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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsAustralian woman turns tables on Nigerian scammers
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/australian-woman-turns-tables-nigerian-scammers-175755518.htmlNigerian email scams have become nearly as commonplace as the Internet itself. But one Australian woman wound up in jail after turning the tables--to the tune of $30,000--on a group of con artists.
The Courier-Mail reports that Sarah Jane Cochrane-Ramsey, 23, was employed as an "agent" in March 2010 by the Nigerians, but didn't know they were scam artists. Her "job" was to provide access to an Australian bank account opened in her name where the Nigerians could then transfer money they had received from a phony car sales website. Cochrane-Ramsey was told she could keep eight percent of the transfers.
But, then she decided to steal from the thieves themselves. According to the Courier-Mail, she received two payments, totaling $33,350, but spent most of it on herself.
If you're not familiar with the so-called Nigerian Scam, also known as the (419) scam, or Advanced Fee Fraud, here's a brief explainer: the fraud works by convincing an individual to give money and/or bank account access to a third-party in exchange for future financial rewards.
libinnyandia
(1,374 posts)scammer to go to northern Nigeria to scam people coming across the border. When he finally figured things out, he thought it was Nigerians who had done it to him.
TlalocW
(15,342 posts)Dedicated to showcasing people who had messed back with Nigerian scammers. One guy got a scammer hooked on being part of his charity to receive payment after he completed a task and kept changing the tasks due to various reasons. One even including carving some wood into something that looked like traditional African art (which when he received it, he photoshopped a phot of it to look like an African squirrel had been in it all along and had gnawed its way out destroying it). After stringing him along through a few more pointless tasks, he got the guy to perform and film, Monty Python's, "Dead Parrot," skit with a friend. The scammer eventually tried to sue the guy stringing him along (who was British), and the British guy called him and sent him letters pretending to be from Scotland Yard, making him jump through more hoops to get the money he was "owed." All the constables he was dealing with were names of the Pythons, and were often described in "official correspondence" as being, "very butch." It was a long read, but it was hilarious.
TlalocW
RebelOne
(30,947 posts)I used to be quite active at this Web site. I was able to gain access to the scammer's e-mail accounts and warrn the people they were targeting. I once contacted a man here in my area and tried to warn him, but he had already been scammed out of $900.
RC
(25,592 posts)If you scam the scammers, you are dealt with, while the real scammers are free to continue their elicit activities.
zipplewrath
(16,646 posts)I thought the article would be about a scam-baiter.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/01/technology/01iht-scam.1.6428742.html?pagewanted=all