The fact that I still get a dozen of these a day tells me that there’s some expectation of success on the scammers’ part.
But I have hard time believing anyone would be dumb enough to fall for something like this, especially nowadays when the falsity and sheer ludicrousness of the e-mails have been not only well-documented but well-parodied.
So has there ever been any documented case of someone falling prey to these Nigerian scammers, and if so, what type type of people are likely to be victims?
Lots of people have been fooled although it’s a very low number relative to the insane volume of the emails. Many of the victims are elderly people who are starting to lost their faculties.
It absolutely happens. Here’s a whole website with stories of Nigerian scam victims.
I was close…well kinda. I was probably about 12 years old and it was the first time I’d ever seen one. It showed up on the fax machine.
My dad quickly explained that it was just a scam and I should just toss it out. I had always wondered if it really was a scam or if we had just thrown away our cut of thirty four million seven hundred thirty eight thousand dollars (why do they always spell it out)…until two days later when we got the next one and the next one and the next one.
Here’s a Harvard med school instructor, who scammed $600k from friends and colleagues for SARS research, and sent all of it to a Nigerian scammer.
Here’s a woman who lost $330,000 entrusted to her by her clients. She spent some time in jail, and is supposed to repay the money, but I doubt that will ever happen.
My Dad’s friend was scammed by a “419’er”, and now he’s dedicating a good chunk of his life to fighting it. I’ve met him, and wouldn’t think he’s that easy to fool, but he got bitten. (If you want more info, you can visit his webpage at brianwizard.com.)
Was it Tommy Lee Jones, or Will Smith? 
Goddamnit! That’s the second time in a week I posted the wrong link! And I preview and everything!
Mark Whitacre, President of bioproducts division, ADM:
Here’s a thread started by a doper who witnessed a scam in progress first hand:
There was another thread like that one posted by a doper who worked in a library and witnessed a customer in the middle of being a scam victim.
Oddly, the typical reaction to being told you’re being scammed seems to be intense anger toward the person trying to save you. Weird.
And there was this thread was about DocCathode’s dialogue with what I believed to be a scammer, but he believed to be genuine - never did find out how that one ended though, as far as I know.
David Pogue wasn’t scammed himself, but did have an interesting experience with someone who was: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/11/technology/circuits/11POGUE-EMAIL.html?_r=1
A Czech who had fallen victim to a Nigerian scam in 2003 killed the Nigerian consul.
Several scammers have themselves been scammed by their victims too. Here’s an excellent example: Welcome to the 419 Eater
There are more on the same page :).
From the FBI at the link below. $1 to $2 BILLION dollars per year in the U.S. alone is taken by an assortment of these scams.
He’s figting it??? Looks like he’s just trying to make a profit.
“Don’t Be Scammed! Be Informed”
PLUS Nigerian 419 Scam “Game Over” Audio CD all for $44 plus $6 p/h!
I used to hang out on 419eater. Whenever there was an ethics debate- say, “I fell uneasy about stranding a lad in a Muslim country with an Arabic sign that he doesn’t know says ‘I hate Muhammad’ [real example]” someone would whip out an article about some victim commiting suicide because he lost eight jillion dollars to a princess in a refugee camp and his creditors were about to repossess his eyeballs.
An attorney friend of mine had never heard of the scam. He was telling me one day how he had this new client he was helping trying to get a large chunk of money out of Canada. He took the case on a contingency fee.
I asked if his client mentioned anything about Nigeria. When he responded in the affirmative, I told him his client’s money is probably long gone and he should contact the FBI. Next time I spoke to him, he said he was no longer working on that case.
I still have a $24,000 cashier’s check sent to me by a scammer. I was to keep $4000 and sent the rest to a “relative” in Canada. The check was sent to me from Canada and that is where the emails came from too. The check just happened to be drawn on a small local credit union not far from where I live. I took it to a branch and they confirmed it was a forgery.
The sender would send me emails asking where the money was and I would tell him I was busy and would take care of it in a few days. After a few weeks, threats started coming from the sender including calling the FBI and something called the National Bank Council.
I then started ignoring the emails. 2 months after receiving the check, I sent the scammer an email “written” by my wife. It stated that I was in jail for cashing a forged check, the police had taken all our money and that her and our 7 children were soon going to be homeless. Never received another email from the scammer.
Wow! Brian Anthony is a very talented man. I couldn’t believe he was hoisting the scammer by his own petard. I hope that karma takes a big bit out of these scammers.