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419 Nigerian Scam descended from old "Spanish Prisoner Scam"
Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2011 1:27 pm
by Parvati
In an article at Forbes.com, Peter Reilly digs into the tax law archives and discovers that the 419 Nigerian Scam is really the internet-savvy child of the older "Spanish Prisoner" scam.
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Fraud Has No Nationality )
Re: 419 Nigerian Scam descended from old "Spanish Prisoner S
Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2011 10:35 pm
by Omne
Parvati wrote:In an article at Forbes.com, Peter Reilly digs into the tax law archives and discovers that the 419 Nigerian Scam is really the internet-savvy child of the older "Spanish Prisoner" scam.
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Fraud Has No Nationality )
I hate to say it but the link between those scams was publicized back in the 90s.
Re: 419 Nigerian Scam descended from old "Spanish Prisoner S
Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2011 11:09 pm
by fortinbras
Yes, Forbes is not the first. I had mentioned this some time ago and I realize that I couldn't have been the first to do so. The Nigerian scam falls into this enormous category of Advance Payment cons, this time spiced with the fact that the victim is lured into doing something shady (like cheating the Nigerian govt of its taxes) so that he is hesitant about going to the police. You can always find free cheese in a mousetrap.
Incidentally, there was a David Mamet movie titled The Spanish Prisoner in 1998, with Steve Martin, Rebecca Pidgeon, Ricky Jay, Ed O'Neill, et al., about another, very elaborate, high-tech, scam. At one point the ongoing scam is likened to the Spanish Prisoner swindle ... but in fact it is not, it more closely resembles the old swindles known as the Pigeon Drop and the Bank Examiner.