I forgot something in my OP. I have been contacted by somebody trying the Nigerian scam before. Ten minutes or so thoroughly convinced me that it was a man pretending to be a woman for the purposes of getting my money. I’ve chatted with Godstime for hours and still get no scam vibe from him.
I’m actually chatting with him right now. I’d like to cut and paste the whole thing. But, it copies right but will only paste in the message box not notepad or word.
ETA He greeted me with “Hello my great Godfather.” if he is a scammer he has a weird and original approach.
ETA And I am not planning to give him money (which I don’t have anyway) or contact information regardless of how genuine I believe him to be.
A friend of mine here, a fellow American, used to be a personal assistant to a rather wealthy Chinese-Thai businessman. He was ideal for the job, because he’s the manager type, and the businessman was constantly travelling around the world and so needed someone with fluent English and who was travel-savvy enough to smooth the way for him. He did NOT want to be bothered with the mundane chores of travelling, like waiting in line to pick up a car, etc.
This friend also attended various functions in Bangkok in the businessman’s stead when he was unavailable. At one occasion, my friend was seated next to a “top police official.” He said they got to talking about Nigerian scammers, and the official told my friend flat out that they tried to keep tabs on every African arriving – he meant black Africans; I doubt Egyptians and other North Africans receive such scrutiny – because they were all “up to no good.” He claimed there was no such thing as a legitimate African businessman. This may sound harsh to Westerners, but it is the prevailing attitude here.
The same friend told me back in the days before the Internet that his boss received lots of Nigerian scam letters in the regualr mail, but oddly the stamps were never cancelled. He even showed me one; sure enough, no cancellation mark. It was suspected that the mailman was paid to deposit the letters in certain mailboxes.
Well, I imagine if the deal were genuine (about which I have already said enough), it could be arranged that DocCathode would meet him at the arrivals gate of a certain airport at a certain time…
So, to many that have posted: Nigerian=scammer. Is this the same as Arab=terrorist?
It may well be a scam but I’m sure that the crazies in Nigeria would be offended at being considered scammers. (tongue in cheek smilie goes here)
I’m not from Nigeria but aren’t there thousands and thousands of honest Nigerian people?
I’d use caution in dealing with a stranger online no matter where he’s from. Has no one here “won” the Mercedes Benz sweepstakes, the Irish Lottery, the UK lottery or any of the other scams that have been annoying us all for years?
Of course not, it’s Nigerian, complete stranger, contacting you out of the blue, declaring his Christian love for you and wanting to enter into a binding relationship that equals scammer.
If it helps, think of it as equivalent to: Arab, sweating and nervous, wearing a bulky, misshapen jacket with a wire hanging out, terminating in a push button held tightly in his hand, equals terrorist.
I read a good news article once in the International Herald-Tribune about an honest Nigerian banker. I think he was based in the Nigerian Embassy in Prague, and his job was to rustle up investment in Nigeria. It was sad and funny at the same time, his story of businessmen’s reactions all over Europe when they learned he was a Nigerian businessman. He didn’t have much luck. Said it was extremely frustrating. But he was strictly on the level.