One of the Worst Scam Letters Ever
This scammer hasn’t gone to any trouble to make the letter believable – or grammatical! She hasn’t gone to any trouble to put my name in – or even to call me ‘dear friend!’
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Yeh, Right
From today’s mail:
Your account has been closed because of too many failed login
attempts.
Please download and fill out the form below to reactivate your
account.
Amazon
Christmas Heartstrings
This just makes me ill. A new scam. Pulling on the heartstrings at Christmas time. And I don’t even know anyone by that name. I hope no one falls for this one.
Hello,
This had to come in a hurry and it has left me and my family in a devastating state.. I’m contacting you as I need your urgent financial assistance, my family and I made a trip to London,United Kingdom just for a short vacation tour but, it all ended ugly. our belongings such as credit card, cell phone, jewelery and cash all stolen from us, as we got mugged by some unknown gun men. My credit card, can’t be charged by the hotel as I already reported it as a stolen card,and the card company had canceled it, so i can only get a new one when we make it back home safely.
We’ve reported the incident to the embassy and the Police but to my dismay they seem not bothered…their response was just too casual.Our flight leaves in few hours but We’ve got to settle our bills before We’re allowed to leave..I was wondering if you could loan me Money I’ll refund it to you as soon as we arrive home just need to clear our Hotel bills and get the next plane home, As soon as we get home I’ll refund it immediately.
Let me know what you can do so I can tell you how to get the money to me.
Thanks
s
“US Ambassador” Offers Me a Fortune
Office of the U.S Ambassador to Nigeria
From: Mrs. Robin Ranee Sanders
GOOD DAY.
How are you? I expect you are in good health. Please DO NOT neglect this
message. Well, I believe by the time you will be from beginning to end with
this email you will realize and certainly place your mind at relax as you
are going to start a new life in no distance time. Most families have lost
lives, homes and there great wealth due to the high rate of fraud and scams
that has been all over the Nation and the world in general, My duty is to
make sure that your Fund with Government of Nigeria is been released to you
immediately. So i will like you to follow up and that your fund will be
transfered to your account before i left here.
For your Information; President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua is dead. He was aged 58.
Yar’Adua passed away at about 9.38 p.m. on Tuesday in the presidential
villa, Abuja, losing the battle against the protracted illness, which had
kept him out of office since November 23 last year.
Jonathan eventually assumed the presidency on February 9 as Acting President
after the two chambers of the National Assembly conferred him with the
powers to wield presidential powers. The arrangement was made with the
possibility of Yar’Adua returning to office if he regained his health.
President Yar’Adua returned to Abuja from Saudi Arabia in a controversial
circumstance on February 24.Unofficial reports that he was recovering were
not confirmed. He did not appear in public and neither did he assume power.
Yar’Adua became president in 2007 after a controversial election won by the
Peoples Democratic Party PDP.
An instruction has been giving that in no account should any money be paid
to an individual through any means without a proper investigation. We have
our agents in the bank all round the World with proper security to checkmate
these scammers and any bank that goes contrary to our instruction will stand
the risk of losing its certificate of accreditation. Do not border much
because it is time for you to regain what you have lost .This wonderful
compensation program was introduced by the USA Government, We are fighting
to protect the image of our country USA and people living therein.
All you need to do is to re-confirm your receiving bank Information
immediately for further clarification and screening after which part of this
money will be sent to you through Bank to bank transfer Or any other means
which will be convenience for you. Bear in mind that I have a very limited
time to stay here in Nigeria and demand for your immediate attention and
Co-operation.
We believe that it is not in the best interest of this nation to be without
concrete authority at any time, more so in an executive presidential system
of government. We also believe that the leaders of this nation and more so
our elected representatives have a very serious task to administer our
national challenges to ensure national stability and democracy.” In matter
of fact, am philanthropic you my final admonition to bring to an end every
outgoing communication you are addicted to in other to achieve maximum
success.
