# Has anyone anywhere ever been fooled by a Nigerian e-mail scam? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 1, 2009, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-anywhere-ever-been-fooled-by-a-nigerian-e-mail-scam/508517 "2009-09-01T18:08:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-anywhere-ever-been-fooled-by-a-nigerian-e-mail-scam/508517/41 "2009-09-03T14:30:13Z")
> [@Henrichek](#): > > There are many dating scams originating from Russia. > [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > There are a lot of Russian and Philipino girlfriend scams. I know there are lots of internet scams, I was just curious why the 419-style scams were peculiar to Nigeria. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-anywhere-ever-been-fooled-by-a-nigerian-e-mail-scam/508517/42 "2009-09-03T14:31:19Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Here’s a thread started by a doper who witnessed a scam in progress first hand: > [Unwittingly dragged into the middle of a scam. Yipe! - Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=498879) Did **choie** ever post an update of what became of Fred? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-anywhere-ever-been-fooled-by-a-nigerian-e-mail-scam/508517/43 "2009-09-03T14:32:45Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Why don’t we see these same scams from countries other than Nigeria? If it is so profitable, I would think the the Russian mob would be into it in a big way. Perhaps there are some, but the overwhelming majority seem to be from Nigeria, and that seems odd. I get them from all over. Not just Africa, but the UK, the Philippines, the Middle East. I don’t know how many of these are just disguised addresses from scammers in Nigeria; Nigerians living in other countries; or copycats in other countries. However, I personally get very few that are purportedly from Nigeria itself these days. Probably the most common country for me is Cote d’Ivoire. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-anywhere-ever-been-fooled-by-a-nigerian-e-mail-scam/508517/44 "2009-09-03T14:38:00Z")
When I worked for a small 10 location sporting goods shop one of the managers called me at the regional office to give me the good news that she had sold her entire inventory of tennis racquest in one day.:dubious: I pressed her for details and sure enough she was awaiting a check for the 2 dozen raquets at which time she was to ship them all to Nigeria. She had them all boxed up, addressed, and ready to go. She felt really bad when I told her to put them all back out on the shelves immediately. ---
**Author:** ![Svejk\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Svejk\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svejk_1)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-anywhere-ever-been-fooled-by-a-nigerian-e-mail-scam/508517/45 "2009-09-03T15:29:41Z")
You’re shit out of luck if you’re in Nigeria and you really, actually need something, such as two boxes of tennis rackets. Or if you’re actually a Nigerian prince and all you need is for someone to send in a check for 1000 US$ so your bank can release your THREE HUNDRED FIFTY NINE MILLION TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND AND SEVENTY FIVE DOLLARS (and fifty cents). ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-anywhere-ever-been-fooled-by-a-nigerian-e-mail-scam/508517/46 "2009-09-03T15:41:29Z")
> [@Svejk\_1](#): > > You’re shit out of luck if you’re in Nigeria and you really, actually need something, such as two boxes of tennis rackets. > > Or if you’re actually a Nigerian prince and all you need is for someone to send in a check for 1000 US$ so your bank can release your THREE HUNDRED FIFTY NINE MILLION TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND AND SEVENTY FIVE DOLLARS (and fifty cents). A friend of my family was a Nigerian guy who collected classic cars (he loaned my family a classic Rolls for my sisters wedding). How he is fairing now these kind of scams are so common place I don’t know. I can’t imagine he has much luck getting sellers to return his phone calls. ---
