Lotus666
06-08-09, 10:58 PM
Rockjock's book review from 2005...
Rich Siegel, Personal Publishing
I had the occasion to try this trick myself once (as done by some of us in TLP). The premise of just about every Nigerian scammer (or from any other part of the world) is to make the case that several million dollars is locked away in a bank. For the want of a few thousand, the trnasfer fees can be arranged and the money will be released. As payment for your generous transfer fee, the money is promised to you.
What many don't realize, and that ad executive Rich Siegel did, is that it's a scam. There is no money in any Nigerian bank. For many of these spammers, they aren't even operating out of Nigeria. It's a ploy to get you to send money with no verification, and sometimes forged documents. It's a valuable lesson to anyone anticipating things that are too good to be true. On a personal note, I too was almost swindled when applying for a position on monster.com, who it turns out is under no obligation to confirm that companies they advertised jobs for are actually legitimate enterprises.
Siegel has a fascinating resume. He's the one who thought up ABC's "TV is good" campaign with all that yellow. (It seemed to leave a lasting impression, because ABC still uses the yellow banner.) One day while he was checking his e-mail he came across a typical Nigerian scam letter, and decided to respond instead of simply deleting. What began as a joke turned into a strange tapestry of storytelling. Pretending he had a newfound wealth thanks to his dead uncle, Siegel adopts the moniker Richard "Dick" Gosinya. (Say it out loud if you don't understand.)
Siegel plays this e-tennis with Mantu Ibrahim, the Nigerian who thinks he is pulling a scam but who is is actually being scammed himself. Siegel is completely tongue-in-cheek in dropping hints that he is onto Mantu's gimmick, constantly referring to scammers from Ethiopian bankers...which in no way is anything like any recent scams from Nigeria! Oh, heck no. He also makes many references to the number "419", which is an act of the US government which prohibits such e-mail scams. Mantu, unfortunately, is not as sharp as he likes to think.
Eventually Siegel is forced to fake his own death, complete with Photoshopped obituary and the appearance of his grieving widow, Maude Flatio Riffic. Maude is then caught up in the scam, as she is approached by another Nigerian individual. (My, what incredible timing!) The correspondence between "Maude" and Tajudeen A. Datti, who could have very well been Mantu. Siegel proves quite well that adopting fake identities on-line is a breeze.
The book unfolds into forged documents, phone numbers that seem to lead nowhere, and a great hassle to poor Western Union. Siegel not only adopts the personae of Gosinya and Riffic, but also a Jew-hating curmudgeon and a naive fisherman from the Ukraine. Imagine the plentiful catch of "red snapper" that Boris Beetcha Kockoff hauls in every day!
Siegel proves that creative writing is a two-way street in the scam department. Adopting real-life resources through e-mail is not so much a matter of accuracy as it is selling the believeability, which is the modus operandi of any scammer even before the Internet. This kind of grifting is not news. (Siegel points out the "Spanish prisoner" analogy to show that this is centuries old.)
If you can stand reading broken English in caps lock format, this is the book for you. Siegel goes out of his way to make his stories more ridiculous to see how committed the scammers are to making the transactions happen. (Even when Holden McGroyne grows horns, the scammers do not know they're being joshed.) Siegel explains that by distracting the spam-scammers from what might be otherwise viable targets, he believes he is doing people a favour. Perhaps, or maybe just creating a slight more bit of work for them to mull over. The basic truth is that by making the scam just a bit more aggravating, Siegel might be performing a global charity. (And at least he's smart enough to think to put it in a book and make some honest cash! Why on Earth did I not think of this?)
A definite five "e-mail is only good for pr0n"s out of five. Ah, I pine for those Lagos nights spending days waiting for Jenny Talia to show up at the airport...me holding my sign...
Rich Siegel, Personal Publishing
I had the occasion to try this trick myself once (as done by some of us in TLP). The premise of just about every Nigerian scammer (or from any other part of the world) is to make the case that several million dollars is locked away in a bank. For the want of a few thousand, the trnasfer fees can be arranged and the money will be released. As payment for your generous transfer fee, the money is promised to you.
What many don't realize, and that ad executive Rich Siegel did, is that it's a scam. There is no money in any Nigerian bank. For many of these spammers, they aren't even operating out of Nigeria. It's a ploy to get you to send money with no verification, and sometimes forged documents. It's a valuable lesson to anyone anticipating things that are too good to be true. On a personal note, I too was almost swindled when applying for a position on monster.com, who it turns out is under no obligation to confirm that companies they advertised jobs for are actually legitimate enterprises.
Siegel has a fascinating resume. He's the one who thought up ABC's "TV is good" campaign with all that yellow. (It seemed to leave a lasting impression, because ABC still uses the yellow banner.) One day while he was checking his e-mail he came across a typical Nigerian scam letter, and decided to respond instead of simply deleting. What began as a joke turned into a strange tapestry of storytelling. Pretending he had a newfound wealth thanks to his dead uncle, Siegel adopts the moniker Richard "Dick" Gosinya. (Say it out loud if you don't understand.)
Siegel plays this e-tennis with Mantu Ibrahim, the Nigerian who thinks he is pulling a scam but who is is actually being scammed himself. Siegel is completely tongue-in-cheek in dropping hints that he is onto Mantu's gimmick, constantly referring to scammers from Ethiopian bankers...which in no way is anything like any recent scams from Nigeria! Oh, heck no. He also makes many references to the number "419", which is an act of the US government which prohibits such e-mail scams. Mantu, unfortunately, is not as sharp as he likes to think.
Eventually Siegel is forced to fake his own death, complete with Photoshopped obituary and the appearance of his grieving widow, Maude Flatio Riffic. Maude is then caught up in the scam, as she is approached by another Nigerian individual. (My, what incredible timing!) The correspondence between "Maude" and Tajudeen A. Datti, who could have very well been Mantu. Siegel proves quite well that adopting fake identities on-line is a breeze.
The book unfolds into forged documents, phone numbers that seem to lead nowhere, and a great hassle to poor Western Union. Siegel not only adopts the personae of Gosinya and Riffic, but also a Jew-hating curmudgeon and a naive fisherman from the Ukraine. Imagine the plentiful catch of "red snapper" that Boris Beetcha Kockoff hauls in every day!
Siegel proves that creative writing is a two-way street in the scam department. Adopting real-life resources through e-mail is not so much a matter of accuracy as it is selling the believeability, which is the modus operandi of any scammer even before the Internet. This kind of grifting is not news. (Siegel points out the "Spanish prisoner" analogy to show that this is centuries old.)
If you can stand reading broken English in caps lock format, this is the book for you. Siegel goes out of his way to make his stories more ridiculous to see how committed the scammers are to making the transactions happen. (Even when Holden McGroyne grows horns, the scammers do not know they're being joshed.) Siegel explains that by distracting the spam-scammers from what might be otherwise viable targets, he believes he is doing people a favour. Perhaps, or maybe just creating a slight more bit of work for them to mull over. The basic truth is that by making the scam just a bit more aggravating, Siegel might be performing a global charity. (And at least he's smart enough to think to put it in a book and make some honest cash! Why on Earth did I not think of this?)
A definite five "e-mail is only good for pr0n"s out of five. Ah, I pine for those Lagos nights spending days waiting for Jenny Talia to show up at the airport...me holding my sign...