It’s Official: 1.4% of People Are Really Stupid
From the Los Angeles Times this morning — their reporter Robyn Dixon went to Nigeria to talk to 419 (advance fee) scammers:
Eager to impress his new boss, Samuel worked for six-hour stretches extracting e-mail addresses and sending off letters that had been composed by a college graduate also working for Shepherd.
He sent 500 e-mails a day and usually received about seven replies.
About 70% of those were eventually tricked into sending money. One victim told the U.S Consulate they lost $200,000.
Technorati Tags: 419, advance fee, scam
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October 20th, 2005 at 8:37 pm
This gets around to one of my pet topics: spam. Congress debates what to do about it, everyone complains about it and the fix seems simple. Spam should be a part of direct marketing. If you buy a John LeCarre novel from Amazon, then that online retailer should be able to send you spam relevant to your taste in reading.
I mean, I get tired of non-relevant spam:
INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR MORTGAGE
(I don’t own a home)
EARN MORE MONEY! WORK FROM HOME!
(I already do work from home, asshat)
PORTABLE TOILETS FOR WHEN YOU HAVE TO GO RIGHT NOW
(I’m not making that one up)
DO YOU WANT TO BE HAPPY?
(Who the fuck doesn’t, butt munch?)
BE A CHAMPION IN THE BEDROOM
(Are you inferring otherwise?)
BACKUP YOUR WORK ONLINE
(Sure, so jerkwads like you can access my documents? Do I look like I just fell out of the trunk of Steve Jobs’ Volvo?)
SINGLE? MEET OTHER CHRISTIANS ONLINE
(So long as they don’t have a problem with my atheism)
IMPRESS WITH YOUR NEW ROLEX
(No thanks. I have a real one.)
WHY GO TO YOUR LOCAL DRUGSTORE?
(Because they’re licensed by the FDA)
October 22nd, 2005 at 7:58 am
You have a rolex?
July 22nd, 2007 at 11:15 am
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