having failed to find my metaphor...
i tuned into 20/20 which had a segment on the infamous nigerian internet scams, known as 419s in nigeria, after the law that bans them. and boy are there ever many, beyond the usual emails asking for help accessing millions in frozen bank account funds, in exchange for a reward of a couple of million (some even come with photos!) to "black money" scams. a lot of thought goes into tapping into greed. i guess that is why it is one of the seven deadly sins.
i was stunned. it goes to show why folk need to watch 60 minutes. it would save a lot of people their life savings. i mean, people sent their bank details, gave over briefcases full of money or plain old wired money to, basically, emails. it's hard enough for me to lend money to a relative. i am a horrible horrible person.
20/20 even took us all the way to lagos, nigeria, a "crime-ridden disgrace of a city" where "the average wage is $1 a week". seriously lagos, your peeps need to use that $1 a week to clean up your disgraceful city. forget that, according to sally struthers, it takes a dollar a day to feed a child. no food. we want crime-ridden city of pride, gosh darn it! and in lagos, we watched the special task force bust internet cafes full of young men searching for that one person who fall for that email plea that offers riches beyond belief.
i'm thinking sacha baron cohen needs to get in touch with these guys. together they can find those who are left to fool.
4 comments:
and what determines whether a city is a disgrace or not anyway? i was so disapointed that they didn't show the conman crying as was promised in the short preview advertising the show during the week...even though they did have the fellow who lay down on the desk like a school child and admitted his wrongdoing. maybe Lagos can turn around afterall, one conman at a time!
which conman first, eks? the big oil men or the 419ers crammed into internet cafes - unable to afford their own computers and internet connection?
i tell you eks, one day lagos will look like the oil town it is. keep hope alive!!! haha!
"...people sent their bank details,... to, basically, emails"
Too greedy. And naive...
you said it dodos. i had a conversation with a co-worker today and we couldn't figure it out.
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