# Well, that's different... (419 scam) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 9, 2019, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-thats-different-419-scam/843210 "2019-11-09T17:40:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2019, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-thats-different-419-scam/843210/1 "2019-11-09T17:40:09Z")
Just found this in my spam folder: > [@](#): > > Hello, > > My client had approached me with a mandate to seek for an individual or > Corporate entity, that can help him channel/invest funds into profitable > investments, where these funds could exist outside his name. > > Should this be of interest to you, kindly respond with your CV and/or > personal profile so we can discuss further. > Regards, > > Frederick Chinamasa > > 90535 Let me guess, your “client” is a Nigerian prince. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2019, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-thats-different-419-scam/843210/2 "2019-11-11T16:42:57Z")
There was a period of about two weeks in my life, roughly three months ago, where I couldn’t get enough of the YouTube subgenre of scambaiting videos. People would troll scammers on the phone, or share their exploits toying with them via email. However, after a while all the rancor and anger got to be too much and I stopped watching them. ---
**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:** [November 11, 2019, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-thats-different-419-scam/843210/3 "2019-11-11T20:15:47Z")
How is it “different”? It’s been a long time since I’ve received a scam letter going through the whole song and dance about a Nigerian prince or whatnot. Now they tend to be minimalist, just saying they want to offer me a “partnership opportunity” or they a have a “special message.” I think I received my first “Nigerian letter” by fax back in the early 1990s. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2019, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-thats-different-419-scam/843210/4 "2019-11-11T21:33:55Z")
Even if this wasn’t a scam and was actually a real opportunity, “where these funds could exist outside his name.”, would still mean, ‘we’re going to make a ton of money and leave you owing more than you have in taxes, are you in?’. > [@Colibri](#): > > I think I received my first “Nigerian letter” by fax back in the early 1990s. I did too. That first one I got, I have to admit, I thought it was real. Granted I was probably 15 or 16 years old and someone told me it was fake a few seconds after I started reading it. I remember not being 100% convinced it was fake until I noticed the frequency with which they arrived (by fax). ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2019, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-thats-different-419-scam/843210/5 "2019-11-11T23:08:38Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > How is it “different”? > > It’s been a long time since I’ve received a scam letter going through the whole song and dance about a Nigerian prince or whatnot. Now they tend to be minimalist, just saying they want to offer me a “partnership opportunity” or they a have a “special message.” > > I think I received my first “Nigerian letter” by fax back in the early 1990s. Does anyone remember the American reporter who got Ebola while reporting on the 2014 outbreak, and was medevaced to the U.S. and recovered? I follow his Twitter feed, and in the meantime, he spent some time in Nigeria, mainly to report on their music scene. (A much lighter topic, for sure.) Anyway, a 419 scammer offered him US$10,000 a month, cash, to appear on Skype with him because people are much more likely to fall for it if they see a white person with an American or Canadian accent. He declined. ---
**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:** [November 12, 2019, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-thats-different-419-scam/843210/6 "2019-11-12T02:04:36Z")
I’ve even gotten a 419 scam email in Esperanto! ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2019, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-thats-different-419-scam/843210/7 "2019-11-12T03:35:31Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > I’ve even gotten a 419 scam email in Esperanto! One wonders if anyone has translated that message into Pig Latin, or even Klingon. ---
**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:** [November 12, 2019, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-thats-different-419-scam/843210/8 "2019-11-12T03:43:07Z")
I get them in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Chinese, but nothing more exotic than that. And I’ve received them from (purportedly) dozens of different countries. My favorite one was from Yasser Arafat’s widow just after he died.🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2019, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-thats-different-419-scam/843210/9 "2019-11-12T16:17:36Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > How is it “different”? First time I’ve seen one not claiming to represent a specific person, if only by a title. Nothing but a generic “client” here. ---
**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:** [November 12, 2019, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-thats-different-419-scam/843210/10 "2019-11-12T16:43:13Z")
If anyone is interested in passing these 419 emails on to me, so I can bait them, they would be most gratefully received - just drop me a PM. (In case you don’t know, I have a series of YouTube videos detailing my scambaiting fun - for example: [Scam Bites - Meltdown In 25 Steps! - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjBZQT6nvw4) ) ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2019, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-thats-different-419-scam/843210/11 "2019-11-12T17:28:20Z")
PM sent. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2019, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-thats-different-419-scam/843210/12 "2019-11-12T17:45:31Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > If anyone is interested in passing these 419 emails on to me, so I can bait them, they would be most gratefully received - just drop me a PM. > > (In case you don’t know, I have a series of YouTube videos detailing my scambaiting fun - for example: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjBZQT6nvw4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjBZQT6nvw4) ) You’re **Atomic Shrimp**!!! STFU, I love your videos!!! ---
**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:** [November 13, 2019, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-thats-different-419-scam/843210/13 "2019-11-13T08:46:12Z")
That be me! Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2019, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-thats-different-419-scam/843210/14 "2019-11-13T10:05:42Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > You’re **Atomic Shrimp**!!! STFU, I love your videos!!! If he STFUs you don’t get no more videos, so no, he’s not to STFU! ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2019, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-thats-different-419-scam/843210/15 "2019-11-13T13:08:13Z")
Well technically he could still make _videos_…