OT: Explain this spam?!?!

[Raapys]

I had a rather neat scam/spam thingy arrive in my email.

Dear Friend, TOP SECRET

I know this may come as surprise and sceptic to you. I am one of the officials in the Energy management board in Abidjan Cote d' Ivoire, West Africa.
We had a contract with Denmark through the Cote d' Ivoire Danish Cooperation, which was signed on the 4th of march, 2003 on the Electrification of the Cocody centres, offices and rural dwellers. The project has been executed,

But, the main issue of contacting you is to intimate you that during the award of this contract, a few of my colleagues and l, had inflated the amount of this contract and the OVER- INVOICED is being safeguarded under our custody.
However, we have decided to transfer this sum of money, $73.8million USA Dollars out of this Country for disbursement. Hence, we seek for a reliable, honest and not greedy foreign partner whom we shall use his or her account for transferring the fund. And we agreed that the account owner shall benefit 30% of the total amount of money, 65% is for us here, and 5% will be
used for miscellaneous expenses during the transfer.
If you are capable to handle the transaction without hitches and flaws, then we have confidence in the deal, and a risk free transfer from our side.
Please, make it TOP SECRET and avoid every channel of implicating us here thereby endanger our career. Therefore, if you will not be able to handle it, please hold on your peace for our sake we are public servants. I pray to God for his providence for a smooth transfer, so that our retiring soon or later will be a better and blissful retirement life, as such we are very cautious towards actualising this noble venture. It can also be a once in life opportunity for you, because l know that we going to see face-face, preferably come down to Cote d' Ivoire and verify on the claim on the said amount of money in the bank. Besides, to discuss business and investment in your country at large, and there after sit together to decide on the means of transferring.
If this picks your interest, please do contact me immediately for more details and for easier communication. Do copy and reply me on this my private email address for the commencement of this deal. dawsonkabore48@yahoo.co.jp

Please, time is no longer on our side.
Best regards,
MR DAWSON KABORE.

Right, and greedy as I am I promptly responded with something like "I WANT CREDITS PLEASE". After a few days he actually emails me back again.

Dear Mr Johnny,

Thanks a lot for your quick response to me. In fact your urgent response has given me a relief of mind in my search for an honest and sincere person that will understand my present situation and a God fearing preson that will not try to dubblecross at last.To be candid all the necessary document that covers the real existence of this fund is right here with me. I have confirm existence of this fund in the bank .

Thanks for sending to me, your telephone , and also send your cell phone fax number includes your your contact address, if possible your international front page passport and i will send my too.So that can make me to identify you very well. and I will like you to keep this transaction confidential for both of us.

I will appreciated if you can arrange to meet me here in Abidjan, to know ourselves and wittness this noble business transaction in order to build and strenghten trust and understanding between ourselves. .

Please find here the details to identify me :

First Name :...............................Dawson
Middle Name :............................. Zuma
Last Name :............................... Kabore
Birth Date : .............................16/03/1947 DD/MM/YYYY
AMOUNT IS................................................ ..US$73.800,000.00
I AM WILLING TO OFFER YOU............................. 30%
Phone Number :................................... (00225)08391531
Fax Number :.......................................... (00225225584177)
Email :.............................................. dawsonkabore48@yahoo.co.jp
Deposited Fund .........................................Cote d"Ivoire
National Currency : .....................................cfa
Religion : ..........................................christia nity
Type of Person :................................. Humanity
Do you : Drink ............................. ocassionally
Do you. Smoke ...................................... No

As soon as you promptly response to this email i will process to get all other paperwork in regards to this transfer from the bank where the money was, and to your nominated bank account which you will present to the bank here.

I wait to hear from you urgently. or call with this direct line made for this transaction allow. check the telephone number to sent to me . please the country code and area code please and resend.

From Mr Dawson.

At that point I was too lazy to offer another reply. Too bad really, I missed out on over 22 million US$!

[Ragnarok-X]

Good scam.

[Suicide Junkie]

Type of Person :................................. Humanity

Makes you wonder why it had to be specified...

[Azselendor]

Isn't there a website where pranksters mess with these guys all the time?

[Azselendor]

Speaking of pranks, I just found this.

http://linuxgazette.net/issue87/lg_backpage.html

[BlueTemplar]

Heh. That kind of spam SHOULD be spread around.

[dogscoff]

Azselendor said:
Isn't there a website where pranksters mess with these guys all the time?

I believe you're thinking of http://www.ebolamonkeyman.com

He strings 419 scammers along for as long as he can using stupid and offensive names and demands that they send him pictures of themselves holding up silly signs so that he can ridicule them on his website.

He gets credit for wasting these spammers' time, but I find some of his abuse of them steers into racism, which I'm not comfortable with. These are nasty people who deserve what they get, but there is plenty of fuel for insulting them without using racist terms.

A much more entertaining scam-baiting story is this one: http://www.zug.com/pranks/powerbook/index.html which has been discussed on this forum before, IIRC. I do believe this guy was messing with some very nasty people though, and may have eventually regretted it.

[BlueTemplar]

Oh yeah, that was priceless!

[AstralWanderer]

419Eater is a more amusing anti-scam site - and has some astonishing success stories to tell...

[Randallw]

In my opinion, yeah you shouldn't discriminate in the first place, but if people don't want to be discriminated against they should endevour not to act in a manner that calls for discrimination. I don't mean being part of a different culture, but performing actions that can make people address members of that culture in a stereotypical manner. I know I can't imagine what it means to be part of a culture such as people of sub-saharan descent, but really if you don't want your race to be regarded as dishonest then you shuld make an effort not to conform to that image. I can well imagine the strain it puts on african americans that they endeavour for human rights while their, albeit a small minority, african cousins gain a reputation as rip off artists, scammers, and people who will kill you if you turn up in Nigeria with the $100K. I wouldn't descend to racist remarks myself either.

I find the saying "Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't really out to get you" interesting. In this situation perhaps the relevant saying might be "Just because they're african doesn't mean they aren't homicidal criminals and conmen"

on a related, and somewhat delicate, matter. Really, you can't risk sounding racist when you disagree with someone of a different ethnicity, but if they differ in their political viewpoint it's open season . Yes I'm not american, and I have a lot of opposition to the american political system, but it has always appeared to me that those who criticise Bush are just unhappy that their "team" didn't win the election. Granted I consider the opposition here in Australia little more than communists acting as the mouthpiece of the trade unions. If you have a 2 party system, then accept when you lose or perhaps scrap the entire system if you are unhappy with the result.

I don't want to start a debate but I also will not sit quietly by just because my opinion might not be "popular". I think it an awful double standard to make disparaging insinuations at someone's expense, whoever it is, and then declare amnesty beacuse it's a popular opinion. You could come straight out and mean it, but you can't at the same time evince a facade of tolerance.

To not make clear my opinions in the interests of not making a fuss, something I don't want, seems to me to be self driven censorship. It may not be a good idea to post this but I can't help feeling it would be worse to simply quit without a word.