just out of curiosity

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Master Baiter Joined: 20 Jul 2007 Posts: 100

I just received:

Quote:

I wish to notify you that late Engr. J�rge Kr�gger made you
a beneficiary to his WILL....Being a widely traveled man, he must have been in contact with you in the past

but I've always wondered, what if one of these scams were the real thing. We used to get snail mail that asked us if we were kin are not to the said person. The letter never mentioned why, just asked if we could possibly be the NOK, or if not us would we know anyone who could be. Of course, back then I had yet to hear of 419eater. Now, all the bells go off in my head, thank god, that it probably was. But still, there are some really eccentric people out there, and i've heard of people leaving their millions to animals. Stranger things have happened, lord knows. Has anyone else ever imagined a what if... scenario?

Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 12:51 am

There are real agencies who look for lost heirs, but they do not ask for
money up front but get a cut of the proceeds.

Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 12:54 am

@bh sterling: Those snail mails may well have been scams. 419 scams go back a century, or more.

Quote:

But still, there are some really eccentric people out there, and i've heard of people leaving their millions to animals. Stranger things have happened, lord knows. Has anyone else ever imagined a what if... scenario?

Trouble is, it would be quite expensive to find out. No offense, and all seriousness, I think that is exactly the kind of thinking that gets the ball rolling for a lot of victims.

Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 12:56 am

OK-think for a minute.Would the law firm contact you out of the blue by e mail?A legitimate law firm would be using some sort of registered or certified mail.A real law firm would not likely have a yahoo,gmail,or other free e mail account.If you are baiting safe,the e mail account you got this under is total BS anyway.It is an attractive fantasy to be sure,but if some eccentric really left you his millions,is this how it would go down?Trust me ,you aren't the first one to ask this,myself included,but just think about it for a while.

Master Baiter Joined: 20 Jul 2007 Posts: 100

^^^Yes, i know; sadly, it was a quick fantasy Very Happy

I wonder if it would make a good story or maybe plotline for a movie. Oh, the stuff that can happen when you get involved with eccentric y

edited to add p.s. i'ts probably already been written as well. oh, well

edited again to p.p.s another curiosity: what happens to a post while you're editing it

EAT p.p.p.s. never mind, thot about that one, too Embarassed

Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 2:53 am

Hmmmm... I think you might be on to something. I mean, I suppose there's a chance that the $450,000.00 check that I got last week is real. I guess there's no harm in cashing it just to find out for sure.

Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 3:41 am

this thread is ridiculous, the lads even have baiter's second guessing their scams!

thats amazing! no wonder why this business is in the multi billions.

three words.... FREE EMAIL ACCOUNT!

Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 3:49 am

Ummm...correct me if I'm wrong but...I think he is asking a hypothetical question. It's a "What if..." question. Use your imagination.

Wow, most of the time I think everyone here is witty and has a great sense of humor and imagination. Then I read responses like this...

@h.buttox - Good start! Smile

Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 3:55 am

"what ifs!" We should be asking what if there was a community online on the other side, like 419 promoter.com!

what if my million dollar check is real? this thread should be considered spam!

Baiting Guru Joined: 03 May 2007 Posts: 18313

First of all, I think bhSterling is female (though I might be wrong).

h.buttox: I think what tdiggitty was getting at is that you joined here today, and are calling members ridiculous for starting a hypothetical discussion.
You can always think whatever you want, but you might want to be more polite in your posts. We're nice people here. (well, most of us). Wink

Oh yes, where are my manners!? Welcome to Eater. Very Happy

419Eater is my life Joined: 21 Nov 2005 Posts: 264

I've asked myself the same question. What if the mugu I'm baiting is for real. The one in all the millions of scams that is truly legit and here I am passing up all those millions to have fun. Shocked

Actually the 419 dates way back. There was a link here on Eater a some time ago describing the history of the 419. Originally it was the basis of the "damsel in distress" story. Evil lord holding a beautiful damsel hostage for a ransom sends a messenger to the valiant knight asking him to pay the ransom. No damsel, no evil lord and ransom is really going to the messenger who absconds with it into the next kingdom or maybe even further depending on how quick the knight is to use his sword.

Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 4:05 am

Whoa, calm down there. As WK419 said there are real people out there who do look for lost heirs. They don't ask for the money upfront, and if they ever did they definitely would not ask for it via Western Union. They are also part of proper and registered businesses.

The little doubt in your mind of "could this one really be real" is why this scam works so well and brings in so much money.

Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 8:34 am

Welcome, too Smile

h.buttox wrote:

this thread is ridiculous

Not at all.
For example, think you are a victim, find Eater and read this thread.
A member says to another member this question is ridiculous.
Now, if you were a victim, would you bother to continue on Eater at all?
Someone said you are ridiculous...you would never dare to ask any question again and send that barrister his just a few thousands...

The other thing is, as many people have already stated, no honest question here is superfluous. Many people, including me, are finding out new things every day that most people would consider too simple to explain.

Apart from that, do not imply real victims are stupid. it�s damn many educated people who fall for it.

The original question has long been answered, I only wanted to say a few words, not that any people coming by and read this thread think that there is anything to feel ashamed about when asking if THAT one offer might be a real one (which, of course, it isn�t).

Baiting Guru Joined: 19 Mar 2007 Posts: 2628

We're all savvy enough to know that these sort of emails are fake but there's a growing elderly population out there who are getting their first computers and getting online.

My mum was convinced that there was some sort of email phone book out there that you could put in a name ( ie my cousin ) and get the email addy. So to her it would have been logical that an agency would contact you in this way.

Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 11:13 am

Definitely not a ridiculous thread nor question.

I often ask myself, when a new format comes in that I've never seen before, if there could be a trace of truth in it. Witness the questions that I've started over the past year where I've posted a different/unique format just to get others' advice. Most times, yeah, I get confirmation that it's a scam and that silly little "What if?" voice is squashed. Sometimes, very rarely, it really is genuine, as I found out last year when an Australian film-maker contacted one of my free email accounts and asked for financial backing for his independent movie. Looked like a scam, but thanks to people here we found it really was genuine.

Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 1:19 pm

h.buttox wrote:

this thread is ridiculous, the lads even have baiter's second guessing their scams!

Quote:

what if my million dollar check is real? this thread should be considered spam!

If you can't post something intelligent in the thread, please refrain from posting. Insulting other members is not the way to get your start here, but it will escalate your ending here very quickly.

Be nice. Very Happy

Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 7:18 pm

h.buttox wrote:

this thread should be considered spam!

You're starting to make me twitch. Do I need to sharpen my stick?

Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 9:02 pm

The scam formats contain elements that could be true. I could have a relative in Africa or Europe or something.

I received a scam e-mail claiming that I won the Texas State Lottery. COULD be true, as I live in Texas and DO sometimes buy a ticket.

But I personally don't buy any of it because I know about 419 scams. I know that legitimate companies won't contact me by e-mail...especially from free accounts like GMail.

Not every person interacts with scammers...or studies up on scams to find out how they work. That's why we still have scam victims. We're educating as many people as we can so that they won't be scammed. That's the best way, I think, to protect the innocent victims *and* to frustrate the lads.

The "What if?" is a good question because that's how we learn. Discussing the scams, and pointing out what makes them scams (being contacted by e-mail, for example) is what educates us. And that makes us better at educating potential victims. It also makes us better baiters, which is always good as far as I'm concerned. Smile

Master Baiter Joined: 20 Jul 2007 Posts: 100

Thank you all for standing up for me. I have to admit that I did find that One Post a tad intimidating. I know that ALL the letters are nothing but scams. Never once did I think of sending anything RL to any of them. We all make up an imaginary personality with a life, and then try to pull the lad into the story that we created. And with a great degree of success, as I read some of these very entertaining baits. It was just one of those days, while typing my story to the lad, I thot in the background, what could possibly happen if this ONE LETTER was indeed true.

