# Nigerian scam evolving? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 20, 2002, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nigerian-scam-evolving/133033 "2002-10-20T01:16:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2002, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nigerian-scam-evolving/133033/1 "2002-10-20T01:16:15Z")
I believe this is just another iteration of the Nigeriam scam. What do y’all think? > [@](#): > > WERKEN BIJ DE LOTTO, > 41132, NL-1007 DB AMSTERDAM, > THE NETHERLANDS. > > FROM: THE DESK OF THE DIRECTOR PROMOTIONS, > INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS/PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT, > REF: WBL/67-B773524441 > > ATTN: > > ``` > AWARD NOTIFICATION; FINAL NOTICE > > ``` > > We are pleased to inform you of the announcement > today, 19TH OCTOBER. 2002, of winners of the WERKEN > BIJ DE LOTTO/ INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS held on 19TH > MAY 2002. > > You / your company, attached to ticket number > 013-2316-2002-477, with serial number A025-09 drew > the lucky numbers 37-13-34-85-56-42, and > consequently won in category C. > > You have therefore been approved for a lump sum pay > out of US$1,500,000.00 in cash credited to file REF > NO. REF: WBL/67-B773524441. This is from total > prize > money of US$22,500,000.00 shared among the fifteen > international winners in the category C. All > participants were selected through a computer > ballot > system drawn from 30,000 names from Australia, New > Zealand, America, Asia, Europe,USA and North > America > as part our > International Promotions Program, which is > conducted > annually. > > CONGRATULATIONS! > > Your fund is now deposited with a Finance and > Security House and insured in your name. Due to the > mix up of some numbers and names, we ask that you > keep this award strictly from public notice until > your claim has been processed and your money > remitted to your account. This is part of our > security protocol to avoid double claiming or > unscrupulous acts by participants of this program. > > We hope with a part of you prize, you will > participate in our end of year high stakes US$1.3 > billion International lotto. > > To begin your claim, please contact your claims > officer immediately: > > JANSEN DAVIS > FOREIGN SERVICE MANAGER, > EUROLITE BV, > PHONE:31-619676795 > TEL/FAX: 31 205241590 > FAX: 31 205248221 > [EMAIL:eurolitebv2@theocffice.net](mailto:EMAIL:eurolitebv2@theocffice.net) > > For due processing and remittance of your prize > money to a designated account of your choice. > Remember, you must contact your claims officer not > later than OCTOBER 27th, 2002. After this date, all > funds will be returned as unclaimed. All > correspondences to Mr. Jansen Davis,either by fax > or > email, should have this email sent along with it > and > also, your email address to which this email is > sent, should be clearly and boldly written in your > response. > > NOTE: In order to avoid unnecessary delays and > complications, please remember to quote your > reference number in every one of your > correspondences with your officer. Furthermore, > should there be any change of your address, do > inform your claims officer as soon as possible. > > Congratulations again from all our staff and thank > you for being part of our promotions program. > > Sincerely, > > THE DIRECTOR PROMOTIONS, > WERKEN BIJ DE LOTTO. > [www.werken-bij-delotto.net](http://www.werken-bij-delotto.net) > > N.B. Any breach of confidentiality on the part of > the winners will result to disqualification. Please > do not reply this mail. And looking at the email header, I have to ask: is “ng” the WWW country code for Nigeria? ---
**Author:** ![Who\_me\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/958977/32.png) [@Who\_me\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Who_me_1)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2002, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nigerian-scam-evolving/133033/2 "2002-10-20T01:29:32Z")
Geeze!!They seem to pick the same numbers an awful lot. here are two more, notifications where they picked the same ones… [http://citadelle.intrinsec.com/mailing/current/HTML/ml\_syslogng/0670.html](http://citadelle.intrinsec.com/mailing/current/HTML/ml_syslogng/0670.html) [http://www.ee.ethz.ch/~slist/gedafe/msg00194.html](http://www.ee.ethz.ch/~slist/gedafe/msg00194.html) ---
**Author:** ![Who\_me\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/958977/32.png) [@Who\_me\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Who_me_1)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2002, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nigerian-scam-evolving/133033/3 "2002-10-20T01:31:33Z")
And finally, a site warning of the scam… [http://www.crimes-of-persuasion.com/Nigerian/lotteries.htm](http://www.crimes-of-persuasion.com/Nigerian/lotteries.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Neidhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Neidhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neidhart)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2002, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nigerian-scam-evolving/133033/4 "2002-10-20T02:07:38Z")
Very sneaky, they’re getting. Using Dutch names to disguise the fact they’re coming from Africa. ---
**Author:** ![Gozu\_Tashoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7993a0/32.png) [@Gozu\_Tashoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gozu_Tashoya)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2002, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nigerian-scam-evolving/133033/5 "2002-10-20T07:10:43Z")
Huh. Never got this one, but I got one that was more or less exactly the same as the Nigerian scam that supposedly came from a Taiwanese businessman. ---
**Author:** ![Iguana\_Boy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@Iguana\_Boy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iguana_Boy)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2002, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nigerian-scam-evolving/133033/6 "2002-10-20T16:46:56Z")
But the best version is [here](http://www.davidchess.com/words/log.20021004.html#20021009)! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nigerian-scam-evolving/133033/7 "2002-10-21T06:56:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ringo \* > \*\*And looking at the email header, I have to ask: is “ng” the WWW country code for Nigeria? \*\* Sure is: [http://ftp.ics.uci.edu/pub/websoft/wwwstat/country-codes.txt](http://ftp.ics.uci.edu/pub/websoft/wwwstat/country-codes.txt) ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nigerian-scam-evolving/133033/8 "2002-10-21T19:23:24Z")
[You’re not alone, Ringo, Bayby.](http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22WERKEN+bij+de+lotto%22+013-2316-2002-477) Evidently they recycle winning lotto numbers:) ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nigerian-scam-evolving/133033/9 "2002-10-21T19:38:08Z")
