Louisana Police Bust an Infamous Nigerian Email Spam Scammer (hothardware.com) 66
MojoKid writes: You have probably at some point been contacted via email spam by someone claiming you are the beneficiary in a will of a Nigerian prince. As the scam goes, all you have to do is submit your personal information and Western Union some funds to process the necessary paperwork, and in return you will receive millions of dollars. One of the people behind the popular scam, Michael Neu, has been arrested by police in Slidell, Louisiana.
This may come as a shocker, but Neu is not a prince, nor is he Nigerian. He is a 67-year-old male possibly of German descent (based on his last name) who is facing 269 counts of wire fraud and money laundering for his alleged role as a middle man in the scheme. According to Slidell police, some of the money obtained by Neu was wired to co-conspirators who do actually live in Nigera.
This may come as a shocker, but Neu is not a prince, nor is he Nigerian. He is a 67-year-old male possibly of German descent (based on his last name) who is facing 269 counts of wire fraud and money laundering for his alleged role as a middle man in the scheme. According to Slidell police, some of the money obtained by Neu was wired to co-conspirators who do actually live in Nigera.
Snake oil salesman (Score:1)
Re: (Score:3)
Ladies and gentlemen, if the pay's too good and the work's too easy, no catch, it probably means you're involved in a scam.
Every poker table has a sucker. Look around the table. If you can't find him, congratulations, it's you.
Re:Snake oil salesman: Michael Neu (Score:4, Insightful)
Gullible people were NOT his only victims. What about everybody who does not want to receive unsolicited shit mails in their inbox all the time? This crap keeps getting through all the SPAM filters and makes email a useless joke. Anybody participating in the misuse and abuse of the email system should be punished heavily, they are beyond redemption.
Re:Snake oil salesman: Michael Neu (Score:5, Insightful)
This crap keeps getting through all the SPAM filters and makes email a useless joke.
Nonsense. These "Nigerian" scams are the easiest things in the world to filter out. The are actually specifically designed to look like obvious scams, and the misspellings and even the claim to be Nigerian are intentional fabrications.
You see, for these scammers, the worst thing in the world is to waste time on semi-intelligent people who may fall for the initial hook, but then turn skeptical when asked to front money. So they only want to deal with the stupidest of the stupid. So they design a scam that only a total idiot would fall for, in order to separate the idiots from the herd.
If your filter isn't triggered by "Nigerian prince", then you deserve to be spammed.
Re: (Score:2)
I make $15,687.48 each back week some times more Making America Great Again (MAGA!) working at home online 3 hours day. Just by answering few simple questions online about President Trumps' tax reduction make money and help people sign up for Government Assistance of up to $5324.07 a month. This is not Entitlements, this is the actual money that the U.S.A. Government owes true citizens but has not been paid for over 8 years during the corrupt Clinton and Obama administration. President Donald J. Trump is
Who would ever have thought... (Score:2)
...that the fella looks like he actually does? I would never have thought so myself. I must admit that my mind was overtaken by stereotypes.
That is: The Nigerian Scammer must look like a [typical] Nigerian!
The Nigerian folk must be bemused! They will closely be watching the news. For once, we can look and examine ourselves when it comes to the implicit biases we have among our fellow brethren.
Re: (Score:2)
...that the fella looks like he actually does? I would never have thought so myself. I must admit that my mind was overtaken by stereotypes.
That is: The Nigerian Scammer must look like a [typical] Nigerian!
The Nigerian folk must be bemused! They will closely be watching the news. For once, we can look and examine ourselves when it comes to the implicit biases we have among our fellow brethren.
They should just deport him to Nigeria. He can try using one of his own scam e-mails to get money to get out there, except for the first time, the scam will be true.
So racist. (Score:2)
What? You don't have white guys of german descendant in Nigeria? He must be a nigerian prince, if its on the internet, it must be true.
Re: (Score:2)
You don't have white guys of german descendant in Nigeria?
No, you'll have to go to Namibia for those folks . . . just down the road from Nigeria . . . a ways.
Re: (Score:2)
Greetings Dear Trusted Friend... (Score:5, Funny)
Dear friend, (Score:4, Funny)
Allow me to introduce myself. I am a Sherriff in Louisiana. My department has recently impounded a large amount of stolen money ($153,210,093.12, to be exact) from a highly illegal internet swindling operation. Following the trial and conviction of the brigands, and after a dutiful records search it, appears that some of these funds were from a relative of yours. Unfortunately that relative is now deceased, and we believe you have legal title to approximately one third of the money once you establish your bona fides Please forward us your details and a $925 fee for the services of a court appointed trustee from the law firm of Dewy, Cheetam, and Howe, to process your claim and send you a check. If your include your bank account details we can wire the money to your account directly and can refund you half of the processing fee. Please do not delay as tax law changes under discussion may result in a loss of up to 30% of the money due you.
Respectfully
Larson E. Maggot
Sherriff, Louisiana
Re: (Score:2)
The law firm name is misspelled, it is Dewee Cheetuman Howe". It is run by a lawyer and his wife.
