February 02, 2006
I just. don't. believe. this...
From the Sidney Morning Herald:
Police are staggered by the amount of money gullible Australians are losing to Nigerian investment scammers.
The long-running internet-based rort has netted more than $7 million from Queenslanders alone, and the loss Australia-wide is likely to be far higher, police say.
Among those being duped are financial advisers, lawyers and university professors, and one person had put $2.2 million into the hands of scammers over the past two years.
Inspector Brian Hay, from the Queensland Police Service Fraud and Corporate Crime Group, said yesterday he would anticipate the trend being replicated across the country.
"This is not geographically bound by state borders - this would be everywhere," Insp Hay said.
Of the 26 Queensland victims contacted by police over the past two months 25 had lost their funds....(Thanks to Tim Blair)
Is the same thing as those spam e-mails I get, purporting to be from some deposed Nigerian leader wanting help transferring funds? Or is there some other "Nigerian" scam I don't know about? It can't be the same thing; the article says "investment scammers," so presumably it is about investing in something, not helping ex-general Obokubambo's widow with money transfers.
Ah ha! I just didn't read far enough:
...Lured by the promise of a percentage of secret oil venture investments or government contracts with guaranteed high returns, scam victims are asked for money to bribe local officials and secure lucrative contracts...
Well, of course. if someone offers you a chance to get in a secret oil venture, you'd be a fool to pass up the chance...I guess this could be considered a form of foreign aid.
Posted by John Weidner at February 2, 2006 08:22 PMWell, I guess P.T. Barnum was right, eh?
I'd be a lot happier if the article was about the oh-so-sophisticated Fwench elites, instead of about our Australian friends. Ouch.
(shakes head in sympathy)
Posted by: Hale Adams at February 2, 2006 08:54 PMI was recently hit by a Nigerian scam. See, I was looking for a roommate, and put an ad on Craigslist. I was contacted by a woman purporting to be from Nigeria saying she’d like to send along a check to secure her part of the rent. I held the room open until the check arrived. Which it did eventually. Turned out to be a bad check and a scam. True story. *sigh*...
Ironically, I’ve met in person the daughters of several Nigerian oil ministers. This is what happens when you grew up in the same city that Chevron locates it’s corporate head quarters...
That confuses me— what did she get out of sending a bad check? I'm assuming she wasn't staying in the room at the time...
Posted by: B. Durbin at February 4, 2006 12:04 PM
