This was on Slashdot earlier for the 5 minutes Slashdot was actually up today. (503s and 500s abounded. But that’s a different storry.) This is too awesome not to comment on.
The Register is carrying a story titled 419ers morph into Murder Incorporated.
we have received a fax message from our headquaters,new york,this morning to inform you to produce a mandatory sum of US$40,000.00 {FOURTHY THOUSAND UNITED STATES DOLLARS} only,into our account given below in nigeria within ninety six hours{96},alternatively you will be SNIPPED and GUNNED down during the period of our oncoming anniversary of fifty years.
I’ve really enjoyed watching this scam mutate the past few years. From various deposed ministers to desposed oil magnates to various countries other than Nigeria. What is not funny with this is how many people and how much money people are taken for in this scam.
According to Billions lost each year due to spam.
The US Secret Service has designated the so-called ‘Nigerian scam,’ in which the sender offers to pass on windfall sums of money if a percentage payment is made in advance, as an ‘epidemic,’ defrauding people of hundreds of millions of dollars per year,” said The Age.
I never would have predicted the mutation into including death threats. Not that it wasn’t illegal before, but I think the average person knows that a death threat is clearly illegal. The older versions I could see people not fully getting as illegal.
I can see many inexperianced computer users being scammed and/or getting scared off of the internet forever, which is the real problem.
At the risk of sounding elitist, maybe those who fall prey to this particular mutation are the sort of people whose absence from the Internet would be a relief for those of us who have a clue.
I’m with Jon. A fool and his money are soon parted, and one thing the Internet improves is the efficiency of commerce.