Wednesday, October 01, 2003
The Spanish Prisoner (Nigerian Style)
I just got one of those Nigerian fortune emails. You know the one- there's a fortune that's been held up in the country and a small investment by you can get it out of the country, at which time you'll receive a share. It's basically the Spanish Prisoner scam except without the girl.
The interesting thing about this email is that instead of the money being held up in Nigeria, it's in Zimbabwe, and has been caused by the land grabs of Robert Mugave. Whoever is perpetuating this scam is smart- they take advantage of current events to make their case sound more compelling. But the heart is the same- to play on my vanity ("I have been informed that you are a trustworthy person") and greed ("I must let you know that this business is 100% risk Free").
In this version, I'd get a free trip to Holland out of it, too.
The interesting thing about this email is that instead of the money being held up in Nigeria, it's in Zimbabwe, and has been caused by the land grabs of Robert Mugave. Whoever is perpetuating this scam is smart- they take advantage of current events to make their case sound more compelling. But the heart is the same- to play on my vanity ("I have been informed that you are a trustworthy person") and greed ("I must let you know that this business is 100% risk Free").
In this version, I'd get a free trip to Holland out of it, too.
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