I went to Nigeria to meet a man who scammed me • Hacker News Board

Re: I went to Nigeria to meet a man who scammed me

#51

Post by martincmartin » Thu, Oct 20, 2016, 1:37 PM UTC

axonic wrote: post #26

finid wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

unemployed American graduate ? but the article says: Although they have not met each other again since, she continued to provide him with financial assistance until he completed his degree a few years ago and got a job in the American oil sector.

Oil Sector... Being in south Texas, I believe I've made an incorrect assumption that readers would understand the potential volatility of such jobs, especially for a Nigerian immigrant. To clarify, I've watched friends and colleagues gain and lose employment like crazy and I've seen a lot of racism in the industry, among other things.

I just wanted to thank you for your humble, insightful reply. Thanks for keeping HN civil! You're a real benefit to the community.

Re: I went to Nigeria to meet a man who scammed me

#52

Post by criddell » Thu, Oct 20, 2016, 1:42 PM UTC

sickbeard wrote: post #46

How does this help? It will just lure people into thinking scamming is a way to lead you to america

Helping another person is hardly ever a bad idea.

Or in other words, don't hate the player, hate the game.

Re: I went to Nigeria to meet a man who scammed me

#53

Post by michael_h » Thu, Oct 20, 2016, 1:46 PM UTC

My mother in law is currently $150,000+ deep on a Facebook romance scam. I believe she's about to send him another $200k or so when her house is sold. Instead of living out her retirement in relative comfort, she will be scraping by on social security. Adult services can't help, because moonshot-level stupidity is not a mental disorder. She can't live with us, as she can no longer be trusted. She can't live on her own, as she obviously doesn't understand how fixed income works. It's a very strange situation to be in, having a parent desperately trying to abandon you as an adult, basically dying without being dead.

I don't know how these people justify it to themselves. They have taken 100% of her money, plus a unknown amount of debt (I've found $100k in loans so far). My mother-in-law is not 'going to be okay'. To be honest, once she figures out that there isn't $3.5MM in the Bank of Israel, she's probably going to look for the quick exit.

At the moment, I'm afraid I'm unable to muster the empathy necessary to understand how you could even begin to help the scammer.

Re: I went to Nigeria to meet a man who scammed me

#54

Post by MichaelBurge » Thu, Oct 20, 2016, 1:47 PM UTC

Some people trick the scammers into traveling places, or losing money. They've managed to get them stranded for months in war-torn countries, to sell their cars for airline tickets, and gotten them thrown in prison in foreign countries for immigration violations.

I have some family who was tricked by a scammer doing "Microsoft support" once, but we convinced her it was a scammer in time for the police to trace the call. So now he's in prison.

Re: I went to Nigeria to meet a man who scammed me

#55

Post by mrcactu5 » Thu, Oct 20, 2016, 1:52 PM UTC

does anyone actually fall for these?

Re: I went to Nigeria to meet a man who scammed me

#56

Post by UnfalseDesign » Thu, Oct 20, 2016, 1:53 PM UTC

There seems to be a lot of commenters here saying Johnny is playing the long con. Whereas I don’t entirely disagree, I think they are missing the point of the story. The point is not just that Johnny’s life improved from below average to average. The other point is that Maria’s life improved from average to above average. At an age where many Americans are retiring and spending their days trying to stay busy, Maria is traveling to Africa and working with aspiring artists. Maria took what could have been a financially crippling event and used it to launch herself into a new endeavor. She’s taking her passion for art and helping others pursue a similar passion in a climate where they may not normally have that luxury.

Regardless of whether Johnny is still conning her, Maria’s life is now better because of it. She took a situation that would normally make a person critical and suspect of others and decided to learn from it and become a better person. My take away from this story is that bad things will happen to me. Some will be my fault and some won’t. However, how I react to it will make all the difference. Sometimes it is better to light a candle than to simply curse the darkness.

Re: I went to Nigeria to meet a man who scammed me

#57

Post by whiddershins » Thu, Oct 20, 2016, 1:54 PM UTC

michael_h wrote: post #53

My mother in law is currently $150,000+ deep on a Facebook romance scam. I believe she's about to send him another $200k or so when her house is sold. Instead of living out her retirement in relative comfort, she will be scraping by on social security. Adult services can't help, because moonshot-level stupidity is not a mental disorder. She can't live with us, as she can no longer be trusted. She can't live on her ow…

I don't fully understand your situation, and it must be horrible and frustrating and painful, but there must be some way you can get through to her?

Re: I went to Nigeria to meet a man who scammed me

#58

Post by easytiger » Thu, Oct 20, 2016, 1:55 PM UTC

whiddershins wrote: post #57

michael_h wrote: post #53

My mother in law is currently $150,000+ deep on a Facebook romance scam. I believe she's about to send him another $200k or so when her house is sold. Instead of living out her retirement in relative comfort, she will be scraping by on social security. Adult services can't help, because moonshot-level stupidity is not a mental disorder. She can't live with us, as she can no longer be trusted. She can't live on her ow…

I don't fully understand your situation, and it must be horrible and frustrating and painful, but there must be some way you can get through to her?

Any court will let you take power over her finances. This is a clear cut case. Just ask any bloody lawer

Re: I went to Nigeria to meet a man who scammed me

#59

Post by pavel_lishin » Thu, Oct 20, 2016, 1:55 PM UTC

mrcactu5 wrote: post #55

does anyone actually fall for these?

Yes, constantly, and to the ensuing grief of their friends and family.

Re: I went to Nigeria to meet a man who scammed me

#60

Post by easytiger » Thu, Oct 20, 2016, 1:57 PM UTC

UnfalseDesign wrote: post #56

There seems to be a lot of commenters here saying Johnny is playing the long con. Whereas I don’t entirely disagree, I think they are missing the point of the story. The point is not just that Johnny’s life improved from below average to average. The other point is that Maria’s life improved from average to above average. At an age where many Americans are retiring and spending their days trying to stay busy, Maria i…

> Although they have not met each other again since, she continued to provide him with financial assistance until he completed his degree a few years ago and got a job in the American oil sector.