http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/21/nyregion/21scam.html?_r=1&ref=business
Now, I myself am not really upset at this - Better someone in a third world country have the money than Americans, who will just use it to buy more SUVs or tract housing or something equally reprehensible. But here it is, in this Pit. 
:rolleyes:
I wondering if you would have the same reaction if you had lost your life savings.
Hmm, yeah, I even read that not too long ago. Guess I just had 419 stuck in head.
Wow, that’s just fucking ignorant. Do you think this money is falling from the African sky into the hands of the poor or something?
Also, you didn’t read the article. The bank being robbed was the National Bank of Ethiopia, which had an account at Citibank.
"Citibank called the officials whose names and numbers it had been given to verify the transactions, prosecutors said. The numbers turned out to be for cellphones in Nigeria, South Africa and Britain used by the conspirators.
"
Am I reading this correctly? They sent them phony documents…plus a list of phone number to call to verify? And CitiBank used those numbers instead of the ones they had on file?
Yeah, because if poor people had money, they’d probably buy…
well, homes and transportation.
In other news, you’re a moron.
Except that, if i’m reading the article correctly, the National Bank of Ethiopia has not actually lost any money in the incident:
If there is money outstanding, it seems that—for the moment at least—it’s Citibank that is stuck with the loss.
Yes, because the scammers are going to give everything they took to the poor of the third world. And they stole it ALL from the rich-not people like my grandmother, living on social security.
Fuck you, you toad-feces licking pusbag.
Yes, Citibank has been stuck with the bill, but it was still the Ethiopian bank’s money that was targetted and stolen.
I wasn’t aware it was possible to rob a bank across oceans. Perhaps you are thinking of theft. Robbery means the property was taken by force or fear, neither happened here.
Just sayin’.
You know what has to be the most difficult thing in the world? Being a legitimate Nigerian businessman. How can they ever convince you that they’re for real and not just trying to scam you?
“No, seriously, my name is Abah Idoma and I really am the regional North American representative for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation…You can look us up on the stock exchange…We have an office in the Chrysler Building and you can come and see it…No, I’m not trying to smuggle money out of Nigeria, this is a perfectly legal business transaction…I don’t care what email your brother-in-law got, I had nothing to do with that…”
I asked a Nigerian friend about this, he said many of the scammers are not Nigerians, it’s a big country with many immigrants - I wasn’t sure whether to believe him or not. :dubious:
From firsthand experience, many Cameroonians dream of moving to the land of plenty that is Nigeria. And I’ve met some people who have experienced Nigerian-style scams on Cameroonian soil. Now, it surely is not foreigners that do the majority of these scams. But there is a huge amount of cross-border commerce with Cameroon and I imagine the other surrounding countries. Nigeria is a pretty happenin’ metropolitan place in West African terms.
I like how THIS is your objection to the OP’s comment. Would you agree with the OP if the money really was taken fom only rich Americans and really was given only to poor Africans?
As the Perfect Master said: Big things cause big problems. Little things cause little problems.
No comprendo, senor.
Most likely, Citibank’s insurance company was stuck with the bill.
Which they paid by raising insurance rates for banks.
Which they paid by raising fees for their customers, of which I am one.
Which I paid by…taking a paycut to keep my job?
But this guy wasn’t in a third world country:
No, but he is a Nigerian citizen. Singapore does have a fairly large guest worker population, him being in Singapore doesn’t suprise me.
So, cumgargler, you are an American, right? If so, why have you not sent all your money to Africa where it is more deserved?