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NO WONDER THEY END UP LIVING IN CARS
Queenslanders - one of them might be our next Prime Minister - are easy marks for email scams:
In a recent operation into Nigerian-based scams alone, $400,000 was tracked leaving the state in just one month, Supt Hay said.
When the 25 victims involved were contacted by police, it was discovered they had paid more than $7.2 million over several years in the hope of receiving lucrative payouts.
But this isn’t happening because they’re greedy or stupid. It’s because they believe in fairness:
Queenslanders are pouring tens of millions of dollars into overseas scams because of their misguided belief in “a fair go” rather than stupidity, a senior fraud investigator says.
They care too much.
UPDATE. Queensland needs help:
As a lawyer in Queensland, I must have at least one person per month coming in and asking if these things are real.
People who get online for the first time have not been exposed to this stuff.
Someone who, only now, is getting internet access is not someone who is likely to see a stand-up comic.Posted by daddy dave on 2007 05 04 at 02:49 PM • permalink#2 daddy dave,
Oh come on now, you’re being too generous. I’m sure they have television!
Posted by Spiny Norman on 2007 05 04 at 03:00 PM • permalink” The scams’ popularity was what was driving them, but victims were not “stupid” people and Australia’s culture was contributing to the problem”
But what if Acting Superintendant Brian Hay were stupid? And what if the ascendant popular culture rewards stupidity? Yould have a situation indistinguishable from the present.
#3 blubi, you are correct, but people need a rationalization other than their own greed to participate, and “fair go” is one of them.
When the scammers are caught, they rant an rave about how they are entitled to their plunder, since it is colonialism and capitalism that has stolen their rightful bounty. This idea will be subtly worked in to their approach, since THEY have seen this work for Labor politicians, lol.
Stroll by aa419.org and 419eater.com for some great entertainment and a chance to do some good.
Posted by Harry Bergeron on 2007 05 04 at 03:03 PM • permalinkHow does the old saying go?
“You can’t cheat an honest man.”Posted by daddy dave on 2007 05 04 at 03:30 PM • permalinkRebeccaH, I recently got an email from Detours Enervation. Apparently he has taken over, and is now in possession of Mr Ngome’s assets. You are dealing with a scammer! Let me send you Mr Enervation’s email and bank account details at once.
Posted by daddy dave on 2007 05 04 at 03:47 PM • permalinkSo Queensland is supposed to be the Aussie version of Massachusetts or Berkeley?
Posted by rick mcginnis on 2007 05 04 at 03:58 PM • permalinkI just received the most amazing news in my email. Apparently I have won 1 million euro in the Sachsen Lotto-GmbH Program. The craziest part is, I didn’t even know I’d entered! I simply need to collect the winnings from an offshore account that has been set up for me.
Because Tim’s blog and this community has meant so much to me over the years, I wanted you all to be the first to know.
Drinks on me!Posted by daddy dave on 2007 05 04 at 04:03 PM • permalinkThat’s an average of over $280,000 each. I realize those are Oz dollars, but still . . .
Posted by Harry Eagar on 2007 05 04 at 04:06 PM • permalinkHmmm. Paco has been gone for two months. Why does his passport (under the name Phileas Fogg) have a Nairobi ink stamp? I’m beginning to sense something troubling.
Posted by wronwright on 2007 05 04 at 04:29 PM • permalinkThey’re getting ripped off because of their misguided belief in a ‘fair go’. So says Acting Supt. Hay. Makes you wonder how many Nigerian scams he’s fallen for; perhaps he’s speaking in his own defense.
