You won a lottery you say?

[Jacen]

And you should have.

I disagree. I mean, does logic fail people when money is involved? Why does he expect to win something in another country's lotto system, when he didn't enter it?

and I bet you, that if the Op had mentioned that, the call would have turned instantly sucky.

I guess you have to be either desparate or greedy.

I'd say greedy. I mean, The post I quoted mentioned a single mother desperate to feed her kids. But I think that a single mother desperate to feed kids would realize that you have to earn it.

And besides, most countries have some kind of way to assist parents with feeding and clothing their children.

[Andara Bledin]

I don't understand how people fall for such logic. I guess you have to be either desparate or greedy.

The vast majority are desperate. And a large number are just naieve and don't know any better.

I think anyone who doesn't at least say, "You know this is a scam, right?" is a cold and callous individual.

Technically, if someone were to lose money to one of these scams and it was found out that you knew something and failed to say anything, it could be construed as willful negligence. I doubt it would happen in this case, but I'd be surprised if it hasn't happened to someone else already. Basically a civil version of not throwing a drowning person a life preserver that happened to be sitting on the ground next to you.

^-.-^

[chainedbarista]

being the cynic, it would have been a toss up for me:

save this idiot from his own stupidity and greed OR
let him learn a much needed lesson about thinking before acting

as everyone else has said, there are signs, he just failed to read them:

didn't enter the lottery
said lottery is in ANOTHER COUNTRY
info on scams of this nature has been circulated for some time
fees being charged

if the person fails to actually consider the warning signals, are they really going to believe that someone who recognizes the scam for what it is and tries to save them from their own greed and stupidity? not likely, they'll recognize it later, when it serves them no purpose (after losing money...hmm.).

[Record Store Tough Guy]

Regardless of whether or not anyone believes the victims deserve what they get, any money the scammers get only reinforce to them that it is a profitable endeavour, and will keep doing it. Most of us enjoy the chance to shut down a short-change artist or shoplifter; this is the exact same principle. Warning someone to a possible scam is less money in their pockets. Whether the victim believes the warner or not, you've at least attempted to help them out.

Again, stupidity and greed are irrelevant. Many scammers play on people's sense of decency, posing as charities, pet adoption agencies, or prospective tenants. Would you blame a person's greed on losing money to a scammer claiming to represent an orphanage? One who sent quite convincing documents supporting their story?

Naivite plays a bigger part in falling victim to these scams than anything else. Seriously, go to the Eater. They'll be more than happy to discuss, at length, the psychology behind the various advance fee scams, and why victims fall for it.

[ds_36]

If you're not obligated to inform the person of possible scams, I wouldn't start jumping down his throat over not having done so. Although I do find this line extremely cold:

I had a good long laugh with my Supervisor over that call. Oh if this guy only knew what fate awaited him.

Basically you're laughing at some guy who you don't know, and seems to have been very polite to you - and you're getting an additional person to laugh at him also, really as far as I can tell there's not much for her to find funny.

I wouldn't necessarily try to convince him it's a scam on my own, but I would advise him to be sure he knows what he's doing and possibly to check with snopes.com (or maybe the FBI) since you've heard of similar scams being pulled in the past.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Went to the 419eater site.

Am I a mean, cruel, depraved person for laughing at the guy baiting the scammer with the puppies, saying he wants them sent to him dead for the meat?

That isn't the part I'm laughing at, mind you. I'm laughing at the other types of "meat" he says he wants to import. Delicacies such as "Chucklefish", "Three footed horseferret", "Elephant Wings" and "Albanian Cheese Hedgehog"

http://419eater.com/html/tommy_mark.htm

And then check this one out, where a scam baiter pretends to be Gillian Anderson from The X-Files. This one does include a derogatory term for homosexuals, used in a variation of the "My Dog Sex" joke.
http://419eater.com/html/john_ademola.htm


M Heh heh. These people are like Perverted Justice, but for Nigerian scammers. I believe I am now addicted

[Sonoma]

I can spend hours on 419eater.com. There was another one at bustedupcowgirl.com, but it's now only appearing on a web archive page, but most of the stories are still available through the archive link. She would bait people 'responding' to ads for horses & mules she had advertised. If you have any horse knowledge, some of the descriptions of the things she was selling were hilarious.

