K-Squared Ramblings » Nigerian Scam

Call Your Mark a Sucker

Kelson — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 18:32:36 +0000

My jaw just dropped at this advance fee fraud scam that showed up in the spamtraps this week. The whole thing is about how the reason you haven’t gotten your funds is because you’ve been dealing with fraudsters who have been impersonating Nigerian diplomats, police, etc., and how could you possibly be so naive?…oh, and if you’ll send me your personal information and bank details, I’ll make sure the real police clear things up so you can get your payment.

Seriously. Does this technique actually work?

Actual text of the email below the cut:

THIS IS WHY YOU HAVE NOT RECEIVED YOUR FUNDS

Attn: ,

Sometimes, I do wonder if you are really, really with your senses. How Could you keep trusting people and at the end you will loose your hard Earned money, or are you being deceived by their big names? They Impersonate on many offices, claiming to be Governors, Directors/Chairmen of one Office or the other. Their game plan is only just to extort your hard Earned money. Now, the question is how long you will continue to be Deceived? Sometimes, they will issue you fake check, introduce you to fake Diplomatic delivery, un-existing on-line banking and they will also fake wire transfer of Your fund with Payment Stop Order and even send you fake atm cars etc.

Anyway, by the virtue of my position I have been following this Transaction from inception and all your efforts towards realizing the Fund. More often than not, I sit down and laugh at your ignorance and That of those who claim they are assisting you, it is very unfortunate That at the end you loose. Although, I don’t blame you because you are Not here in Nigeria to witness the processing of your payment in Nigeria.The problem you are having is that you been told the whole truth About this transaction and it is because of this truth they decided to Be extorting your money. The most annoying part is even fraudsters Have really taken advantage of this opportunity to enrich them selves At your expense. Those you feel are assisting or working for you are Your main problems. I know the truth surrounding this payment and I am The only person who will deliver you from this long suffering if you will abide by my advice.

I also know that recently you have been dealing with people claiming to be the EFCC. They claim that they are helping you and you forward all the fraudulent e-mails you receive to them. At the end they do nothing about the fraudsters. Soon they will ask you to pay money to receive a compensation of $150,000. Do not pay any money to them because they are only interested in your hard earned money and you will never receive any compensation in return, they will always keep coming back to ask for more money.

Please I beseech you to stop pursuit of shadows and being Deceived.Feel free to contact me immediately you receive this mail so that I can Explain to you the modus-operandi guiding the release of your Payment. Do not panic, be rest assured that this arrangement will be Guided by your Embassy here in Nigeria.

N/B: You are urgently requested to forward your International Passport Copy, your direct contact information or Driver’s License, the name of your bank and bank information For submission to the Nigerian Police Force for issuance of Police clearance report which is the hindrance for your non recieval of your fund and will be signed and Endorse by your Embassy here in Nigeria.

Contact me upon the receipt of this mail if you wish to receive your fund and stop wasting your hard earn money.

Get back to me through this email Address

Thanks and remain blessed.

Yours faithfully,

Mohammed Abubakar
Director Telex/Foreign Operation (OB).

W|A, Episode I and Hubble Street

Kelson — Wed, 20 May 2009 06:30:00 +0000

A bit disturbed that Wolfram|Alpha shares a name with 2 Joss Whedon villains. #
*sigh* Looks like I’ll have to wait a little longer for that Android update on my G1 #
10 years ago today I was really, really tired after seeing a 3AM showing of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. #
Drove past Hubble street while listening to story about Hubble Space Telescope. #
I love 419 scam emails that start out by saying that sure, most of the messages like this are fake, but THIS one’s real! #

Linkrot & Scam Lameness

Kelson — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 07:59:59 +0000

Lots of broken/moved links on my site. Didn’t realize how much I’d been neglecting that. #
Amusing: savethedevelopers.org now redirects to the IE7 download page. Oh, well. #
Lame 419 scam: How likely is the FBI Director to contact someone using a GMAIL address? #

Darth Vader, 419 Scammer

Kelson — Wed, 18 May 2005 18:39:09 +0000

I had set this spam sample aside without really looking at it back at the end of March. As I checked the folder this morning, the scammer’s supposed name jumped out at me.

VADER DARTH
CO-OPERATIVE BANK PLC
UNIVERSITY BRANCH, GROVE HOUSE
OXFORD ROAD MANCHESTER UK

I AM WRITING TO LET YOU KNOW HOW I FEEL AND ALSO EXPLAIN THINGS TO YOU THROUGH THIS LETTER AND WILL APPRECIATE IF YOU COULD ADVICE ME ON THIS ISSUE. MY NAME IS VADER DARTH. I WAS BORN IN TENNESSE AND RAISED IN EUROPE AND I NOW WORK WITH THE CO-OPERATIVE BANK IN THE MANCHESTER CITY, UNITED KINGDOM. I HAVE A VERY GOOD FRIEND WHOM I MET IN MY UNIVERSITY YEARS BY NAME FAURE EYADEMA, THE SON OF THE LATE PRESIDENT OF TOGO…

It continues on with the standard Nigerian scam pitch (relocated to Togo) about the relative of the deposed/late leader who needs to transfer a large amount of money through some random person’s account.

Yes, people fall for these scams… but come on, who do they think they’re fooling with an alias like “Vader Darth?”

Perhaps it’s a long-overdue response to the now-infamous 419 Eater successfully baiting a scammer as “D’arth Vader” of Dark Side Industries. More likely someone else didn’t recognize the name when they chose to use it.

I suppose it fits in with the 419 scammer from Tatooine who posted to The Darth Side last month.