What a load. These scams are about greed, pure and simple. Instant wealth for no effort.Posted by SwinishCapitalist on 2007 05 04 at 05:24 PM • permalink#14:
Message for: Mr. Wronrite
From: Prince Alexander Coco Obesanjo
Subject: Lucrative bizness prepositionDear friend:
My father was recently forced out of his executive position at the Central Bank of Nigeria due to the wicked machinations of his corrupt political enemies. However, he is committed to carry on the good fights against corruption and bad bizness practices. He was able to secure $10,000,000 in cash against the advent of his flite to freedom and to launch an investigation against the wicked mens who have drove him out of his father land. But he needs help in getting the money offshore. If you will wire $50,000 (US) to his account in Switzerland as a good faiths deposit, along with your personal bank account wiring information, he will be able to ship all the money to you in a box marked “Virgin Nigerian Palm Oil”. Then, later, he can meet up with you at a location of your choice, and you can give him half of the ten millions, which is five millions, and you can keep the other half, which is also five millions. So you see, you can profit personally, while helping my father build a better Nigeria for tomorrow. And did I mention that he is a great partisan of your Cinncinnati Redskins baseball team? Obviously, fate has brought you two together.
#12. My garden gnome received notification about his winning a Spanish lottery about a year ago. I was most impressed because the snail mail was addressed to him. I was tempted to reply and see what the deal was, but I may leave that for the next scammer.
My garden gnome also received one of those chain mails 2 months ago where you are supposed to stick 0.05c onto the letter and forward it on to 10 other people and add your name to a list. Supposedly you’ll recieve a bajillion dollars in five cent pieces back.
Needless to say, Kevin didn’t respond to that one, either.
It’s quite entertaining at times. He gets more and better offers than I do.
Posted by Nilknarf Arbed on 2007 05 04 at 05:38 PM • permalinkAnd, while I’ve got a rant rolling, I’d like to say a few words to the folks who keep sending me David Rhodes letters. Just in case they’re passing through…
Stop it, okay? STOP it.
Because I have your addresses. And if you really piss me off I’ll be coming around. I’ll kick your front door down and I’ll break your fucking legs.Thank you. This has been a community service announcement.
Posted by SwinishCapitalist on 2007 05 04 at 05:39 PM • permalinkI got one of those a while back, and sent the following reply:
Thank you for your kind offer, which interests me hugely.
In view of the need for utmost confidentiality and discretion, and the need for delicacy and expertise in dealing with such a large sum, I have enlisted the aid of a trusted friend, who by virtue of his Government experience, is in a position to furnish valuable assistance to our efforts. We are most enthusiastic about proceeding with this venture, and have therefore arranged a venue for face to face discussions to proceed at the earliest possible moment. A special, highly secure conference room, complete with the latest in recording equipment and other audio-visual aids, has graciously been placed at our disposal at his offices at 501 East Polk Street, in Tampa, Florida. Please call (813) 228-2636 to make the necessary arrangements. Ask to speak with Mr. Miranda. It will not be necessary for you to reserve hotel accommodations, as we will be delighted to put you up for the duration of your stay with us. I look forward to our meeting, and to having you as our honored guest.Note: the Polk Street address and the phone number are for the U.S. Secret Service.
Hey, lay off us Qld’ers.
I must admit as a lawyer in Queensland, I must have at least one person per month coming in and asking if these things are real.
‘They say I have won the lottery in Spain, should I give them my bank account details?’
“Really, did you enter the lottery in Spain?’
‘No,’
‘Well then it is almost certainly a scam!’
‘But, what it is not?’
‘Well, then open a new bank account with no money in it and watch the money flow in!’
It goes on and on…..........
I am at an age where I’d rather not mention my age. I came to the interweb very late—just a couple of years ago. And while I certainly believe in a “fair go,” I’ll also admit to a certain amount of greed. Even with all of that, I did nothing but bust out laughing the first time I received an offer from Nigeria. Now what, pray tell, makes me different from those who sent their hard-earned money to someone they’ve never met? Huummmmmmm?
Are Queenslanders “special”?
My time there was too short to determine.
Posted by Wimpy Canadian on 2007 05 04 at 07:58 PM • permalinkBy way of clarification to the last post of mine here.
In Canada, Newfoundlanders are “special”; in France, Belgians.
