Holy Cow! Somebody actually fell for the Nigerian email scam!

And lost $400,000 in the process. Instead of, you know, dying from shame, she's come forward to warn others to not send their life savings to strangers over the Internet. They might not have your best interests at heart. Got it? Great.

Comments

[okay then]

Maybe she quit being foolish when she came forward. That takes courage because we're all laughing at her dumb mistake. There have to be more people than her falling for that scam, or they wouldn't keep sending it out.

[Tim]

How can she use the computer or watch TV and not hear about this?

[Mikeybackwards]

I work with a man who fell for a variation of this scam. He advertised his car for sale on craigslist. He received an email from an individual who claimed to be in Britain wanted to buy his car. They agreed to a price. During the negotiations, the 'purchaser' asked for my co-worker's help in having the car shipped to Britain. When the 'certified check' arrived it included the cost to ship the car, along with instructions on a specific company to use; as well as an extra $2,000.00 for my co-worker's 'trouble'.

Any sensible person already sees where this is going. The certified check was a forgery and not only does my co-worker now owe money to his bank for bounced checks they paid; but he is out his car, and is facing bad check charges for checks that were subsequently dishonored because of insufficent funds.

The answer, my friend, is not blowing in the wind. It is greed, plain and simple.

[pc]

I just don't get how these people are so deluded that when they finally figure out how stupid they are, they say "oh this could have happened to anyone!"

[Gubment Cheese]

I'm calling bullsh*t on this one. Lost $400K? What I think happened is she blew her savings and husbands retirement plan at the casino. The hubby caught on to it and the Nigerian scam is the best she could come up with. Most people would be hiding in shame if this happened to them. She's leading a crusade. The more noise she makes, the less likely that people will question her story.

[Dalton]

OMG!!! Are you guys telling me that I'm not going to get the $25,000.000 lottery winnings I was promised? I already sent them the $25,000 processing fee.. do you think I will get that back if I asked nicely?

[AA]

Wow. These scams are around every corner you look! Even in the 'jobs' or 'pets' section of craigslist! I was looking at English Bulldogs and got an email scam sent to me from 'Africa'. Yeeeaaahh right, Like I wouldn't smell that from a mile away.

Anyone who actually falls for these must be really desperate or something, if they are just going to take that gamble even thought it sounds absurd.

[Mike]

At least she still has her youth and good looks, oh wait, never mind.

I know its mean to say, but anybody that is that stupid to fall for that deserves it.

Some people aren't capapble of processing information in a 'normal' way, nor do they possess the ability to critically reason as most post-adolescence people do. Saying that this woman is deserving of what happened, or is telling a tale to save her skin from something else, is only a couple of multiple possibilities. Let's give the benefit of the doubt before degrading her.

[notsosmartypants]

This is why I won't let my wife or M-I-L get an email account. They are both smart people and I love them a lot, but they are pretty guilable none the less. I'll just keep letting them invest in Bingo.

[Bigbabbs]

The broad is a nursing administrator - probably edumacated - just not in Nigerian Internet scams - didn't her husband realize she was taking all the money? He is just as edumacated as she is!

[JewwellsP]

I got these scammer's for a few $.
I agreed to their BS & they would send me a forged check via next day air.
Then I either didn't respond to the numerious emails or just gave them a load of BS.
I had the checks sent here to my work under a BS name.
I still have the check, just over $600K total. Some actually look very real, 1 is actually made to look like it came from a sherrif department in Maine.

[winkyb2me]

~~ "Some people aren't capapble of processing information in a 'normal' way, nor do they possess the ability to critically reason as most post-adolescence people do." ~~

Sorry, how would they amass $400,000 in savings and keep it most of their adult lives unless they could "critically reason"?

[KCHeadArrow]

This woman didn't amass a $400,000 fortune, she mortgaged and remortgaged her house against advice from the bank and her husband who both told her it was a scam. She was totally obsessed. People like her are incapable of understanding that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. She had her eyes on $25 mil and the life it would give her.

[AG]

Yes, mikeybackwards, that is also a scam. But still far less stupid than some sending $400,000 to some stranger in Nigeria.

[dawg]

She's a dumbazz and so is her hubby.

[Opie]

Tool.

[NEW]

I did the same thing JewellsP. I figured if nothing else, they would be out the cost of the Fed Ex. I also went so far as to tell them that I wired the money to the Western Union office that they specified and gave them a faulty confirmation code. Screw the bastards.

[Jesse Jackson]

I was worried when I first read this but then I realized my Nigerian contact is a Hebrew Christian Monk, so it won't apply to me. The shoe with be on the other foot for all you doubting Thomasas whan I receive my $25 Million in th mail.

[Nemesis]

"I was worried when I first read this but then I realized my Nigerian contact is a Hebrew Christian Monk"

I bet you went to different schools together too.

[JSG]

Hey James,

Is it cool if I grab her email address from you?

Thanks a lot man.

[jcm]

Actually, the Nigerian scam and it's brethren are doing quite well on the Internet. To the tune of $4.7 billion in 2007. The scam plays on the same hopes that the lottery does, something for nothing (or at least very little.)

Go to http://www.419eater.com if you would like to see some pictures of these folks. The people there have managed to get them into some pretty funky poses for the trophy room.

[BULLDOG]

Yep they are everywhere, I work with athletes who are looking to play ball overseas, I got an email from a guy in England, and in another country can't quite remember, they told me they wanted one of my players, then said that in order for him to come play he had to pay for his FIBA license! I'm like well shouldnt the team pay for that, and he was like some american ballplayers had their plane tickets, and their FIBA cards paid for, and didnt show up, so they stopped paying for them, so I told him my athlete would show up, and just send us the money and the planed ticket!! He sent me some money orders, I took them to my bank, and had them looked at, because I seemed just like a scam, and sure enough my bank showed me how they made fake money orders, and what to look for on the money order to know it's a fake. I was like thank God I didnt send this dude any money!!!