That there indeed was an illegitimate son of some forgotten King of some little Kingdom somewhere in Africa. That one day, he was confronted by his first wife. That she knew of the boy and his slave mother, and threatened to have them both killed. Then one night, the King snuck quietly thru the empty corridors to the quarters where the boy and his mother lived. He told them that the Queen had found out about them and they both must flee before it was too late. Before they left, the King took the boy aside and told him of some money he had stashed away in a box. And not to worry, for one day they will meet again.

But, alas, the king was killed that very night. The Queen soon married the rival King, who was her lover, and from that day forward ruled the little kingdom with a heavy hand.

The boy and his mother ran the back alleys, looking for a refugee camp. They heard about these camps from the other slaves, and felt it was their only hope. Sadly, rife with disease from the dirty water they were forced to drink, the mother died shortly after. The boy remembered the other refugees talked of a place called the Internet Caf�. One day soon, he had a chance to leave the camp. He walked the streets, asking passersby to direct him to this Caf�.

He walked up to the fat, balding man who wore a tea-stained T-shirt that had Born In The U.S.A. written on it. He took out the few nairas his mother managed to save throughout the years and the proprietor informed him about the ways of the Internet. The boy looked around to the others sitting in front of dirty boxes, and then followed the man to a chair. He pocketed the nairas and walked away. The boy sat down. The King made sure that he had as equal an education as the situation allowed, so resurrecting his English, albeit, a bit broken, he proceeded to type his letter to that One Email Address. The recipient of that Letter never dreaming�

This is all I meant. Just a silly, little, whimsical what if�thot while I was typing my story to the lad.

FYI: my teen-ager-in-love story didn�t work. The lad hasn�t replied yet. I guess I should have contacted the security company sooner. Oh, well, moving along. Very Happy

Elite Baiter Joined: 28 Feb 2007 Posts: 1731

I think most of us understood the what if. I do romance scams mostly and at times need someone else to bait "my guy" because it can seem so real.

Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 4:32 am

@bh sterling;

WE GOT UR BACK!! Laughing

Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 6:08 am

@bh: That was a moving story. Really. Would make a nice movie. Or maybe a miniseries. Throw in a car chase, couple explosions, we get a movie!

EDITED TO ADD: I think Buttox's post was meant entirely tongue in cheek, and ot meant to be insulting. At least that's how it looks to me.

Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 9:08 am

MattNW wrote:

Actually the 419 dates way back. There was a link here on Eater a some time ago describing the history of the 419. Originally it was the basis of the "damsel in distress" story. . . . .

I believe pre payment fraud dates back to the Spanish Prisoner frauds. A wealthy merchant would be approached on behalf of a titled family whose son had been abducted and was held as a prisoner in a Spanish jail. The writer, on the family's behalf, was asking for support (monetary of course) to raise a secret rescue operation. If the recipient of the letter would help then the titled family, with very close links to the Royal family, would be so grateful and generous. They do of course wish to suffer the grief of their son's captivity in private lah de lah etc ....

Unfortunately the secret rescue operation has failed, details included, but we have now been in contact with one of the abducators who will ransome the boy for some large number of pesettas, however we need your help to raise this amount lah de lah etc ....

Unfortunately the ransome was intercepted before being paid (see payments were being chopped even back in those days Shocked

) and the boy will be hung before the month's end. We plan an armed raid by professional soldiers on the jail to retreive the boy, but need your financial support for this bold plan lah de lah etc ....

Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 2:37 pm

The earliest references to 419 type scams I have been able to find date back to the reign of Elizabeth 1st.

At that time it was known as the Spanish Fraud. Tthe fraudster pretended to be acting for an English nobleman who had been captured and imprisoned by the Spaniards. If you sent money towards the ransom when the nobleman got back to the UK, he would be very grateful to those who had helped him and you would receive a large reward.

It amuses me as the Spaniards today refer to the "Timo Ingl�s" or English Fraud to describe the Romo Scam offering a non-existent left hand drive car which is presently in the UK.

Those who fail to understand history are condemned to repeat it!!

Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 8:06 pm

@bh sterling

http://youtube.com/watch?v=wySq1u7d4DA

Laughing