Although the ailing leader is equally with his band of supporters, the
preponderance of opinion is that it is time for him to vacate office and
allow a fitter Jonathan to carry on the responsibility of governance.
Initially, many political leaders spoke tongue in cheek but when members of
Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party last Thursday spurned the
patriotic advise of former President Olusegun Obasanjo to allow Jonathan to
fill the void created by Yar’Adua, all hell was let loose.
It might also interest you that based on your records with Central Bank of
Nigeria, Your Final settlement for Inheritance/Contract claim with
Government of Nigeria with exchange control Approval Order UBN/AI783WD
(579144) XXC-10 has been issued today.
Kindly furnish this humble Office with the Following information.
1: Full name & Address
2: Direct & Valid Tel, number
3: A copy of your Identification
4: Occupation & Age
We sincerely apologize for the setback in releasing your entitlement Funds
with Government of Nigeria. Once again, Congratulation. You are humbly advised
to contact me through my email address:robin.sanders16@yahoo.com
Sincerely yours,
Robin Renee Sanders
U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria.
PS: Please remember what I told you that I have a very limited time to stay
here in Nigeria. I will appreciate if you will give me your maximum
cooperation in getting this deal done immediately.
I Need Your Trust . . .
Here is my scam letter for today, and here is part of what makes me so sad and so mad about these letters. IF they were true, which they are not, someone thinks I am the kind of person who would be a part of stealing a substantial sum of money. There may well be other relatives, or others who need that money – IF it were true, which it is NOT.
I NEED YOUR HELP WITH TRUST,
FROM: MR REDA ABDALLAH,
Please read carefully,
This message might meet you in utmost surprise. However, it’s just my urgent need for foreign partner that made me to contact you for this transaction. I got your contact from yahoo tourist search while I was searching for a foreign partner. I assured of your capability and reliability to champion this business opportunity when I prayed about you.
I am (MR Reda Abdullah) a banker by profession from Burkina Faso in west Africa and currently holding the post of Audits and Account manager at the foreign remittance department, i have the opportunity of transferring the left over sum of ($9.2 Million Dollars) that belongs to late Mr Rudi Harmanto from Indonesia who died along with his entire family in the Asia Earth Quake (TSUNAMI,DISASTER IN INDONESIA / INDIA. 2004, and since then the fund has been in a suspense account.
After my further investigation, i discovered that Mr Rudi Harmanto died with his next of kin and according to the laws and constitution guiding this banking institution, stated that after the expiration of (7) Seven years, if no body or person comes for the claim as the next of kin, the fund will be channel into national treasury as unclaimed fund. Because of the static of this transaction i want you to stand as the next of kin so that our bank will accord you their recognition and have the fund transfer to your account.
I don’t want the fund to go into our bank treasury account as unclaimed fund. So, this is the main reason why i have contacted you, so that we will release the fund to you as the nearest person to the deceased customer ( next of kin).Please, I would like you to keep this proposal as a top secret or delete it if you are not interested.
Upon receipt of your reply, I will send to you the full details on how the business will be executed, and an official copy of the ‘Application Form Of Claim’ of which you will fill, and send to the bank for the release of the fund into your receiving bank account. Also, note that you will have 40% of the above mentioned sum, if you agree to transact the business with me, and while 60% will be for me.
I won’t fail to bring to your notice that the risk to be taken is 100% free in this transaction, and that you should not entertain any atom of fear as all required arrangements have been made for the transfer of the fund into your bank account. Please, don’t ever forget to reply me this email urgently with your contact information’s like:-
(1)Name:……………………………………………
(2)Age:…………………………………………….
(3)Marital Status:…………………………………..
(4)Telephone Or Cell Phone Numbers:……………………
(5)Your Country:…………………………………….
(6)Your Occupation:…………………………………
I will like to receive the above following information’s from you as you reply this email to me for more trust, and better understanding of who you are. Looking forward to receive your reply urgently.
Thanks from,
Mr. Reda Abdallah
Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani: I Do Not Come to You by Chance
This book, the first novel from Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani, is hilarious, with moments of pathos, and a fresh point of view.
