Sarah Jane Cochrane-Ramsey, Australian Woman, Cons Nigerian Scammers Out Of $33,000

How does it feel when the tables are turned?

The Courier Mail in Australia reports that Sarah Jane Cochrane-Ramsey pleaded guilty last Thursday to one count of aggravated fraud for scamming Nigerian con artists out of $33,000.

Cochrane-Ramsey opened an Australian bank account that the Nigerians could use to funnel payments they got through their "dodgy account on a popular car sales website," according to the Courier Mail.

The terms of her arrangement with the con artists said that Cochrane-Ramsey was supposed to keep eight percent of all monies sent to the account, with the rest going back to the Nigerians. Instead, she kept the money for herself.

Slate points out that Cochrane-Ramsey denied knowing she was working for fraudsters, thereby "denying herself the defense that she was somehow attempting to give her fellow scammers a taste of their own medicine."

Nigeria's The Nation notes that Cochrane-Ramsey is not the first person to con Nigerian scofflaws.

In fact, "This American Life" produced a story in 2008 on a group of people who made a Nigerian scammer travel 1,400 miles in search of a promised cash reward.

Photo by Flickr user B Rosen.

Also on HuffPost:

Comments

[fortressfountain]

11:58 AM on 02/28/2012

I do not think the woman is a criminal. She beat them at their own game. The banking industry says if you do not want to pay high interests and fees you should not sign up for mortgages or credit cards.
So this woman used money, deposited into her account-no crime.
I would not ask my employeer where they obtained money-when they pay my salary for the week.

[mick e]

11:13 PM on 02/27/2012

Too bad she didn't get more from that bunch of slime.

[Nino Bookman]

09:47 PM on 02/27/2012

Bankers and banks do a very pitiful job at trying to catch these scammers that they almost condone what they do. I had a $3000 check sent to me from a Texas bank account and when I tried to contact them and tell them what was going on they could have cared less. It was a legitimate account but was somehow hi-jacked. They offered no help. solutions, nor did they want to even see it. I think it's weird the way they reacted. They basically said it happens all the time and they weren't going to follow up.

[esosa233]

09:33 PM on 02/27/2012

This is kinda annoying that this is what Nigeria is most known for, this and the biggest churches. It's kinda nice to see how they coincide. But it's simply a con artist conning another con artist, both should simply be punished and the money returned, I don't see what nationality has to do with it.

[Moonshi14]

08:45 PM on 02/27/2012

People who get scammed by these people are poor fools. I feel for them but they basically gave it away; they were too gullible.

[Makos62]

06:29 PM on 02/27/2012

Do not forget that the money she kept was some innocent individual who thought they were getting rich as well. The only question I have is why hasn't anyone gone after the BIG scammers? Mitt. Rich., Newt and company???

[omegas3]

02:46 PM on 02/27/2012

she kept money that was illegally obtained by scamming others. she is no hero

[esosa233]

09:29 PM on 02/27/2012

This is so ironic she became the monster she was trying to humiliate. But I still don't think she should be given too harsh of a time.

[Dahveed1]

09:12 AM on 02/27/2012

She should be given an award, not prison time.

[TheGripester]

12:41 PM on 02/27/2012

Except that the money she took was conned out of innocent victims, right? If you saw bank robbers piling money in the back of their getaway car, and then removed it while they weren't looking, it would still be theft unless you returned the money. This woman had no intention of doing that - ergo, she profited from a crime.

[TheGripester]

12:56 PM on 02/27/2012

Only if she gives the money back, right? Because it was taken from innocent victims, right?

[Demidan]

08:27 AM on 02/27/2012

I've never gotten money out of them but I've sure given them headaches! Anyone that falls for their obvious ploys should be ashamed.

[Dahveed1]

09:13 AM on 02/27/2012

It always amazes me that someone from a country you've never been and might not have actually ever met somebody from there would be offering to send you money out of the blue and people fall for that.

[audioenhanced]

08:19 AM on 02/27/2012

What's good for the goose, lol.....however it should go both ways, she did the same thing,

[kilakhan]

05:28 AM on 02/27/2012

funny post..she scams alleged scammers who are obviously anonymous faceless people..the post seems to be "celebrating" her getting one over the scammers...meanwhile reality check she and not the scammers has pleaded guilty to fraud and she not the scammers will go to jail...who is fooling who here?

[EvilRabbit]

01:11 AM on 02/27/2012

So basically one con artist conned another.

[gensully52]

12:50 AM on 02/27/2012

Who filed the suit against her? If they were in fact 'scammers" how did they get a court to convict her? I don't get it.

[Corban]

01:57 AM on 02/27/2012

All governments don't like anyone who scams anyone. It's only because they hate competition.

[Dahveed1]

09:14 AM on 02/27/2012

LOL! good one.

[cetrales]

03:33 AM on 02/27/2012

That money was stolen from innocent people - they traced it back to her. No one has to file suit, this is a criminal action, she stole money and it's true owners are the victims who she never gave a second thought to.

[bluefalcon06]

12:27 AM on 02/27/2012

Good job, lady.

[TheGripester]

12:43 PM on 02/27/2012

So you think it's okay to profit from stolen money, just so long a you steal it from dishonest people? What about the victims who lost their money? That's why she's on trial.

[bluefalcon06]

05:59 PM on 02/27/2012

I think there is nothing wrong with taking from dishonest people. If the money taken from dishonest people came from honest people, the people who lost it to begin with weren'tthat smart in the first place for falling for the scam.

[bluefalcon06]

06:00 PM on 02/27/2012

However, it should be given back to the honest folks even though they aren't all that smart, I suppose.

[littlesilverwolf]

12:19 AM on 02/27/2012

too funny that the Nigerian scammers would fall victim to their own schemes :-)

[OneVeryProudAmerican]

11:52 AM on 02/27/2012

They didn't, their middlewoman just didn't funnel them the money. Innocent people were still scammed out of $33,000.