That's where you come in. Perhaps you could lend your bank account for the transaction. Or maybe you could travel to Amsterdam to help retrieve a box of money held by a shipping company. Then, a hefty chunk of the money could be yours.
Of course, there's a catch. If you're lucky, then over time you'll have to pay more and more fees as various emergencies crop up. If you're unlucky, and travel overseas, you might be kidnapped and held for ransom. Either way, this zero-sum game ends up with your bank account emptied, and the scammers' full--with your money.
This scheme is variously referred to as the "419," from the Nigerian penal code, or "Advance Fee Fraud," from the fact that you have to advance a bunch of phony fees. More information can be found here and here.
The Scams
Here are my conversations with the scammers:- Dr. Ben Eze: He never wrote me back
- Rolando Fuku/Willy Bipalet: He gets really mad when he finds out I'm a fake.
- John Okafor: Did he call the Secret Service and turn himself in?
- Vincent Shola: He placed a voodoo curse on me.
- Ibrahim Gambari Phony documents, and a phony lawyer too! He quits writing to me after I challenge him to a duel.
- David Ehi (Last update 01 Nov) A Halloween-themed reverse scam treat for H.P. Lovecraft fans!
Links to other anti-419 websites
Tips for perpetrating your own anti-419 chain yank
The Setup
I don't like spam. So, I keep my private email private. Only my friends and family know it. I maintain Hotmail, Yahoo, and Mailspace accounts that I give out when companies ask me to register. That way, the spam goes there. Every so often I check them, and occasionally I find a 419 scam letter.Originally, I wondered: Could the scam be reversed? Often, the scammers try to obtain your banking information, and then empty out your accounts into theirs. What if I could wheedle their account information? Of course, it would be wrong to steal their money--I wouldn't dream of that--but it was a challenge to see if I could get their info. My first two reverse scams listed on the right side of this page detail my attempts.
Then I found this guy. He's got a better idea: Waste as much of the scammer's time as possible, making them look very foolish in the process. So I tried this approach in the following scam attempts.
In my first two letters, in an effort to be as annoying as possible, I answered in the persona of a slightly unhinged Oriental small business owner, with a tenuous grasp of English. The effect is amusing, although probably insulting to persons of Oriental ancestry. Sorry.
The other letters are written using the pseudonym "Tommy Udo." Tommy Udo, as we all remember, was the giggling psychopathic killer played by Richard Widmark in Kiss of Death. (It's a great movie, and if you haven't seen it, you really should.) He's the one that pushes the old lady in a wheelchair down the stairs. Kind of like what I'd like to do to these scammers.
Tommy Udo