419 in popular consciousness

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Posted: Sat Jul 18, 2009 12:59 pm

During half time in the second of the best-of-5 series of the quadrennial Australia v England cricket tournament (lunch on the 3rd day at Lord's, as we call it), the Cricinfo website runs an open blog in which their panel of experts try to answer questions from visitors to the site. As background, today there was much interest in a laptop which had been stolen overnight from one of the England players.

Quote:

[Comment From MR PETER NGO, NIGERIA ]
Dearest Mr Miller! I come bearing gifts and good tidings. You have won the Gold Coast Premium Notebook Lottery! We are pleased to offer you a Dell laptop newly refurbish. Please merely deposit a £250 safety note in our accounts to process transaction costs and for package.
13:32 Peter English: he'll take it! he's sending his bank details immediately
13:32 Andrew Miller: Mr Ngo, what splendid news!
13:32 Ranjit Shinde: Go for it Miller. Go fot it.
13:33 Andrew Miller: Ah, my bank details are stored on my old laptop. Never mind ... [exits building to sprint to the bank ...]

I'm sure 'Peter Ngo' was a wind-up, but it's good to see 419 so well entrenched in public consciousness. Education is crucial.

Yet, sadly, there are always still going to be people who fall for it. Sad

Posted: Sun Jul 19, 2009 2:03 am

Especially in the bad economy, someone somewhere will really think they have a dead relative who has 3 million dollars in a lock box in Africa somewhere.

I always talk to folks about these scams. I only know of ONE person who almost fell for a "Coca Cola Lottery" mail a few years ago. I talked to her. She was shocked that people would actually scam other people via the internet. Since then, she forwards me some of her latest catches for my amusement. My wife even educates people she speaks with about these scams.

All we can do is continue what we do here. It is better to light one candle than to curse the darkness.

Posted: Sun Jul 19, 2009 4:04 am

Two people I know - whom I have talked to extensively about scams as both know that I have an interest in baiting - recently fell for a classic check scam. It is good to see that at least the message is sinking in for some folks!

Posted: Sun Jul 19, 2009 9:40 pm

I have made no secret of my anti-scam activities. As a result, a friend asked me to look at an email he received (classic tutor/overpayment scam). I pointed out the signs of scammishness, and he stopped communicating with the scammer immediately. He received a check (for more than his fee, of course) and tore it up. He has also simply ignored other job offers that had similar characteristics. Today he thanked me for educating him about scams - he's a teacher on summer furlough, and money is very tight for him.

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