Status: Scam
According to the
Arab News, the Nigerian bank scam has taken on a new twist. The scammers no longer tell you that they want to transfer $30 million into your bank account, or that you've won the European lottery. Now they inform you that you've been cursed, and you need to pay up to have the curse lifted. They bypass email and phone you directly to tell you this:
Abdul Rahman, sociology professor at Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud University, said he received one of these calls from an Arabic speaker who informed him that he had been cursed by a colleague. The caller then claimed that he could neutralize the evil spell provided a specified sum of money was transferred to a bank account in Mali. The operator even claimed he would reveal the identity of the colleague if payment were sent.
Actually, I don't think Arab News is correct to identify this as an evolution of the Nigerian bank scam. I've definitely heard of fake curse scams before, though I can't find a link to another example.
Comments
Typically, the pigeon is told that he/she has money that is cursed, and should give it or some significant portion of it to the fortune-teller to remove the curse.
Some big-city police departments have "Gypsy units" devoted more or less exclusively to this type of fraud.
How could a curse scam like this even have a target? Who would believe them?
This sounds more like a prank than a scam. If the only example of the "scam" is a collage professor recieveing a call, then it can't be very wide spread.
To Realist: it just depends in which culture you are. Many non-western (and also some western) cultures have a belief in witchcraft.