Re: (Score:2)
I am writing to tell you of a trusted friend and corporation that is currently entangled in tax litigation in the country of Ireland. My friend, the Apple corporation, is in possession of $230 billion, but cannot access these funds until $14 billion in taxes are paid to a corrupt governing body and other legal issues resolved. If you could assist in any way, some of this money could be transferred to you. Please provide an account number and other bank account details to facilitate the transfer of funds. Bu
Re: (Score:2)
Neu! [offtopic warning] (Score:1, Offtopic)
Neu! made some very great krautrock albums back in the 70s. It's still some of the best driving music ever. I like to put this album on when I'm driving down Hwy 101 along the ocean, like I was earlier this morning.
https://youtu.be/ubdHYhnersU [youtu.be]
It was 78 degrees here today and people were surfing, which proves that global warming exists.
Re: (Score:2)
Cajun ... (Score:2)
... Navy.
I always got a kick out of those emails (Score:3)
My favorites were actually the ones which purported to be from the widow of either a banker or a military officer. Invariably they would initially talk about being a dear Christian woman, then invariably progress to asking for help with some illegal transaction - tax fraud, theft from the estate of a dead person, etc.
I thought most of these 419 scammers had faded away... but apparently not.
Re: I always got a kick out of those emails (Score:1)
I kept one of these guys on the phone for 20 minutes trying all kinds of stuff. He was clearly getting frustrated trying to do remote-hands on my Linux box. I never got the chance to tell him my OS though because at some point, I couldn't contain myself and asked "OH, you wanted the computer ON the whole time!". He hung up on me. RUDE.
Re: (Score:2)
I kept one of these guys on the phone for 20 minutes trying all kinds of stuff.
Only 20 minutes? I had one for 40 minutes, probing around my Windows XP which I booted in a VM under Linux. Eventually I got bored and asked them if they know what a VM was; they did not and I did not enlighten them. I shut it down then.
I ought to put some fake bank account numbers and passwords etc in that XP installation for them to pick up, ready for next time "Windows" calls. Also porn of Indian women getting banged by non-Indian men - they hate that. I wonder why they call themselves "Windows" and
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:3)
I thought most of these 419 scammers had faded away... but apparently not.
The morons that fall for this crap are still around, so the scammers are still around. Same as with all SPAM. Apparently, one in 10'000 SPAM emails gets a response and that is enough to make it worthwhile. If the idiots would stop answering, SPAM would have been long gone.
From the 1990s (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Never underestimate...(you can fill in the rest).
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Plenty of people, to the point where I've seen claims that the take from 419 scams is in the top 5 contributors to the GDP of Nigeria. If that's true, it's a pretty big clue as to why the Nigerian government hasn't shut the whole thing down and tossed all these rat bastards into prison.
People have traveled to Nigeria either to try and collect, or because they realize they've been scammed and they're trying to get their money back. Typically if you agree to meet the scammers in Nigeria, they show up at the
Re: (Score:2)
Better to send them to the AI bot that will troll them back and waste their time:
https://www.netsafe.org.nz/res... [netsafe.org.nz]
Awesome (Score:2)
That's great
This is Fake News (Score:1)
While you guys are busting your butts in the office and coming up with ridiculous Scrum "stories" to satisfy your PHBs, I'll be retired on a tropical island thanks to the tens of millions USD I'm going to get thanks to my partnership with a former top official of the Nigerian regime. Which required timely action and a very modest investment on my part.
And Donald Trump is going to Make America Great Again!!!
Delightful news (Score:2)
However it would seem that I'm the only person to feel that way so far. I also searched for happy and some related terms. Maybe I should have tried schadenfreude?
Anyway, I'm always delighted to hear about anything that reduces the spam. At the same time, it makes me sad that the email spam problem persists after all these years. I think that's almost entirely due to the "Live and let spam" practices of the major email providers.
If you've been paying attention, then you've noticed that certain categories of
American (Score:2)
"...He is a 67-year-old male possibly of German descent..."
Come on, spit it out: be honest. "German descent" my backside.
He's AMERICAN. He's a Yank. A US citizen.
Like very many - quite likely most - of the criminals, terrorists and other nefarious individuals abusing the Internet.
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
We invented the internet. Get over it you stupid kraut.
Please specify exactly which features of the Internet you invented. After all, we don't even know who you are.
And I'm British.
Wired? No bitcoin? (Score:2)
How stupid can you be...
Required Subject (Score:3)
That had to have been very... very low hanging fruit
But what if... (Score:1)
I wonder if anyone has turned down a multi million inheritance thinking it was a scam? Quite a few years ago a descendent of one of my grandfather's cousins died. He had never married, had no siblings and his parents had passed away before him. So my grandfather's decedents ended up inheriting his estate. That turned out to be a fair few people to divide it between and he was by no means rich but we all got something. Sadly I never knew that he existed until a letter came in the mail. If it had come via ema