**Author:** ![qazwart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/5fc32e/32.png) [@qazwart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/qazwart)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-anywhere-ever-been-fooled-by-a-nigerian-e-mail-scam/508517/47 "2009-09-03T15:55:49Z")
One of the things you must realize is that many of these _scammers_ work for the criminal rings who are really behind these scams. The people sending the email are merely employees who get a few buck from every scam they can pull off. Many of them do the humiliating things the 419eaters tell them to do because their boss tells them to, and these aren’t the types of bosses you say “no” to. Many know that they’re purposefully being humiliated, but their boss tells them, if the guy wants a picture of you wearing a dress with a fish on your head, you send him that picture. What the 419eaters are doing is humiliating the people who are mostly trying to earn a living. You got computer skills in a place like Nigeria, where would you work? Yes, most of the front line workers are scumbuckets themselves who know what they’re doing and mock their victims, but they’re not the criminal rings that are doing the scams themselves. It’s like the Anarchist I knew who was proud that he threw a few bricks through some Starbucks windows in Washington. I asked him if the CEO of Starbucks was going to clean that mess up or that poor slob behind the counter who is making $8/hour. And, also what happens to the poor slob who is making $8/hr when that restaurant is closed for a few days because of the broken glass. Being cruel always hurts some innocent bystander. ---
**Author:** ![SweetLucy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@SweetLucy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SweetLucy)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-anywhere-ever-been-fooled-by-a-nigerian-e-mail-scam/508517/48 "2009-09-03T16:10:51Z")
There’s some old song, I can’t quote it verbatim but here’s the gist: “the world is full of stupid people…”😃 ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-anywhere-ever-been-fooled-by-a-nigerian-e-mail-scam/508517/49 "2009-09-03T16:41:57Z")
> [@qazwart](#): > > Many of them do the humiliating things the 419eaters tell them to do because their boss tells them to, and these aren’t the types of bosses you say “no” to. Many know that they’re purposefully being humiliated, but their boss tells them, if the guy wants a picture of you wearing a dress with a fish on your head, you send him that picture. Why would the big boss order them to do such a thing? Is it likely that complying with such embarrassing demands ever resulted in getting money from the intended victim? ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-anywhere-ever-been-fooled-by-a-nigerian-e-mail-scam/508517/50 "2009-09-03T16:53:41Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > Did **choie** ever post an update of what became of Fred? I was just PMed by someone asking for a follow-up to [that thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=498879). I’ll post it now. Yes, there’s new data that indicates “Fred” is still leaping into the abyss of his own victimhood. Sigh. [Link to my follow-up post.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=11516079&postcount=50) ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-anywhere-ever-been-fooled-by-a-nigerian-e-mail-scam/508517/51 "2009-09-03T18:13:56Z")
> [@dangermom](#): > > I wasn’t that librarian, but I have seen that at my library, and my mom (also a librarian) has as well. I _am_ that librarian. Haven’t seen him in a while, come to think of it, but up to a couple months ago he was still driving to Charlotte to pick people up on their way from Nigeria. ---
**Author:** ![BKReporter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@BKReporter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BKReporter)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-anywhere-ever-been-fooled-by-a-nigerian-e-mail-scam/508517/52 "2009-09-03T18:55:16Z")
> [@Svejk\_1](#): > > You’re shit out of luck if you’re in Nigeria and you really, actually need something, such as two boxes of tennis rackets. > > Or if you’re actually a Nigerian prince and all you need is for someone to send in a check for 1000 US$ so your bank can release your THREE HUNDRED FIFTY NINE MILLION TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND AND SEVENTY FIVE DOLLARS (and fifty cents). I kind of wonder about that myself. Howabout if you’re some well-to-do businessman in Nigeria and want to get something mail order from the United States, what do you do? ---
**Author:** ![Svejk\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Svejk\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svejk_1)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-anywhere-ever-been-fooled-by-a-nigerian-e-mail-scam/508517/53 "2009-09-03T20:10:38Z")
> [@BKReporter](#): > > I kind of wonder about that myself. Howabout if you’re some well-to-do businessman in Nigeria and want to get something mail order from the United States, what do you do? I guess we’ll read all about it in [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=11516789#post11516789). ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Slant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-anywhere-ever-been-fooled-by-a-nigerian-e-mail-scam/508517/54 "2009-09-03T21:17:29Z")
