BERIGAN Posted November 18, 2008 Report Share Posted November 18, 2008 Now we know why they still try these scams....if her husband killed her, it would be justifiable homicide. Woman loses $400,000 in Nigerian e-mail scam Associated Press Tuesday, November 18, 2008 SWEET HOME, Ore. — An Oregon woman who is out $400,000 after falling for a well-known Internet scam says she wasn’t a sucker or an easy mark. Janella Spears of Sweet Home says she simply became curious when she received an e-mail promising her $20.5 million if she would only help out a long-lost relative identified as J.B. Spears with a little money up front. Spears told KATU-TV about the scammers’ ability to identify her relative by name was persuasive. “That’s what got me to believe it,” She said. “So, why wouldn’t you send over $100?” Spears, who is a nursing administrator and CPR teacher, said she mortgaged the house and took a lien out on the family car, and ran through her husband’s retirement account. “The retirement he was dreaming of — cruising and going around and seeing America — is pretty much gone for him right now,” she said. She estimates it will take two years to clear the debt that accumulated in the more than two years she spent sending money to con artists. Her family and bank officials told her it was all a scam, she said, and begged her to stop, but she persisted because she became obsessed with getting paid. The scheme is often called the “Nigerian scam” and it’s familiar to many people with e-mail accounts. It still exists and it still works. Spears first sent $100 through an untraceable wire service as directed by the scammers. Then, more multimillion dollar promises followed so long as she sent more money. The scammers sent Spears official-looking documents and certificates from the Bank of Nigeria and the United Nations. President Bush and FBI Director Robert Mueller were also involved, the e-mails said, and needed her help. They sent official-looking documents and certificates from the Bank of Nigeria and even from the United Nations, saying her payment was “guaranteed.” But it wasn’t and now Spears is paying the price for her costly lesson. “The hope is [other people] are not going to fall as hard as I fell,” Spears said. http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/stori...scam.html?imw=Y Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hardbopjazz Posted November 18, 2008 Report Share Posted November 18, 2008 What a dumb ass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christiern Posted November 18, 2008 Report Share Posted November 18, 2008 Her greed and ignorance earned her that loss—I feel sorry for her husband, not at all for her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Bresnahan Posted November 18, 2008 Report Share Posted November 18, 2008 A fool and his (or her) money are soon parted. If it sounds too good to be true, it isn't. A sucker is born every minute. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. All of these sayings and many more, all with the same general theme, are drilled into our psyche from a very young age. Clearly, this woman is an absolute idiot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Twizzle Posted November 18, 2008 Report Share Posted November 18, 2008 Video of the idiot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave James Posted November 18, 2008 Report Share Posted November 18, 2008 (edited) A fellow Oregonian to boot. I feel shame. I have the same hard time pungling up (an original Oregon expression) any sympathy for someone who allows themselves to fall victim to such an obvious scam. What makes it even worse is she couldn't stop even when it became clear to everyone around her that she was being taken. This is the kind of person who would have dropped thousands on video poker if she's gotten involved in that instead of this Nigerian con. How would you feel if you were her husband? I tell you how I'd feel...like an ex-husband. Up over and out. Edited November 18, 2008 by Dave James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robviti Posted November 18, 2008 Report Share Posted November 18, 2008 (edited) A fool and his (or her) money are soon parted. If it sounds too good to be true, it isn't. A sucker is born every minute. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. All of these sayings and many more, all with the same general theme, are drilled into our psyche from a very young age. Clearly, this woman is an absolute idiot. uh, huh. well, consider this headline: Thursday, November 13, 2008 WASHINGTON NEWS Paulson's Bailout: A "$700 Billion Switcheroo"? if this poor woman is an idiot, what does that make us? Edited November 18, 2008 by robviti Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christiern Posted November 18, 2008 Report Share Posted November 18, 2008 It's amazing that the husband hasn't left her—or strung her up. Do they make them dumber than this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Man with the Golden Arm Posted November 18, 2008 Report Share Posted November 18, 2008 well on the other hand she says she's "... not a typical sucker". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Magnificent Goldberg Posted November 18, 2008 Report Share Posted November 18, 2008 well on the other hand she says she's "... not a typical sucker". She's probably right. I should think the typical sucker cuts his or her losses pretty quickly. MG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave James Posted November 18, 2008 Report Share Posted November 18, 2008 What's a hoot is the part of the video where the TV interviewer says "...but you're not a sucker", like the woman isn't a sucker. The woman, strangely enough, says she isn't. I've got 400 large that says that's the wrong answer. Up over and out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king ubu Posted November 19, 2008 Report Share Posted November 19, 2008 who would send moeny to help president Bush? