419 Scam of the Day [Email Scams, Phishing, etc.]

No, actually I have not get one in ages. I have an own domain that gets spammed so much that I stopped using the email server, but both my company server (with a standard filter included) as well as Gmail do a great job... on Gmail I sometimes get some Viagra/others meds I do not even know mails directly in my spam folder and that is it... I had the feeling that 419 is on the decline...

I got this one today!:

FROM THE DESK OF MR SEDIQ MARIN

AUDITING AND ACCOUNTING SECTION OF

BANK OF AFRICA (B.O.A)

OUAGADOUGOU BURKINA-FASO

WEST AFRICA.

Dear Friend,

I know that this email will be a big surprise to you, But I want you to calm down and read very carefully .

I am Mr Sediq Marin, the director in charge of auditing and accounting section of Bank of Africa (BOA) Ouagadougou Burkina-Faso West-Africa with due respect and regard. I have decided to contact you on a business transaction that will be very beneficial to both of us at the end of the transaction.

During our investigation and auditing in this bank, my department came across a very huge sum of money belonging to a deceased person Mr.Emmanuel Etukudo who died on May 2nd, 2004 in a gassy car accident with his entire family on there way back from Bobo-Dioulasso the formal capital city of Burkina-Faso, and the fund has been dormant in his account with this Bank without any claim of the fund in our custody either from his family or relation before our discovery to this development.

The said amount was U.S $9.8M (Nine million eight hundred United States dollars). As it may interest you to know, I got your impressive information through yahoo search on foreign business relations here in Ouagadougou Burkina-Faso. Meanwhile all the whole arrangement to put claim over this fund as the bona fide next of kin to the deceased, to get the required approval and transfer this money to a foreign account has been put in place and directives, and needed information will be relayed to you as soon as you indicate your interest and willingness to assist me and also benefit your self to this great business opportunity.

In fact I could have done this deal alone but because of my position in this country as a civil servant (A Banker), we are not allowed to operate a foreign account and would eventually raise an eye brow on my side during the time of transfer because I work in this bank. This is the actual reason why it will require a second party or fellow who will forward claims as the next of kin with affidavit of trust of oath to the Bank and also present a foreign account where he will need the money to be re-transferred into on his request as it may be after due verification and clarification by the correspondent branch of the bank where the whole money will be remitted from to your own designation bank account.

I will not fail to inform you that this transaction is 100% risk free,On smooth conclusion of this transaction, you will be entitled to 40% of the total sum as gratification, while 60% will be for me. Please, you have been advised to keep "top secret" as I am still in service and intend to retire from service after we conclude this deal.

I will be monitoring the whole situation here in this bank until you confirm the money in your account and ask me to come down to your country for subsequent sharing of the fund according to percentages previously indicated and further investment, either in your country or any country you advice us to invest in. All other necessary vital information will be sent to you when I hear from you.

I will be expecting to hear from you soonest.

Have a nice day

MR Sediq Marin.

Not had time to read all of this but one time I did a bit of 419 batting, it was hilarious and had the team I was working with in stiches as I got the person (crook) travelling all over the place trying to pick up his money from Western Union including having him take a picture of himself holding a red rose.

Do NOT advice it unless you really know what you are doing.

This is going to hit you hard, but the whole conference advert is one big pi55 take......

Sounds like a good deal - if you don't go for it, do you mind if I do?

Go ahead, Burkina Faso is not really on my top 10 (not even top 100) places to visit

I did a lot of baiting too a few years ago, it's great entertainment (but please, be careful, some of these can be dangerous, although most are just dumb). I had one guy going for about 9 months convinced I was recruiting members for our church and my buddy (also me) was a CIA officer recruiting him to catch other scammers. He lived in Lagos (or so he said) and I once sent him to the Russian embassy in Abuja to collect some documents from "our inside man". He got pretty angry when the receptionist told him that there was no one there by the name of Ivan Kikabolokoff.

He did get some new members for our "church" though, but eventually I admitted to him that he had just recruited some new members for the Leeds Utd fan club.

got that one too. I found it quite unnerving that somebody would go through the bother of handwriting such letters. the photos were mass-printed though, which gave it away pretty clearly.

What kind of people fall for these scams anyway? Desperate, stupid? What?

I didn't read every post so maybe somebody mentioned this, but what about scammers in Zurich preying on Apartment seekers? Has anyone encountered that?

I did some Craigslist searching before I came here and got one reply that involved a supposed missionary working in, you guessed it, west Africa, who was trying to sublet the flat with some shady details and of course a dramatic and dire situation.

My warning lights went off and I avoided it, but I could see people falling for this more so than assassins and boxes full of millions. I wonder if I still have the email...

yeah, there's a thread somewhere about that one too..