Amazon.com recommended it to me as I was busy buying books by author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie; I thought ‘OK, I’ll read a series of Nigerian books as part of my summer reading.
Young Kingsley Ibe is the family’s first born male, and with that status goes many privileges – and responsibilities. After graduating with a Masters in Chemical Engineering, he has no success in his search for a job with an oil company in Nigeria, and consequently loses the love of his life, Ola, to another who has secure employment.
Worse, his retired father has a stroke, and the family discovers that with all the fees required, they haven’t enough for his continued care, so Kingsley must approach his uncle, Boniface Mbamalu, more familiarly known as Cash Daddy, for funds to transfer his father to a long term care facility, and, later, for his father’s funeral.
Serious Kingsley’s eyes nearly pop as he sees the life his uncle is living, cars, women, designer watches, shoes, suits and all the trappings of new wealth. Soon, his uncle makes a convincing case for Kingsley coming to work for him, the better to help out his family of mother, brothers and sister, now that he is the senior male in the family.
Kingsley discovers he has a gift for the work – which is writing 419s, those scam letters which I frequently publish in this column. I loved being on the inside, learning how strong possibility e-mail addresses are netted, how response e-mails are massaged – not unlike fund raising techniques by charitable organizations in the US. Kingsley’s education helps him achieve enormous financial success in a very short time – but he finds that all the cash and designer goods in the word do not solve his problems nor make him happy.
I learned a lot about how successful many of these scammers are, and how the money made is spread throughout the Nigerian communities. The author takes a balanced view, balancing the way the cash makes life easier for people – a lot of people, because the rich man has many obligations to his community, balanced against the disgust, and sick fear felt by his religious mother and aunt, and his one time girlfriend, when they learn the work he is doing. They are disappointed that a man of such promise has sunk to making so much money in a dishonest way. The book also does not deal sympathetically with those who have given or lost money to the scammers, nor, in my opinion, does the ending satisfy.
This is one of the funniest parts of the book – a group of Nigerian scammers is about to meet with a representative of a major US investment firm. He thinks he will be meeting with the Nigerian Minister of Transportation to discuss building a new airport; the reality is that Cash Daddy, in disguise, will be pretending to be the minister. Kingsley protests that Cash Daddy looks nothing like the minister, and Cash Daddy responds:
“Let me tell you something . . . Me, I really like these oyibo people. They’re very very nice people. See how they came and showed us that the ground where we’ve been dancing Atilogwu has crude oil under it. If not for them, we might never have found out. But Kings,” he dragged in his dangling foot and sat up in the tub, “white man doesn’t understand black man’s face. Do you know tht I can give you my passport to travel with . . . Even if your nose is ten times bigger than my own, they won’t even notice?”
It was a fascinating book. I understand better now why 419 scams work. (419 is the section of the Nigerian criminal code making scam e-mails a crime; thus the crime is called ‘a 419’) There are some very funny and very insightful moments in the book. It is no where near the level of literature that you experience with Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, but there is more humor, and the book shows a more modern day Nigeria. Not a bad summer read, but not great literature.
Elderly Women Prime Targets for Cons
Found this fascinating article this morning on AOL News/finance There was a time when I worked with transitional homeless people, helping them to find ways to re-enter the mainstream. A percentage of them didn’t want to enter the mainstream, they didn’t like rules, and they were looking for an easier way. One of the paths was by being part of the elder-worker force. I would watch them take a job and then work their way into a position of dominance in an elderly person’s life. Partly, the elderly were lonely, and thrived on the new attention, and interpreted it as caring.
Then would come the sob stories. School starting and not enough money to buy shoes and books for the children. A broken-down car, and funds needed to get it fixed so she can get to her job. Once it starts, it never ends.
The key to prevention is staying engaged with friends, neighbors and family who are paying attention, and can give perspective to this new relationship. The one question I asked is “if there were not money involved, would this relationship exist?”
