# Sweet fucking Christ, they updated the Nigeria scam. (mild) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 12, 2005, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweet-fucking-christ-they-updated-the-nigeria-scam-mild/321236 "2005-09-12T13:36:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![LadySybil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c89c15/32.png) [@LadySybil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LadySybil)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweet-fucking-christ-they-updated-the-nigeria-scam-mild/321236/1 "2005-09-12T13:36:17Z")
I got a Nigeria bank scam email today. Now the email says that the original owner of the money, a Carlos Montoya, died in 9/11. > [@](#): > > Upon maturity, I sent a routine notification to his forwarded address but got no reply. After a month we sent a reminder, & finally we discovered from his contract employers NNPC, that late Engr. Carlos Montoya until his death Four years ago in a ghastly terrorist attack to American Airlines Flight 11, from Boston, Massachusetts, to Los Angeles, California,crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Centre (WTC) with 86 people on board. … IN THE NAME OF OG AND CUTE NEWBORN PUPPIES, WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU INPUT A NATIONAL TRAGEDY? Is it supposed to make it sound more legit? Make the mark feel sympathy for whoever “died?” It’s even worse than running the scam in the first place! For the most part, at least from what I’ve seen, people have moved on from the sick memory of what happened that day. THAT DOESN’T GIVE YOU THE FUCKING RIGHT TO CHEAPEN IT AND PUT IT IN YOUR SCAM, YOU SMACKTARDS! :mad: And that last sentence looks very messed up. What, did he crash into it daily until his death in the terrorist attacks? (Sorry, I’m a grammar nazi.) ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweet-fucking-christ-they-updated-the-nigeria-scam-mild/321236/2 "2005-09-12T13:40:43Z")
There’s lots of updates and variations out there. My favorite was one where the Nigerian dude wasn’t dead but stuck on Mir because of the last shuttle tragedy. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweet-fucking-christ-they-updated-the-nigeria-scam-mild/321236/3 "2005-09-12T13:53:11Z")
Yes, it’s to add an air of authenticity; as well as to discourage the marks from investigating (it’s a sensitive area that many people don’t want to dig into). These scammers are thieves and quite probably violent thugs too, possibly even murderers; you can’t really expect a lot of moral fibre. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweet-fucking-christ-they-updated-the-nigeria-scam-mild/321236/4 "2005-09-12T14:02:43Z")
But you can laugh at the scammers, courtesy of the [Ebola Monkey Man](http://www.ebolamonkeyman.com/). He scams the scammers, stringing them along and conning them into sending him photos of themselves, often holding signs that say things like “Father Will U Tuchme”. I especially love the photo of the one squatting under an umbrella holding a sign that says, “It’s Raining Men”. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweet-fucking-christ-they-updated-the-nigeria-scam-mild/321236/5 "2005-09-12T14:24:07Z")
I’ve received many 419-type scams that make mention of national tragedies, e.g. the civil war in Ivory Coast or Sierra Leone. I don’t see how injecting a US national tragedy is any worse. And the civil war in Sierra Leone caused many more deaths than the attacks of 11 September 2001. ---
**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 12, 2005, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweet-fucking-christ-they-updated-the-nigeria-scam-mild/321236/6 "2005-09-12T14:33:13Z")
I just got a new one recently where they inserted my last name into their form letter. So now it reads- “Dear. Mr. Hampshire, We have not met, but we are related. My name is Mr. Robert Hampshire” Hey! The guys got my same last name! This must be legit!! ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweet-fucking-christ-they-updated-the-nigeria-scam-mild/321236/7 "2005-09-12T14:49:00Z")
Here’s [an article](http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAFR510221998) on the situation in Sierra Leone as it was in 1998. > [@](#): > > During 1998 [… s]everal thousand unarmed civilians, including many women and children, have been deliberately and arbitrarily killed and mutilated by forces of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) and the armed opposition Revolutionary Front (RUF) since February 1998. Young women were raped, people of any age (including infants) had their arms chopped off with machetes, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweet-fucking-christ-they-updated-the-nigeria-scam-mild/321236/8 "2005-09-12T14:49:49Z")
I can hardly wait for the newest version where the person who died was in New Orleans. ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweet-fucking-christ-they-updated-the-nigeria-scam-mild/321236/9 "2005-09-12T14:50:25Z")
> [@LadySybil](#): > > THAT DOESN’T GIVE YOU THE FUCKING RIGHT TO CHEAPEN IT AND PUT IT IN YOUR SCAM, YOU SMACKTARDS! :mad: I’m guessing christians are thinking the same about your thread title. :rolleyes: Spammers and scammers will use whatever gets your attention. ---
**Author:** ![BMax](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bmax/32/4267_2.png) [@BMax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMax)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweet-fucking-christ-they-updated-the-nigeria-scam-mild/321236/10 "2005-09-12T22:53:56Z")
> [@Futile Gesture](#): > > I’m guessing christians are thinking the same about your thread title. :rolleyes: > > Spammers and scammers will use whatever gets your attention. But that Christ, he’s one sweet…Oh, nevermind. ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweet-fucking-christ-they-updated-the-nigeria-scam-mild/321236/11 "2005-09-12T23:14:17Z")
> [@Max Torque](#): > > [Ebola Monkey Man](http://www.ebolamonkeyman.com/) Titties on that page… NSFW ---