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brownian Motion Posted November 19, 2008 Report Share Posted November 19, 2008 She's an RN, fairly rigorous training as well as a job in which life and death hang in the balance on the basis of decisions you make. She's fluent in a second language. She teaches CPR. All of which is to say that her credentials indicate she should never have fallen for the scam in the first place, never mind being continually played for a sucker for two years. But fall she did. Civilization, it seems, is always hanging by a thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king ubu Posted November 19, 2008 Report Share Posted November 19, 2008 what's an RN? redneck? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aggie87 Posted November 19, 2008 Report Share Posted November 19, 2008 what's an RN? redneck? Krankenschwester. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brownian Motion Posted November 19, 2008 Report Share Posted November 19, 2008 what's an RN? redneck? Registered Nurse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king ubu Posted November 19, 2008 Report Share Posted November 19, 2008 Ah, I see - I have abbreviations... they always remind me of the army - they have abbrev.itis there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BERIGAN Posted November 19, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 19, 2008 Ah, I see - I have abbreviations... they always remind me of the army - they have abbrev.itis there. What kind of abbrevations do you have??? Are they worth a lot of money??? I know a woman that might buy them from you, over a few years Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzmoose Posted November 20, 2008 Report Share Posted November 20, 2008 if this poor woman is an idiot, what does that make us? Answer: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niko Posted November 20, 2008 Report Share Posted November 20, 2008 well on the other hand she says she's "... not a typical sucker". She's probably right. I should think the typical sucker cuts his or her losses pretty quickly. MG read in an article that most of the (surprisingly many) scam victims tend to be relatively well-educated people (the medical profession was explicitly mentioned though i think they rather meant doctors than nurses) because only those have enough confidence in their judgement to begin a creepy endeavour like this... that this woman believes she has anything she can teach other people now shows that she is the typical sucker... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave James Posted November 20, 2008 Report Share Posted November 20, 2008 Ah, I see - I have abbreviations... they always remind me of the army - they have abbrev.itis there. What kind of abbrevations do you have??? Are they worth a lot of money??? I know a woman that might buy them from you, over a few years I had a woman once tell me that something near and dear to me reminded her of an abbreviation. Up over and out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzmoose Posted November 20, 2008 Report Share Posted November 20, 2008 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king ubu Posted November 21, 2008 Report Share Posted November 21, 2008 Ah, I see - I have abbreviations... they always remind me of the army - they have abbrev.itis there. What kind of abbrevations do you have??? Are they worth a lot of money??? I know a woman that might buy them from you, over a few years I had a woman once tell me that something near and dear to me reminded her of an abbreviation. Up over and out. ha, at least my typo made sure you had some fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockefeller center Posted November 21, 2008 Report Share Posted November 21, 2008 Ah, I see - I have abbreviations... they always remind me of the army - they have abbrev.itis there. What kind of abbrevations do you have??? Are they worth a lot of money??? I know a woman that might buy them from you, over a few years I had a woman once tell me that something near and dear to me reminded her of an abbreviation. Up over and out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrdlu Posted November 27, 2008 Report Share Posted November 27, 2008 There are tons of scammers in Nigeria and also Ghana. The funniest one I got was a 29 yr old gorgeous-looking girl in Chicago who approached me on a chat/profile website. (Facebook is terrible for that, but it wasn't Facebook.) "She" was really a man in Nigeria. There was one, and only one, display picture showing on msn. I played along with him for awhile, to see what he would say. "She" said she loved me and wanted to come see me. Eventually it got to "please send the airfare to this bank account number". So I (having lots of real pics AND a cam) said, "do you have any more pics?" Then the msn window was as silent as a turkey farm on Thanksgiving afternoon, lol. A real giveaway happened when I asked how much the airfare was. The guy called it "Chicago O'Hare", instead of just saying Chicago Airport like a true local would do. I have also chatted with "Sean Brosnan" and "Mihael Rothschild III". "Sean" wanted to use my Paypal account cos he said his Dad was restricting his money. One guy wanted me to help him ship ivory from Nigeria to some U.S. museums. He wanted money up front from me to pay for - get this - export duties. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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