Well, yes,

This happens to you IF, and only IF, you are daft enough to try and obtain a foreign bride over the internet...

So let me get this straight...

I Bet the email went something like...

HI desmondgregor@aus.net

MY NAM IS NATACHA AN I AM A GOOD JESUS FOLLOWING LADY I LUCKING FOR HUSBAND I IS TH DAWTER OF THE CHEF AND HE IS GIVE AU$100,000 (ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLOR) IN GOLD BARS MY FRIED JESUS TOLD ME YOU WAS A NICE KIND MAN AND WOULD LIKE A GOOD WIFE TO LUCK AFTER YOU I HAVE ATTACH A PICHURE OF ME IN THE NUDE SO YOU SEE WHAT YOU GETTING COME TO AFRICA WE GET MARRIED AND I LOVE YOU LONG TIME OR SEND ME $10,000 (TEN THOUSAND DOLLOR) WITH WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFERER SO I GET WHAT I NEED AND I COME TO OZTRAILER AND MARRY YOU THERE

PLEASE RITE TO ME MY EMAIL ADDRESS IS Moses_Umpopo3578@yahoo.com

MAY JESUS BE WITH YOU

NATTACHA

Try before buy?

Did he google "third world bride for sale" or did he obtain her through reputable sources? Someone he could sue for false advertising. Surely determining the person exists is the first step in any relationship.

Think.....

...Australian version of deep south trailer park occupants.

LOL

haha at the email post above. I'm most impressed by Brother Des. He sounds like someone who, when he speaks, people listen!

Not to get suspicious

But frankly, I would already have doubts if I were to pick up a Natasha in Bamako. I don't know what range of first names they have over there, but Natasha sounds much more Russian than African to me.

On the other hand, the mail above is spot on. There's experience there, and it shows ;-).

Russian brides

Most of the offers I get a for Russian brides. After all, "Russian women know their place in the home and how to please their man". And they are all knock down beautiful.

But my wife won't let me get one.

There was nothing there but his own naked greed

Before people start hacking on 'luurv' over the internet, I have to say that I married someone I met on the internet, and they have been the happiest years of my life. However, I wasn't looking for $100,000 as part of the deal -- that not only sounds too good to be true, it defies all logic that someone in such dire straits couldn't *buy* something better locally. Face it, if they're any kind of decent person at all, they'd be as poor as a church mouse, not offering cash to the first idiot that comes along.

Let's review. He wasn't thinking with his upper brain. He wasn't even thinking with his lower brain. His greed ruled him, and he got the beating he deserved. I just love his quote: "You see this in a movie, you read about it in a book. It happens to someone else, not you. But it does." -- I have a better quote for him to ponder. "That's some mighty profound stupidity you got there, son. Your life'd make a good episode of 'The Brady Bunch, or even a nice entry on the Darwin Awards web page."

Canadian Embassy?

I'm sorry... but how does the Canadian embassy have anything to do with Australia or Mali?

Must be reallllly stupid "goons"

Er no....

No it wasn't him that was looking for the 100,000 pay off - it was a dowry payment (supposedly) which the groom pays to the father of the bride. He was bringing the cash in gold bars. That alone would have raised my suspicion - 100,000 Oz dollars for an African bride?? You could get a Thai bride for much less than that, and they're closer to home. And not as sulky about it, I'm told.

dowry - bride price not same thing

"Des Gregor, 56, flew last month to the impoverished African nation's capital Bamako in search of "Natacha" and a dowry of AU$100,000 in gold bars"

The first line of a google on dowry:

Definitions of dowry on the Web:

* money or property brought by a woman to her husband at marriage

wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

I maintain that the guy is a greedy 'tard.

This man has no respect for tradition

Being an farmer from Down Under he would have had access to sheep by the thousand. Are they no longer good enough for a lonely bloke in the bush?

scam enchanted evening . . .

www.419 brides.com

Ah well, I guess it sounded cheaper than buying one from a Pacific island instead.

LOL!!

typed that into my address bar (www.419 brides.com), not noticing the space, got a google search page, and this was one of the google ads:

Brides

Fantastic prices on brides

Deal with Canadians and save

www.ebay.ca

saved the screen shot, or prolly works if you just try it yourself. too damn funny!

didn't they have a spat recently, ebay and google? think this is some sort of subtle retaliation? chuckle chuckle

Re: So let me get this straight...

Ha, that was great! Have you ever thought of writing for the 419ers? They might be in need of authors, you know, with all the suckers out there.

@Mike VandeVelde

No retaliation. eBay's marketing strategy isn't very targeted. They buy keywords by the MILLIONS. You can pretty much trust them to have ANYTHING on eBay ;)

Canadian Embassy?

From the Federal Police web site... the Canadian Embassy in Mali provides consular assistance to Australians to Mali

re scam enchanted evening

Cheers, Keith, best laugh I've had all week!

Now I've got the song stuck in my head - with your lyrics!

russian brides

During my brief experiment with ICQ, I kept getting contact requests from russian women

Somehow, all of them were 26 years old.

As for this guy, he paid the price for ignoring Aussie traditions and trading partners, our mail-order-brides are sourced from the Phillipines and Thailand ( refered to as LBFMs )

look below...

Check out the google ads at the bottom of the page. Mine read: "Russian Brides", "Nigerian Dating", and "Russian Visa"...