Proof that Email Scams Still Work: Woman Loses $400K
Posted 11/19/08 at 11:14:37 AM | by Paul Lilly
The internet has become a breeding ground for scams of all shapes and sizes, but perhaps none more popular (and thus more easily recognizable) than the email rouse of a long lost relative, government official, or bank employee holed up in Nigeria and needing your help in securing a large sum of money. There's really no need to go on because you've undoubtedly received variations of this scam in your inbox countless times and, well, it never works. Or does it?
Not only does the old Nigerian bit still lure victims, the scam claimed its biggest known payday to date thanks to Janella Spears who forked over a mind boggling $400,000. Despite the big payout, Spears still contends she isn't easily duped. After all, she works as a registered nurse, teaches CPR, is a reverend who has married many couples, and also learned sign language to communicate with her hearing impaired husband. So what possible spin could this common scam have come with that got a seemingly intelligent woman to take the bait? Nothing more than the mention of a 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.
So where does the $400,000 in payments rank on email scam scale? An undercover investigator who worked on the case described it as the worst example of the scam he's ever seen. We believe him.
Image Credit: Katu.com
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I'm sad now. This bring
Submitted by Mighty BOB! on Sat, 2008-11-22 16:24
I'm sad now. This brings into question my faith in the ability of our species to survive when it is comprised of such stupidity...
-edit- Ha, great time for a grammatical typo...
Submitted by Shalbatana on Thu, 2008-11-20 09:42
Stupid!!
You don't get money by giving money. Wall st should teach us all that lesson.
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A sucker is born every
Submitted by Keith E. Whisman on Thu, 2008-11-20 01:41
A sucker is born every minute of everyday.
Submitted by zodi on Wed, 2008-11-19 14:06
She may be a smart and intelligent person, she is just not street smart or wise.
If someone left a ferrari running in china town with no one around and a guy said its yours and hands you the second set of keys. Would you take it?
Knowing that there could be drugs, explosives, or that the car belongs to the Pit Bosses Wife?
Yeah if it looks to good to be true, it probably is. Oh and terrorists already now have 400K +
theirs also timing. from
Submitted by nekollx on Wed, 2008-11-19 14:42
theirs also timing.
from my reading it seemed she knoew about A Grandfather she had lost contact with. And this email suddenly says her grandfather is sick...
Submitted by Queenof1 on Wed, 2008-11-19 13:58
I wonder if her husband knew. I wonder if she still has a husband.
Holy F**k!??! The old long
Submitted by BroadSide on Wed, 2008-11-19 13:56
Holy F**k!??! The old long lost Nigerian grandad scam. That old chestnut, eh?...
Submitted by xs0u1x on Wed, 2008-11-19 13:04
nowhere do i feel any sympathy to this women. i first saw the emails and thought "man you would have to be a retard to fall for this crap"
lets all point at this women and call her a retard....she gets what she gets for being greedy
Submitted by lee7n on Wed, 2008-11-19 12:53
I'm sorry but anyone that dumb deserves whatever they get. Seriously you have to have rocks in your head to beleive something like that.
Submitted by sinan on Wed, 2008-11-19 12:36
You'd think getting financial advice from George Bush would scare anyone into not following through with what they're doing.
Submitted by pistola on Wed, 2008-11-19 12:29
You can't con an honest John. Thats what greed gets you, serves her right.
Submitted by decapitor on Wed, 2008-11-19 12:28
That's the power of denial. After the first couple times she got duped her mind just told her that she couldn't be wrong about this.
Submitted by skywyze on Wed, 2008-11-19 11:47
I'm sorry, I know this sounds cold, but I have absolutely no sympathy for this woman. If you get taken by scams like this, you deserve what you get. I'm tired of hearing people complain about losing their money to well documented scams like this. We need to face, there are some people out there that are just dumb, or do dumb things (me included), and when we do those things, we should take our lumps, learn and move on. i can see losing money to a well orchestrated scheme by pro con men (i.e. fake business investments and stocks and so forth) that provide a lot of material as "proof", but a random email from an unknown source, please. Like the old sayings go, "If it seems too good to be true it is" and "A fool and their money are soon parted."
Greed
Submitted by KOMMANDER on Wed, 2008-11-19 10:59
The reason the woman got taken in was greed. It was the thought of getting great gain for a small investment. I can't say that the husband was much smarter. If I had the retirerment plan he had and my wife started doing this I would have lock her out of it and he also should have gotten the police involved in it early on. The very least he could have done at any point was gotten her declared unfit to handle her finacial affairs and prevented the fiscal meltdown he is now in. Oh well the old saying "Theres's a sucker born every minuet" still holds true. She will get fooled in the future if she still thinks she's not gullible as she apparently has'nt learned her lesson. KOMMANDER
Yeah reminds me off all
Submitted by daveangel on Wed, 2008-11-19 14:28
Yeah reminds me off all the people that keep giving their money away to the casino's. They keep giving the little money they have away hoping for a big payout they the facts show will most likely never happen. Besides if she was a nurse she probably hated her job and was looking for a way out.
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