Nigerian scammers can't wait for the PlayStation 3

Best comment spam ever:

Dear Sir,
I came across your site on a web search on behalf of the staff and company it is our wish to commence with you.
i am intrested in buying a thousand piece of your PLAYSTATION3 i will need a sample of the product.
Do not worry about the shipping cost i will pay through my credit card.
mail me back to know if you ship to Nigeria.
looking forward to hearing from you soon.

Yours Ever
Evander (miss)

Not even sure where to begin with this one…

[Mousefinger @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

I think it would be a hoot if you replied and strung him/her along. I've read about people that string these scammers along and make them do crazy stuff. You could document how it's going and all of us could have a decent laugh @ their expense.

Ship him/her a box full of dirt in a fake PS3 box. What do ya think? Sounds fun to me.

^_^

[Crystal @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

I agree with Mousefinger, string this guy along. Make him pay a high shipping fee and send him a Styrofoam box with a picture of a mock up of PlayStation 3.

[sadd3j @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

Ala the awesome p-p-p-powerbook scam, for anyone who hasn't read about it, check it out here:

http://easynetworknyc.com/powerbook/

-rep

[Techno @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

I totally agree ! Send them a duffed X-BOX !

For more on scamming the scammers check out this link !

http://www.ebolamonkeyman.com/

[Walter @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

Heh seriously, this is an opportunity for some great scam baiting. Basically sometimes the scammers have to pay taxes on whatever it is they are "importing" .. thes guys have mastered this technique: http://pages.sbcglobal.net/dumbmrblah/Scamming%20the%20Scammer.htm

I can imagine you guys making a cardboard PS3 and sending it off bahaha. Seriously a funny story.

Not sure about 2 wrongs making a right, but still. Think about it atleast ;)

[webmeister Bud @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

That could be an engadget contest: Design the best fake PS3 box.

Note: Entries must be dirt-resistant.

=) Bud

[Walter @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

What makes me laugh is that if it was comment spam as Peter says, then Peter must have a real email address for this scammer on file :P

I knew there was an up side to this email verification thing.

On a side note I didn't mean to post a dupe of the P-p-p-powerbook thing, its just there was a lag time between rep/sadd3j's comment being verified and when I posted my comment.

Doh!

[Peter Rojas @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

Yep, I do have their email address (an anonymous Yahoo account, of course) and have been thinking about how best to respond. This was posted over at Joystiq, our sibling blog. Here's a direct link to the comment: http://www.joystiq.com/entry/9412965763230518/#c34402

[Kit Pierce @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

http://www.419eater.com
If you want some funny reading, here's a guy who scams the scammers. Some of the things he makes them do is quite funny. Enjoy!

[Walter @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

Awesome! I was worried the scammer might read this thread but since the comments were over on Joystiq I think we are free to chatter on about it here :)

Good stuff

[shriek @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

peter, check out 419eater.com...you can take some pointers from the guy who does scam-baiting.

[rob flink @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

The nigerian mafia strings you along...be careful!
They send you a bogus check for more than the amount, and ask you to send them the overage. You deposit their phoney check, it clears...at first, then later after the bank checks it out, days, weeks, months later, they inform you the check was bogus.
You are out the money you sent to the Nigerian mafia man.
Lots of variations on this scam.
Best thing to do is toss the message.
More info on Nigerian scams:
http://home.rica.net/alphae/419coal/

[japanatronics @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

I sold notebooks on eBay before, and received MANY MANY of these emails. Many of them are from Indonesia, and certain parts of Europe.

If you're a seller, just remember a couple of things. You can never be too careful, and if it's too good to be true, then it's too good to be true.

[JP @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

Sweet Baby Jesus and the Orphans.

[levein @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

I only received the emails about princes, high official, etc. :-)

[Adam Stanhope @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

Wasn't there some ridiculous story at some point about Saddam getting Playstations to build a supercomputer?

Imagine the WMDs he could have produced if he had PLAYSTATION 3!

[joel t @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

PS3 it is awesome

[fcsuper @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

Yeah, string them along. Tell them you are a bulk dealer and that the minimum order is 500,000 pieces, and that you need a deposit of $10,000 and a faxed P.O. to start the order process. lol

[Pierster @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

If you haven't already, you should visit the site www.scamorama.com. They track a host of online email scams, and get thrills from scamming the scammers. They would have fun with this one....

[chidi obi @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

please we the Nigerians have love in games but the abroaders dont know, please any game invoke should atleast 30% be sent to Nigerians, we are going to buy it more especially PS 3

[chisco charles @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

hi i need playstation 1