Any Mugus Amongst Us?
This couch potato caught part of the Oprah Winfrey Show last night. The billionaire showhost was talking about online scams and I find it most incredible that so many people, including very intelligent and well-educated people have fallen prey to the Nigerian scams. According to an ABC investigative correspondent, the scammers have managed to con thousands of Americans of millions of dollars…to be exact, more than $3 billion a year. Apparently, the “mugus” - a term used to refer to the gullible fools - in US and Great Britain are most popular among the Nigerian scammers. About one per cent of Americans actually fall for the scams. Amazing huh?
I can’t understand why anyone would want to send thousands of dollars to a stranger whom they’ve never even met, just based on an unsolicited email or fax. I’ve personally received numerous of those Nigerian originated scam letters via snail mail, email and fax. From the look of the letter, you can already tell it can’t be real and never once did I even bother to read the entire letter but dump it straight into the trash bin. I mean, why on earth would some multi-millionaire living in some faraway country resort to appealing for help from total strangers like me to get hold of their legitimate inheritance? Haven’t they heard of lawyers and judicial systems? Even if they claim that they want to donate their inheritance to charity, why would they pick me to help them? And by coughing out just a few thousand dollars, I will be rewarded with a million dollars. Doesn’t it sound obviously incredulous and fishy?
Investigators said people fall for the scams mainly because of pure greed or were truly compassionate and wanted to help someone out. I’ve not heard of any mugus here who emptied their life savings to “help” but you never know. If it can happen to one percent of Americans, it definitely can happen to one percent of Singaporeans.
As what the investigator and Oprah advised, if anything sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Don’t be greedy and please…don’t be a mugu.
posted by yeelee @ 11:52 pm
3 comments
3 Comments:
haha.... u know, when i emptied all my savings to buy house, during that period of time, i started to imagine...
"how good it will be if i were to be the lucky winner for the NKF charity draw"...
when i received calls from time sharing agency, saying that i win sth but must go down for a presentation in order to get that small gift (really small gift, can't even rem what is it ;p), i actually went, and waste my time there... haha... :PP
really do stupid things then...
人到穷时... ha! :-)
I cant agree with u abt the help. If it come from a girl, i gonna do it. You know girls always need help. They must be desperate to shout out for help like that. I hvn't gotten any snail mail like that but if i do, my dove eyes can scan it throughly, and i know it from a guy or a girl.
Hmm, but do i hv money to do that, if i do, i rather buy a motobike. Hehehehe. Yippy.
as maslow had said, human are wanting beings, they always want and they want more
as long as we live in a materialistic world, we will always need and want money
forget about the timeshare lah, just invest a little in toto every mon and thu…hahaha!
anonymous,
for your info, lots of people have been scammed by girls/guys online as well. scammers like to prey on lonely people, promising love and marriage but they actually only want money. you can read some of the sad stories here:
http://baita.mugu.co.uk/u_view_scams.php
some victims lose not only money but their lives as well. so when u meet a damsel in distress online, pls don't rush to her rescue, think very carefully…better to focus on your dream house by the beach and your motorbike! :p
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