The Courier-Mail reports that Sarah Jane Cochrane-Ramsey (23) was employed as an “agent” in March 2010 by the Nigerians, but did not know they were scam artists.
Her job was to provide access to an Australian bank account opened in her name, where the Nigerians could transfer money they received from a phony car sales website.
Cochrane-Ramsey was told she could keep eight per cent of the transfers.
But, then, she decided to steal from the “thieves”.
According to the Courier-Mail, she received two payments, totalling $33,350, but spent most of it on herself.
The real victims, who thought they were buying cars online, reported the scam to the police, who traced the account back to Cochrane-Ramsey.
She appeared before the Brisbane District Court and pleaded guilty to the one-count charge of aggravated fraud.
For now, the Judge is allowing Cochrane-Ramsey time to come up with the money to pay-off the victims, while she awaits sentencing in March.
Interestingly, Cochrane-Ramsey is not the first person to turn the tables on Nigerian scammers.
In 2008, a radio programme, This American Life, ran a story on anonymous pranksters who sent a Nigerian scam artist on a wild goose chase that spanned 1,400 miles into war-torn Chad for a promised cash payout at a local Western Union branch.
And they convinced him to do this while carrying an anti-Muslim/pro-George Bush note, which stated his intention to rob the Western Union. Their entire plan was spelled out on this website, dedicated to turning the tables on Internet con artists.
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