George Makronalli - A Greek tragedy!

#1 24 May 2012, 09:31

George Makronalli - A Greek tragedy!

I never knew George, I'd never seen his name in communique, never warned him about a scam as far as I know. I had absolutely zero knowledge of the existence of this Greek national... George.

This story upsets me deeply, even now after many months. I am not ashamed to say that when the truth finally came out, I cried. I didn't know what made me cry, all I know is that it did... hard and long. Something inside me was taken away by this experience, and was replaced by something akin to a black-hole, into which I wanted to plunge every 419er.

The illusion that I was simply warning people against potential or real financial ruin paled into insignificance. I was changed, as were many of those watching with me, over the internet, or those more directly involved. We watched, and we were horrified. We waited, and we were petrified. The truth came, and we were devastated.

George was dead. Beaten, mutilated, set on fire and murdered. Treated by his assailant with no mercy, no compassion, no feelings what so ever. George was dead, and we couldn't stop it happening.

Tuesday 21st December 2004 was not a normal day. Rian (ZA Policeman) over at (the original) 419legal.org asked some baiters to standby for some investigation work. Rian had received a warning that a man from Cyprus (victim to a 419 gang) had been kidnapped and taken for ransom in Durban. As the word got out, many other baiters joined the search, googling fine details about email addresses, phone numbers, IP addresses and the like. Others such as myself looked on in mortified horror at what was unfolding.

After some 8 hours, Rian notified us that a body had been found by himself and his anti-419 team. The deceased had met his end the previous Sunday (19th December 2004), and the facts came out that even as the body of George lay cold, the scammers made demands of money from his family. News of this murder broke on 23rd December 2004 in South Africa, and was followed up by other reports on the 31st.

George had been taken in, like so many victims before him. He even travelled to South Africa to meet them, because he thought it was real. Something happened during that meeting which cost George his life. We will never know what. The culprits brutalised George, they beat him, mutilated him, crippled him and set him alight... and even after doing this, they demanded money from his family.

After the shock came anger, which was a natural course, many were upset by this brutality and senseless violence.

A quote from Rian, South African Police Services

Quote:

Originally Posted by rian

Firstly, yes this was a shocking and terifying experience on Tuesday, even to us police officers dealing with the case here in South Africa. These criminals are dangerous and I think in future everyone dealing with victims, even if it is only warning them, should make them aware of this danger. These lads will kill upon meeting victims.

But the actual reason for posting now is to, yet again, thank everyone who assisted last week and still do. We would not have come this far without your help.

This again goes to show the importance of you guys assisting Law Enforcement. The other police in Durban admitted that they would never have suspected 419 activities if they found the body. We would never have come this far without your help.

Again, thank you very much.

As the months rolled on, nobody could really forget what had happened. Baiters in their anger turned to South Africa, and to bait as many Lads from there as possible. There was some arrests, good ones too. May they rot in jail for 4 score and 20 more.

In April 2005 a baiter made a tear jerking post at 419eater, in response to the murder of George. (snippet below)

Quote:

Originally Posted by endise_jeel

Was Georgios Macromallis a greedy fool? No. He is but one of many who seek only to improve the lives of his loved ones; And at the same time respond to the cries of help from a seemingly genuine fellow human out of his predicament in a foreign land; And be rewarded accordingly to the non-existent terms set by the monsters. The only reward for his well meaning misplaced trust of wolves in human skin was to be tortured, ransomed and burnt in the foulest manner known to mankind.

May George rest in eternal peace, and whatever God he believed in take him to his bosom and protect him from the darkness. George will never be forgotten, he will be a constant reminder to us all about how important our job is. To warn a victim is an easy thing to do. To inform the Police that a victim is in danger of travelling is also an easy thing to do.

But to experience this brutality, this stupidity, this horror, even by the remoteness of an internet connection, is not an easy thing to do.

Let us work hard to ensure it does not happen again.

References:-

(from an original article written by Eatyo Urgreens and posted with author's permission)