Why Nigerian Scammers Say They’re From Nigeria
You’ve
gotten the emails before, I’m sure. Princes from Nigeria pleading for
you to help them squirrel millions of dollars out of their country and
into your bank account.
But given the notoriety of Nigerian scammers, why do they continue to
say that they’re from Nigeria?
Microsoft researcher Cormac
Herley has the answer:
Getting an email from a deposed Nigerian prince sends off warning
bells to just about everyone, so why do scammers continue to use such
outlandish stories from a location infamous for advance fee fraud? Herley
says that scammers don’t want anyone but the most gullible — and
therefore the most likely to follow through — to respond to the
emails because it costs scammers time, money, and effort to continue
past the first email. The point is to weed out those who will back out
with the initial email, to focus their effort on those more likely to
fall for the entire scheme.
Link
| The research
paper [pdf]
Previously on Neatorama: 419
Scammer Scambaited to Re-Write Harry Potter By Hand
