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Cyber Scams


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Angela Sun got scammed over the Internet from Nigeria. As the FBI explains to her, she's definitely not alone.
angelasun

13 responses // Cyber Scams

  • Sometimes alternative television comes about when we can't figure out how to cover something in the conventional way. We'd been thinking about doing something regarding cyberscams for a while, but everything that we started became too bogged down in abstraction, like trying to do a story on lightening on a sunny day. It seemed best to leave the topic to an entity with deeper pockets than Current, like Nova or 60 Minutes. Then lightening struck Angela in the form of a Nigerian scam artist. And the Special Agent in Charge of the Los Angeles FBI office proved to be a good sport and agreed to do the interview sitting in the middle of the floor, with Angela's laptop between them, rather than from behind his desk, as is usual. And Rawley Valverde's reading of the e-mails from scammers was not only brilliant but done in one take.
    MitchKoss
  • This all started when Angela came to me one day asking where the nearest FedEx office was located. I had no idea she was about to "sell" her stuff to a scam artist! Turns out her bad luck was to Current's advantage, as we were able to do a story on this ever-present problem, using a genuine first-hand account.
    tchang
  • what a lamo! I am so gullible and I cant believe I got scammed! I was on a mission to share this experience with others and to my surprise, learned that BILLIONS of dollars are lost worldwide over cyberscams like this one. good think it was just my printer...and Ipod, and not thousands of dollars...thanks to current and the vanguard team, I got my "revenge" (sort of) by passing on some helpful hints to avoid people like stinkin' "morgan cole from new york!!"
    angelasun
    1 response to this
  • My roommate got scammed the same way. And the Voodoo part was pretty funny lol.
    Ice_cream_Man
  • I JUST tried selling a 7' Hutch on craigslist and I received an email from someone asking me for pictures and dimensions and I responded letting them know that I would get them the pictures and I received this email:

    Thanks for your swift respond regarding it .Am highly interested in buying the item it is okay and i'm pleased to inform you that the price is okay with me,and i am ready to purchase from you immediately, i will offer you the amount as you have requested for it, i want you to delete the ad from the website.I have a reputable shipper that will take care of shipping from your end,and i have inform the shipping agent and he said that he is ready for the shipment as soon as everything is ready.I want to also let you know that i will be responsible for the shipper fee and also that i will be paying through a cheque in us dollars and as soon as you have the check cashed at your bank,you deduct your amount for the item bought and send the remaining funds to my shipper via western union for the pick up in your place altogether with other goods i got with him. The money to be sent to the shipper doesn't not meant for the shipment alone but along with some other consignment i want for shipment meanwhile is being so honest with me and i trust him with all my life I believe i can trust you with my balance. so you don't need to bother or worry yourself about shipping the item. not withstanding am compensating you with xtra $50 for you running around from bank to the western Do get back to me with the following details:

    1.Name to be on the cheque
    2.Contact Address(street,apt #,City,State,Zip code):
    3.Contact telephone number:(home,cell or work...)

    Pls get back to me as soon as possible with this details for payment to be made out to you immediately. Hoping to hear from you as soon as possible.

    Sarah Cadilla.

    After reading this a couple times my alarms were going off like crazy because of the lack of good english when I posted this in a local market and have never really gotten things like this before, and they were willing to pay the price I was asking without waiting to see the item which also made them a bad consumer.

    I decided to go with my gut and send them this email:

    F$%# off you f*$#%@! scammer, and please if you are going to try and scam Americans, brush up on your English and be a smarter shopper!

    ::X::
    X_MAN
  • These are called 419's and everyone working in Nigeria is familar with their tactics. they work from Nigeria, London, Amesterdam, and Houston. They con people out of millions of $ every day, all over the world. You are correct in watching for the wording and awkard English, as it is usually a dead giveaway.
    MoonLoon
  • I still do not understand how people remain uninformed about the workings of these Nigerian conmen and conwomen. It is truly indicative of a society that does not pay attention to the news past what is going on in Brittany Spears/Paris Hiltons life. Scams like this have been around since the late 90's and everyone from 60 minutes to Oprah have reported on the topic and informed the public how the recognise the signs.

    Be that as it may, by the time I hit post another 3 people will have been scammed by some Nigerian.
    UWAZell
  • I just got this email and was reminded of the pod:

    From: Kwan-ho Kim 07530871390@orange.net
    To: kimkwanho@yahoo.com

    Good Day

    This letter might come to you as a surprise however, there is no need to worry, it was out of desperation and Curiosity that made me to contact you.

    I am Mr. Kwan-ho Kim (Director of Operations) of the Hanvit Bank in Seul of S.Korea. I have a business proposition involving the transfer of a large sum of money which I know will be of mutual benefit to both party, and I believe we can handle to together, once we have a common understanding and mutual co-operation in the execution of the modalities. Should you be interested, please contact me via this email address kimkwanho@ymail.com after which I will furnish you with more information. Please endeavor to observe utmost prudence in all matters pertaining to this issue.

    I wait in anticipation for your fullest cooperation. I am available to entertain any questions concerning the clarity of this transaction.
    Your timely response to this mail will be highly appreciated.

    Mr.Kwan-ho kim
    dgreene
  • Woah!

    I think "LIVE me alone" was a very nice touch.
    ladybee
  • I just saw this on TV (apparently it's a month old), but I tried adopting out my baby turtle on petfinder.com.

    Boy was that a nightmare. In under 24 hours I got two e-mails offering to ship my "pet" (didn't actually specify name or animal) out to California and that I would get a check later. They were riddled with awful grammar (just like in your video) and I had heard of people sending out their pets and getting bad checks, so there was no way my pet was going anywhere.

    I had to sit down and think, "What would someone do with a free pet? Sell it on the black market to China as food or what?"
    Nettle
  • I am a Nigerian, and we will continue doing 419 until we are heard....Overseas people watch out...
    2010HOPE
    1 response to this

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