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Most of us might have received at least one ‘419’ scam spam mail. The number 419 is related to some section related to Nigerian Criminal Code (said to be chapter 38, I don’t know). In practical sense, this section deals with obtaining wealth by cheating.
The typical mail tells that somebody died leaving millions of USD in a bank and asking our help to get it legally on a sharing basis (subject like might look like ‘need your assistance’). What happens we reply? They will ask us to send some money for legal consultation or to pay the attorney or something like that. This scam is also known as ‘Advance Money Scam’.
What if we send the money? Well, they will update us about the progress and ask us to send more money and this goes on and on.
The scam is said to be originated in African countries and even today most of the criminals involved in such scams are from Africa (mainly Nigeria). Recently one of them got arrested while visiting India (he successfully cheated some people here).
Another flavor is ‘Love Scam’. Here we might get a mail from our opposite sex saying they have fallen love with us. If we reply, they plan their next step accordingly. They collect our mail id mostly from social network or dating sites. Many people we add up are fakes (though they have their pics and every detail. If we do a google, we can find out some of the sample pictures they commonly use). Another version of this cheating is the ‘You have won a lottery’ mail.
The other day, I signed up for a penpal site and the very next day, I got a mail which read:
HelloMy name is Miss Rose am 24yr old . I saw your profile today on allpenpals.com and it really acttract me alot i believe that you are the man i have been looking for to share my love; How is your health? i hope all is well with you. I believe that we can move from here ; but remember that distance;age and colour dose not matter what matters is the true love and understanding; in my next e-mail i shall include my pictuer; i been waithing for your reply mail me with this mail address (rose.frank83@yahoo.co.uk) for further introduction.Bye hopeing to hear from you soon. pLs contact me with this mail (rose.frank83@yahoo.co.uk)
I wanted to test how they respond if I reply. So, I said 'If you mean a friendship, you are welcome'. Within 6 hours, I got a reply:
(I came to know that irrespective of the reply we give, they sends same reply with one of the pic they use for this purpose)
My Dear,I am more than happy in your reply to my mail.How was your day today? .Mine a little hot over here in Dakar Senegal.My name is Miss Rose (24years) single and never married, i am from monrovia in west Africa and presently i am residing in the refugee camp here in Dakar Senegal as a result of the civil war that was fought in my country last three years.My late father Dr FRANK BENSON was the chairman managing director of(FRANK BENSON INDUSTRIAL COMPANY LTD),in MONROVIA the capital of my country,and he was also the personal advicer to the former head of state before the rebels attacked our house one early morning and killed my mother and my father in a cold blood.It was only me that is alive now and i managed to make my way to a nearby country Senegal where i am living now as a refugee.I would like to know more about you.Your likes and dislikes,your hobbies and what you are doing presently.I will tell you more about myself in my next mail.I have Attached my picture in my mail bye and have a nice day.Hopeing to hear from you soonest. Miss Rose.
The typical mail tells that somebody died leaving millions of USD in a bank and asking our help to get it legally on a sharing basis (subject like might look like ‘need your assistance’). What happens we reply? They will ask us to send some money for legal consultation or to pay the attorney or something like that. This scam is also known as ‘Advance Money Scam’.
What if we send the money? Well, they will update us about the progress and ask us to send more money and this goes on and on.
The scam is said to be originated in African countries and even today most of the criminals involved in such scams are from Africa (mainly Nigeria). Recently one of them got arrested while visiting India (he successfully cheated some people here).
Another flavor is ‘Love Scam’. Here we might get a mail from our opposite sex saying they have fallen love with us. If we reply, they plan their next step accordingly. They collect our mail id mostly from social network or dating sites. Many people we add up are fakes (though they have their pics and every detail. If we do a google, we can find out some of the sample pictures they commonly use). Another version of this cheating is the ‘You have won a lottery’ mail.
