Purpose

If I have sent you this link, then you need to read this entire article. Please do not contact me or post another comment until you have done so.

It’s really sad that it has come to the point where I have to write a blog entry like this, but there are just too many idiots who are commenting on entries here as if this site were actually hosted by the thieves and miscreants who perpetrate this scam.

People are apparently not reading the heading at the top of the page, nor are they taking time to page through the thousands of examples of this scam, but are sending me their addresses and phones numbers and actually asking when and where they can get their money. Most of these come from the Indian subcontinent, where this scam has moved into the 21st century by attacking victims through SMS phone messages.

This is a SCAM. It’s technically known as the advance fee fraud scam, but more generally known as the Nigerian 419 scam, after the penal code of Nigeria that makes such activity illegal. This penal code is not enforced, obviously.

There is no money! You have not won! These people are thieves who are trying to steal money from you and you are helping them!

The way it works is this: You are informed that you have won a lottery, or that a person in a troubled nation has a fabulous sum of money, part of which can be yours if you help them move it into your country. When you respond, they will arrange details with you, and after several exchanges of correspondence, you will be told that the money is stopped for some reason and that they need you to make a payment to get it moving. This could be in the form of a tax, or a customs duty or transfer/shipping fee, and generally amounts to a couple hundred US dollars. When you pay this money, you will likely never hear from them again, although some of the more bold ones will keep corresponding in the hopes of getting you to pay even higher fees.
Look at the left side of the screen for some links to other websites that expose this fraud in more detail.

If you’re reading this link because I sent it to you in response to a comment you tried to post, then you are the very reason why this scam has survived for the last twenty years. You need to wake up and think! Why aren’t you asking yourself how you won a lottery that you never even entered? Why are there more than a thousand examples of this fraud right here on this page that all say essentially the same thing?

Follow some simple rules to keep yourself safe: NEVER post your personal information on a public forum. That includes address, e-mail and especially your phone number!