部落格
Heartbreaking real life story of a scam where John Rempel, 22, lost USD 150,000
Fri Jan 16 18:46:22 2009 — Esa S.John Rempel's troubles began in July 2007. He said he got an e-mail from someone claiming to be a lawyer with a client named David Rempel who died in a 2005 bomb attack in London, England, and left behind $12.8 million.
John Rempel said he quit his truck driving job, lost friends, borrowed money and crossed the globe in pursuit of a non-existent inheritance, after he was contacted by e-mail in what is known as a Nigerian 419 scam.
Read the full story on how international scam artists bilked John Rempel and his family of $150,000 at http://tinyurl.com/8cewcq
By making this public John hopefully will help others to avoid falling for a Nigerian scam.
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評語
Wow
Sat Jan 17 04:15:22 2009 — wehaveitallHow did all his relatives and friends also fall for this clear scam? Did no one realize that this was a trap?
WOT ROCKS!
No pity
Sat Jan 17 16:27:13 2009 — g7wSorry, but I can express no pity for this person.
These scams have been all over the Net, the news (print and TV) and to be ignorant of personal safety (identity as well as financial), well... Albeit he's learned his lesson now. Sometimes it takes a burn to learn not to stick you finger in the fire.
I've received checks in the mail for amounts up to $15,000USD from who knows where. None have been legitimate, all would have repercussions if cashed. The only thing I did was to scan them, send the images via email to the financial institutions that were labeled on these checks, and then I would shred them.
One more victim
Sat Jan 17 20:19:53 2009 — Esa S.The thing that strikes me is that if John Rempel didn't know about these scams, his relatives and friends should have. Instead of warning him his relatives seem to have given him more money. I really hope that this story reaches someone who wouldn't read about this type of Internet fraud otherwise, so that John can help others by going public with this tragic story.
Naive
Sat Jan 17 22:47:28 2009 — WarxasVery very Naive, this is a very common scam there is even a Wikipedia article on it! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advance-fee_fraud But seriously, if he wanted to use his own money then I would have felt very sorry for him. But since he used his family's money, I have no remorse. Sorry, I know this sounds harsh.
The thing is that most
Sun Jan 18 11:23:51 2009 — AnonymousSpecialThe thing is that most people on WOT are well informed about this kind of thing, but some people such as casual elderly users or even younger people may be less wary of these kind of scams. I am hearing all the time about how elderly people let a double glazing salesperson into their house and give them an advanced fee only to never have the windows installed. This is a very similar thing but easier because you can send out millions of emails and only need one person to fall for it and you're sorted.
:|
Mon Jan 19 04:02:49 2009 — Xp54321I feel a little sorry for him but he used his family's money! I am not surprised he lost friends, I hope none of my friends fall for such scams.....:( People really need to be informed before even connecting to the Internet! I would never allow someone to connect a foreign or new PC to my home network before I had verified it was: clean, updated, and secured, but most importantly; being operated by someone who has demonstrated intelligence, common sense, and a healthy bit of paranoia and cynicism.! A license to surf the 'Net is something I would support except for the practical problems if you took the comparison literally. :) I hope his family understands but...*sigh*.
Preventable, but still sad.
Fri Jan 23 23:18:51 2009 — k8cThe thing that bothers me, is that he could have done his homework before he went chasing a rainbow. I think most know that e-mail, from unknown sources, even those claiming to be related, who you have no knowledge of, or have never spoken to,...you disregard, and/or do research to see if they are legit. With that much money, allegedly, at stake, all he had to do was find out where the relative died (Country, County), locate the County seat, contact the court house there, and talk to the equivalent of the Register of Wills (in the U.S. that's what it is called). I am sure if he would have contacted the court house in the decedent's county of death, they could have directed him to the proper office to see if there was an estate listed for this alleged relative. If not, wait thirty days, check again. Even if the decedent did not have any real estate, which requires that you file in the Register's office in the county of death, a proof of death would still have to be put on record. If nothing appears, tell the person at the court house, Register's Office, that you received an e-mail, and need help. I am sure they have resources that they could direct you to, in order to determine if the information is fraudulent. I was a paralegal for thirty years,...one thing , one of the attorneys told me over the years, which has proven to be very true is,..."There are no free lunches." In other words, don't believe in luck,..and/or something for nothing. Poor guy,...naive, but still sad. He may be able to find out where the e-mail came from, and file charges. New laws are being added to the books daily regarding cyber fraud, stalking, etc..