Quote :

"22 year-old John Rempel gave Nigerian scammers $150,000 while chasing what he thought was a $12.8 million inheritance. Rempel ended up borrowing money from his parents and uncle, and even traveled all the way to London to meet with the scammers in person. They met Rempel the next day with a suitcase. They said it had $10.6 million in shrink-wrapped U.S. bills. Rempel wanted more proof. His new friends pulled out one bill and “cleansed” it with a liquid “formula,” which washed off some kind of stamp. Rempel was told that process made the money “legal tender.” “I was like holy crap, is that mine?” he said. “They said ‘yes sir, it’s yours.’ It all sounded legit.” Rempel returned to his hotel room clutching the formula and waited for the others so they could cleanse all his money. They never showed, and later told him they got held up. In the meantime, Rempel dropped the formula. The bottle broke. He called his contact who said he’d get more. Rempel returned to Leamington and waited. A few weeks later Rempel got a call. They found more formula. It would cost $120,000. “I thought, ‘let’s work on it, nothing is impossible,’” said Rempel. Don't believe the internet when it says you're a big lottery winner or surprise heir. We're sure you're nice and all, but Nigerian Princes aren't going to email you. Hell, Nigeria's government is modeled after our own; they don't even have princes, something you should remember next time Africa's supposed royalty asks you to wire them money. As with most advance fee fraud stories, Rempel's tale ends in bankruptcy and woe. "I really thought in my heart this was true," he said. Leamington man loses $150,000 in Nigerian scam [The Windsor Star]"

http://consumerist.com/5133625/no-you-should-not-give-nigerian-scammers-150000-to-claim-your-inheritance

lol wut?

[Edited on January 17, 2009 at 9:09 PM. Reason : http://www.windsorstar.com/Leamington+loses+Nigerian+scam/1173799/story.html the actual story]

1/17/2009 9:07:09 PM

The nigerians deserve to keep this one.

how does a 22 yo get 150,000 dollars anyway?

1/17/2009 9:10:05 PM

Quote :

"how does a 22 yo get 150,000 dollars anyway?"

beat me to it.

and how did his parents and uncle not intervene?

1/17/2009 9:12:11 PM

PWNT

STAY

HOME

1/17/2009 9:12:20 PM

what a fucking idiot

1/17/2009 9:12:22 PM

this guy is more wise than myself

im glad he made this mistake before i had the chance to

he took one for mankind, and i thank him

1/17/2009 9:15:33 PM

so, does he have the bills or what?

1/17/2009 9:35:48 PM

Wait, so he was paying them for a solution to do something illegal to money? He deserves it.

1/17/2009 9:40:17 PM

that pic is priceless

1/17/2009 10:21:10 PM

Genetics, people.

If the offspring is stupid, likely the parents were just as stupid.

1/17/2009 10:36:32 PM

So is this one of the few instances in modern history where Nigers turned out to be smarter than Crackers?

1/17/2009 10:38:17 PM

If Nigerians are Nigers, what are those indigenous to Niger?

1/17/2009 10:41:55 PM

i do kinda feel bad for the dude, sucks that he's gonna live the rest of his life in debt because of those assholes, and who knows he may have some mental issues, its not like he went and blew $150k in vegas in a weekend

1/17/2009 10:45:13 PM

In the actual news story he talks about how his friends never talk to him anymore, with the bad reputation and all.

o rly?

1/17/2009 10:46:49 PM

this guy is probably dumb enough to order a dell with linux on it and drop out of college

1/17/2009 10:48:16 PM

wow sounds like a dumb fuck

1/18/2009 12:43:17 AM

bttt for wut

1/18/2009 1:58:46 AM

Quote :

"If Nigerians are Nigers, what are those indigenous to Niger?"

NIGGERS, duh!


[Edited on January 18, 2009 at 4:42 AM. Reason : Niggers]

1/18/2009 4:42:02 AM

Quote :