Posted by Wimpy Canadian on 2007 05 04 at 08:02 PM • permalink#11 El Cid, did he really have a sign in his zoo,“To the Egress”?
Posted by Wimpy Canadian on 2007 05 04 at 08:05 PM • permalink#30, Wimpy. As a descendant of Queenslanders, I have to say that they are “especially” phobic, but it’s the Westralians who are the more especially paranoid.
The Bananabenders and Sandgropers are both absolutely convinced that they are supporting the rest of Australia and that all other Australians are bludgers ...
#24 You are of course correct. It is probably 0.000001%. But given that these e-mail scams go out to billions at zero cost, it’s still profitable.
Now, someone suggested a response. I offer another:
Dear Mr. Ungamba,
Sir, I find your plight sad but, in a way, opportune, if you don’t mind me saying so. I am in a position to assist you in your endeavours. It will require I open a bank account to accept the aforementioned “shipment”.
Unfortunately, new “anti-terrorism” regulations have made opening bank accounts a little more challenging, in so far as we must now account for large transactions.
My brother, who is involved in the implementation of these regulations, assures me that there is a way around them.
I open the account with a check or money order from you. It need not be large, merely over a certian limit; 25 thousand dollars. I deposit this into the account when I open it. Then, in the future, when I receive a shipment, by any means, I refer it to the initial depostor.
As you are already “known” by the bank and associated with the account, no questions are asked.
Transaction complete and nothing above the radar, if you understand me.
To progress this project, I will need a money order for 25 thousand dollars made to Wimpy Canadian. When the account is opened, transfers can begin.
Posted by Wimpy Canadian on 2007 05 04 at 08:34 PM • permalinkSometimes stupidity deserves the severest of punishments.
Posted by pick-your-pun on 2007 05 04 at 08:47 PM • permalinkWas there any research done to determine how many of the scamees were in fact expatriate Victorians? My once pristine domain is now over-run with this plague of none too bright, rapacious, greedy, inbred, deformed and ugly sub-species. They’re so thick they come to Queensland for THE CLIMATE.
If you think the wily Nigers are the only ones suckering these walking, breathing Kath and Kims think again- we’re selling these idiots proery in shitholes like Beenleigh and telling them it’s the Gold Coast; personally I can’t wait until the crocodiles finish eating them, with any survivors being finished off by box jellyfish, taipans and stinging trees.
#32 Wimpy: I’ve read that Barnum really did put up a sign saying, “To the Egress”, in order to thin out the folks who had been there too long and make way for more customers. Worked, too.
Incidentally, I have just (truly) received an e:mail notifying me that I have won 80MM pounds in the UK lottery. Also an advertisement for a product that promises to, er, improve the stature of Mr. Happy.
Make that property. PIMF, and I’m also one of those gullible, cretinous Queenslanders, having been hatched in the delightful and balmy hamlet of Mount Morgan, famous for having the biggest hole in the ground in the Southern Hemisphere and a cobalt blue river from all the copper sulphate that leached into it. (Also a Gold Lotto winner who was back on welfare in 18 months, having wisely invested his winnings in Mt Morgan real estate. The locals make Deliverance look like a documentary).
Seriously though, most of the Victorians who move up here look like members of the National Front, with receding foreheads and haircuts that would make a Marine Recon gunny look like a hippy, and the sort of puffy, flaccid, palid complexions ony found elsewhere on Glasgow deep-fried Mars bar addicts. And they follow a pack of retards called the “Brisbane” Lions, who play some effeminate sort of male netball and tie up an otherwise excellent cricket oval for months on end. And for some reason they eat shark rather than the other way ‘round.
...most of the Victorians who move up here look like members of the National Front, with receding foreheads and haircuts that would make a Marine Recon gunny look like a hippy, and the sort of puffy, flaccid, pallid complexions only found elsewhere on Glasgow deep-fried Mars bar addicts.
Exactly why I feel comfortable here in Perth, where my fellow expats and I are so much more aesthetically pleasing.
