Re:Why do Nigerian scammers say they're from Nigeria? (2012)
by c3534l on Monday December 23, 2019 @02:42PM
(#21866613)
I mean, there's a very practical reason for this. Back when the scam was popular, they asked you to send a Western Union transfer to Nigeria. I had a girl I was chatting with ask me to donate money to needy kids in Africa, which happened to be in Nigeria. Now they want iTunes gift cards so they can resell them. It's not game theory, it's just regular old money laundering.
Re:Why do Nigerian scammers say they're from Nigeria? (2012)
by reaperducer on Monday December 23, 2019 @06:54PM
(#21868609)
Now they want iTunes gift cards so they can resell them.
Interestingly, when I bought an iTunes gift card at the Apple Store last week for a Christmas present, the Apple guy ringing me up required me to sign a document stating that I wasn't trying to pay someone with them. Some kind of scam prevention mechanism. I wonder how well it works.
Re:Why do Nigerian scammers say they're from Nigeria? (2012)
by 6700417 on Tuesday December 24, 2019 @12:29PM
(#21873503)
Have a friend whose father was scammed out of thousands of dollars. The ploy was that an "attorney" from another state called to say how the college-aged grandson was in trouble and that the fastest way to make bail and retain said attorney was to purchase thousands of dollars in gift cards that are redeemable online and then read the redemption codes off. He ended up buying something like $15k in gift cards in one place and read them off, and sure enough the scammer hung up right after getting all the info.
It all sounds obviously fishy to you and I, but an intelligent but panicked elderly man concerned about his grandson's wellbeing fell for it. They don't need very many victims to make it worth their while.
Re:Why do Nigerian scammers say they're from Nigeria? (2012)
by reaperducer on Tuesday December 24, 2019 @02:35PM
(#21874361)
No, they asked me to sign a form (on an iPhone, FWIW) stating that I knew that strangers calling out of the blue and asking for payment in iTunes cards was a scam.
Re:Why do Nigerian scammers say they're from Nigeria? (2012)
by Havoc on Monday December 23, 2019 @03:30PM
(#21867084)
The spelling is (believed to be) attrocious for similar reasons.
There is significant overlap between people that can't spell to save their lives and people who know very little about real world finances ("We need you to send us 10k for fees to unlock the 50 million").
Interestingly, when I bought an iTunes gift card at the Apple Store last week for a Christmas present, the Apple guy ringing me up required me to sign a document stating that I wasn't trying to pay someone with them. Some kind of scam prevention mechanism. I wonder how well it works.
It all sounds obviously fishy to you and I, but an intelligent but panicked elderly man concerned about his grandson's wellbeing fell for it. They don't need very many victims to make it worth their while.
There is significant overlap between people that can't spell to save their lives and people who know very little about real world finances ("We need you to send us 10k for fees to unlock the 50 million").