School Project

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Posted: Thu May 20, 2010 8:53 pm

So, I get to do a school project on 419 Fraud...

I was assigned the topic by the luck of the draw, I have a feeling it must be divine providence Smile

Anyone have any suggestions on what I should cover, planning to go over the basic information about 419, but does anyone have any interesting bits of information I could use?

Posted: Thu May 20, 2010 9:07 pm

Sort of putting this to a vote, but I might OMIT mention of the shadowy
nether-ninja world of scam-baiting so that we might continue to enjoy
"relative" obscurity as Jokers. Instead play up the Scam-warners site ?

(I know there will be differing opinions.) The opposite is shine the white-hot spotlight on the 21st Century BloodSport. Scam-baiting. You too can collect trophies. OK there you have it. Both sides of the argument.

Posted: Thu May 20, 2010 9:21 pm

I saw a short and very educational movie about 419

http://vimeo.com/8657832

Posted: Thu May 20, 2010 9:35 pm

About the different kind of scams and although one can be totally aware of them they still fall victim.

Maybe talk about the effects a successful scam can have on a persons life.

Not quite a Newb Joined: 18 May 2010 Posts: 24

subway 1 wrote:

I saw a short and very educational movie about 419

If that sticks pretty close to reality and the scammer actually waited for months before trying to get money, I'm impressed. Most go for the money almost immediately. I'd love to bait a scammer like that.

Posted: Thu May 20, 2010 10:27 pm

@ subway 1

Excellent video

@Brainiac

Yes Scamwarners is excellent, this page shows and explains all types of scams.

http://scamwarners.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=30

Posted: Fri May 21, 2010 3:49 am

I'd use the posts at SW explaining about scams as the informative base of whatever you'll be doing (do you have to write or present something, how long should it be?) then liven it up with some baiting anecdotes.
If you plan on using any funny baiting stories, make sure that you don't pick one that's only funny due to inside jokes we have here.

Posted: Fri May 21, 2010 3:51 am

You are really lucky. I mean damn lucky. Smile

Bring a lad. The classic "show and tell" style Very Happy

No seriously - few sentences how various kinds of scam looks like seems like a good idea. Tell them that anyone can get scammed.
If you can, you can even mention scambaiting and ethics of scambaiting Smile

Posted: Fri May 21, 2010 4:45 am

Now that would be an interesting bait. Safari all the way from the Ivory Coast just to end up on display in a classroom. Right before he is taken away by Immigration for entering the country under false pretenses. Laughing

Posted: Fri May 21, 2010 7:01 am

linkster2o wrote:

Anyone have any suggestions on what I should cover...

Why not tackle something unexpected? Something that few people are aware of?

If you're going that route, a good place to start would be the immense success of these scams. Most people - when asked about 419 - will say, "who would fall for that crap anyway?" They'd be surprised at just how much money actually does flow to advance fee fraudsters.

Another thing you might want to cover is the shifting demographic trend in victims. So far this year, I have dealt with victims from Indonesia, Kenya, India and Ukraine, amongst many other such "unexpected" countries for 419 victims to hail from. Overall, the victims from outside of the "Western World" outnumber those from within for me this year.

Those are just two examples of topic you could cover if you want to avoid the standard approach. If, on the other hand, the standard approach is what's expected of you for this assignment, then there's always this.

Good luck with your assignment. Let us know how it goes. Very Happy

EDIT: Oh, and by the way, if you need any assistance with the details regarding the two points I mentioned, I'm sure many of the dedicated baiters around would be happy to give you a hand, myself included.

Posted: Fri May 21, 2010 7:17 am

You might find this useful to provide a bit of history for your project: the Spanish Prisoner Scam.

419 is as old as the hills, (maybe even older Wink

) where travellers would catch out the unwary, with tales of wealthy masters or friends being unjustly imprisoned in various wars or insurrections.

Posted: Fri May 21, 2010 9:55 am

Perhaps take a copy of the ever-growing "Scammer Genus" guide, just to demonstrate the various types of scammers out there.
If you can get a trophy pic of each genus, holding up a sign with the latin wording on it, even better Wink

Seriously though, it does seem like a good chance to educate people about the dangers of scammers, some might have never heard of them before. I know I hadn't heard about them until I got my first 419 letter when I was in college years ago. (Next-of-kin one if I remember rightly. That was back when I was somewhat naive about the dark side of humanity, so I didn't realise that there were hundreds of these things out there, I thought it was just a one-off. Good thing it wasn't a particularly convincing example, so I just dumped it in the bin along with all the viagra and fake diploma spam).

Posted: Fri May 21, 2010 9:33 pm

http://www.zdnet.com.au/real-life-internet-scammers-dissected-339292871.htm?omnRef=NULL

Quote:

Australians send around $36 million to Nigerian scammers each year, according to operations commander of Queensland Police's fraud and corporate crimes group

Brian Hay, who points out that Nigeria is not the only destination for swindled Australian money.
"This only looks at money received within Nigeria," he says. "We're currently conducting research to indicate a more accurate cost to Australia."
The scam's success has seen it replicated in Liberia, Spain, and Italy, says Hay, who describes Nigeria's advance fee fraud industry as "a global enterprise" rather than a backyard operation.
The problem is so large that murders have resulted after some victims have attempted to salvage lost money. Between 1992 and 1999 17 people — mostly Americans - were killed attempting to reclaim stolen cash, according to research by the Australian Institute of Criminology.

The problem is so large that murders have resulted after some victims have attempted to salvage lost money. Between 1992 and 1999 17 people — mostly Americans - were killed attempting to reclaim stolen cash, according to research by the Australian Institute of Criminology.

. "I looked at one example the other day where a gentleman and his family had lost $2.5 million from a scam that started 10 years ago."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/ghana/7664240/British-victim-of-romance-fraud-tells-of-ordeal.html

UK victim loses £250,000 and romance victim throws himself under train.

This is a UK article on the psychology of scams, with particular reference to 419 scams.

http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/reports/consumer_protection/oft1070.pdf

Posted: Mon May 24, 2010 7:28 pm

Thanks for the infromation, guys, I'll post the final product after my presentation

I like the show and tell idea, maybe my newest lad Daniel would be willing to fly over to Oregon...