**Author:** ![LadySybil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c89c15/32.png) [@LadySybil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LadySybil)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweet-fucking-christ-they-updated-the-nigeria-scam-mild/321236/12 "2005-09-12T23:50:28Z")
**Arnold** , I’ve only gotten the straight 419. This was the first one I’d been sent that mentioned a tragedy. Usually I’d get that the guy had a sudden heart attack or died in a car crash or something. I’m sorry if I offended you. Putting ANY tragedy into a scam, no matter what country the tragedy affects, is sick, twisted and shouldn’t work as well as it seems to. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweet-fucking-christ-they-updated-the-nigeria-scam-mild/321236/13 "2005-09-12T23:59:43Z")
> [@LadySybil](#): > > I’m sorry if I offended you. Putting ANY tragedy into a scam, no matter what country the tragedy affects, is sick, twisted and **shouldn’t work as well as it seems to**. (My bolding) Apart from one moron here in Australia who apparently fell for the trick, is there anyone, anywhere in this big wide world who does not know about the infamous Nigerians? In other words, I don’t think the scam really works all that well. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2005, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweet-fucking-christ-they-updated-the-nigeria-scam-mild/321236/14 "2005-09-13T06:47:11Z")
> [@Max Torque](#): > > But you can laugh at the scammers, courtesy of the [Ebola Monkey Man](http://www.ebolamonkeyman.com/). He scams the scammers, stringing them along and conning them into sending him photos of themselves, often holding signs that say things like “Father Will U Tuchme”. I especially love the photo of the one squatting under an umbrella holding a sign that says, “It’s Raining Men”. I used to string them along, too, pretending that I sympathized with them and had a lot of money to throw away, but launching into rambling non-sequitors and asking completely irrelevant questions, pretending to be psychotic, giving them bad info–but never as much as these guys. It’s amazing how much nonsense scammers will ignore in their persistence. I don’t know if it’s their desparation when someone finally bites, or that they actually get a good number of really naive people. In any case, when you get an anonymous email from someone in Africa claiming to be from a rich family and offering to just give you hundreds of thousands of dollars for creating a bank account, I don’t know anyone who would believe it, especially when they start asking you to send moneygrams. I’ve got to wonder how much they actually make from this. Ebola Monkey Man’s obsession goes to such great lengths, I’m somtimes tempted to think maybe he got burned by a 419 once, but he’s clearly too smart for that. And what’s the deal with pretending to think that all the scammers are Jewish? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2005, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweet-fucking-christ-they-updated-the-nigeria-scam-mild/321236/15 "2005-09-13T07:04:14Z")
These people have no decency, and I don’t know why you would ever imagine they would. But it’s still gross. ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2005, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweet-fucking-christ-they-updated-the-nigeria-scam-mild/321236/16 "2005-09-13T13:11:23Z")
> [@](#): > > …late Engr. Carlos Montoya… “Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father, prepare to die.” ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2005, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweet-fucking-christ-they-updated-the-nigeria-scam-mild/321236/17 "2005-09-13T13:58:16Z")
LadySybil, I wasn’t offended. I do sometimes get the impression that catastrophes in Africa don’t seem to register on the world consciousness as much as those that happen in other places. I haven’t taken the time to read a 419 e-mail carefully for a while now, but I remember a couple of years ago that when I did read them, I estimated that about half mentioned some person in West AFrica whose family member died in the civil war or was a refugee from a civil war or had the risk of being imprisoned by some dictator. Maybe the tenor of those e-mails have changed now. ---
**Author:** ![slaphead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@slaphead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slaphead)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2005, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweet-fucking-christ-they-updated-the-nigeria-scam-mild/321236/18 "2005-09-13T14:05:46Z")
> [@Max Torque](#): > > But you can laugh at the scammers, courtesy of the [Ebola Monkey Man](http://www.ebolamonkeyman.com/). He scams the scammers, stringing them along and conning them into sending him photos of themselves, often holding signs that say things like “Father Will U Tuchme”. I especially love the photo of the one squatting under an umbrella holding a sign that says, “It’s Raining Men”. Sounds a bit like the gang at [419 Eater](http://www.419eater.com/) - the Hall of Shame and Trophy Room are very good for a chuckle… And no, there is nothing so low that spammers and scammers will not stoop to it. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2005, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweet-fucking-christ-they-updated-the-nigeria-scam-mild/321236/19 "2005-09-13T14:20:28Z")
> [@Arnold Winkelried](#): > > I do sometimes get the impression that catastrophes in Africa don’t seem to register on the world consciousness as much as those that happen in other places. (putting my arm over Arnold’s shoulder and speaking as if I assume he’ll understand and agree once I point out what I think is obvious) I know they have their problems over there but you have to understand that they aren’t, you know, _like us._ You know how it is. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2005, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweet-fucking-christ-they-updated-the-nigeria-scam-mild/321236/20 "2005-09-13T16:04:33Z")
I know what you mean dropzone. I only wish that the the US government’s policy position, so keen on [del]eliminating weapons of mass destruction[/del] [del]getting rid of Al-Qaeda and Osama Bin-Laden[/del] [del]guaranteeing oil reserves[/del] freeing the poor Iraqi people from the despotism of a tyrant, would be to spend a tenth of what is going towards Iraq right now, for the improvement of human rights and health conditions in Africa. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweet-fucking-christ-they-updated-the-nigeria-scam-mild/321236.md?page=2)