Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/03/02/hiring-a-scammer-to-be-a-docum.html
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Well that will teach him not to… ummm… mess with… wtf?
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Long con: After winning critical acclaim for his documentary Tobi spends years rising through the ranks at a major Hollywood studio producing and directing a series of finely crafted, emotionally affecting films that create broad audience appeal through their insightful take on our shared humanity. Based on this artistic and commercial success, the studio decides to take a risk and entrusts Tobi with a 9-figure budget to produce the next star-studded action blockbuster. Then he skips town with the money while laughing his ass off!
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Know what would make a great subject for that documentary? A profile of that poor deposed Nigerian Prince who remains trapped in his homeland because he hasn’t been able to find a financial partner to help him transfer his vast fortune abroad.
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This is why I think micro-lenders like KIVA are great. Because they are not handouts but loans that help someone with some kind of business and have a very high re-payment rate. I’ve loaned out the same amount of money to a dozen or so different folks around the world and it always got repaid. I’d go so far as to suggest they could even charge a higher rate, so if people had say 4% return (which is not that bad these days) you might attract a lot more lenders or investors.
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OMG, why doesn’t this exist yet?
Not quite, but close.
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Finally got home so i’m able to watch the video and its really interesting. Can’t say i judge Tobi one way or another, but ultimately regardless if he’s a good person or not he deserves to have a voice and i respect this guy that is giving him a platform to make something of himself. I hope life takes him on a better path, whatever that may be.
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This is why I can’t really bring myself to hate on these scammers. I think most people, if given the opportunity, would prefer to make an honest buck than a dishonest one. Plus, there’s this, one of my favorite things on the internet:
I kinda love these guys.
(Yeah, I know the video came from the not-entirely-noble 419 Eater, so is itself the result of “scamming the scammers,” but still)
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Nigerians lack a lot of things that we take for granted, like landscape orientation.
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That market looks just like the markets we had in Tanzania.
But yeah, I doubt Nigerians want to scam people or steal. It’s just that they will do whatever they can to make ends meet and better their share in life. So of course if you offer to pay someone to take videos they’ll happily say yes.
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The idea is great, but the organizations I have checked have taken such a huge chunk of the money for themselves. You get no or little interest rate, which I can live with, but then the poor people have to pay a very high interest rate that end up with the middle men. I don’t know how KIVA rates here.
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Past injuries aside, I think this is the right way to proceed.
I just hope that posting the guy’s face isn’t going to cut his reformed life short.
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The content seems to be aimed at us Westerners so i don’t think the Nigerian guy has much to worry about gaining notoriety, just yet at least. But if anything it might motivate this guy (or someone else) to make content for his native market, creativity creates opportunity and hope. Point in case Uganda’s own Hollywood, aka: Wakaliwood:
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Well, in these days of supposed transparency we should be able to check on Kiva and other micro-lenders, on how much they do take for themselves. It is understandable that there are administration costs though it surely would be bad publicity if they were to be gouging people. It should be possible to contact the recipients - I believe one guy on kickstarter had a book where he traveled around the world visiting the very people he made micro-loans to.
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