"A Leamington man has fallen prey to international scam artists who strung him along for more than a year with the promise of millions in cash, but ultimately bilked him and his family of $150,000. John Rempel said he quit his truck driving job, lost friends, borrowed money and crossed the globe in pursuit of a non-existent inheritance, after he was contacted by e-mail in what is known as a Nigerian 419 scam. Rempel said he borrowed $55,000 from an uncle in Mexico and his parents gave him $60,000 on credit to cover fees for transferring $12.8 million into his name. “They’re in it now because of me,” said Rempel, 22, breaking into sobs. “If it wasn’t for me, nobody would be in this mess. You think things will work out, but it doesn’t. It’s a very bad feeling. I had lots of friends. “I never get calls anymore from my friends. You know, a bad reputation.” His troubles began in July 2007. He said he got an e-mail from someone claiming to be a lawyer with a client named David Rempel who died in a 2005 bomb attack in London, England, and left behind $12.8 million. “They used to come in the mail,” said Leamington police Const. Kevin O’Neil. “Now the majority of these are sent through e-mail. Keeping up with the times, using all the wonderful technology that’s available to them.” “I was told once that they send out 30,000 e-mails a day, around the world, and they hope for just one or two responses. Once you return a phone call or return an e-mail, these people now have their hooks into you.” The lawyer said his client had no family but wanted to leave the money to a Rempel. It was his lucky day. “It sounded all good so I called him,” said Rempel. “He sounded very happy and said God bless you.” The man then told him he had to pay $2,500 to transfer the money into his name. Then there were several more documents. Some cost $5,000. He was told to open an account at a bank in London. That required a $5,000 minimum deposit. The crooks later sent him an e-mail with a link to what he was told were details of his new account. Some money had been transferred there for “safe keeping.” “Everything was good,” said Rempel. Then he got an e-mail from a government department — he’s not sure which country — saying he owed $250,000 on tax on his inheritance. Rempel spoke to his contact, who told him they negotiated the fee down to $25,000. Rempel went to Mexico where his uncle owns a farm. His uncle gave him $10,000 cash and money for a plane ticket. He was going to London to make sure it was legitimate. “I had $10,000 in cash in my pocket and my uncle sent another $25,000 when I was over there.” In London, Rempel met some people and handed over the $10,000. They met Rempel the next day with a suitcase. They said it had $10.6 million in shrink-wrapped U.S. bills. Rempel wanted more proof. His new friends pulled out one bill and “cleansed” it with a liquid “formula,” which washed off some kind of stamp. Rempel was told that process made the money “legal tender.” “I was like holy crap, is that mine?” he said. “They said ‘yes sir, it’s yours.’ It all sounded legit.” Rempel returned to his hotel room clutching the formula and waited for the others so they could cleanse all his money. They never showed, and later told him they got held up. In the meantime, Rempel dropped the formula. The bottle broke. He called his contact who said he’d get more. Rempel returned to Leamington and waited. A few weeks later Rempel got a call. They found more formula. It would cost $120,000. “I thought, ‘let’s work on it, nothing is impossible,’” said Rempel. His contacts were willing to meet associates in different countries to get cash for the formula. It would require several plane tickets, worth $6,000 each. Rempel was told they collected $100,000, but still needed $20,000. There was a guy in Nigeria who had it, but another plane ticket was required. The contact later told him he could only get $15,000 and “begged” Rempel for the last $5,000. Rempel borrowed money. He stopped making Visa and car payments. They called a week later and said the money was ready to go. They just needed $6,900 for travel costs and to rent trunks to ship the money. Later, the men called to say they were at the airport in New York. Security stopped them and they needed $12,500 for a bribe. Finally, Rempel had enough. “I said, ‘no way I’m cleaned out.’” Rempel, his parents and 10-year-old brother Ike drove to New York. They spent a day searching the airport for the men, with no luck. They returned home and called police. “I really thought in my heart this was true,” said Rempel. — with files from Dalson Chen"

1/18/2009 10:51:28 AM

wow i didnt think the story coulb be any more pathetic


they sure do know a sucker when they see one


the squeezed his ass

1/18/2009 11:12:13 AM

I wonder how many emails it took before he went through with this particular one.

1/18/2009 12:59:55 PM

i'm sure he thought "well, they keep emailing me, they must be serious, i'd better respond!"

1/18/2009 1:02:45 PM

So, what's the possibility of giving fake money to these guys, eventually meeting up with them and skewering them in the face? Like, get the FBI involved with fake bank accounts and shit

1/18/2009 7:59:51 PM

It does seem like they would be easy to catch with a sting, doesn't it?

1/18/2009 9:44:29 PM

Msnbc did that like a year and a half ago and caught em red handed

That was a good fuckin series

1/18/2009 9:48:56 PM

[Edited on January 18, 2009 at 9:59 PM. Reason : ]

1/18/2009 9:58:49 PM

i dont know what hes so upset about


zoom.

1/18/2009 9:59:27 PM

I just wish I had family members who would throw 60 g's at me for some internet thing....

1/18/2009 10:05:22 PM

all you need is a sugardaddy

1/18/2009 10:06:03 PM

More like 3 in this economy.

1/18/2009 10:06:22 PM

^^^me too

[Edited on January 18, 2009 at 10:07 PM. Reason : without the arrows my response it very ]

1/18/2009 10:07:27 PM

what an idiot.

1/18/2009 10:08:24 PM

everytime i see that picture i feel worse for the guy

1/18/2009 10:20:12 PM

hes gotta be the strongest person to ever live though

he still hasnt killed himself

1/18/2009 10:21:05 PM

by that definition of strong

DnL is prolly Top 5

1/18/2009 11:06:34 PM

1/18/2009 11:11:56 PM

I'm amazed the Nigerian Prince has only gotten one person to help him out, people are rude.

1/19/2009 12:15:18 PM

1/19/2009 12:24:01 PM

The biggest lol is that he dropped the bottle of cleaner and broke it...hahaha

1/19/2009 12:27:00 PM

I did some dumb shit when I was 22, but this makes me feel better about myself.

Kinda like when that kid from California got arrested fighting for the Taliban.

1/19/2009 12:30:41 PM

1/19/2009 12:49:22 PM

Quote :

"The biggest lol is that he dropped the bottle of cleaner and broke it...hahaha"

AND PAID FOR MORE

1/19/2009 12:59:50 PM

He probably hasn't killed himself yet because he knows Obama will bail him out

1/19/2009 1:04:29 PM

If somebody was sending me $12.8 million and there were ANY Fee's i'd ask them to take it out of the $12.8 million.

I'm Big Business and i approved this message.

1/19/2009 1:05:44 PM

Quote :

"Genetics, people. If the offspring is stupid, likely the parents were just as stupid. "

You are 100% correct, remember it was his family that gave him most of the money. LOL

1/19/2009 1:31:10 PM

Quote :

" PA REMPEL: "so, what do you need the $100K for, son?" JOHNNY: "well you see, Pa, it's so i can collect $12 Million from a Nigerian Prince" PA: "okay. sounds like a plan." MA REMPEL: "that's our boy!" "

1/20/2009 3:39:17 AM

^^^^ He'll have to lose a couple million more before the government bails him out.

1/20/2009 7:00:16 AM

He's Canadian, so I hope the government isn't bailing him out.

1/20/2009 8:48:42 AM