Sydney 419 Scammer Jailed 193
kjots writes "The ABC is reporting that the Sydney District Court has sentenced a disability pensioner to more than five years in jail for his part behind a Nigerian email scam. One down ..."
If A = B and B = C, then A = C, except where void or prohibited by law. -- Roy Santoro
Interesting... (Score:5, Insightful)
"disability pensioner" (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Interesting... (Score:2, Insightful)
You would actually hope for a sleazeball?! Its that kind of thinking that make all Arabs terrorists, all programmers basement dwelling trolls, and all righteous policies reasonable.
After all your either with us or against us!
Re:Interesting... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Here's my reply to those things (Score:5, Insightful)
Don't do it. It would only result in more grief for everyone involved.
Re:fuzzy math (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Here's my reply to those things (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:fuzzy math (Score:1, Insightful)
and later: Marinellis will first be eligible for parole in February 2008.
Do they let just anyone in Australia do the reporting?
It is generally a good idea to know what you're talking about before you mock other people.
He was arrested in October of 2003, and has spent most of the time between then and now in jail. October 2003 and Febuary 2008 are about 4 years 4 months apart. It isn't that difficult, now is it? This took me all of 30 seconds to find out using Google.
Re:fuzzy math (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Common sense? Critical thinking? (Score:0, Insightful)
kerry lost, so less than a majority of people are total retards in the US (you didnt think he would actually win did you?)
Re:Interesting... (Score:2, Insightful)
Wishing that people behave in consistent ways is not wishing that they lived up to stereotypes. Wishing that a person who engages in horrible scams is the kind of person who engages in *OTHER* morally questionable activity is wishing for consistency. It the equivalent of wishing that all Arabs are at least partially of Arabic descent, and that all programmers know how to program.
It is unrelated to preconceptions society may have.
lighten up... (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:fuzzy math (Score:5, Insightful)
He has been in jail since October 2003 (according to The Register). If there is a significant risk that an alleged criminal will flee the country, then it is standard practice to deny bail. Someone who claims to have "African Brothers" throughout the world who will help him flee probably fits this description.
There is more information here [theregister.co.uk].
Re:Interesting... (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:Protecting the gullible? (Score:3, Insightful)
Behold, the gap between "should be" and "is".
Are people not taught common sense and critical thinking skills?
Just for the heck, I'm going to take that rhetorical question as an actual inquiry.
On the count of "common sense", presumably such a thing isn't taught anywhere. It's supposed to be innate, right? And while "common sense" may tell you there is no chance you've won an overseas lottery that you've never entered, don't underestimate the power of greed and wishful thinking, which tend to be more common and more motivating than "common sense".
On the count of "critical thinking skills", my experience is that the local university teaches a 100-level philosophy unit on the subject, but I've yet to find it anywhere outside a philosophy department. I think most educators erroneously assume that it's a part of "common sense". Admittedly it is, to some extent, but the average person will readily fall for certain logical fallacies (both formal and informal) without additional training in critical thinking.
As a matter of idle curiosity, what is it about 419 scams that makes you think the victims need better critical thinking skills? Does the typical 419 scam contain subtle sophistries? I'd have said they mostly contain whopping great lies, a liberal dose of appeal-to-greed, and perhaps a little garnish of emotionalism so that the victim's conscience may take refuge in the fact that they're actually helping a poor benighted widow, not slavering like a loon at the prospect of riches beyond the dreams of avarice. On the other hand, I suppose that a good (general) course in critical thinking would include learning to identify such rhetorical devices.
It's disgusting (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Here's my reply to those things (Score:4, Insightful)
US Mindset... (Score:4, Insightful)
Many people realize that they aren't going to be the next Bill Gates, but they still dream. So they play on the lottery and hope that one day their dream will be fulfilled. Along comes this email promising the riches you desire.
Of course people aren't convinced at once, but they become convinced through smooth words. Why? Because they want to believe. They want to believe that their luck has changed, that they will become rich, and that everything is true. There is no critical thinking because they've already accepted the premise - that their luck has changed - and thus this offer must be real. Flawed logic at its best.
Once you live that lie, you're caught. Your life stops revolving around what is real and starts revolving around what it will be. Not what might be, what will be. And you just have to get there, do what it takes to get there. Once you do, everything will be so great that any sacrifice you make along the way doesn't matter. And so people sell all they have and believe.
When you're first on that path, it is as if you're falling and the prize is there at the bottom to catch you. You can dismiss all your friends, family, bank manager, lawyers and even the police. You will believe any lie of how getting to the prize is harder, and how they need more money. But you can't accept that there is no prize.
It is quite simply circular reasoning - because there's a price at the bottom, you're going after it - and because you're going after it, the price must be there. Most people can't see a cirular argument if it kicked their butt. (Example: God created Nature, hence Nature exists. Nature is a divine creation, hence God exists.)
Kjella
Re:Interesting... (Score:2, Insightful)
> you hope for
Is it ever a stereotype? Usually it's a human being. You should be thankful that he was simply taking money from extremely stupid, greedy people, and not mugging/shooting/burgling people.
Re:Excellent (Score:3, Insightful)
Bullshit. This post is another glaring example of ignorance and insensitivity.
Quite frequently, scam targets and victims are the elderly, often poor in a relative sense, sometimes desperate and lonely. They fall for the scam not out of greed, but out of need.
Sure, many victims are in fact victims of their own greed, but to paint all with the same brush is absurd and just plain wrong.
Whack-a-mugu! (Score:3, Insightful)
Sysadmins need to be given legal authority to throw people in jail.
Hmm. Maybe [xnet.com] not [ctrl-c.liu.se].
Re:Protecting the gullible? (Score:2, Insightful)
And she's not even batty enough that we can get a power of attourney to run this stuff. She's fine, she tells us and social services. And some days she is. Other days, she'll put slippers in the fridge and milk in the wardrobe.
And the worst of it is that having responded to some of this stuff, she's getting more and more and more of it, now being a "live target".
And this is kind of why we need social protection for the "gullible".