# Y'know, this seems fishy... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 18, 2009, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yknow-this-seems-fishy/506830 "2009-08-18T10:05:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Never\_Say\_Dice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ee59a6/32.png) [@Never\_Say\_Dice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Never_Say_Dice)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yknow-this-seems-fishy/506830/21 "2009-08-19T22:50:42Z")
Nigeria is chosen because it has no extradition treaty with us. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yknow-this-seems-fishy/506830/22 "2009-08-20T01:57:21Z")
I used to work with this very cool guy from Ghana named Harris. One day, a west African guy moved in two doors down. So I told Harris that I had a new African neighbor, but wasn’t sure where he was from. Harris asked me his name. I told him, and he said, “Ah. Nigeria.” Then he fixed me with his patented wise African chieftan look and said “Stay away from him. He is a crook.” I said “How would you know that? You don’t even know him!” Harris said to me gravely, “If he is from Nigeria, then he is a crook.” I feel sorry for any Nigerians out there who aren’t crooks. It must suck to say you’re from Nigeria and have everybody clutch their pocketbooks and run away. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yknow-this-seems-fishy/506830/23 "2009-08-20T21:03:32Z")
Not that it’s needed in this instance, but one way to scam-check is to just Google key phrases from the ad to see how many other cities it appears in with different addresses. Not just real estate, any product/service for cash. Afterthought… Just when did ‘Google’ make the transistion to verb status? ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yknow-this-seems-fishy/506830/24 "2009-08-20T21:09:34Z")
> [@Projammer](#): > > Afterthought.. Just when did ‘Google’ make the transistion to verb status? Ages ago, grandpa. ---
**Author:** ![lunar\_elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/35a633/32.png) [@lunar\_elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lunar_elf)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yknow-this-seems-fishy/506830/25 "2009-08-20T21:15:12Z")
Hm…fishy Kinda looks like the same verbiage as this [site](http://parishousingscamwatch.wordpress.com/contact-paris-housing-scam-watch/). ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yknow-this-seems-fishy/506830/26 "2009-08-20T21:18:30Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > Yep. Stay far, far away from anything associated with Nigeria. Period. Heh, or at least be wary of unsolicited e-mails informing you of beautiful women who require money be sent to Nigeria for some reason. Also, steer clear of Craig’s List landlords who are away in Nigeria on missionary duty, who put up ads that are rife with random capitalizations and spelling errors, advertising eyebrowraisingly (this is a word) priced living quarters. ---
**Author:** ![Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f08c70/32.png) [@Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crowbar_of_Irony_3)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2009, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yknow-this-seems-fishy/506830/27 "2009-08-21T09:06:34Z")
If this is a movie, chances are that the house is haunted. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2009, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yknow-this-seems-fishy/506830/28 "2009-08-21T15:47:55Z")
> [@Green\_Bean](#): > > I feel sorry for any Nigerians out there who aren’t crooks. It must suck to say you’re from Nigeria and have everybody clutch their pocketbooks and run away. I was just saying this to someone. The worst part is, if your neighbor is secretly wealthy and he dies and leaves you all his money in his will, will you have the guts to fill out the paperwork to receive it? ---
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2009, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yknow-this-seems-fishy/506830/29 "2009-08-22T10:38:55Z")
I saw an ad with **that exact same wording** on the Craigslist in Oakland, CA. I looked up the address; the property was listed as belonging to someone else completely. They want people to send them a deposit and then they scram. You’d think they could at least pay for P.O. boxes in, say, Kenya, to not be _quite_ so obvious. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2009, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yknow-this-seems-fishy/506830/30 "2009-08-22T10:54:48Z")
> [@Green\_Bean](#): > > “If he is from Nigeria, then he is a crook.” You’d think with all of those missionaries in Nigeria showing people the light that these scams would start to thin out… Sorry, that was snarky of me, wasn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2009, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yknow-this-seems-fishy/506830/31 "2009-08-22T12:23:23Z")
I got a _very_ similar email back from an enquiry I made about a year ago about an ad on Craigslist for an apartment. I do not remember whether it was Nigeria, but I clearly remember the part about the landlord being away as a missionary somewhere. The rent quoted was cheap, but not ludicrously so, and there was a phonograph showing what appeared to be a very luxuriously furnished (over furnished actually) room. I had seen some warnings about Craigslist scams, and I took it to be a fairly obvious example. I seem to remember one of the warnings was along the lines of “If the landlord won’t meet you in person, it’s a scam.” ---
**Author:** ![Bootis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e8c25b/32.png) [@Bootis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootis)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2009, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yknow-this-seems-fishy/506830/32 "2009-08-24T00:52:11Z")
I think the one most common phrase I’ve seen in scam email is “awaiting your urgent reply” If I ever receive an email response with that phrase, no chance I’ll ever bother even thinking about it for 1 more second ---
**Author:** ![smee\_goan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f07891/32.png) [@smee\_goan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smee_goan)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yknow-this-seems-fishy/506830/33 "2009-08-25T23:44:38Z")
Craigslist ad I placed provided me with an apartment, that had a common kitchen- that was my responsibility. Landlord’s criminal behavior was limited (?) to selling illegal mounted game fish in the state of Ohio. Cat piss in BR, roaches, I lasted 2 months. and Ima tough sob… landlord had a saying > [@](#): > > Everyone thinks I’m shitting $20.00 bills. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yknow-this-seems-fishy/506830/34 "2009-08-26T16:35:40Z")
> [@Green\_Bean](#): > > I feel sorry for any Nigerians out there who aren’t crooks. It must suck to say you’re from Nigeria and have everybody clutch their pocketbooks and run away. We’ve got a friend from Nigeria, married to a lady from Turkey, and although they have since moved to Germany they met and got married here in Japan. It took them absolutely forever to get the paperwork accepted by the government here. ---
**Author:** ![Ponderoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponderoid/32/19221_2.png) [@Ponderoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponderoid)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2009, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yknow-this-seems-fishy/506830/35 "2009-08-28T04:36:50Z")
> [@Cat\_Fight](#): > > Why oh why do they always overreach? I’ve got a theory about that, and you sort of stated it yourself: > [@](#): > > Just pausing and recalling ‘If it’s too good to be true…’ would kill 99 percent of these deals. My theory is, they know precisely what they’re doing, and they know full well their initial come-on is way over-the-top. But they do it anyway to avoid wasting their time attempting to string along smarter folks who will eventually figure out something’s wrong and back out of the deal. The idjits who respond to those initial too-good-to-be-true spams are more likely to be marks who can be fleeced. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yknow-this-seems-fishy/506830.md?page=1)