Elder Abuse: How to Protect Grandma From Con Men and Thieves
By Sheryl Nance-Nash Posted 9:00AM 06/03/11 Retirement, People, MetLife
See full article from DailyFinance: http://srph.it/lXHooJ
Who would pick the pocket of your grandma or grandpa? Apparently, any number of people. Older Americans are losing $2.9 billion annually to elder financial abuse, a 12% increase from the $2.6 billion estimated in 2008, according to The MetLife Study of Elder Financial Abuse: Crimes of Occasion, Desperation, and Predation Against America’s Elders, released Wednesday.
According to the study, 51% of these abusers are strangers, but 34% of the perpetrators were family, friends and neighbors. As for “trusted advisers,” exploitation from the business sector accounted for 12% of reported cases. Medicare and Medicaid fraud accounts for 4% of reported cases. As a subset, the percentage of robberies and crimes classified as “scams perpetrated by strangers” increased from 9% to 28% from 2008 to 2010.
Who’s on the top of the target list? Women. The study, produced by the MetLife (MET) Mature Market Institute in collaboration with the National Committee for the Prevention of Elder Abuse and the Center for Gerontology at Virginia Polytechnic Institute, shows women were nearly twice as likely to be victims of elder financial abuse as men.
Also prime for the picking were people between the ages of 80 and 89 who lived alone and required some help with either health care or home maintenance. Primarily, men were the menace: Nearly 60% of perpetrators were males, mostly between ages 30 and 59.
Predators lie in wait, watching: In the most common scenarios, strangers targeted victims who were out shopping, driving or managing the financial affairs, and often looked for particular flags of vulnerability like handicapped tags on cars, canes or displays of confusion. Crimes included cons, purse snatchings and associated physical assaults.
But that even those closest to an elderly person can give in to temptation or desperation. In cases involving a person known to the victim, trusted helpers like caretakers, handymen, friends, “sweethearts,” children, lawyers and others seized upon opportunities to forge checks, steal credit cards, pilfer bank accounts, transfer assets and generally decimate elders’ finances, the study revealed. The holidays apparently bring out the worst in people: At that time of year, overall dollar losses due to family and friends were higher than any other category.
Married to the Con Job
People can get quite creative with abuse. One unusual method — caregivers secretly marrying their elderly charges, says Susan Slater-Jansen, an attorney at Kurzman Eisenberg Corbin & Lever.
There have been numerous lawsuits over cases in which a caregiver married a mentally incapacitated older patient and the patient’s family didn’t learn about it until after the patient had died. Once a person is dead, it’s too late — in all but three states, you can’t void a marriage if one spouse has died, says Slater-Jansen. To help lower the odds of such a thing happening to your parent, adult children should make sure they receive duplicate monthly statements from all bank and brokerage accounts; install nanny cams; carefully and thoroughly check references for all caregivers; visit parents often, both while the caregiver is there and when they are not; and discuss with your parents the treatment they are receiving from caregivers.
If you discover such a fraudulent marriage has taken place, act quickly to get it annulled.
After the parent dies, heirs can sue to recover money from the “spouse.” More and more, courts have found ways to deny spouses if the marriage was fraudulent, says Slater-Jansen.
“The most flagrant abuse is perpetrated on the elder by the hired caregiver, neighbor, or ‘new’ friend,” warns Karen Maarse Fitzgerald, a principal in her own elder law practice. “A simple power of attorney signed by the elder can give to the “agent” broad and sweeping powers over the elder’s life savings. I have seen bank accounts drained within days, the money and perpetrator vanishing to another country.”
Protection Yourself and Your Relatives
The worst forms of elder abuse go beyond money: There can be physical abuse and sexual violence as well. “The vigilance of friends and family can help protect elders from those who are predatory, which may, unfortunately, include strangers or even other loved ones,” said Sandra Timmermann, Ed.D., director of the MetLife Mature Market Institute, in a prepared statement.
