
419 scammer chats with security company CEO - bd
http://onlinearmorpersonalfirewall.blogspot.com/2009/03/yes-16million-usd-but-we-will-have-to.html
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andreyf
_A shame. I really enjoyed the chat with him (some parts have been edited out
for length) - and at some point when he was telling me about life over there
(wherever there actually was) I felt sorry for him - he was very, very good at
his job and had a good sense of humour about him._

This reminds me of some of the kids I knew i college - nice guys, personable,
not too sharp, now making good salaries in sales or management. Would these
guys turn to "crime" if it didn't involve violence or threats, just
persuasion, and it was their only chance at making money? Sure, why not...

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dennisgorelik
These 419 scammers operate in the culture that is very tolerant to scammers.
That's another reason why they chose such a bad line of business. BTW, I don't
think scammers are making big $$$. Scam doesn't pay well in long term.

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vaksel
from what I've read:

-most of these scammers are young kids

-most of them make nothing by U.S. standards ,but are rolling in dough by local standards. Many times the scamming 14 year old, makes more cash than his father.

-The big guys who recruit the teenagers, and provide computers + internet access, are rolling in dough even by U.S. standards.

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rjurney
Most of these kids use net cafes by the hour or quarter hour, so if they don't
achieve a net-positive scam, they take a loss. Not sure the 'big guys' are
making money from crime, just operating an internet access business.

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radu_floricica
Somebody should offer this guy a job. I'm not dealing in an english-language
market, but I'd bet he could make more money (for him and his employer)
selling some product then scamming. He's bright enough, with social skills and
decent english. And he's not shy to talk to strangers.

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Hexstream
Didn't you read? He's _already_ "selling" "products" to his "clients"!

Seriously, I'm impressed at the extensive amount of self-bullshitting that can
go on in the head of a scammer to allow them to maintain some sort of self-
esteem.

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radu_floricica
Did you ever play a "free" mp3? It's exactly the same kind of bullshit. From a
wiring standpoint, at least. In his culture the "clients" are about as
abstract and rich as RIAA is for you and me.

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greyman
I am sorry for the people who transferred their savings to those scammers.
What astonishes me is how many people are willing to perform illegal things
(because what those scammers are offering always requires to do something
illegal).

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param
Not sure why that would be so. If I recieve about 10 million USD in my account
and move 8m of those into another; and then pay income tax on the 2m, would I
not be ok?

A concern could exist in case the money in question was involved in funding
nefarious activities, but that's not always the case with the story presented
by these people

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randallsquared
It's still money laundering, I believe. Remember, possibly laundered money,
like possible drug money, is guilty until proven innocent, and since they
sometimes literally bring cases against the _money_ rather than any person,
there's little pretense of upholding the money holder's (whether they're
legally the "owner" is often at question and depends on jurisdiction) rights.

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pixpox3
Hilarious!

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datums
The funniest story I've heard regarding these scammers was the one about the
guy eating the usb drive when law enforcement came into the hot spot cafe.