[BookstoreEscapee]

Went to the 419eater site.

Am I a mean, cruel, depraved person for laughing at the guy baiting the scammer with the puppies, saying he wants them sent to him dead for the meat?

That isn't the part I'm laughing at, mind you. I'm laughing at the other types of "meat" he says he wants to import. Delicacies such as "Chucklefish", "Three footed horseferret", "Elephant Wings" and "Albanian Cheese Hedgehog"

Hehe, Tribble meat!!! they send you one and you'll have a whole box full by the time they get there!

[Boozy]

There are two parties involved in this kind of scam: a naive fool and a heartless criminal.

By not telling someone that they are walking into a scam, you are choosing the criminal over the fool.

And can't we agree that one is a greater evil than the other?

[BrassCowboy]

OK lets be real here:

OP: "sir this is a scam. do not get involved with it."

SC: "but no, it's real. why would they lie to me?"

OP: "because they just want your your money."

SC: "no, i'm sure it's real, otherwise they would not have my address...."

And so on and so on. People will believe whatever the hell they want to. Sometimes, no matter what, you can't convince a person that what they are involved in is a scam even if you tried. Honestly, how would you feel if you were running a business and one of your employees spent 10 minutes of company time trying to talk someone down from a scam, that they will not back down from? It doesn't matter who you are, what the situation is, or how desperate things get, common sense cant be thrown out the window.

[Kogarashi]

But at least then you would have tried to help. You don't have to press the issue until you win, just enough to make it clear that you tried to alert the potential victim to the scam. And if they're bull-headed enough to not stop and think about it, then it becomes their problem alone.

[Killer Bees]

I got a couple of lotto letters from Amsterdam a while back. Which is weird, because I don't even play lotto in my own country.

I put the letter through the shredder. It was pretty fancy though with silver seals and watermarks and such. But I really want to know how they got my address when I don't put my street address on the internet.

They stopped sending them. And when I get those whacky Nigerians in my email, I click on the Spam button, the delete button and forget about it.

Golden rule is, if you didn't enter a competition, you can't possibly win one. If it's a competition in another country, run away quickly. And if you do "win" something, you NEVER have to pay anything upfront EVER.

[Killer Bees]

Went to the 419eater site.

Am I a mean, cruel, depraved person for laughing at the guy baiting the scammer with the puppies, saying he wants them sent to him dead for the meat?

That isn't the part I'm laughing at, mind you. I'm laughing at the other types of "meat" he says he wants to import. Delicacies such as "Chucklefish", "Three footed horseferret", "Elephant Wings" and "Albanian Cheese Hedgehog"

http://419eater.com/html/tommy_mark.htm

And then check this one out, where a scam baiter pretends to be Gillian Anderson from The X-Files. This one does include a derogatory term for homosexuals, used in a variation of the "My Dog Sex" joke.
http://419eater.com/html/john_ademola.htm


M Heh heh. These people are like Perverted Justice, but for Nigerian scammers. I believe I am now addicted

If you think that's funny, go to thescambaiter.com. These guys are cruelly hilarious with their scambaiting. There is one alter ego called The Skan, he is freakin beyond funny.

They get the scammers to do weird things like take photos of themselves dressed in women's clothes or with clothes pegs clipped all over their bodies (including their private bits). They have a gallery with all the photos, but be warned some of them are definitely not safe for work.

[myswtghst]

OMG. IPF, that made me shoot coffee out my nose. Mogwai meat?

And to the OP, mostly those were some seriously hilarious stories. In regards to the scam story, here's my thoughts. I mostly agree with Brass Cowboy, that he would have ignored you, or possibly even gotten nasty or rude if told it was a scam. But, it wouldn't have hurt to try, or even to send him a Snopes link (particularly if there was an email address on his account). Worst that happens? You make him think, and you can feel good about trying. It is also kind of sucky for you to laugh at the guy, though I understand where it's coming from.

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

My sup and I were laughing at the fact the guy fell for the scam, not at the fact I didn't tell him anything.

The guy wasn't rude but he (obviously) did not appear to quick on the uptake. He was one of the last calls I took that day and I was really ready to go home. I don't feel as though I made a huge mistake by not telling him, but it might've made more sense for me to say something.