Predators: Internet Scams
There are some very dangerous predators prowling around the web. Take for example advance-fee frauds, also known as the Nigerian scam, or the 419 scam, named after Article 419 of the Nigerian Legal Code. Check it out on the web – just put 419 into Google.
Don’t be too hard on Nigeria. It’s just that they just spotted it first. The fraud also comes from all over the world: Indonesia, Panama, Mali … The vast majority of hardworking Nigerians get very angry at the small number of criminals in their midst.
It starts when you’re asked to help someone smuggle tens of millions of illicit dollars away from an African government, and you’ll be given millions for your trouble! Or you’ve won a Dutch lottery prize worth millions, but there’s an up-front fee, and you must send your bank details. There are huge numbers of variations on this scam.
Before you start thinking no one would fall for this, one sucker from Prague, who had lost everything on a 419 scam, gunned down the Nigerian Ambassador to the Czech Republic.
This scam has given rise to a whole new Internet sport – scam-baiting. The idea is to make contact with the scammers. The game is to scam the scammers into doing all sorts of crazy things on camera. According to the Church of the Painted Breast, it is very rich, but it only gives money to its own members. Scammers are talked into joining the church, where they swear among other things not to listen to rap music, and undergo all sorts of rituals. The Church of Fish and Bread gets converts to pose with a loaf of bread on their head, holding a fish. It’s amazing what people will do when they smell money.
However, I wouldn’t recommend scam baiting to you – we are dealing with some very nasty people here. Don’t go anywhere near them. But be aware, they are stalking you.
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