How 419 Scams Are Wiring Nigeria

from the the-upside-to-stupid-people dept

While we've posted a bunch of articles about how the various Nigerian 419 scam works, Slate is now looking at who actually sends out those emails, and points out that, for the most part, they really are from Nigeria. The article goes even further to suggest that the success of these scams are driving up the demand for a modernized telecom system in Nigeria. In other words, stupid, gullible people are subsidizing the modernizing of the Nigerian telecom system by falling for the 419 scam - which in turn goes encourages more people to start 419 scams, requiring the use of a brand new cybercafe with all the latest equipment. Who would have thought that you could develop a country through spam?
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