‘Scuse me, time to duck for cover…
Posted by SwinishCapitalist on 2007 05 04 at 09:46 PM • permalinkFor chutzpah, though, it’s hard to beat the woman who has been e-mailing me every other month for the past year or so declaring that she is going to die of breast cancer within the next two weeks.
Posted by Harry Eagar on 2007 05 04 at 11:01 PM • permalinkI just received the most amazing news in my email. Apparently I have won 1 million euro in the Sachsen Lotto-GmbH Program.
I’ve also had some luck. Over the last few months, I’ve won the South African 2010 FIFA WORLD CUP lottery Award International programme (held in Zurich, Switzerland for you lottery buffs) five times!
Posted by Art Vandelay on 2007 05 04 at 11:21 PM • permalinkHey hey hey, just because I’m about to receive US$10,000,000 doesn’t mean you should go ragging on ALL us Queenslanders. Truth is I’ve found a lot of people have been jealous of me since I got my GENUINE HARVARD D.I.P.L.O.M.A!!!! last month.
I can only imagine how much people will envy me when I start taking my penis enlarging pills.
#17 Swinish Capitalist.
Absolutely correct. The best Allie a con artist has, is the ‘marks’ greed for a quick dollar with no effort. I have pity for these victims, but not sympathy. I know of an individual who was taken, in a similiar fashion, greediest sod I have ever known, but in his case it was the past/fate coming back to bite him on the arse.#6 daddydave - spot on. It’s the simple desire to get a quick buck that gets these people into trouble. It’s also why so many “battlers”, just making ends meet, can be seen queuing up at the newsagent to get their lotto quick-picks and instant scratch-its, usually forking over somewhere between ten and thirty dollars a week (I assume it’s once a week; maybe more). I’ve known some very nice people who wasted the best years of their life trying to make it in the entertainment industry, which they see as the quickest and easiest road to fame and fortune. Not saying that those with true passion and talent shouldn’t give it a go - but those kind of people aren’t looking for the quick buck in the first place.
Another little homily they’d be wise to remember: “If it looks too good to be true, it probably is”.
Since someone’s mentioned Darwin, I have to bring up the matter of Victoria’s burgeoning Bogan population- a product of natural de-selection that makes our own much less populous and fecund Bevans seem like Nitschian ubermensch in comparison; the packed surrounds of the Gold Coast’s ugly tourist traps during southern holidays look like an neanderthal theme park- knucklemarks have to be contsantly repaired on the footpaths (or “nature strips” as our simian southern subnorms refer to them as, despite there being little or no nature present. Perhaps it stems from a barely concealed desire to ogle naked possums).
#49 Thanks mate. I like to stay friends with anyone called Kaboom.
Bill “Skeeter” Klessig claims sole rights to the nic on this basis:
How long people been calling you Skeeter? Two, three months? I’m guessing four months tops. That makes it mine, Wingnut, no two ways about it.
To the barefaced impostor Klessig I say:
What were you doing in 1940? That’s when people started calling me Skeeter.
And don’t call me Wingnut if you know what’s good for you.(Adopts hunched posture and cunning expression of Mr Burns, slinks below keyboard out of sight).
From time to time, State police forces have had occasion to crack down on these sorts of frauds. In 2003, NSW Police busted a huge Nigerian internet racket. Inspector Jennifer Thommeny of the NSW Assets Confiscation Unit said at the time that victims of the scam were targeted in “NSW, South Australia, Victoria, Cyprus, Malaysia, Japan, Norway, Greece, Indonesia, Hong Kong and England”. No mention of Queensland. In the four years since, between 800-1200 Mexicans have migrated North each week. No surprise, alas, that the Sunshine State now has it’s share of gullible email mugs as well. Dumbography is destiny. To paraphrase Ronald Reagan: Mr Beattie, throw up that wall.
To be sure, greed is one of the all-time great incentives, but the fact is a full half of us operate with an IQ south of 100. The two can be a lethal combination.
