wedding<br /> is coming up on September 11, 2010. I<br /> have been browsing the internet for a<br /> professional photographer in USA when<br /> I found your contact. Pleese I will<br /> want to hire your service to be the<br /> photographer on my wedding day in UK.<br /> <br /> You will cover the whole events from<br /> Getting ready, Ceremony, and the<br /> Reception. I want you to capture the<br /> atmosphere of the event so that we can<br /> moment, photo by photo, for a life<br /> time. Capture all those little moments<br /> that make the wedding day incredible.<br /> Also, I will want you to make an album<br /> from the event.I will prefer popular<br /> flush mount albums that are custom<br /> designed.<br /> <br /> I am of the opinion that you are<br /> capable to provide the incredible<br /> services as requested. Please accept<br /> my sincerest appreciation on behalf of<br /> my fiance, in advance for your<br /> willingness to render your services as<br /> I look forward to your prompt response<br /> to my request.<br /> <br /> Pleese let me know if you will be<br /> able to make it.<br /> Kind Regard,<br /> <br /> Guojun Li</p>

[BernardMiller]

<p>Lots of fun here: http:/419eater.com</p>

[Jerry_]

<p>Not bad, not bad -- but "<strong>Pleese</strong>" don't consider it (the guy's e-mail) for anything but <em>a quick trip</em> to your Recycle Bin.</p>

<p> </p>

[jpb]

<p>I got one the other day in which "she" actually told me that for my inexpensive prints she would be sending me a cashier’s check with a significant excess that instructed me (rather coldly) to be honest and send the difference to the shipping company directly upon receipt. Usually they wait a bit longer to tell you about this condition much later on, but I guess "she's" inexperienced. “She” also contacted me through a website contact form on one of my online shops, and instructed me to correspond further outside of that circuit, to her "husband’s" yahoo address.</p>

<p>If I didn’t understand how stupid "she" is, I would have been insulted about how stupid she thinks I am.</p>

[daverhaas]

<p>The best one I ever received was actually a response to an ad I posted on London-Craigslist. My 11 year-old daughter was on a school trip to Europe and she lost her Nikon Coolpix S1 somewhere around the London area. </p>

<p>So being a good dad - I posted on London CL and called the local law enforcement - just in case it turned in evidence. </p>

<p>2 days after posting my ad - I received an e-mail saying that the sender had found the camera and that he had given it to a minister from Nigeria who happened to be visiting him and spoke better English - and that I would be getting an e-mail from him soon. Next day I got the email... </p>

<p>"Greeting - I am understanding that camera in my possession is now yours - belonging to your son - lost on trip to France. Having no need for another camera - I will gladly return it to you upon payment of $200.00 US plus shipping. Please contact me quickly to arrange payment and give me to your address. In God's Grace... Reverend xxxx xxxxx. " </p>

<p>Needless to say my response was not something that you could say or read in church - basically told him that if indeed he were a man of God as he claimed he'd trust me to reward him - also informed him that the "lost" camera was an older S1 - which at the time was selling for about $50.00 on ebay - and which I had only paid $120.00 for a couple of years prior - so no way was I paying $200 plus to him. </p>

<p>For some reason I never got another response. </p>

<p>Dave</p>

 

[ronald_smith6]

<p>Seems the Web phishing gurus of the world use the good folks of Nigeria as some sort of stereotype for their scamming, it doesn't seem fair and it's not very creative. Too bad you can't return some sort if malicious virus back to the origin of such emails and that their genitals couldn't be sliced in pieces.</p>

[Ian Taylor]

<p>Why even worry about this stuff?</p>

[savagesax]

The full amount plus $10,000 security deposit, due 6 months ahead of the event, in US dollars. Also tell them you are expecting to be out of the country that day, but you will try real hard to find a cheap photographer on Craigslist.

[jpb]

<p>These 419 scams really bother me, and it also really bothers me that people fall for them. So, yes, it is tempting to respond with a nasty email, or at least one that wastes some of the senders' time. </p>

<p>However, whatever your response, no matter how satisfying it feels, all you're really doing is verifying that your email address is valid, so then it gets added to lists of valid emails addresses that then get sold to other scammers and spammers.</p>

<p>As satisfying as it might be, ignoring such emails really is the best way to protect your email account.</p>

[john_smith266]

I got tired of getting all of the scam emails, that I decided to write back to some of them. Didn't want to use my email address, so went to a popular free email site, and registered a new one... trytoripyouoff@.... Believe it or not, they still respond and want me to send money. My favorite is the 'I only have # months to live' Those I tell that I can't believe they are still alive and that better send me the money before they are buried six feet under. Best one are the ones addressed to my account name Rip U Off.

[mariosforsos]

<p>What is truly sad is that (a) people still actually fall for those scams and (b) people from poor places lend their names and credentials to these scammers, hoping for a quick buck.</p>

<p>The best thing would be to simply ignore them and maybe forward those mails to your ISP hoping they will block them at the source.</p>

[cool_dude]

<p>It's rather unfortunate that Nigeria's image has been badly hurt by all these scam mails.</p>

<p>Being Nigerian myself, I'm reminded of this each time I have to make a payment online and end up enduring several days of delays while my identity and credit card details are verified.</p>

<p>Truly, quite a few of these fraudsters are Nigerians but I can assure you that many Nigerians are about as honest as they come. Unfortunately, gullible (and greedy) people out there continue to provide plenty of fodder for this activity to linger on longer than necessary. Some of the perpetrators of these scams are barely educated past junior high school and yet it never ceases to amaze me how people who should know better manage to end up as victims!</p>

<p>"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." - Albert Einstein<br /></p>