Nearly every week, I receive emails from people in Nigeria who want to send me money, supposedly from a now dead, long-lost relative. Mostly, I just laugh and delete these messages. However, out of curiosity, how many of our bloggers have had this experience? 

Hopefully, none of us have been foolish enough to fall for this scam -- a potentially dangerous one as well as one that can cost victims loads of money, as revealed in an article at the ECFA website. 

Related to Zoe's post on knowing where your charitable dollars go, I recommend that you consider giving to organizations with the ECFA stamp of approval. She's right: there are entirely too many religious scam artists out there taking money for their own personal gain. Didn't we learn anything from Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker? 

Comments

[Bear]

Some years ago, a magazine salesperson make the mistake of calling me when I had my calculator handy. The deal was that I could get four free magazines! All I had to do was pay for shipping and handling, which was some small, token, weekly amount! Unfortunately the math said that my "free" magazines would exceed the cost of regular subscriptions by over 50%. The telemarketer hung sometime during my questioning regarding honesty and ethics.

Sadistic? Perhaps. But, what is the best way of dealing with deceptive practices?

[Yaknyeti]

During my last year of college, I started tallying all the offers I received from sub-Saharan Africa, and stopped after hitting a total of $20 million plus gold dust and diamonds of unspecified value. Thankfully, the number of these that come out rapidly destroy any credibility they may have.

Bear - who deserves the ethics lecture: the telemarketer, or his supervisor? I have some sympathy for the people who suffer through these sorts of jobs, and while I don't think one should accept a job that is flat-out dishonest, I don't know where I'd draw the line.

[David Cervera]

The thing I can't help pondering is how difficult is it now to be an honest businessman in Nigeria? I'd imagine it he couldn't buy a stick of gum at the local 7-11 without being accused of being a scam artist.