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mydogfarted

mydogfarted

Oakland, NJ
June 2003

NOV 18, 2008 07:13 AM

http://www.katu.com/news/34292654.html



SWEET HOME, Ore. - Janella Spears doesn't think she's a sucker or an easy mark.

Besides her work as a registered nurse, Spears - no relation to the well-known pop star - also teaches CPR and is a reverend who has married many couples. She also communicates with lightning-fast sign language with her hearing-impaired husband.

So how did this otherwise lucid, intelligent woman end up sending nearly half a million dollars to a bunch of con artists running what has to be one of the best-known Internet scams in the world?

Spears fell victim to the "Nigerian scam," which is familiar to almost anyone who has ever had an e-mail account.

The e-mail pitch is familiar to most people by now: a long-lost relative or desperate government official in a war-torn country needs to shuffle some funds around, say $10 million or $20 million, and if you could just help them out for a bit, you get to keep 10 (or 20 or 30) percent for your trouble.



A registered nurse, who teaches CPR, is a reverend and fluent in sign language, this moron wiped out her husband's savings, re mortgaged their house and took liens out on both of their cars, to the tune of $400k and wired it to Nigeria over the course of two years.

I realize people are stupid, but $400,000 stupid? Remind me never to get sick in that part of Oregon. She'd probably let me die of dysentery.

Mark_plus_Beer

Mark_plus_Beer

United Kingdom
August 2005

NOV 18, 2008 10:07 AM

$400,000.00 is alot of stupid

n8tvegrl

n8tvegrl

Bend, OR
February 2004

NOV 18, 2008 10:25 AM

Dammit mydogfarted, why do you have to make us look like Oregonads?



ooo aaa

Tritone

Tritone

Saint Paul, MN
May 2004

NOV 18, 2008 10:28 AM

My ex once showed me a music video done by a Nigerian comedian making fun of Americans for falling for this crap.

Nixon

Nixon

SUICIDEGIRL

California, USA

NOV 18, 2008 11:37 AM

I wonder what percentage of the Nigerian GNP comes from scams.

Iggy

Iggy

SUICIDEGIRL

Alabama, USA

NOV 18, 2008 11:39 AM

Man, it boggles my mind when people fall for this crap.

X_Racer_X

X_Racer_X

Philadelphia, PA
July 2008

NOV 18, 2008 11:52 AM

Narehusu

Narehusu

Cheshire, OR
July 2008

NOV 18, 2008 04:09 PM



Ohgodogod that was funny!

ricos

ricos

USA
December 2006

NOV 18, 2008 04:19 PM



you can also go to http://www.419eater.com/

In the forums people post thier correspondences with these scammers. My favorite is the girl who had them going for months entirely in a character based on the Swedish Chef from the muppets. Every email would be peppered with um de gorsh's, bork bork, bork's and such. Pretty damn funny.

Tiger_Fodder

Tiger_Fodder

Braintree, MA
June 2007

NOV 18, 2008 04:27 PM

That is stooooooopid!

punk

punk

Phoenix, AZ
January 2004

NOV 18, 2008 04:33 PM

Ah, greed. Very sad. Also, very stupid.

Good job, dumbass!

sick

sick

Minneapolis, MN
June 2003

NOV 18, 2008 04:39 PM

Nothing really surprising. A con-man's job is to convince rational, intelligent people to part with their money. They're very good at it, and there's a reason scams such as the 419 are still in use. They work.

And anyone who thinks they're too smart to fall for a scam...I've got a deal I'd like to tell you about.

AceT

AceT

Portland, OR
April 2004

NOV 18, 2008 04:48 PM

A lot of people fall for it, or it wouldn't still be done. Except I've never heard of someone falling for it that hard. Usually after the first 10-20k is lost, the person smartens up or at least asks for advice and is informed of the scam. To keep the ruse going for two years is impressively sad.

Never underestimate the power of greed, even amongst the most rationally minded. On the bright side, it could be worse. A lot of folks actually fly to Nigeria and are kidnapped and held for ransom. At least she's still alive.

AceT

AceT

Portland, OR
April 2004

NOV 18, 2008 04:56 PM

Wow, if you watch the video, the investigator says that a lot of people warned her; he did, the local authorities did, even her own husband pleaded with her and she just kept sending them money.

sick

sick

Minneapolis, MN
June 2003

NOV 18, 2008 05:10 PM

AceT said:
Wow, if you watch the video, the investigator says that a lot of people warned her; he did, the local authorities did, even her own husband pleaded with her and she just kept sending them money.



I wonder if she has an illness of some sort?

Edit: Looks like not, now that I think about it. It's simply a horrible example of someone chasing her losses.

Cigarette

Cigarette

Cleveland, OH
April 2004

NOV 18, 2008 05:40 PM

mydogfarted said:
teaches CPR, is a reverend and fluent in sign language,



None of these takes that much in the way of critical thinking to accomplish.

n8tvegrl

n8tvegrl

Bend, OR
February 2004

NOV 18, 2008 05:49 PM

Cigarette said:

mydogfarted said:
teaches CPR, is a reverend and fluent in sign language,



None of these takes that much in the way of critical thinking to accomplish.



tongue

_grrlhavoc_

_grrlhavoc_

New York, NY
November 2008

NOV 18, 2008 05:50 PM

There are lots of amusing postings on Craigslist about these scammers...

Bo Luke and the Nigerian

Engineer Robson

Justin Credible and Miss Bea Haven

My favorite John Bigbootie

BatAttaK

BatAttaK

Tacoma, WA
OLD SKOOL

NOV 18, 2008 06:15 PM

wow...just wow.

n8tvegrl

n8tvegrl

Bend, OR
February 2004

NOV 18, 2008 06:17 PM

BatAttaK said:
ummmm...how does an RN happen to have $400k just laying around? I make more than most RNs and I sure as fuck don't have anywhere near that amount of money in the bank.



She didn't. She used what they had in savings, raided hubby's 401K, mortgaged the house that was already paid for, and picked up a loan against a car that was already paid for as well.

Accuser

Accuser

Scottsdale, AZ
October 2006

NOV 18, 2008 06:33 PM

Cigarette said:

mydogfarted said:
teaches CPR, is a reverend and fluent in sign language,



None of these takes that much in the way of critical thinking to accomplish.



Some of them even require that a certain amount of critical thinking is not exceeded.

SPOILERS! (Click to view)
Don't buy into the lies of sign language! They're just trying to make you look silly!

formerviking

formerviking

Denver, PA
May 2006

NOV 18, 2008 10:30 PM

Can we maybe say she might not be stupid , but she is surely lacking in common sense ?

trocc

trocc

Chicago, IL
March 2003

NOV 19, 2008 12:50 AM

formerviking said:
Can we maybe say she might not be stupid , but she is surely lacking in common sense ?


i got canal smarts, bitch

Tritone

Tritone

Saint Paul, MN
May 2004

NOV 19, 2008 02:08 AM

Sick said:

AceT said:
Wow, if you watch the video, the investigator says that a lot of people warned her; he did, the local authorities did, even her own husband pleaded with her and she just kept sending them money.



I wonder if she has an illness of some sort?

Edit: Looks like not, now that I think about it. It's simply a horrible example of someone chasing her losses.



We tend to call that gambling addiction.

X_Racer_X

X_Racer_X

Philadelphia, PA
July 2008

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