> [@qazwart](#): > > SNIP > > It’s like the Anarchist I knew who was proud that he threw a few bricks through some Starbucks windows in Washington. I asked him if the CEO of Starbucks was going to clean that mess up or that poor slob behind the counter who is making $8/hour. And, also what happens to the poor slob who is making $8/hr when that restaurant is closed for a few days because of the broken glass. > > Being cruel always hurts some innocent bystander. Was this particular anarchist into anti-globalization graffiti ? If so, we’re only two degrees of separation from one another… ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-anywhere-ever-been-fooled-by-a-nigerian-e-mail-scam/508517/55 "2009-09-03T21:45:27Z")
> [@Svejk\_1](#): > > You’re shit out of luck if you’re in Nigeria and you really, actually need something, such as two boxes of tennis rackets. Yeah, this whole thing has got to be a huge drag on legitimate Nigerian business and trade. What do you do when everyone believes your entire country is a scam? > [@Svejk\_1](#): > > Or if you’re actually a Nigerian prince and all you need is for someone to send in a check for 1000 US$ so your bank can release your THREE HUNDRED FIFTY NINE MILLION TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND AND SEVENTY FIVE DOLLARS (and fifty cents). Oh, you’ll get the THREE HUNDRED FIFTY NINE MILLION TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND AND SEVENTY FIVE DOLLARS (and fifty cents). It’ll merely be in Zimbabwean dollars, and it’ll be worth about USD 0.00004. ---
**Author:** ![snailboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/97f17d/32.png) [@snailboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snailboy)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-anywhere-ever-been-fooled-by-a-nigerian-e-mail-scam/508517/56 "2009-09-03T23:34:37Z")
> [@SweetLucy](#): > > There’s some old song, I can’t quote it verbatim but here’s the gist: “the world is full of stupid people…”😃 Perhaps Banditos by the Refreshments? > [@](#): > > Everybody knows that the world is full of stupid people > So meet me at the mission at midnight, we’ll divy up there > Everybody knows that the world is full of stupid people > Well I got the pistol, so I get the Pesos > That seems fair ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-anywhere-ever-been-fooled-by-a-nigerian-e-mail-scam/508517/57 "2009-09-04T02:46:03Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Why don’t we see these same scams from countries other than Nigeria? If it is so profitable, I would think the the Russian mob would be into it in a big way. Perhaps there are some, but the overwhelming majority seem to be from Nigeria, and that seems odd. 1. Was the California gold rush profitable? For a few miners yes, but most miners didn’t make a mint. The people who _sold_ equipment to the miners though made fortunes. In Nigeria, a lot of mugus never make that big score. 2. I suspect on a per hour basis, Russians make more money. But their romance scams tend to operate at a higher level of sophistication (and reflect greater education and worldliness). 3. 419 scams are industry. Industries often persist in geographic and ethnic clusters. Nigeria is an ethnically diverse state: IIRC the Obos (some of them) are heavily into the 419 stuff. [Here’s another example from the above-board economy](http://eh.net/encyclopedia/article/patton.carpet): > [@Randall L. Patton](#): > > Paul Krugman (1993, p. 5) has written that “the most striking feature of the geography of economic activity…. is surely _concentration_” (emphasis in the original). There are few better examples of highly concentrated economic activity than the U.S. carpet industry. Today, carpet mills located within a 65-mile radius of Dalton, Georgia, produce about 85% of the carpet sold in the U.S. market. There was nothing special about Dalton, Georgia to begin with. But over time the region built up the physical infrastructure, social connections and technical skills to dominate the market. Anybody starting up a new carpet business would be able to tap into a pool of skilled labor in Dalton, and anybody with those skills wouldn’t have to necessarily relocate if they were laid off. Success begets persistence. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-anywhere-ever-been-fooled-by-a-nigerian-e-mail-scam/508517.md?page=2)