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Woman Gives $500,000 to Nigerian Scammer She Met on Christian Mingle

DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs

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In case you needed a reminder not to give money to someone you met on an online dating site, here's one: Last year, a woman was scammed out of more than $500,000 by a Nigerian scam artist that she met on ChristianMingle.com.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the con artist, posing as a British citizen working on a Scottish oil rig, persistently pursued the 66-year-old victim, repeatedly calling her at her San Jose, California home, and sending her texts and flowers. Eventually, he asked her for a loan for a non-existent business, even going so far as to make a fake website.

The woman, whose name was not released, agreed and gave him money from her retirement account, including one lump sum of $200,000 which she wired to a Turkish bank account last year. Shortly after that payment, she became concerned that she'd be scammed and alerted prosecutors in Santa Clara County, who contacted her bank.

Wisdom Onokpite, an aquaintence of the fraudster, was arrested by Turkish police when he attempted to withdraw the money and is being prosecuted with fraud.

The actual fraudster's identity is still unknown, though his Skype and email accounts were traced to Nigeria.

http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/San-Jose-woman-loses-500-000-in-online-dating-5146414.php
Ahh the old Nigerian scam, guess the old saying is true. Suckers are born every minute
 
When they ask for money, run. That is going to be a scam 100% of the time! Geez.
 
At least he got caught but really, $200,000? Maybe I should start doing that. ****, it seems profitable enough.
 
I'm sorry to hear that. I hate to see people getting taken advantage of. Karma should get that bastard!
 
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A scam artist tried to swindle a sweet little old rich lady out of her wealth??

KEVIN SPACEY'S LEX LUTHOR?!!
 
Someone actually fell for the that old trick? Where has this lady been for the past ten years?

Sorry to hear about her situation, but jeez. At least they caught the SOB.
 
Is there some kind of world class scam teaching institution in Nigeria? I mean seriously, what is it with that country and internet scams?
 
I don't really feel sorry for her.
 
Someone actually fell for the that old trick? Where has this lady been for the past ten years?

Sorry to hear about her situation, but jeez. At least they caught the SOB.
It still happens all the time, and it seems the older women are the most likely to fall victim to the dating scam.

Is there some kind of world class scam teaching institution in Nigeria? I mean seriously, what is it with that country and internet scams?
It is an actual business there.
 
Is there some kind of world class scam teaching institution in Nigeria? I mean seriously, what is it with that country and internet scams?

They did some checking a few years back and it was reported that over 75% of those scams come directly from Nigeria. It is an actual industry there.
 
It's not like this type of thing hasn't been around for centuries.
 
They did some checking a few years back and it was reported that over 75% of those scams come directly from Nigeria. It is an actual industry there.


Yep!


http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/05/magazine/who-made-that-nigerian-scam.html?_r=0

I’d be able to do a really good job, I think. I haven’t for one second contemplated doing that, of course. . . . I do remember I sent a scammer a fake passport, and it was such a good fake that at the end of the scam-bait, when he realized what had happened, he sent me an email and basically admitted to everything he was trying. He said that he was quite a high-up scammer, and he offered me a deal. He would pay me $12,000 a month for 10 passports to be created. You’ve got to think of what this guy must have been earning to offer me that kind of money!

wow, holy ****. :wow: 144K a year in dirty money if he had accepted. :o I bet dirty money is the best to roll around in.
 
She's 66. Give her a break. Not everyone is as savvy as 20 and 30-somethings who grew up in the digital age.

It has nothing to do with the digital age or whatever.

Giving someone you just met $200,000 or $500,000? That's just dumb to me.
 
If you're going to be that naive that you believe that giving someone, whom you've never met, hundreds of thousands of dollars with no type of insurance that you'll get it back or even able to verify that they are who they say they are, then it's not a matter of being tech savvy or not, it's being totally blind and very stupid no matter your age.
 
She must have money to burn, man.

Sheesh give it to me instead!
 
It's incredible people still fall for these scams. Stupid is as stupid does.:facepalm:
 
Ahh the old Nigerian scam, guess the old saying is true. Suckers are born every minute
Or in this case, 66 years ago.

She's 66. Give her a break. Not everyone is as savvy as 20 and 30-somethings who grew up in the digital age.
Too bad these predate the internet. They've been around since at least the 1800's. And they took off in the 1980's so there's really not much excuse except gullibility. They predate the invention of the telegraph.
 
lol, christianmingle.com. I guess she found God's match for her.
 
I was watching NBC Dateline on a story like this. Because the scammer is doing it overseas, US authorities either have a really hard time / or are legally unable to catch the culprit. However, one of them was in the US so since he was on American soil, they arrested him. It was awesome!
 
Thing is there have been times where scam baiters have actually managed to get them to buy a plane ticket to wherever they were located and get the cops there but since they hadn't committed a crime in that country they couldn't do anything even though there was proff of what they've done to others in the country.
 

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