Fake Ass Shit

The classic internet scam involving the wife/financial
advisor/secretary of the Minister of Finance of Nigeria/Kenya/Uganda,
who needs access to a foreign bank account to tidy up the funds.The continued
variations on this scam must mean it’s sucking in somebody,
although its hard to avoid asking oneself "Why would a government minister
in Africa want to give ME millions of dollars?"

A
new wrinkle on this scam recently hit home.  Our
22-year-old
son, who was out of work and looking for a job at the time,
received a US Mail Express Mail envelope from California printed with,
in large letters, "Extremely Urgent – please rush to addressee" and bearing
$14.40 in postage. This was clearly not conventional spam.

Inside were what appeared to be 9 US Postal Money Orders
for $950 each. He also got emails which followed the familiar pattern,
money in Africa, need to get it out, need help, God led us to you. He
was supposed to send 90% and keep 10%.

Of course, our son barely had enough in the bank to
pay the rent, he was foraging daily in our frig, so he couldn’t send
them anything.  Their emails, dripping in "Praise Gods!" and "Glory
to the Lords" and other evangelical balderdash, started asking for 50%,
30%, anything. Meanwhile, bereft of funding, our son decided to try cashing
a few of them.

Of course, they are counterfeit. He is probably lucky
he decided to deposit them in his bank account.  If he had tried
to go into some "Checks Cashed" storefront he probably would have been
held a gunpoint until the police arrived. As it was, he was given a good
talking to and charged fees as though he had deposited bad checks. They
closed his account, but opened him another one. The schmuck.

We say that only because he waited until after he had
deposited the first batch to tell his dear old Dad what he was up to.
One of the rare occasions on which our experience and knowledge of scams
could have aided a loved one, and it went by the wayside.

So how did they get his data stolen? Where did they
get his info to start the scam? Turns out a week before we had posted
his Resume on Craig’s List, and it had included his address and email
(not phone). That’s all they needed.

Of course, one has to question the judgment of criminals
who try to rob people who have no jobs, who in our experience
usually have no money, but they must have gotten enough suckers to send
them enough money to make it a worthwhile scam,The money orders were
certainly realistic enough, although the numbers must be fake.

The ad on Craig’s List did get our son a job, but it
also got him into trouble and cost him money. Caveat
emptor.