Gig Fraud

[Necromancer]

Hey gang,

Any of you get this email? The poor spelling and bizarre grammar immediately say "Nigeria" to me.

Thanks,
Neil


Date: Mon, 20 Sep 2010 16:15:33 -0700
From: k.max101@yahoo.com
Subject: hello
To: neil@necromancerevents.com

Goodday,

My name is Kim Maxwel, i am preparing for my wedding which will come up on the 16th of oct 2010.. by 10:00am here in Conlins Ave Miami, Florida, As i was searching for the best Magician to make the day a memorable day for me and my husband. I saw your advert and i am really impressed about your performance. and you are going to start by 12:00pm and end 1:00pm, How much will you collect if you are to entertain my guess with the travel expenses....i am having 50 guest.

Hope to read back from you.

Thanks

[NCMarsh]

Yep, exact mssg word for word -- and to a non-business email acct that's not in any of my marketing materials.

[T Baxter]

Yes, I got it too, except the gig is in Ottawa this time.

If these guys would put that much time and effort into a legitimate enterprise, they might actually make an honest living.

T. Baxter

[Matt Roberts]

Yes. Same here. I've gotten several of these over the years.

[Magic Mike]

Yup.
Got it here, too. Same as Tom. This one's in Ottawa..

[David Alexander]

Yes, this has been going on for years. I used to get them more often when I lived in California. I usually responded telling them my fee was $5,000 or higher and did they want the tigers? That would be extra.

They would write back in their broken English, excited that they thought they had a fish on the line, happily agreeing to my outrageous fee for an hour of walk around and a short show.

I would ask if I could bring my apprentice, David Copperfield, a kid just starting out...could they pay for his airline ticket. They always agreed. I would pump up the fee with little extras just for my own amusement.

I would ask for a credit card to secure the date and they would have endless excuses, asking for my banking info so they could send an echeck. The echeck, I assumed, would be for more than the performance fee and I would be expected to refund the difference, the echeck later turning out to be a fake.

I never let it get to that point and they would usually stop writing or I would get bored and tell them who and what they were. "Mugu" is a bad word in Nigerian and I would use that.

Some people have made the Nigerian 419 scam something of an Internet hobby by scamming the scammers. Google "419 scam" or "Nigerian 419 scam" and you find several sites that feature fun and games with the Nigerians. Some are quite funny.

[Tim Ellis]

They tried to hit me two weeks ago too:

http://magicunlimited.typepad.com/magic ... ustle.html

[Dynamike]

They have not tried getting me yet.