Outscamming the scammers
January 27th 2007 09:20
I'd never heard of a 419 scammer until today, when curiously, by chance, our local newspaper published an article on scam-baiting on and wasting scammers' time. Out-scamming scammers sounded too much like hard work to me, and I wasn't much impressed by the idea of being murdered, as supposedly some scam-baiters have been.
I only appreciated what 419 meant when I read that this is the number of the section of the Nigerian penal code that scammers break. Well, it's good to know there's a code that can be broken.
But the biggest mystery remains: why are so many of these scams from Nigeria in the first place? What is it about Nigeria that makes them come up with these ridiculous emails about relatives dying and leaving them incredible fortunes that just happen to be in your part of the world?
You'd think people wouldn't fall for them - at least not now that they've become so common - but apparently they still do. A Christian minister here in New Zealand got touched in the heart by one such email and followed it through, and got so caught up in the web of nonsense that eventually he couldn't tell the truth from the lies (or the lies from the lies, might be more accurate). And worse, he'd no sooner disentangle himself than he'd be off again, caught by yet another pleading email from some crafty crook who knew a fool when he found one.
I only appreciated what 419 meant when I read that this is the number of the section of the Nigerian penal code that scammers break. Well, it's good to know there's a code that can be broken.
But the biggest mystery remains: why are so many of these scams from Nigeria in the first place? What is it about Nigeria that makes them come up with these ridiculous emails about relatives dying and leaving them incredible fortunes that just happen to be in your part of the world?
You'd think people wouldn't fall for them - at least not now that they've become so common - but apparently they still do. A Christian minister here in New Zealand got touched in the heart by one such email and followed it through, and got so caught up in the web of nonsense that eventually he couldn't tell the truth from the lies (or the lies from the lies, might be more accurate). And worse, he'd no sooner disentangle himself than he'd be off again, caught by yet another pleading email from some crafty crook who knew a fool when he found one.
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