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I Flew to Lagos and Got Beaten Up Because of a Nigerian Email Scam

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Re: I Flew to Lagos and Got Beaten Up Because of a Nigerian Email Scam

#31

Post by d23 »

Domenic_S wrote: post #6
herbig wrote: post #2

"I’m superstitious, so one night I told myself, All right, if I win a game of hearts with less than 15 points, I’ll do it. I’d never scored that low in my life, so when I landed at 11 points, I thought it was a sign and decided to buy a ticket." There's your problem right there. People like this are prone to other irrational thinking. I would bet that the vast majority of people who fall for this stuff are also deepl…

One comment in and, bam, random religion bashing. Stay classy, HN.

As much as I hate the pedantry and nitpicky nature of the comments on this site, religion bashing is something I've never seen, and I don't think the connection is unwarranted (i.e. that people with magical thinking tend to think and act irrationally)

Re: I Flew to Lagos and Got Beaten Up Because of a Nigerian Email Scam

#32

Post by meowface »

smsm42 wrote: post #19

Even given proof that I have no reason to doubt, I am still find hard to believe there's an educated and, judging from the writing, reasonably intellectually capable person that can genuinely believe there's a Nigerian official in Lagos that would reach out to random stranger to seek help with stealing a million dollars. And then he has a friend who, being told everything and asked for the plane ticket money, didn't…

Con men can be extremely convincing at times.

Also note that the author said he was desperate for money, and had never received an email like that before. All of that combined with some slicktalking, and you can see how things like this are possible.

Re: I Flew to Lagos and Got Beaten Up Because of a Nigerian Email Scam

#34

Post by herbig »

saraid216 wrote: post #24
herbig wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is religion as superstition religious bashing? I'm talking about correlations, not morality or religious truth. The stay classy thing is overused.

> I'm talking about correlations You realize that's what superstitions are made of, right? Fancy science words don't make you rational.

It is the express lack of correlation that makes up a superstition, so the opposite of what you're saying is true.

I wasn't aware that "correlation" is a fancy science word, I guess it depends on your personal background.

Re: I Flew to Lagos and Got Beaten Up Because of a Nigerian Email Scam

#35

Post by rosser »

d23 wrote: post #31
Domenic_S wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One comment in and, bam, random religion bashing. Stay classy, HN.

As much as I hate the pedantry and nitpicky nature of the comments on this site, religion bashing is something I've never seen, and I don't think the connection is unwarranted (i.e. that people with magical thinking tend to think and act irrationally)

religion bashing is something I've never seen

Then you've either not been paying close enough attention, or not reading the same discussion threads I have.

Re: I Flew to Lagos and Got Beaten Up Because of a Nigerian Email Scam

#36

Post by doorhammer »

mathattack wrote: post #25
eaurouge wrote: post #10

You fly to Lagos with the willful intent to aid in the stealing of $1M from the Nigerian government and its people, but get beaten up instead. Your error, as you see it, is not that you were greedy and corrupt enough to steal other people's money. But that you were stupid enough to fall for the scam and have the tables turned on you. Interesting.

Are we sure this isn't fiction? I'm caught between, "People can't actually be this stupid" and "At least one person has to have been this stupid, otherwise they would have stopped long ago."

I tend to think it's the right combination of down-on-your-luck, willful ignorance, naivete and social manipulation. I don't know that it's valuable to break it down to "stupid" or "not stupid".

Either way, this is kind of those whose validity seems like a coin toss. Might be true, might not be. I wouldn't be shocked, either way. Obviously the reach of spam schemes like this is frighteningly broad; you're bound to hit people who have the magic circumstances, though this one seems particularly extreme. I suppose it's illustrative, though. I approach a lot of neat stories I read on the internet that way.

Re: I Flew to Lagos and Got Beaten Up Because of a Nigerian Email Scam

#37

Post by smsm42 »

herbig wrote: post #2

"I’m superstitious, so one night I told myself, All right, if I win a game of hearts with less than 15 points, I’ll do it. I’d never scored that low in my life, so when I landed at 11 points, I thought it was a sign and decided to buy a ticket." There's your problem right there. People like this are prone to other irrational thinking. I would bet that the vast majority of people who fall for this stuff are also deepl…

You know there's a difference between being religious and asking Hearts game to tell you if you should participate in the 419 scam? Most religions actually frown very hard of those kind of things. For Avraamic religions, there's a direct prohibition of such practices in Leviticus 19:26.

Re: I Flew to Lagos and Got Beaten Up Because of a Nigerian Email Scam

#38

Post by mathattack »

doorhammer wrote: post #36
mathattack wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are we sure this isn't fiction? I'm caught between, "People can't actually be this stupid" and "At least one person has to have been this stupid, otherwise they would have stopped long ago."

I tend to think it's the right combination of down-on-your-luck, willful ignorance, naivete and social manipulation. I don't know that it's valuable to break it down to "stupid" or "not stupid". Either way, this is kind of those whose validity seems like a coin toss. Might be true, might not be. I wouldn't be shocked, either way. Obviously the reach of spam schemes like this is frighteningly broad; you're bound to hi…

I guess I always assumed must be grandma or grandpa on their first week of internet access.

Re: I Flew to Lagos and Got Beaten Up Because of a Nigerian Email Scam

#39

Post by eurleif »

smsm42 wrote: post #37
herbig wrote: post #2

"I’m superstitious, so one night I told myself, All right, if I win a game of hearts with less than 15 points, I’ll do it. I’d never scored that low in my life, so when I landed at 11 points, I thought it was a sign and decided to buy a ticket." There's your problem right there. People like this are prone to other irrational thinking. I would bet that the vast majority of people who fall for this stuff are also deepl…

You know there's a difference between being religious and asking Hearts game to tell you if you should participate in the 419 scam? Most religions actually frown very hard of those kind of things. For Avraamic religions, there's a direct prohibition of such practices in Leviticus 19:26.

Most religions frown on other religions, too.
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