Comments on: Foreign Asse(t)s http://www.hyperborea.org/journal/archives/2004/09/08/foreign-assets/ Sci-fi, comics, humor, photos...it's all fair game. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:03:41 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc hourly 1 By: Kelson http://www.hyperborea.org/journal/archives/2004/09/08/foreign-assets/#comment-527 Kelson Mon, 13 Sep 2004 18:48:02 +0000 http://www.hyperborea.org/journal/archives/2004/09/08/foreign-assets/#comment-527 You'd be surprised. <a href="http://www.fraudwatchinternational.com/nigerian-419/">According to FraudWatch International</a>, "the Financial Crimes Division of the U.S. Secret Service receives approximately 100 telephone calls from victims and potential victims and 300-500 pieces of related correspondence per day!" And that's just U.S. victims! (The Secret Service is mainly known for providing the President's bodyguards, but they also investigate counterfeiting, fraud, identity theft, etc.) Here's the <a href="http://www.secretservice.gov/alert419.shtml">Secret Service's advisory</a>, and here's <a href="http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/scams/nigeria.asp">Snopes.com's page on the scam's history</a>. This type of con goes back to the 1920s, and the Nigerian variant has been around since the early 1980s. I read an article once that claimed the scam's popularity actually drove the market for expanding the Internet through Nigeria. You’d be surprised. According to FraudWatch International, “the Financial Crimes Division of the U.S. Secret Service receives approximately 100 telephone calls from victims and potential victims and 300-500 pieces of related correspondence per day!” And that’s just U.S. victims! (The Secret Service is mainly known for providing the President’s bodyguards, but they also investigate counterfeiting, fraud, identity theft, etc.)

Here’s the Secret Service’s advisory, and here’s Snopes.com’s page on the scam’s history. This type of con goes back to the 1920s, and the Nigerian variant has been around since the early 1980s. I read an article once that claimed the scam’s popularity actually drove the market for expanding the Internet through Nigeria.

]]> By: Kizi http://www.hyperborea.org/journal/archives/2004/09/08/foreign-assets/#comment-526 Kizi Mon, 13 Sep 2004 18:16:42 +0000 http://www.hyperborea.org/journal/archives/2004/09/08/foreign-assets/#comment-526 Does anyone actually fall for these? Does anyone actually fall for these?

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