Nigerian Scam (419 Scam) As Comment Spam

Now I have seen it all. I received a nigerian scam as a comment spam on my blog. In case you are wondering Nigerian scam or 419 scam is conducted traditionally using unsolicited emails (spam) where you are promised millions of dollars for participating in a money laundering scheme. Comment spam has become a serious business today. In case you are wondering Akismet couldn’t catch it.

What is Nigerian Scam or 419 Scam

Typically you will receive an email where they will tell you that they are relative / banker or someone closely associated with an important person who recently dies or was killed. The name of the person is normally genuine as also the method of his death.
You will be informed that he has left a huge sum of money in some bank somewhere which they cannot transfer to their name because of local authorities. So they need your help to transfer the huge sum of money to their name via your bank account. They will promise you a huge cut in the proceeds.

The long and short of the story is that you will be repeatedly siphoned for money to pay for phony transfer fees and other legitimate sounding causes. They will sometimes even have bankers on their side to verify their authenticity. If you provide full bank account details you are in for more trouble like empty bank account etc. People have been killed too.

Now let’s look at this enticing comment spam, as an example, on my blog:

ATTN DEAR
MY NAME IS MR .Mathew Smith. I WORK WITH THE FIRSTINLAND BANK OF NIGERIA PLC AS
A GROUP HEAD TREASURYDEPARTMENT.IN THE DISCHARGE OF MY DUTY,I STUMBLED
ON THIS DOMICILIARY ACCOUNT THAT HAS REMAINED DORMANT FOR THREE YEARS
NOW WITH EIGHT MILLION, FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND UNITED STATES DOLLARS
($8.5M) IN IT.ON PERSONAL INVESTIGATION, I DISCOVERED THAT THE ACCOUNT
HOLDER DIED IN AIRCRASH ACCIDENT WITH THE MEMBERS OF HIS FAMILY WHO
SHOULD BE THE NEXT OF KIN TO THE AMOUNT.

I AM WRITING YOU SO THAT WE CAN WORK TOGETHER TO REMIT THIS AMOUNT OF
MONEY INTO YOUR ACCOUNT AS THE NEXT OF KIN HENCE THE DEPOSITOR HAPPENED
TO BE A FOREIGNER.ITIS SIMPLE PROCESS WHICH WILL TAKE A SHORT WHILE TO
PROCESS. OUTSIDE THIS,THE BANK MANAGEMENT WILL CONFISCATE THIS AMOUNT
OF MONEY AS UNCLEARED EFFECTS AND SEND BACK TO THE NIGERIAN DEPOSIT
INSURANCE CORPORATION ACCOUNT.

IF I HEAR FROM YOU, I WILL TELL YOU ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE
MONEY AND THE OPERATIONAL METHOD WE CAN USE TO EFFECT THE REMITANCE
INTO YOUR ACCOUNT FOR OURMUTUAL BENEFIT.NOTE THAT MY PURPOSE OF
CONTACTING YOU IS BECAUSE THE DECEASED HAS THE SAMENAME WITH YOU. IN
REGARDS TO THIS TRANSACTION, IF YOU ARE WILLING TO ASSIST ME PLEASE DO
FORWARD YOUR RESPONSE TO MY ALTANATIVE
EMAIL:-(mathewsmith500@yahoo.es )
BEST REGARDS,
Mr.Mathew Smith.

It was posted on the article where I lamented that the hindi dubbing of dbz is a tragedy!

Comment spam is becoming an industry of the same scale as email spam.