I just checked today’s spam-mail. Of the 12 messages, seven were about Viagra and/or penis size. It’s not a hook you can catch me on, but how many men can pass by without at least a peek at add 3 inches to your penis guaranteed? I dunno—you tell me.
Posted by Kyda Sylvester on 2007 05 05 at 02:34 PM • permalinkKyda
I do it all the time. Now if Love Potion #9 was part of the deal, maybe ...Cheers
Posted by J.M. Heinrichs on 2007 05 05 at 03:25 PM • permalink#28 Saltydog
I am at an age where I’d rather not mention my age. I came to the interweb very late—just a couple of years ago. And while I certainly believe in a “fair go,” I’ll also admit to a certain amount of greed. Even with all of that, I did nothing but bust out laughing the first time I received an offer from Nigeria. Now what, pray tell, makes me different from those who sent their hard-earned money to someone they’ve never met? Huummmmmmm?
I feel kind of snubbed. I’ve been on the internet since Al Gore invented it.
And yet I only received my first one of these scams this past Wednesday. They’ve been like an omnipotent urban legend that seemed to avoid me at all costs. But finally!
“From : abdul karim <engr_karim1957@hotmail.com>
Sent : Wednesday, 2 May 2007 10:05:09 AM
To : .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Subject : Dear friend,lets work together
ENGR.ABDUL KARIM
ACCRA,GHANADear Friend,
I am ENG. ABDUL KARIM, the Project Engineer of ASIP- Ghana. And ASIP for the purposes of explanation means—- AGRICULTURAL SECTOR INVESTMENT PROJECT (ASIP) this is a World Bank sponsored Multi-Million U.S Dollars Agricultural project in Ghana.Forgive my indignation, if this letter comes to you as a surprise and offend you, because you have no prior knowledge of this. I got your contact during my search for a reliable person to entrust this huge money transfer project with.
As the Chief Engineer in charge of the project, I and my colleagues involved in this project have agreed to seek your mutual partnership into a huge money transfer project. We wish to transfer the sum of two million five hundred united state Dollars ($2.5M) from the project Fund into your personal or company’s Bank account for our personal use..
This fund originate from over invoiced estimate we made for materials at the project site This over invoiced sum was deliberately hatched out and carefully protected with all attendant lope holes sealed off.
It was our consensus to seek your assistance to provide us with the facilities to transfer this money out of Africa. This is born out of our belief in the non-stable economy and spurious political nature of this Continent (Region). If we agree to work together as partners on this, then this sum of ($2.5M) will be transferred into your Bank Account through INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL BANK LTD(ICB). Accra-Ghana, because that is the Bank where the world Bank Grant for the project, of which I am in charge, is deposited.
Based on the law and ethics of our service to ASIP, we as civil servants are not allowed to operate a foreign account.
This is the more reason why we needed your assistance to provide an account that can hold this funds when transferred to your country. It is however agreed, as the person providing the account to secure the funds in your country, you are offered 15% of the total sum as commission, 80% will be held on trust for us, while 5% is set aside to reimburse expenses incurred in the course of executing the project.
The project is expected to be successfully completed within 14 days if you accord us the maximum cooperation needed from you.”
Surprisingly few spelling mistakes, I thought.
Anyway, that’s a cut-and-paste. No email address have been changed to protect the scamsters. So if anyone wants to “toy” with him, and lead him on a merry dance, be my guest! ;-)
#3
I have always found it a good rule to remember that if something sounds too good to be true, it probably isn’t true.Greed and stupidity, that explains scams like Nigerian spam.
Posted by Michael Lonie on 2007 05 05 at 11:37 PM • permalinkThe good people of Australia need to read This Book—The Good, the Spam and the Ugly written by this fellow…
Posted by richard mcenroe on 2007 05 06 at 12:43 AM • permalink
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After all these years, and all the fodder for stand-up comics, there are still that many fools who fall for that crap? I’m gob-smacked.