Man loses money trying to double it by marinating
In Norway, a French gentleman (F) told a Vietnamese gentleman (V) that he could double his money using a special liquid solution. V gave F $35,000, hoping to turn it into $70,000 overnight.
This unidentified man was told by a 32-year-old Frenchman that if he mixed the real cash with blank bills and then marinate them in a special liquid for one night, he would have double the amount of the cash.Link (via Arbroath)The gullible Vietnamese believed the Frenchman's story and gave him 180,000 kroner (35, 000 U.S. dollars). But when he prepared to collect his money the next morning, both the cash and the Frenchman disappeared.
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Because its been a motif on bb lately, Ill say it:
The money didn't disappear. Only the pure of heart could see it.
This only works with US dollars...I'll be happy to accomodate anyone with $35,000USD ;-)
They should have a P.T. Barnum Award, styled much like the Darwin Awards, but for fools and their money.
Alchemists are still around. Seems to be a nice profession, even in these days. ;-)
I think the real story is - How does a moron acquire 35,000 bucks in the first place?
Darn. I was waiting for him to double his money before I sold him this bag of magic beans. Now I'll have to sell them to that German kid with the cow.
First Jerôme Kerviel, then this guy... I know: French people have magic powers around money. Like making it disappear!
Now, if only I could make a few Euros appear magically into my bank account... ;-)
First colonialism, and now this?!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Vietnam#19th_century_and_French_colonization
Is this what they mean by money laundering?
What kind of marinade does it take? Will worcestershire sauce work?
Also does a Frenchmen have to do it or can I just put on a funny hat and use my best Peppy Le Pew impression?
The Vietnamese press puts it slightly differently:
(emphasis mine)Interesting to note the difference between how he's identified in the Chinese press - "the gullible Vietnamese" (race as a noun) - from how he's identified in the Viet press, and also the different focus - "[the Frenchman] cheated . . . " versus the Chinese article's statement "[the victim] was told by . . . " and its focus on the mental processes of the victim - "who believed that mixing cash with a special liquid could double its value."
I'm not saying oooh, racism, ban it!, just that it's interesting from a folklore perspective to compare the tellings.
@ Sfazzios: Yeah, you would think a Vietnamese would have been wary of French tricks...
At least tell me there was some sort of visual slight of hand where the Frenchman put a bill and a blank together in a vial and two bills came out. I could almost forgive the Vietnamese guy that way. But if he solely took him at his word there's just no denying it: he is one gullible MFer.
This happened on an episode of The Flintstones.
This screams "urban legend". I know it's in Xinhua and other sources, but...still...it strains credulity. Perhaps because of the nationalities of the people involved.
Mycophage, my thoughts exactly - details are lacking, no names except the police officer, not even a city. Even if it's true, though, it's still interesting as folklore.
Here's the story in the paper the Vietnamese story claims as a source. Spectacularly racist illustration included.
Look at all those people who invested their life savings in ant farms in China. 419 scammers make loads of money from loads of people. Hell, Amway. Greed potentiates gullibility.
While the story reeks or urban legend, particularly due to the lack of concrete details. Then again, there was this 419 scam in which currency had been rendered worthless because it was blackened. The 419'ers could, of course for a price, get a special solution to remove only the black dye. The scam involved you receiving the "money" and then you "helping them purchase" the solution. It is completely implausible (and used black paper). Somehow people fell for it. This story of "a magical marinade" is just as far out there... which only tells me that someone HAD TO fall for it!
There's a difference between gullible and downright dumb.
uh, waht you mean?
I very much doubt this is an urban myth.
Living in Norway myself, I did a few searches, and the case is reported as legit by a large number of Norwegian media. I'm sure not all of them are too effective in their fact checking, but at least a few of them would have discovered it, had it been a fake.
We're a small country, so when both the lawyer and police officer are named, it's a fairly easy task to track both them and the story down.
So, I'm guessing we're looking at a very stupid individual and a very sneaky frenchman.
I can add that when the story first broke, he wasn't a frenchman, just "a magician". :-D
No Urban Legend at all!
That's an old scam played usually by nigerians.
At least that's what happens in Italy,
where these kind of episodes are often busted by the crews of "Striscia la Notizia", a satyrical daily program on public Tv.
$35,000? in Norway that's hardly enough for a round of beer.
@#11 SISTER Y
[quote]
"the gullible Vietnamese" (race as a noun)
[/quote]
[quote]
a gullible Vietnamese man
[/quote]
Do you understand what an adjective and a noun are? Also, do you know what a quote is?
If someone enters into a deal knowing that they are committing fraud and using the gullible nature of the other party to cheat them then they should be put on trial. There was no racism in that story, but your comment of "I'm not saying oooh, racism, ban it!" leads me to believe that you believe that racism should exist and have its place in society. Interesting.
@#24, Wolfrider
I believe that you greatly misunderstand Sister Y's comment, and that you make the same errors in that you attribute to that commenter.
There are two quotes in question, one from a Chinese media source and one from a Vietnamese media source. Both use the same word, but they use them as different parts of speech. Yes, a word can be both an adjective and a noun.
One of the issues here is that use of a word that is perfectly acceptable as an adjective can be fairly dehumanizing when used as a noun. Ethnic/national/racial descriptors are the most notable examples, though not the only such cases. Consider these two statements:
"There are homeless sleeping on the sidewalk." vs "There are homeless people sleeping on the sidewalk." The first usage is common practice, and greatly affects the tone.
The wrongdoing of the swindler wasn't the question here, it was the subtle racism perceived in the use of language in the article sourced. The way that I read Sister Y's comment was not that that commenter was unopposed to racism, as you infer, but that she wished it understood that this was a minor instance of racism in language and perhaps should not be blown out of proportion.
It should also probably be noted that the acceptability of that sort of construction may be chalked up to dialectical and regional or generational differences.
I'm aware that the term "Oriental," for instance, is considered correct for all people of East Asian descent in British usage and is still used by many people of my parent's generation here in the States, while to the young or language-conscious speaker of American English it's considered somewhat racist. It's not the worst slur I could use for any given Asian person, but it's at best insensitive and at worst might land me in a fight.
Similarly, when I hear someone talk about "a black" or "a Vietnamese" it's an instant tip-off that they're not from 'round here, given that I live in a city in a progressive blue state. It's about the same as talking about "the gays."
More on the black money scam.
It reminded me of an underrated movie, Rage In Harlem. The basic, I'll double your money by magic scam is quite old, but it made for good atmosphere in the movie. If I remember right, Forest Whitaker was the straight ace working at the undertakers and Robin Givens was nothing but trouble.
The scam was simple. The mark gave the con man his roll of bills. The con man set them up in a tin to bake them in the oven saying that they'd rise like bread. The bills caught fire. The mark panicked and pulled out the tin, but the bills were destroyed. Of course, the bills had never actually made it into the oven. It wasn't a major part of the plot, but it helped make this a fun movie.
Klobouk, thanks. Always a good experience to be understood so thoroughly.
My basic philosophy: racism and sexism are bad, but all but the most harmful instances of them should be met with irony and/or interest, rather than violent condemnation. Irony is the proper response to things that are absurd. Interest is the proper response to things that are complicated.