My first one for ages -

From: Mr. Bright N. Addo.

Standard Chartered Bank Ghana Ltd,

Ho Branch.

My Dear Friend,

It is indeed my pleasure to write you this letter, which I believe will be a surprise to you as we have never met before, and I am deeply sorry if I have in any manner disturbed your privacy. Please forgive this unusual manner of contacting you, but this particular letter is of exceptional and very private nature.

There is absolutely going to be a great doubt and distrust in your heart in respect of this email, coupled with the fact that, so many individuals have taken possession of the Internet to facilitate their nefarious deeds, thereby making it extremely difficult for genuine and legitimate business class persons to get attention and recognition. There is no way for me to know whether I will be properly understood, but it is my duty to write and reach out to you.

My name is Mr. Bright N. Addo. I work with the Standard Chartered Bank Ghana Ltd as the Regional Manager, Ho Branch, in the Volta Region of Ghana in West Africa, i am a Christian.

I do not want problems but i just hope you can assist me, i write you this letter in good faith, i have a transaction of Five million six hundred and twenty thousand United States dollars ($5,620,000.00). I realized this fund from my bank excess profit after trading with the capital sum and I deposited the funds in escrow call account, where nobody will have access to it, even the bank does not have access to this account because it cannot be Deducted, until after the transfer.

Meanwhile as you know I can not be directly connected to this money for obvious reasons. So my contacting you is to assist me receive the funds in your bank account in your country, which I know is possible if you liaise properly with me and get 30% of the total funds as your benefit. The transfer would be made via swift and it will be a Bank-to-Bank wired transfer.

All I need is for you to get a good current account where this fund can be transferred into, and for you to stand to claim as the original depositor of this fund. Within four working days the funds will be Transferred to your Designated bank account.

I will computer your particulars as the person who made the deposit in my branch, so that my head office will immediately order the transfer to your designated bank account. E-mail me if you think we can work together.

Please indicate your interest in coming into partnership with me by providing me with your full information below:

FULL NAME...................................

ADDRESS.....................................

AGE.........................................

SEX.........................................

OCCUPATION..................................

MARITAL STATUS..............................

TELEPHONE/FAX NUMBER........................

Thanks for your understanding and co-operation.

Yours truly,

Mr. Bright N. Addo.

Branch manager (S C B).

One well organised scam who keep sending me letters are a group calling themselves BILLAG. They claim you ought to be paying license fees for some 1980s contraption called a Television which they try to con you into thinking you must posess and use.

Please be very wary of these people. Don't open the door to them, don't answer their questions and never ever give bank account details or offer to make a payment. They are very powerful and very evil.

I even have reason to believe their web of sleaze and deceipt goes all the way up the chain of command as even BR Leuenberger has spoken out in their favour.

I know those evil scammers! LOL

I just received this one:

GREETINGS IN THE NAME OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST.

DEAR BELOVED,

I AM MRS STELLA COLLINS FROM SWITZERLAND. A WIDOW TO LATE TOM COLLINS I AM 55 YEARS OLD. I AM NOW A NEW CHRISTAIN CONVERT SUFFERING FROM LONG TIME CANCER OF THE BREAST. FROM ALL INDICATION MY CONDITIONS IS REALLY DETERIORATING AND IT IS QUITE OBVIOUS THAT I WON LIVE MORE THAN 3 MONTHS, ACCORDING TO MY DOCTORS. THIS IS BECAUSE THE CANER STAGE HAS GOTTEN TO A VERY BAD STAGE.MY LATE HUSBAND DIED LAST FIVE YEARS,AND DURING THE PERIOD OF OUR MARRIAGE WE COULD NOT PRODUCE ANY CHILD.

MY LATE HUSBAND WAS VERY WEALTHY AND AFTER HIS DEATH, I INHERITED ALL HIS BUSINESS AND WEALTH. THE DOCTORS HAS ADVISED ME THAT I MAY NOT LIVE FOR MORE THAN 3 MONTHS, SO I NOW DECIDED TO DEVIDE THE PART OF THIS WEALTH, TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHURCH IN AFRICA, AMERICA ASIA,AND EUROPE. I PRAYED OVER IT. I AM WILLING TO DONATE THE SUM OF $5,000.000.00U.USD( FIVE MILLION UNITED STATES DOLLARS) TO THE LESS PRIVILEGED.

PLEASE I WANT YOU TO NOTE THAT FUND IS DEPOSITED IN A SECURITY COMPANY HERE AS A FAMILY VALUABLES IN (ABIDJAN IVORY COAST).AS SOON AS I HEAR FROM YOU, I WILL FORWARD TO YOU ALL THE INFORMATIONS YOU WILL USE TO GET THIS FUND RELEASED AND TRASFERRED FROM THE SECURITY COMPANY TO YOUR COUNTRY.