I am getting a Nigerian scam email about 2-3 times a week. Each time, it’s under a different name with a slightly different body. Annoying as all hell. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2002, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nigerian-scam-evolving/133033/10 "2002-10-22T14:35:18Z")
I suppose you can call them & what does it cost? $20 a minute? I think that’s how they make a profit. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2002, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nigerian-scam-evolving/133033/11 "2002-10-22T14:51:28Z")
Interestingly, _ **Slate** _ has a comprehensive article on the Nigerian scams this morning. Look [here](http://slate.msn.com//?id=2072851). ---
**Author:** ![PhilAlex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/839c29/32.png) [@PhilAlex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhilAlex)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2002, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nigerian-scam-evolving/133033/12 "2002-10-23T00:49:11Z")
[http://www.geocities.com/steerp1ke/](http://www.geocities.com/steerp1ke/) This guy strings them along. The last one, the LOVECRAFTIAN one is worth the price of admission. Funniest thing I’ve read all year! But all are funny. Warning: you’ll need some background HP Lovecraft knowledge. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2002, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nigerian-scam-evolving/133033/13 "2002-10-26T20:04:46Z")
I just got one at a Yahoo email address I use. It’s from “Dr. Daniel Usman a senior director with the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation in the Federal Republic of Nigeria”. Should I string him along? Maybe we could make it a group effort and see how much of his time we can waste. We could post the emails here. What do you think? Do the moderators have a problem with this idea? Dave ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2002, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nigerian-scam-evolving/133033/14 "2002-10-26T20:43:04Z")
While stringing them along has some entertaiment appeal, there are some serious bad boys behind these, and I think you’re better off just leaving it alone. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2002, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nigerian-scam-evolving/133033/15 "2002-10-27T20:13:34Z")
From _The Sydney Morning Herald_’s [Column 8](http://www.smh.com.au/column8/index.html) this morning: > [@](#): > > …James White, of Eden Park, Victoria, claims the first Nigerian letter from Taiwan. Except that it purports to come from the desk of “Mr Huan To, Chinatrust Commercial Bank, Nan Kan Branch, Taiwan” (a bank that really exists), it has all the Nigerian trademarks - a deposit of $US30million by “a British oil consultant Smith Lawrence”, who has since died in a car accident, with no relatives. If Mr White can pose as his relative to get the money, he can have 10 per cent. Their gall is never ending. ---
**Author:** ![Netbrian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71e660/32.png) [@Netbrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Netbrian)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2002, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nigerian-scam-evolving/133033/16 "2002-10-28T07:22:25Z")
I have several times tried to “play” with a Nigerian scam artist for sheer entertainment value. Each time, my e-mail bounced. How on EARTH am I supposed to give him money if I can’t contact him?! ---
**Author:** ![istara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e79b87/32.png) [@istara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/istara)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2002, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nigerian-scam-evolving/133033/17 "2002-10-28T08:34:49Z")
I have sent back streams of obscenities when the letters manage to get into my Hotmail account, because it’s so spammed up I don’t use it any more, I just maintain it. Telling someone to “fk off and die you money-scamming fking nigerian (or subsitute whatever country it’s purportedly come from) piece of shit I hope you burn in hell” is a lovely, lovey feeling. As some of these letters depend on a reply, at least some of the emails have working reply-to addresses. SOMEONE must be getting my obscenities back. That makes me feel soooo good. What really sickens me is I have heard of people who have been taken in by these scams and lost their life-savings. Yeah sure, by today’s standards they seem amazingly stupid and naive. But there are still people only just getting started with email who have no clue about spam. I still have quite intelligent, tech-savvy associates sending me the “Microsoft and AOL will pay you $5000” one (dream fking ON! They are TAKING your money, not the other way round!) **davidm** - I am happy to string your guy along. Just let me know what you want! You never know, we may even end up helping the authorities nail some of these people. ---
**Author:** ![GrizzRich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7ba0ec/32.png) [@GrizzRich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrizzRich)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2002, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nigerian-scam-evolving/133033/18 "2002-10-28T16:24:54Z")
As for the OP… If it walks like a duck, swims like a duck, quacks like a duck… then… well, you get the idea. As for stringing along other Nigerian scammers? So long as you’re comfortable that they cannot identify you from your email and you do not get involved in person, I say GO FOR IT! I strung one along for three months and (get this) SEVENTY ONE emails! I think that they finally got tired of me because they haven’t replied in the last several weeks to my queries. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2002, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nigerian-scam-evolving/133033/19 "2002-11-01T03:31:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by istara \* > \*\ ***davidm** - I am happy to string your guy along. Just let me know what you want! You never know, we may even end up helping the authorities nail some of these people. \*\* I think I’ll start by getting a new email at Yahoo or Hotmail and replying from there. Any suggestions for a good name and persona? We need a name that’s an obvious joke to an American but that will sail right over a Nigerian’s head. Maybe I could be a well off but naive immigrant with poor english skills. Everyone is welcome to make suggestions! ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2002, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nigerian-scam-evolving/133033/20 "2002-11-01T05:29:11Z")
Has anyone considered getting a e-mail box just for spam, waiting until you get about 10 or 15 Nigerian letters, then mass-mailing the letters back to all the spammers? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nigerian-scam-evolving/133033.md?page=2)