Ouch.
As most conmen pick out naive marks of below-average intelligence, doesn't that mean fraud is effectively legal in Spain? Jolín....
Two Cameroonian cousins of the Lads from Lagos, who took a Spanish property developer for €200k in a classic "black money" ploy, have been cleared of any wrongdoing on the grounds that "not even the naïvest person would have believed" the "surreal and incredible" dyed banknotes scam. A court in Valencia heard this week how …
"somewhere, deep down don't you just have a little admiration for these tyeps of scam?"
No, no I don't. Years ago, I was an active member of 419eater.com, scamwarners and such sites. I saw firsthand the ruin in which these scum leave their victims, and know of at least one who took his own life. The scammers didn't care, they see it as taking what they're owed by the rich Westerners - so you go ahead and have admiration for their ingenuity, and I'll carry on wishing them pain and death.
Anon - first lesson of 419eater was always stay safe.
>they see it as taking what they're owed by the rich Westerners
If that is what you think is their justification for their scams then maybe if the rich westerners gave back a fraction of what they take out of the Niger Delta there would be no need for these scams in the first place.
Uh, no. That would be the corrupt officials and military - who live in absolute luxury even compared to western counterparts. Same thing with Zimbabwe - the "president" lives in a gold-adorned mansions with private jet, dozens of cars, etc; while the population lives in squalor.
Off topic somewhat, but you needed to be corrected.
>That would be the corrupt officials and military
There are more productive ways of giving back than giving money which as you say may go straight to corrupt officials. They could improve infrastructure or build low cost housing both creating jobs in the process for example.
The officials could still get their cut but the major beneficiaries would be the people.
Ah but then the same officials will just introduce a "living in a home" or even better, "living under a roof" tax, which again will push the same people out. This happened in my homeland - lots of international people came, built houses at their own cost, and the government simply took them and gave them to the highest bidder of those that had done the most favors.
Does not take a genius to understand...
he lost out because his greed overrode his common sense.
I recall my father receiving one of the 419 scam letters back in the early 80's (yes this scam has been going a long time). He didn't know it was a scam, but he read it, considered it and then tossed it in the trash because it didn't sound legitimate.
Likewise just this week someone tried to pull a 419 scam on my wife and I using ebay (we just started using ebay this week and while they may not have claimed to have millions they needed to smuggle out of some backwater country - but it was still an advance fee scam). We spotted it straight away and avoided losing money.
You don't have to be a genius to spot these scams, and if you decide to risk some money on the off chance it is legitimate don't expect sympathy from me if you gambled with money you couldn't afford to lose
The problem is that many of those stupid enough to fall for these internet scams are allowed to vote. They fall for the scams the politicians spin all the time. In fact, many people seem happy to repeatedly vote for being s*****d by the same politicians time after time after time, this is a scam older and worse than anything from nigeria et al.
Of course the nigerians et al are failing to notice the totally legal versions of their scam that is permissable in England...
Buy some goods from a shop (say a sofa) that is to be delivered next week. Pay your money. Watch the company go into 'administration', the tax man and banks will get their loans back, the people who paid for goods will never see them. Perpetrated on me by 'World of Leather' who have been through a name change a year since then, repeating the scam after every new year sale.
Or
You can sign up with one of the executive search agencies now advertising on TV - pay your money and of course they will find you a very well paid 50k a year plus job - except they won't. Fortunately I didn't get caught up with that one
Or
Buy any one of the myriad books on getting rich quick
Or .....
.....
....
....
Many versions of the scam that promisses something later for a small investment now, all perfectly legal
Unfortunately, letting them get away scot free does not send a good sign to other scammers out there, who will now think they can get away with it even more. Expect a big surge in 911 scams as a result.
In the UK ignorance is no legal defence, whereas it seem Spain is now the opposite - if crims can get away with saying their mark was too stupid, why not the other way round? Bad precedent.
Whilst the ruling may be absurd (as it legalises preying on the vulnerable), a small part or me (as with a previous poster) does admire the ingenuity of some scam artists, whilst also relishing the down-fall of greedy people (marks). Perhaps that is why I, like many others, enjoy watching Hustle (or even The Sting, for those of an older persuasion) - and let's face it we're always on the scammers side in that program (and film).
If you like that you'll like this one that was executed a good 15 years ago. These types eventually got caught with somewhere else because they got greedy.
They bought themselves some rubber play articles and advertised them at 50% of the going rate in mags. They ran the ad and collected payments for a good month, then wrote everyone except the first few a letter that they had ran out of stock and enclosed a cheque with a refund. Because they had actual stock that was sent to the first few it could not be labelled as a scam, and because they refunded everyone there was no grip on them there either. They closed the company a while later, taking ample proceeds with them.
It wasn't their fault that a large part of their victims were reluctant to take a refund cheque to their bank made out in the name of the Large Rubber Dildo Company..
Social engineering - it existed well before anyone called it that way..
if you don't bother to put a passcode on your answer phone its open to the world, right?
Like it should be anywhere sensible.
Incidentally, if a squatter is faced with a combination lock with the _default_ manufacturers code, and lets himself in, is that breakin and entry? Or non secured property?
The scammers were saying they'd committed a crime (smuggling money into the country illegally). This guy's money was going to be used to help cover up this crime, and he knew it. The only reason he wasn't also guilty of that crime was bcos he got scammed. So he's actually rather lucky that the Spanish didn't charge him with attempting to defraud the revenue (whatever that's officially called in Spain).
I agree that the scammers should have been done for this, but I do have some sympathy with the judge's POV. If you're truly that stupid, it's your problem.
I think a better outcome would have been to arrest the fugitives but still let them keep the money. I have to agree with the judge that the victim got what he deserved. I mean, what next? Permit someone to sue because they're told gold will fountain out of their nostrils if they shove their arms into a running wood chipper, and actually believed it?
It's time to stop coddling people who are so stupid that they can't be bothered to do even the most trivial of due diligence.
The "mark" in this case really missed out on the opportunity to have a lot of fun at the scammers' expense & time.
I spent an hour on the phone today trying to convince an unsolicited scam caller to let me pay in "Natural Colour Diamonds" for the excellent property investment in Brazil.
The Natural Colour Diamonds were offered to me in another unsolicited call last week. All of these wonderful investment opportunities! I wonder if I can get some of those dyed banknotes to help pay for the investments.
I'm sorry, but these type of scam schemes are so obvious. Anyone who falls for them should not be trusted to hold funds.
I will be the first to admit (being Spanish myself!) that the majority of Banking Officials in Spain are as stupid as pig-shit... No more so, than Spanish bankers who (above their already over paid jobs) seeks a 12% ROI for doing practically nothing.
"A fool and his money are so fondly parted. By cleaver people..." Would be the ultimate saying :D
or
"Like taking Cash Candy from a stupid overweight banker in broad daylight and on foot."