Scams

Could webmasters be a target?

[Visit Thailand]

Was just recently thinking of the famous Nigerian Scams and other variations.

Am I right in saying that they do not ask you for money but simply require your bank account details and such like which they somehow manage to empty?

I only ask as recently have received numerous requests to purchase some of my domain names. They had never been advertised in any way and are not even live, nor are they for sale.

I have to admit they are good domains, and am sure are worth a fair bit to someone but somethhing smells fishy about this.

This made me think that webmasters could be a potential target of such scams.

So can someone please clarify whether the Nigerian Scam actually asks you for money or simply needs to get hold of your personal details and bank account numbers etc?

[tigger]

no they just get all your information, bank account details/telephone numbers/copy passport I'm amazed people pass the info out

[cornwall]

If you are concerned about how to protect yourself during such a transaction ...look up "escrow" on G and read about how to protect yourself with that. Much better than giving someone your bank account details

If you want to know more about Nigerian 419 Scam, there are lots of specialist sittes and some humourous sites where people have taken the lads on at their own game

[Visit Thailand]

Thanks that is what I thought and with all the whois details out there on the web it would be very simple for a scammer to target webmasters and say hey we want to buy these domains from you for X amount.

With the internet being the way it is most people will think about a good offer for a domain that is not currently in use.

I presume the next step would be for these scammers to ask for the bank details so they can pay for it and you can transfer it.

What exactly is the process when selling a domain(s) to an unknown person?

[tigger]

I was looking at there EMail Conference website, if anyone wants the URL drop me a line

[Visit Thailand]

Tigger sorry but you have lost me, what is the Email Conference website?

[tigger]

they have there own site now "Nigerian EMail Conference" site, how to spam and make money

[cornwall]

tigger

Thanks for that. Got it via slashdot

See everyone there November 7 - 9, 2003 :)

[deejay]

The Nigerian scams I've seen followed through have asked for money...

they sucker you along for a short while and then, oops, this or that official needs a bribe for documentation... or there are fees involved in this or that part of it... or someone has 'found out' and has to be paid off.

[cornwall]

Keep yourself out of trouble for the rest of the morning, go to big G and try "nigerian lads"

That will lead you to some wonderful threads with the emails going back and forth. You can see exactly what the "lad" is after :)

[caughtintheact]

Sorry to disagree with tigger, but the Nigerian scammers do take your money. First they tell you all they need is information, but later they tell you about the "fees" that you have to pay to get your 30-40% cut. You end up emptying your bank account, not them. They just take all they can get and leave you with as little as they can. Only the greedy, the gullible, and the desperate fall for these scams. And then there's the black money scam..... take a look at www.scamorama.com for tons of info about the lads of Lagos.

[olwen]

Do a search on Ashburton and Nigerian to see an example of what can happen.