Nigerian Spammers Net $400K From Woman

If you’ve ever wondered why Nigerian spammers never seem to give up, MaximumPC has the answer – their scam still works! In an article on their site, they report that over a period of 2 years, a woman gave them $400K! She refused to believe she was being scammed, convinced she was dealing with an inheritance from her long lost grandfather:

          The email promised $20 million to Spears, money which was supposedly left behind by her grandfather whom she and the rest of her family had lost contact with over the years. She states “So that’s what got me to believe it.”

Fair enough, if we’re being generous, but consider that the scam started off by asking for $100, which Spears promptly paid. Following inevitable problems, Spears was again asked to send money, this time to the tune of $8,300. She paid again and the number kept escalating. During the course of it all, she would receive fake letters purporting to be from the President of Nigeria, FBI Director Mueller, and even President Bush, all of which warned the $20 million (which later jumped to $26 million) could fall into terrorist hands if she didn’t keep sending money. This all went on for two years, and in that time, her friends, family, and law enforcement officials tried to get her to stop. But instead of cutting her losses, Spears eventually cleared out her husband’s retirement account, mortgaged the house, and took out a lien on her car.

It’s unbelievable that people still fall for this scam spam, but unfortunately greed still trumps common sense. The woman still insists she is “not easily duped.” She was last believed to be involved in a lucrative real estate deal involving a bridge in Brooklyn.