Former congressman Ed Mezvinsky, victim of Nigerian fraud spams, now in jail
This one is truly weird. Former Democratic congressman Ed Mezvinksy was apparently suckered in by " just about every different kind of African-based scam we've ever seen", according to federal prosecutor Bob Zauzmer.
As a result, Mezvinksy began stealing from clients and even his own mother-in-law to raise money for the scheme. Now he's in prison for fraud. All told, he lost about $3 million to the scammers.
Mezvinksy fell particularly hard for the "black money" scam. In this scam, fraudsters tell the victim that the money was painted black to smuggle it out of the country, and now a special, very expensive chemical is needed to remove the black ink. The mark in this scam then ponies up the money to buy the ink remover.
OK, seriously. How can people be so fricking stupid? And on top of that, even if you do believe the fraudsters, you must've known you were participating in something illegal. I really have no pity for people who fall for this; it comes from being stupid, greedy, and unethical. The problem I have is all the innocent people victimized by dumbasses like Mezvinksy — a sort of secondary victimization. And all that spam, of course.
As a result, Mezvinksy began stealing from clients and even his own mother-in-law to raise money for the scheme. Now he's in prison for fraud. All told, he lost about $3 million to the scammers.
Mezvinksy fell particularly hard for the "black money" scam. In this scam, fraudsters tell the victim that the money was painted black to smuggle it out of the country, and now a special, very expensive chemical is needed to remove the black ink. The mark in this scam then ponies up the money to buy the ink remover.
OK, seriously. How can people be so fricking stupid? And on top of that, even if you do believe the fraudsters, you must've known you were participating in something illegal. I really have no pity for people who fall for this; it comes from being stupid, greedy, and unethical. The problem I have is all the innocent people victimized by dumbasses like Mezvinksy — a sort of secondary victimization. And all that spam, of course.
1:38 PM |
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2 Comments:
I found this story odd -- how could he get sucked in?
Probably he must have been in need of money badly...
He wanted to get rich fast so badly that he thought that is the only was to solve his problem.
At least in jail you don't need money:)
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