It all happened in Canada?

Sep 14, 2007 07:07 GMT  ·  By

It's one thing to outsmart an elder, but to do that and gain profit of it, well, that's illegal. This is the case of Toluwalade Alonge Owolabi which scammed an 84-year-old via the Internet - he has been caught by the Police and charged with fraud.

It all happened in Canada and not in Africa, as you would expect after reading the culprit's name. But it has something to do with the Black Continent - Owolabi, 36, living in Toronto was a Nigerian and, furthermore, was doing business with a bank in Ghana. So, what was his scheme? Well, he sent an e-mail to the old man saying that he could get a share of a $1.5 million fortune, but what he needed to do is first wire up some money to the bank mentioned above.

He was supposed to send a total sum of $37.500, but he only sent $30.000. Instead of being satisfied with the money he already got, the scammer decided to go for more and make the old man pay the whole sum. In the mean time, the 84-year-old finally understood what was going on and that the Nigerian was pulling his leg. Of course, as you might have already figured out, there was no fortune, no nothing. When the greedy scammer came to the old man's house in Winnipeg to personally get the rest of the money, the Police busted him.

What's even worse is the fact that officials in Ghana have refused to cooperate with the Police, as according to The Sun, so there is little chance that the old man will get his money back. What really surprises me isn't the fact that this guy succeeded in tricking an elder person, but the fact that at 84-years-old, this man was using an e-mail. Now that's something!