The other day, I signed up for a penpal site and the very next day, I got a mail which read:
HelloMy name is Miss Rose am 24yr old . I saw your profile today on allpenpals.com and it really acttract me alot i believe that you are the man i have been looking for to share my love; How is your health? i hope all is well with you. I believe that we can move from here ; but remember that distance;age and colour dose not matter what matters is the true love and understanding; in my next e-mail i shall include my pictuer; i been waithing for your reply mail me with this mail address (rose.frank83@yahoo.co.uk) for further introduction.Bye hopeing to hear from you soon. pLs contact me with this mail (rose.frank83@yahoo.co.uk)
I wanted to test how they respond if I reply. So, I said 'If you mean a friendship, you are welcome'. Within 6 hours, I got a reply:
(I came to know that irrespective of the reply we give, they sends same reply with one of the pic they use for this purpose)
My Dear,I am more than happy in your reply to my mail.How was your day today? .Mine a little hot over here in Dakar Senegal.My name is Miss Rose (24years) single and never married, i am from monrovia in west Africa and presently i am residing in the refugee camp here in Dakar Senegal as a result of the civil war that was fought in my country last three years.My late father Dr FRANK BENSON was the chairman managing director of(FRANK BENSON INDUSTRIAL COMPANY LTD),in MONROVIA the capital of my country,and he was also the personal advicer to the former head of state before the rebels attacked our house one early morning and killed my mother and my father in a cold blood.It was only me that is alive now and i managed to make my way to a nearby country Senegal where i am living now as a refugee.I would like to know more about you.Your likes and dislikes,your hobbies and what you are doing presently.I will tell you more about myself in my next mail.I have Attached my picture in my mail bye and have a nice day.Hopeing to hear from you soonest. Miss Rose.
(I traced the mail and it originated from Senegal; or they successfully changed the IP)
Miss Rose !!!
For which I replied:
‘Good try, but you got the wrong guy’, the result was…
The next mail was from one Ms.Gloria Pattugalan from Philippines !. This was a real surprise for me and could be a pure coincidence. I hardly think that those criminals know of my Philippine connections. But this time the mail originated from Czech Republic.
The mail reads as follows:
Hello,My name is Ms.Gloria Pattugalan, daughter of Late Judge Nathaniel Pattugalan of Philippines. My father survived an attempt murder in life on the 27th of October 2005. And was killed 19th of January 2007.Since the first attempt till date his murderers have not been identified .I am afraid of my life because i believe his death has to do with the government or politicians because my father was against corruption.After the first attempt on my father's life, he went to secure US$3 Million outside the country.I would want you to assist me retrieve this money,so that i will come to live a new life in your country.Yours sincerelyGloria Pattugalan
This time I wish to reply :
“NO NO, wait, don’t come to my country, with USD $3 million, we can buy a small private island in Philippines with nice white sand beach and then we live happily ever after…”
The first thing one should do if one gets such a mail is to mark it as Spam and ignore it. If got accidently opened, just delete the mail. Or if you want some time pass, give them some stupid reply (at your own risk since I don’t know what will happen to you if the other guy gets arrested one day and the police trace all the contacts [for police, your stupid answer could be ‘code words’])
What if somebody don’t want to ignore it but want to know more about it? One can get lots of information from here, including samples of most of the mails getting circulated:
http://www.419scam.org/
Miss Rose !!!For which I replied:
‘Good try, but you got the wrong guy’, the result was…
The next mail was from one Ms.Gloria Pattugalan from Philippines !. This was a real surprise for me and could be a pure coincidence. I hardly think that those criminals know of my Philippine connections. But this time the mail originated from Czech Republic.
The mail reads as follows:
Hello,My name is Ms.Gloria Pattugalan, daughter of Late Judge Nathaniel Pattugalan of Philippines. My father survived an attempt murder in life on the 27th of October 2005. And was killed 19th of January 2007.Since the first attempt till date his murderers have not been identified .I am afraid of my life because i believe his death has to do with the government or politicians because my father was against corruption.After the first attempt on my father's life, he went to secure US$3 Million outside the country.I would want you to assist me retrieve this money,so that i will come to live a new life in your country.Yours sincerelyGloria Pattugalan
This time I wish to reply :
“NO NO, wait, don’t come to my country, with USD $3 million, we can buy a small private island in Philippines with nice white sand beach and then we live happily ever after…”
The first thing one should do if one gets such a mail is to mark it as Spam and ignore it. If got accidently opened, just delete the mail. Or if you want some time pass, give them some stupid reply (at your own risk since I don’t know what will happen to you if the other guy gets arrested one day and the police trace all the contacts [for police, your stupid answer could be ‘code words’])
What if somebody don’t want to ignore it but want to know more about it? One can get lots of information from here, including samples of most of the mails getting circulated:
http://www.419scam.org/
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