I HONESTLY PRAY THAT THIS MONEY WHEN TRANSFERRED TO YOUR ACCOUNT WILL BE SURE FOR THE SAID PURPOSE, BECAUSE I HAVE COME TO FIND OUT THAT WEALTH ACQUISITION WITHOUT CHRIST IS VANITY. MAY THE GRACE OF OUR LORD JESUS THE LOVE OF GOD AND THE FELLOWSHIP OF GOD BE WITH YOU AND YOUR FAMILY.

I AWAIT YOUR URGENT REPLY.

YOUR SISTER IN CHRIST.

MRS .STELLA COLLINS.

The Nigerian spell-checker was on the fritz again ("I won live" - well not as an English frickin' secretary you won't), otherwise it was a perfectly ordinary letter, with all the key elements, Christ, God and a pair of breasts thrown in for the man in the street to relate to, (WTF is "Caner"?). I would have loved to help, but I was just closing up on the purchase of some Gorilla organs on Ebay, so I'm right out of PayPal credits. Rats!

why are they always fervently religious putting the figure in words and numbers

cultural thing

Today I received a slightly sneakier approach:

-------------------------------

Prof. Dora Nkem Akunyili (OFR),

Honorable Minister,

Federal Ministry of Information and Communication

Federal Republic of Nigeria

To whom it may concern.

Following the Federal Government of Nigeria's decision to fight corruption and corrupt officials in this 2010, the Federal Executive Council and the National House of Assembly has resolved as follows:

That a committee is inaugurated to investigate and process the compensation of victims that have suffered in one way or the other in the hands of Nigeria scam artists and their oversea syndicates worldwide.

That the committee will function under direct supervision of the newly appointed Governor of Central Bank.

In view of this, if you have at any time lost anything to the nefarious activities of Nigeria scam artists and their syndicates, we encourage you to contact the processing officers for more details:

Name: Charles Egobia

Email: [removed]

This strategy and decision is in line with our promise to clean the image of this great nation, which has been dented over years by some few unscrupulous elements in the society.

Yours faithfully,

Prof. Dora Nkem Akunyili (OFR),

Honorable Minister,

Federal Ministry of Information and Communication

Federal Republic of Nigeria

....... is rearing its ugly head again.

It's a long time that I received the last of these missives

but today the following arrived in my inbox addressed to 'undisclosed recipients'

<

Dear Friend..You Are Highly Needed.

reply to: [removed]

Dear Friend,

I presume this letter will come to you as a surprise, but as things unfold,we will know each other better. I will start by introducing myself to you. My nameis Gabriel William a solicitor at law.

I am writing in respect of a foreigner Mr. David Frenchman, who happens to be my client an oil merchant and contractor who perished in a plane crash of [EGYPTIAN CHARTER] with other passengers aboard on Red Sea early on January 3 2004,shortlyafter taking off from the resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, killing all the 135 passengers and 13 crew members aboard asyou confirm it on the website below:

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/20...4_131791.shtml

Since the demise of my client I personally have watched with keen interest to see the next of kin but all has proved abortive as no one has come to claim his funds of US$36.5m (Thirty Six Million Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollar) the bank as no record of any next of kin.On this note, I decided to seek for whom his name shall be used as his next of kin so I have contacted you to assist in repatriating most especially, the money left behind by my client before they get confiscated or declared unserviceable by the bank where the huge deposits werelodged.

Particularly, the BANK OF INDUSTRY LTD, where the deceased had an account valued at about Usd36.5 million dollars has issued me a notice to provide the Next of kin, or have the account confiscated.

I seek your consent to present you as the Next of kin of the deceased,I need somebody who is trustworthy and willing to assist me get the funds transfered. Whcih the account which my late client operate is valued at Usd36.5 million dollars can be paid to you, as my clients Next of Kin, and then we can share the amount on a mutual agreed percentage.

All legal documents to back up your claim as the deceased Next of Kin will be provided. All I require is your honest cooperation to enable us see this deal through. I guarantee that this will be executed under legitimate arrangement that will protect you from any breach of the law and you should endeavor to keep it confidential.

Please get in touch with me at [removed] enable us discuss further about this transaction.

Best Regards,

Barr.Gabriel William.>>

Now I'd like to know, who is the fool that doesn't know the difference between Cc: and Bcc:

Here is the one I got today, but for "£600,000.00 (Six Hundred Thousand Great British Pounds)" I really can't be bothered! :