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February 29, 2022

Woman turns tables, steals $33K from Nigerian scam artists

Sometime at the dawn of the Internet, email inboxes began filling up with the stuff of dreams.

Stock-photo-14983644-scam-letterpress-lettersIn a far-off African country, usually Nigeria, a deposed emissary, wealthy and generous to anyone that would hear his pleas, had had funds seized by his oppressive government. He needed your help.

If you would, the man, often with a name like Ndaye Banya, would ask, please send a few thousand dollars to pay for his administrative costs to free up the cash. Once it was withdrawn, Ndaye would gladly share his fortune with you.

Of course, we know now that’s the textbook rip-off known as 419 fraud, and it’s duped plenty in its time, like this woman from Oregon, who lost $400,000 in the ruse and still believes her millions are coming.

Here’s a refreshing story, though.

*Bing: How to spot an online scam

In one of the great tales of scammer revenge, a woman in Australia allegedly fired back at Nigerian fraudsters, making off with more than $30,000 of their bogus funds.

According to the Courier-Mail, a 23-year-old Brisbane woman, who’s not a total hero since she was once employed by the very same Nigerian con men, swiped AUD$33,350 from a stash of cash ripped off from scam victims.

The woman, who was an agent that was to provide an Australian bank account for the scammers to funnel illicit cash through, instead kept two payments for herself, spending it on personal items.

Remarkably, the Nigerian swindlers reported the matter to police. The woman’s case is still before the courts (sentencing will be next month). No official word on what will happen to the African crooks.

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Gordon PowersGordon Powers

A long-time fund company executive, Gordon Powers now heads up the Affinity Group, a financial services consulting firm. Gordon was a personal finance columnist for the Globe & Mail for many years, has taught retirement planning...

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