Who Falls for those Nigerian 419 Scams Anyway?
This is the story of a woman who sent the scammers $400K:
She wiped out her husband’s retirement account, mortgaged the house and took a lien out on the family car. Both were already paid for.
For more than two years, Spears sent tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars. Everyone she knew, including law enforcement officials, her family and bank officials, told her to stop, that it was all a scam. She persisted.
Spears said she kept sending money because the scammers kept telling her that the next payment would be the last one, that the big money was inbound. Spears said she became obsessed with getting paid.
An undercover investigator who worked on the case said greed helped blind Spears to the reality of the situation, which he called the worst example of the scam he’s ever seen.
EDITED TO ADD (12/13): More about the story.
Clive Robinson • December 3, 2008 8:38 AM
Why is it always “older women” that the press report as getting caught by scammers?
Does anybody know of a man getting caught in an endless cycle like this?