I’ve gotten two 419 Scam emails just this morning. One was from the traditional Nigeria, while the other was from Senegal. The first, the Senegalese one, had some of the worst spelling I’ve ever seen. This asshat tells me he needs me to help launder 25 million dollars. Yeah, right. Here’s a sample (yes, it was in all caps, as most of them are):

                                 STRICTLY CONFIDENCIAL DEAR SIR,  I KNOW THIS MAIL WILL COME TO YOU AS A SUPRISE CONSIDERING THE FACT THAT WE HAVE NOT KNOWN EACH OTHER NEITHER WE HAD ANY FORMAL DISCUSSION BEFORE.         HOWEVER, I GOT YOUR ADDRESS COURTESY OF A BUSINESS JOURNAL OF TRADE TRUST, INCOME  STOCK,PROPERTIES INVESTMENT PROMOTION COUNCIL  THROUGH SOME TOP AFRICAN TRADE/INVESTMENTS DELEGATE TO YOUR COUNTRY AND FUTHER SEARCH THROUGH YOUR COUNTRY WED-SIT FROM THE INTERNET .THOUGH AFTER READING THROUGH YOUR ADVERT AND YOUR COMPANY PROFILE, IT INTERESTED ME MUCH TO CONTACT YOU FOR LONGTERM BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP AND INVESTMENT ASSISTANCE IN YOUR COMPANY.  MY NAME IS  JONNY R GUEI, THE SON OF FORMER MILITRY LEADER AND THE HEAD OF STATE OF REPUBLIC OF COTE D"IVORE  LATE GEN.ROBERT GUEI. MY FATHER ALONGSIDE WITH MY MOTHER AND MOST OF MY FAMILY MEMBERS WERE KILLED BY THE REBELS ON THE  19TH SEPT,2002. DURING A COUP ATTEMPT. THE FULL STORY IS BELOW:  1)http://allafrica.com/stories/200209200598.html  2)http://allafrica.com/stories/200209200001.html  3)http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/2269238.stm  4 http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/africa/09/22/ivorycoast/index.html     AFTER THE TRAGIC INCIDENT I AND MY REMAINING FAMILY MEMBERS RAN TO DAKAR-SENEGAL FOR SAFETY DUE TO THE ONGOING POLITICAL CRISIS. WHEN I WAS GOING THROUGH MY FATHER PRIVATE BOX I DISCOVER THAT LAST YEAR MY LATE  FATHER OF BLESSED MEMORY DEPOSITED THE SUM OF$25,000,000,00 US DOLLARS.(TWENTY FIVE MILLION UNITED STATES DOLLARS) WITH ONE  OF THE BANK  HERE IN DAKAR, SENEGAL. HE DECLARED THAT THE FUND BELONGS TO A FOREIGNER  WHO DID CONTRACT WITH THE GOVERNMENT AS A RESULT OF HIS POST IN THE GOVERNMENT.  

I’ve gotten several of these now where they will say that their husband/father/sugar-daddy was assassinated as part of a failed coup, and they will include links to actual CNN or BBC news stories of actual Nigerians being assassinated, to lend credence to their claims. It’s a nice touch, but of course I wasn’t fooled.

I just found this story about a man who was arrested in Canada for scamming people out of 6 million dollars using this method. It amazes me that people are still falling for this after so many years and so much publicity, but they are. I guess greed can really blind people. The news story has a quote from Mark Simchison, the detective in the case where he says that “I truly feel sorry for the victims. They’ve lost everything. There is no further down to go. They’re in the gutter.” You know what? I don’t feel sorry for them. They were driven by greed and the prospect of a pot full of easy cash. They should have known that what they were doing would be illegal, or at least shady, and dealing with people in that realm is dangerous. I say they got what they deserve.