Editor's note - I posted this entry on my older blog.
Befor going into the details, a bit of background first. Have you heard of the Nigerian Scam? Here it how it operates - you receives an unsolicited fax, email, or letter often concerning Nigeria or another African nation containing either a money laundering or other illegal proposal. A sample goes something like
FIRST, I MUST SOLICIT YOUR STRICTEST CONFIDENCE IN THIS TRANSACTION. THIS IS BY VIRTUE OF ITS NATURE AS BEING UTTERLY CONFIDENTIAL AND 'TOP SECRET'. I AM SURE AND HAVE CONFIDENCE OF YOUR ABILITY AND RELIABILITY.
So you get glittery eyed and start dreaming. You reply back and say "Yeah dude! i am in. Lets go and swindle gazillion dollars". Some more emails follow. At some point, you are asked to pay up front an Advance Fee of some sort or to extend credit. If you pay the money, there are often many Complications which require still more advance payments until you either quit, runs out of money, or both. Some times it may go further. You may be asked for your bank account numbers, copies of their passport and drivers licence and phone and fax numbers. What the scamsters are doing is the Identity theft. Your bank account is cleaned out once they have handed over all your details.
So after the gory details here is the story. Silicon.com decided to follow up on the offer and see where it leads to. Silicon.com's Will Sturgeon set up a Hotmail account under an assumed identity and contacted the scamster (a Mr. Madu Frank). You can read the rest of the story Silicon.com. Will Sturgeon made him run around in circles. Really good read. Enjoy!
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