OT: Friends in the Netherlands...

[bmattock]

I just got one of those famous '419' scam emails which originated in the Netherlands. You know, the one that says I won the lottery, just send us 850 Euros and we'll send you millions.

So, I reported it to Netscape Abuse, since they were using a free Netscape email account, and I cc'd a message to the scam artist - good luck in prison, I said. Then I forwarded the whole thing to the National Police of the Netherlands.

I got a response from the scammer:

[RESPONSE FROM THE SCAMMER]

Bill Mattocks,

fool like you..........

[MY MESSAGE TO NETSCAPE]

Hello, Netscape!

This fraudster is using a free Netscape email account to carry out his evil deed (E-mail: freelotto6@netscape.net). Could you please whack his account?

I will take care of notifying the authorities in The Netherlands of this monster.

To the crook reading this: Bye bye, fraudster! I have a lot of friends in the police in The Netherlands, and we've managed to get one of your kind locked up already. I guess you're next, crook! Good luck in prison.

Thanks!

Bill Mattocks

[ORIGINAL EMAIL EXCERPT]:

To begin the claims processing of your prize winnings you are advised to contact our licensed and accredited claims agent for category \"A\" winners with the information below:

Mr. Russ Longreen,
Remittance Department Director,
Netherlands Development Finance Company [PCPOSTAL FREE LOTTO],
107 Vanderloop
1902AB ,Amsterdam,
The Netherlands
E-mail: freelotto6@netscape.net
Tel:+31 (617) 622 993
Fax:+31 (847) 301 188

Anyway, I thought this whole thing was kind of funny, but then I realized that we have some RFF members from The Netherlands here. Is there anyone else I can report this bozo to that you know of? I'd love to see him trotted off to prison!

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

 

[jaapv]

Problem is, this guy is most probably not in the Netherlands at all.... The adress is clearly faked by somebody that has never been in Amsterdam and doesn't speak Dutch, Netscape. net , if it exists, is not a Dutch provider, so it seems somebody is not trying to get your money but is hoaxing you! btw Netscape.com is a browser company owned by AOL.
If he is after your money, as soon as you offer to send it to him, you'll get a PO box number in the Bahamas, Nigeria or wherever to send it to......

 

[kiev4a]

My guess would be Nigeria. That's where 90 percent of all scans originate. It's a major industry there.

 

[bmattock]

Yeah, I'm aware of the Nigerian 419 scams - but I read online that this 'cottage industry' was spreading to The Netherlands, so I thought this might be one of them. If he's in Nigeria, there's not much anyone can do to him - I understand that the Nigerian government does not have much control over this type of thing. Shame, really.

Thanks, guys! Sorry to bother you!

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

 

[cp_ste.croix]

you know, I used to reply to these emails with all manner of ridiculous stories...the email interactions got quite ammusing ( i was a super spy, a gangster, a felon, etc.)

That said, these people prey on the weak and need to be stopped...

chris

 

[RML]

You could be right about the 419s spreading to Holland. IIRC the police or the Dutch IRS rooled up a gang of internet fraudsters, most of whom were reportedly from Nigeria.

Netscape.net used to be another of the Netscape websites (I don't know how it is nowadays), and I've never heard of "107 Vanderloop". That street doesn't exists, and we don't put the house number in front of the street name. Besides, which itself respecting company would have a netscape.net email address?

As far as I can tell there's no way to report this kind of fraud anywhere, unless one actually visits a police station. There are supposedly 7 interregional digital crime units but G*d only knows how to contact those. If I were you I'd report this scam to you local FBI unit.

 

[pvdhaar]

One of the first things to check is the postal code versus the actual road name through
www.postcode.nl

Other pointers are the telephone number: +31-6... is a mobile and not a resident number,
while +31-847... is not a valid city access code.

There's been much attention to these kind of frauds lately on the telly, and many indeed appear to originate from Nigeria..

 

[cbass]

Chris,

You may already know of this site but in case you don't, go to www.419eater.com and have a look. These folks are very dedicated to aggravating the heck out of advance fraud scammers. Any time you spend toying with them is time that they are unable to look for new victims.