[OT] What a nice guy - RIP OFF

[John H. Robinson, IV]

On Fri, Mar 15, 2002 at 02:09:29PM -0800, John Oliver wrote:
> 
> I really don't think anyone ever used the terms "419" or "Nigerian
> money-laundering" as an indictment of the entire country of Nigeria.
> But, Nigeria is where this particular scam got started, and where most
> of these rings are based.

from my research on it (that i started once i got my first Invitation)
indicates that the 419 scam includes some high ranking officials in
government and business, and that the government of nigeria is not very
likely to prosecute, as it happens to be like the third highest revenue
stream theyhave.

to date, there have been perhaps 20 arrests since it began in the
1980's. that is two arrests for 419's scams _per year_. and i don;t
beleive there has been a substantial, if any, return of any ill-begotten
funds.

of course only a very small percentage of nigerians are anything but
good, lawabiding citizens, this is true for _any_ nation, nationality,
ethnic group, home planetary system, or anything.

what makes this particular scam in this particular localle so bad, is
that the _supply_ side of it is not being stopped at _all_.

i have links, but you can find them quite readily on google by searching
for ``419 letters''

http://www.google.com/search?q=419+letters&num=100

-john