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Too Stupid to Own a Computer

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Shades:
Please App, don't see this as an attack of some kind...I can see your point very clearly.

But if you can spend 6 million bucks on a problem like this when you are a jazz pianist and composer...it is very likely that he can rely on a (very healthy) trust fund of some kind.

6 Million, that would buy a whole lot of musical equipment and nice PC's...it should even have bought reliable advice and/or common sense as well.

It looks like I join the laughing crowd...just because of the shameful amount of money spent on the "problem".

app103:
It looks like I join the laughing crowd...just because of the shameful amount of money spent on the "problem".
-Shades (November 12, 2010, 07:26 PM)
--- End quote ---

The "problem" was that his lack of computer knowledge made him an easy target for a scammer. That lack of knowledge made it possible to convince him that it was possible for an average techie in a pc repair shop to trace a computer virus to a hard drive in Honduras, and that in the process, they uncovered a plot to take his life. What is missing to this story is exactly what the money he paid was supposed to be for. I am pretty sure he wasn't paying $6 million for a simple virus removal. Seems more like he was a terrified guy that was doing whatever he thought he had to do to protect his life.

Maybe I don't find this funny because I live with someone that could easily fall for a variety of scams and I have spent the last 26 years of my life trying to keep him out of trouble, keep the snake oil out of our house, and keep our money safe... sometimes unsuccessfully.

Stoic Joker:
Seems more like he was a terrified guy that was doing whatever he thought he had to do to protect his life.-app103 (November 12, 2010, 11:31 PM)
--- End quote ---

Quite true, but if you ask anyone over the age of 5 who they would call if their life was in danger I doubt Tech Support is going to be at the top of the list of most common (sense...) answers...911 on the other hand...

Darwin:
Two observations:

1. Where do people get the chutzpah to work a scam like this?
2. How on earth did the scammers justify the 7 figure fee to the victim? I mean, and I think this was partly Renegade's point above, how could anyone be convinced that rooting around on someone's hard drive is worth that much money?

I suspect it comes down to "saving his life"... I wonder, frankly, if what he is really trying to recover is not a fee but a reward?

app103:
2. How on earth did the scammers justify the 7 figure fee to the victim? I mean, and I think this was partly Renegade's point above, how could anyone be convinced that rooting around on someone's hard drive is worth that much money?
-Darwin (November 13, 2010, 08:34 AM)
--- End quote ---

That's why I said it seems part of this story is missing.

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