Nigerian email scam causes Americans to loiter in London hotel lobbies

.theinquirer ^ | Mike Magee: Wednesday 11 December 2002, 15:21 | Mike Magee: Wednesday 11 December 2002, 15:21

[dennisw]

Nigerian email scam causes Americans to loiter in London hotel lobbies

Second biggest Nigerian business?

By Mike Magee: Wednesday 11 December 2002, 15:21

MESSAGE LABS said its software intercepted over 10 million viruses during 2002, while Spam is increasing to such an extent that it's outnumbering legit messages. And the firm said, quoting the UK National Criminal Intelligence Service, that up to five Americans per day have been seen waiting in London hotels to meet people about liberating funds.

This one is new to us. How can you tell an American in a hotel lobby has fallen victim to the Nigerian 419 scam? Does he or she have a big sign saying: "Are you the son of the finance minister of Nigeria?"

Or, as the latest one we've received says: "I am hon Dr John cabora. A diplomant from the republic gabon, also the owner of trans Atlantic crossing company".

Message Labs claims that these operations are going to gross over two billion dollars in 2003, making it the second biggest Nigerian industry.

The firm said: "Recently, Americans in particular seem to be falling victim to the scam. A recent report by the U.K.'s National Criminal Intelligence Service stated that up to five Americans per day have been witnessed waiting in London hotel lobbies to meet people connected with the scam. If this trend continues, MessageLabs predicts that Nigerian scam operations will gross over two billion dollars in 2003, becoming the second largest industry in the country."

If this trend continues, and if Message Labs is right, we think that London hotel lobbies will be packed full of people and you won't be able to get to the concierge to ask: "Where is the Porcupine pub?" (Answer: The home of roadmaps is on the Charing Cross Road.)

[CFC__VRWC]

More than I can count. We even get a few slipping through the spam fiters at work.

[CFC__VRWC]

That was supposed to be "filters."

[strela]

How in the world did people stupid enough to fall for these scams get their money in the first place? Must be inherited.

[glorgau]

Got one today, and immediately sent them my bank account numbers and a copy of my home mortgage. Not!

[CFC__VRWC]

Every now and then we people here in Florida running lottery scams - "I have a winning ticket but no bank account. If you put up $$ as collateral, I'll split the ticket with you." Elderly people seem the most susceptible to this one.

[goldstategop]

Greed. People think there is a way to get rich quick. They're always surprised when the proverbial pot at the end of the rainbow turns out to be a will'o the wisp. Its as old as human nature. The Nigerian 419 e-mail scam in its various incarnations was around long before the Age Of The Internet. The people who go to London in the hope of laying their hands on illicit lucre are the perfect illustration of "the fool and his money are soonest parted." Some people never learn.

[CFC__VRWC]

we people here in Florida ...

"we get people here in Florida ...". The keyboard thing just isn't happening tonight.

[strela]

Some people never learn.

True. Maybe the Nigerian scams are just nature's way of taking valuable capital out of the hands of idiots.

[stuck_in_new_orleans]

ATTENTION!

ATTENTION!

Please, all London residents, these Americans are very very stupid people, they are the dumbest of the dumbest, please round these people up and shoot them, jail them, beat them, do whatever you want to them...just keep them. We have enough stupid people over here as it is.

Thanks

[CFC__VRWC]

The other thing about these scam e-mails is that the writer has excellent English language skills and is unfailingly polite. That makes it harder for some people to say no, I guess. Our IS guy at work tells me that a lot of the people who actually travel to Nigeria to answer these ads are beaten and robbed - a few have been killed.

[kms61]

It's a variation on the "Spanish Prisoner" con, which first surfaced in the days of the Spanish Armada, believe it or not. In its original form, the scam involved an English Nobleman imprisoned by the Spanish, a beautiful daughter, and a fortune. Both the fortune and the daughter would be the reward of the person helping the nobleman to escape.

The scam also surfaced after the Bolshevik Revolution, with Russian nobility taking the place of the English variety.

There's a very informative website that gives a lot of background on this con, although I seem to have misplaced the URL.

A movie was also made not too long ago called "The Spanish Prisoner," whose plot was loosely based on such a scam.

[Kaiwen]

Kind of sad, actually. Reminds me of televagelists. I guess Spaceballs was right--"Now you see that evil will always triumph, because good is dumb."

[TinkersDam]

Fraud was the third biggest industry in Nigeria back in the days when all this was done by fax.

Most people wouldn't fall for this nonsense, but it seems one woman with control over her employer's Trust-Account fell for it and wound up in jail.

Nigerian rings are involved in identity theft here in this country often operating storefront post office box rental places.

I don't know if there are any legitmate Nigerian businessmen, but if there are, they sure must have a hard time doing business with anyone.

[Billy_bob_bob]

I'm beginning to think that it would be a public service for the hackers of the world to get together on a particular date and melt Nigeria's IT infrastructure. I'm sure there are all kinds of really nasty viruses and worms that can be unleashed upon that pestilential hellhole. It would be a great public service to the rest of the world, and would go a long way towards changing public perceptions of hackers. Think of it as good PR for the whole hacker community.

[mvpel]

I think it was Mark Twain who once said, "you can't cheat an honest man." There's a lot of dishonest people out there.

[GaryMontana]

I agree with you.

I received one of these garbage emails. It is very easy to set up a bank account in the USA, Canada, G.B., etc...
They do not need my bank account to send funds to.

I did not even reply to the email. I deleted it.
I would not advise even replying, just junk it.
Or better yet, set up a yahoo account. Send a virus through Yahoo. than cancel the yahoo account.

[Route66]

It's really hard to believe anyone could be taken in by one of these anymore...they are a national joke. I even recieved one through the mail - postmarked from Spain.