Ever heard of a Nigerian 411 scam?
Basically, it’s the type of scam where a guy in Nigeria sends millions of emails to the tune of “I have all this money from a government official who stole it and I need $400 to get it released. I will share $20 million with you.”
And they need your bank number or a check or some other such thing. But eventually they swindle you for thousands and thousands of dollars.
Now, the first time I came across these stories I thought what everyone else thinks: what an idiot. Who would fall for this?
But people are greedy and people fall for it. Normal people like you and me.
Then I found The Scam Baiter website.
Honestly? One of the most entertaining websites out there.
What is a scambaiter? Someone who pretends to be falling for these scams and flips it around and scams the scammer. Sweet justice. Some people find it distasteful but I think it’s fun. There are so many great stories on the website, but my favorite is the one where the scammer had to pay the shipping for what he thought were computers, when what it really was was a washing machine.
You can spend hours on that website reading these crazy stories.
But anyway, the other day I got my very first Nigeria 411 scam email:
BARRISTER KODJO WILLIAMS ESQ. PRINCIPAL PARTNER WILLIAMS&WILLIAMS CHAMBER +234-807-5019646 kwilliams_esq@yahoo.es DEAR COVINGTON, I AM BARRISTER KODJO WILLIAMS OF WILLIAMS & WILLIAMS CHAMBERS & CO. THIS MAIL IS WRITTEN AND INTENDED TO SOLICIT YOUR ASSISTANCE TO BE PRESENTED AS NEXT OF KIN TO MY LATE CLIENT. MY DECEASED CLIENT RICHARD COVINGTON,(77, VENICE ISLES FL,USA) HE MADE A FIXED DEPOSIT OF FUNDS VALUED AT USD $25.5(TWENTY FIVE MILLION HUNDRED THOUSAND UNITED STATES DOLLARS ONLY)WITH A BANK HERE IN NIGERIA. UNFORTUNATELY HE LOST HIS LIFE ABOARD EGYPT AIR FLIGHT 990, WHICH CRASHED INTO THE ATLANTIC OCEAN ON OCTOBER 31ST,1999(NEWS.BBC.CO.UK/1/HI/WORLD/AMERICAS/502503.STM) AND LEFT NO CLEAR BENEFICIARY AS NEXT OF KIN EXCEPT SOME VITAL DOCUMENTS RELATED TO THE DEPOSIT STILL WITH ME. ALL EFFORTS BY ME TO TRACE HIS NEXT OF KIN PROVED ABORTIVE BECAUSE HE DID NOT MAKE ANY WILL PRIOR TO HIS DEATH. PLEASE MAKE AVAILABLE TO ME YOUR PHONE NUMBERS AND FAX, YOUR FULL NAMES AND ADDRESS, YOUR JOB DESCRIPTION AND TITLE SO THAT I CAN GET STARTED WITH THE DOCUMENTATIONS. PLEASE SEND YOUR REPLY TO MY PRIVATE EMAIL BOX:kwilliams_esq@yahoo.es THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR ANTICIPATED CO-OPERATION. YOURS FAITHFULLY, KODJO WILLIAMS ESQ. PRINCIPAL PARTNER WILLIAMS&WILLIAMS CHAMBER +234-807-5019646 kwilliams_esq@yahoo.es
So of course part of me is thinking, “Should I respond just to see what’s going on? How they play their games?”
My answer? No. I don’t have the time or the dedication that the Scambaiters have.
Open an ING account and get a $25 bonus!
The Wire, Season 4
