Feds charge 10 with running Nigerian 419 scam

Federal prosecutors have accused 10 people of fleecing $1.5 million out of victims throughout the US with an advanced fee scam that promised lavish inheritances if they paid money up front to facilitate the transfers. The alleged ringleader of the group was Claudio Uche Dibe, 25, of Gardena, California, prosecutors said. He was …

[Anonymous Coward]

Not sure if it holds in all situations

but the 419 scam certainly brings to mind the saying that "you can't cheat an honest man".

[Captain Scarlet]

I find it hard to believe

I find it hard to believe how people fall for these scams when they told pay £50 now and you gte this.

Personally I that would sound alarm bells

[Just Thinking]

419 still works???

Seriously, does anyone still fall for this?

Will we ever reach the point where honest peoples' taxes are no longer spent protecting idiot victims from idiot crooks?

[Anonymous Coward]

Marks

"fleecing $1.5 million out of victims throughout the US with an advanced fee scam that promised lavish inheritances if they paid money up front to facilitate the transfers.…"

I don't understand; who would be so gullable? So foolhardy with money? It can't be Darwin award winners.

Was it the bankers again? Did the scammers trick them by using names like Bernard?

[Just Thinking]

Marks

"I gave all my money to Mr Madoff, because he promised me incredible risk free returns"

"And then what happened?"

"He, er, made off with it"

[Pascal Monett]

Brain disengages when con is convincingly presented

Let's face it : none of us are millionaires, ergo, we all need money.

For some, all it takes is a promise, the "opportunity of a lifetime", or a really charming smile, and we give our life's savings to someone we have never met and will never see again. Lots of paperwork in small letters is very convincing as well. And if it comes out of a leather suitcase with a bunch of office letterhead stuff and small furnitures, then it can be easy to get hooked.

I do think that 419 scams require a special brand of stupid, but lets not forget : make something idiot-proof and a better idiot will be found.

The world population is seriously in need of lots of training in critical thinking. Maybe even just in "thinking".

[lilly]

Natural Selection

Yes, this is stupid-on-stupid crime, but why not take this opportunity to sterilize the victims so they don't breed further. The Saber tooth tigers who would carried out this function long ago are long gone. It is politically incorrect to re-introduce them (the tigers) to school yards and neighborhoods today - what else is a country to do?

As for the perps, let's just have Intel make their MPUs match the wickedness of the Microsoft operating systems and enable them to detonate on command - call it the RED screen of death. Ought to fit right in with the next version of the Patriot Act too.

Any resemblance of this parody to state policy is a frightening coincidence.

[Peter Simpson 1]

Pssht...amateurs!

The reason it's called a "Nigerian 419 scheme" is because it's conducted from Nigeria.

As opposed to California, where it's much easier to get arrested.

Or Canada, which has an extradition agreement with the US.

[David Kelly 2]

Nigerian Criminal Code

The reason its called a "Nigerian 419" is because this sort of thing was once the primary export of the country, and "419" is the section of Nigerian criminal code which outlaws this sort of thing.

[g e]

OMFG!

Not my dear trusted friend Claudio Uche Dibe ???

And so forth...