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Chemy
Jesus is Lord
Registered: 10/05/07
Posts: 6,276
Loc: A Church
Last seen: 14 years, 3 months
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Nigerian Government Says Victims Of Nigerian Scammers Should Be Jailed
#8821290 - 08/24/08 05:43 PM (15 years, 6 months ago) |
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Nigerian official: greedy marks as guilty as 419 scammers
By Jacqui Cheng | Published: August 22, 2008 - 10:40AM CT
People who fall for so-called "Nigerian scams" aren't victims at all—in fact, they're greedy and should be jailed, according to Nigerian high commissioner Sunday Olu Agbi. He said today that Nigeria has gained a bad reputation because of the scams perpetrated by a minuscule number of people, and that those who find themselves involved with the scams are equally as guilty as those running them.
"The Nigerian Government frowns very seriously on these scams... and every day tries to track down those who are involved," Olu Agbi told the Sydney Morning Herald in response to a previous article on Australians falling for Nigerian scams. "People who send their money are as guilty as those who are asking them to send the money."
Out of the 140 million people in Nigeria, Olu Agbi said that fewer than 0.1 percent were involved in Nigerian scams. The scams, also referred to as 419 scams or advance-fee fraud, predate the Internet, but have exploded in recent years thanks to the proliferation of e-mail and instant money transfers. Although the scams can take on many forms—from payments for products sold on eBay or Craigslist, to deposits on houses and purchases of plane tickets for "true love" on the other side of the ocean—they all follow the same general theme.
Scammers send huge checks to unsuspecting victims with some story attached to explain the overpayment, and the victim is expected to wire back the difference immediately. Eventually when the checks are deposited, they bounce and the victim is out a lot of money. Sometimes, victims are tricked into thinking they'll eventually be paid back and continue to participate in this endless cycle of sending money, especially if the scammer is wooing them romantically (which happens more commonly than one might think, to both men and women).
Although this kind of fraud originates from all over the world, it seems to have an unusually high concentration in Africa and, specifically, Nigeria. This has, unsurprisingly, cast Nigeria in a negative light. Olu Agbi said that Nigeria's reputation for being involved with the scams has even hurt the country's ability to land business deals. "[T]hose who want to transact business with us are always very suspicious," he told the newspaper.
Still, Olu Agbi's "blame the victim" mentality won't help Nigeria win any friends, but education on how to spot 419 scams and avoid falling for them can certainly go a long way in curbing their growth. After all, once victims stop blindly forking over cash, scammers will have to figure out some other way to make money.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080822-nigerian-official-greedy-marks-as-guilty-as-419-scammers.html
-------------------- Alcoholics Anonymous Narcotics Anonymous Get help, help is free and available 24/7/365. God bless you all and I hope you receive the help you need to turn away from your lives of sin. Mushrooms and drugs make you gay, you can reverse this homosexual condition with rehab, get help! Stop being gay!
Edited by Chemy (08/24/08 06:38 PM)
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Coaster
Baʿal
Registered: 05/22/06
Posts: 33,501
Loc: Deep in the Valley
Last seen: 12 years, 5 months
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Re: Nigerian Government wants to jail victims of Nigerian scammers [Re: Chemy]
#8821296 - 08/24/08 05:46 PM (15 years, 6 months ago) |
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dam scammers
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demiu5
humans, lol
Registered: 08/18/05
Posts: 43,948
Loc: the popcorn stadium
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Re: Nigerian Government wants to jail victims of Nigerian scammers [Re: Chemy]
#8821312 - 08/24/08 05:51 PM (15 years, 6 months ago) |
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where does it say they want to jail the victims?
-------------------- channel your inner Larry David
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Chemy
Jesus is Lord
Registered: 10/05/07
Posts: 6,276
Loc: A Church
Last seen: 14 years, 3 months
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Re: Nigerian Government wants to jail victims of Nigerian scammers [Re: demiu5]
#8821327 - 08/24/08 05:56 PM (15 years, 6 months ago) |
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First sentence, I bolded it.
-------------------- Alcoholics Anonymous Narcotics Anonymous Get help, help is free and available 24/7/365. God bless you all and I hope you receive the help you need to turn away from your lives of sin. Mushrooms and drugs make you gay, you can reverse this homosexual condition with rehab, get help! Stop being gay!
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Coaster
Baʿal
Registered: 05/22/06
Posts: 33,501
Loc: Deep in the Valley
Last seen: 12 years, 5 months
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Re: Nigerian Government wants to jail victims of Nigerian scammers [Re: Chemy]
#8821332 - 08/24/08 05:58 PM (15 years, 6 months ago) |
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when u make it bold it becomes invisible
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Entropymancer
Registered: 07/16/05
Posts: 10,207
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Re: Nigerian Government wants to jail victims of Nigerian scammers [Re: Chemy]
#8821358 - 08/24/08 06:06 PM (15 years, 6 months ago) |
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Madtowntripper
Sun-Beams out of Cucumbers
Registered: 03/06/03
Posts: 21,287
Loc: The Ocean of Notions
Last seen: 7 months, 11 days
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Re: Nigerian Government wants to jail victims of Nigerian scammers [Re: Entropymancer]
#8821385 - 08/24/08 06:12 PM (15 years, 6 months ago) |
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I agree 110%.
