Nothing like bouncing around Routers & ISP throughout the world making tracing anything a challenge . Thank god for triple firewalls, VPN and few other tricks to keep people at bay.
And the reality is that the vast majority of 419 scammers are uneducated dirtbag conmen living in Nigeria or Ghana, using cheap internet cafes to send out millions of poorly-written scam emails. They have almost no understanding of how the internet works, and wouldn't have the resources or knowledge to be able to track down the scambaiters who torment them even if they did.
I wasnt worried to much about them as I sit behind multiple firewalls at work and at home and the encryption as well.
Wow - received this "threat" in the mail today. Even though I know it's a complete scam I feel like forwarding to the FBI...not that they'll do anything about it. Here's the Subject in bold caps as it came to me
I've been getting calls from some guy in Illinois who says "NASA has been stalking and harassing" him and that it's a "matter of life and death." Have no idea how he got my phone number, but there ya go. He leaves what he says is his brother's phone number as a call-back. I finally did call back yesterday, left a message saying, "I don't know why you keep calling me or how you got my number, but I'm not a lawyer and I can't do anything for you." It's sad, though, because the guy is probably mentally ill and I bet his brother has to deal with stuff all the time.
LOL! This is a classic 419 scam email (419 is the Nigerian criminal code for this type of internet fraud). It's one of bazillions of similar scripts that get sent out by lowlife (expletive deleted) con artists working in sweaty, fly-riddled internet cafes in Lagos. The funny/sad part is...people fall for it. You wouldn't BELIEVE how many.
I love it! "You are in trouble, you are in so much trouble, do you hear me? This is on your permanent record, that's how much trouble you're in. You've been warned so many times it isn't even funny and this is your last chance to pay up - so pay up! I've told everyone on you and boy, are you in trouble. You'd better take me seriously or I'll report you to more people. Remember, pay up today! Thanks." Well, okay, when you put it that way.
Yeah, it sounds EXACTLY like what I would expect from the FBI. Along with the request to send the money to the FBI in Lagos (yeah, real subtle, there). And I'm pretty sure real FBI investigators start paragraphs with: "As a good Christian and a honest man, I decided to see how i could be of help to you..."
I know! And the writer goes on and on and ON. The guy just can't shut up. If the FBI were really writing a letter it would probably be two short paragraphs - the first paragraph being what you did wrong and the second being contact us now. Of course, what they'd really do is show up on your doorstep.
That's too funny. It's a shame one can't letter bomb these folks...Perhaps we can point Teddy Kacynski in their direction someday when he makes parole...