Anyone who falls for a scam like this deserves to have their money stolen. I don't care if they are old. Would they have handed over thousands of dollars to some bum on a corner during the depression for a promise that he would just run right into the First National Savings and Loan to get it back, w/ interest?
-------------------- After one comes, through contact with it's administrators, no longer to cherish greatly the law as a remedy in abuses, then the bottle becomes a sovereign means of direct action. If you cannot throw it at least you can always drink out of it. - Ernest Hemingway If it is life that you feel you are missing I can tell you where to find it. In the law courts, in business, in government. There is nothing occurring in the streets. Nothing but a dumbshow composed of the helpless and the impotent. -Cormac MacCarthy He who learns must suffer. And even in our sleep pain that cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, and in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom to us by the awful grace of God. - Aeschylus
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demiu5
humans, lol
Registered: 08/18/05
Posts: 43,948
Loc: the popcorn stadium
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Re: Nigerian Government wants to jail victims of Nigerian scammers [Re: Chemy]
#8821489 - 08/24/08 06:35 PM (15 years, 6 months ago) |
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should be jailed and wanting to jail them are two different things
that's like saying, stupid people should be murdered, and i want to murder stupid people
-------------------- channel your inner Larry David
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Chemy
Jesus is Lord
Registered: 10/05/07
Posts: 6,276
Loc: A Church
Last seen: 14 years, 3 months
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Re: Nigerian Government wants to jail victims of Nigerian scammers [Re: demiu5]
#8821498 - 08/24/08 06:38 PM (15 years, 6 months ago) |
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Ahh, the site I grabbed this story from had that headline, I'll edit it.
-------------------- Alcoholics Anonymous Narcotics Anonymous Get help, help is free and available 24/7/365. God bless you all and I hope you receive the help you need to turn away from your lives of sin. Mushrooms and drugs make you gay, you can reverse this homosexual condition with rehab, get help! Stop being gay!
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LeftyBurnz
Mr. I Eat Butthole
Registered: 06/21/05
Posts: 24,570
Loc: FL
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Re: Nigerian Government wants to jail victims of Nigerian scammers [Re: Chemy]
#8821508 - 08/24/08 06:40 PM (15 years, 6 months ago) |
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well hell, im all for jailing them. i wouldnt say for greed though, for sheer stupidity.
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Ego Death
Justadropofwaterinanendlesssea
Registered: 04/27/03
Posts: 10,447
Loc: The War Machine
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Re: Nigerian Government Says Victims Of Nigerian Scammers Should Be Jailed [Re: Chemy]
#8821515 - 08/24/08 06:42 PM (15 years, 6 months ago) |
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They best jail the whole world then because I doubt you would find any fucker that would turn down a few million.
The only word to descibe a victim of this scam is gullible not greedy.
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LeftyBurnz
Mr. I Eat Butthole
Registered: 06/21/05
Posts: 24,570
Loc: FL
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Re: Nigerian Government Says Victims Of Nigerian Scammers Should Be Jailed [Re: Ego Death]
#8821549 - 08/24/08 06:48 PM (15 years, 6 months ago) |
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if you fall for those stupid scams now and days, youre an idiot. i can understand falling for it a couple decades ago, but not now.
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Ego Death
Justadropofwaterinanendlesssea
Registered: 04/27/03
Posts: 10,447
Loc: The War Machine
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Re: Nigerian Government Says Victims Of Nigerian Scammers Should Be Jailed [Re: LeftyBurnz]
#8821578 - 08/24/08 06:53 PM (15 years, 6 months ago) |
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Really?
Your probably not aware of the billion dollar industry of get rich quick scams then?
Lets face it the majority of the population are idiots then and equally we are all susceptible for falling prey to the emotions that cause these scams to work.
I see this shit everyday, everywhere. People selling branded crap for high mark-ups. People selling placebo drugs like crap coke. And idiots are coming back again and again dying to buy that shit.
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LeftyBurnz
Mr. I Eat Butthole
Registered: 06/21/05
Posts: 24,570
Loc: FL
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Re: Nigerian Government Says Victims Of Nigerian Scammers Should Be Jailed [Re: Ego Death]
#8821600 - 08/24/08 06:58 PM (15 years, 6 months ago) |
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well of course im aware of it, which is why ill never fall for it. im not denying that it happens, all i said is that you have to be an idiot to fall for it. do you dispute my statement? lol
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