What can the elderly do to protect themselves? Among the guidance offered by the report’s authors:
“Stay active and engage with others; socialize with your family members and friends. Avoid isolation, as it can lead to loneliness, depression, and make you more vulnerable to financial abuse or exploitation.”
“Use direct deposit for Social Security and other payments to prevent mail theft. Sign your own checks whenever possible.”
“Stay organized and keep important papers and legal documents in a safe, secure location.”
“Review your legal documents (i.e., wills, trusts, and power of attorney), as well as other important documents (i.e., insurance policies) at least annually, to make certain they continue to represent your wishes.”
Ted Sarenski, who chairs the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants’ Elder Planning Task Force, would add to that list. His tips:
Subscribe to national and state Do Not Call lists;
Keep Social Security cards in a safe place;
Remove mail promptly from the mailbox;
Shred all confidential and financial information prior to discarding.
“Consider allowing the bank to send a duplicate copy of your bank statement to a trusted family member,” advises attorney Andrew Stoltmann, who has a large client base of seniors. “Usually, most financial elder exploitation cases are only reported or discovered six to 12 months after the initial losses have occurred.”
Elders whose sight is failing are at even greater risk because they may rely upon the very person who is stealing from them to ensure that their financial transactions are in order, says Stoltmann. “An independent pair of eyes that is able to review bank statements every 30 days will be able to catch suspicious activities in the early stages and cut it off. This is crucial.”
Advance Planning Can Help Dodge Dangers
When you are the responsible caregiver, know too, that your prudence can go a long way in preventing financial abuse.
Have some tough conversations. You need to know whether there is a will or a durable power of attorney, and where such documents are. Does your parent have a living will? If so, does it give you clarity about what your loved one’s wishes are? A health care power of attorney would permit a trusted individual make medical decisions if your elderly relative was unable to.
It’s important not to wait until the eleventh hour to have these talks. Ideally, those documents should be drawn up when your relative is of sound mind and body. It’s not a bad idea either, to have a trusted adviser, not only know where the documents are kept, but be able to get to them if needed.
Beware of the appearance on the scene of the “trusted new friend.” If mom and dad have a neighbor, caregiver or other outsider who is suddenly their best pal, running errands, going to the bank, and generally being around all the time when they never were before, it can be a warning sign that someone is taking advantage, warns Sarenski.
“Elder financial abuse invariably results in losses of human rights and dignity,” said Karen A. Roberto, Ph.D., director of the Center for Gerontology, at Virginia Polytechnic Institute. ” Despite growing public awareness from a parade of high-profile financial abuse victims, it remains under reported, under-recognized, and under-prosecuted. The 2010 Passage of the Elder Justice Act may bring more attention and resources to this crime leading to prevention among the expanding older population.”
The bottom line, says Maarse Fitzgerald: “Protect elders from isolation, which allows the perpetrators to take control of our elder’s lives.”
See full article from DailyFinance: http://srph.it/lXHooJ
Hilarious Qadaffi E-mail
Those who come by here regularly know that I have a niece who is not only a professor of Arabic culture and studies, but is also beautiful and funny and adventerous. I had no idea she was so well connected, LOL. Thank you, Little Diamond, for contributing this wonderful scam e-mail to the HT&E collection. Read and weep!
My name is Saif Al Islam Gaddafi, the son of the present president of Libya. I am contacting you for an urgent assistance.
As you can read and see in the media, my family is presently undergoing tough time in the hand of the masses due to his long stay in power as the president of Libya for over 40 years now. Although there is no way you can satisfy human being, my father has done so many things to better the life of our people unfortunately they never appreciated his effort instead it resulted in calling my family bad names.
The International community has reached a resolution for immediate seizure of our assets both in US and the UK which the have already done and many other sanctions but it can’t affect our financial statue in the world. But as you can not predict tomorrow the say that is while I decided to reach you for this assistant hoping it will be top secret and you should avoid the media
I want to request your humble assistance to receive a total sum of €22m.
I will not give you details of the fund now because of security reasons but just have in mind that the fund exit in one of the African countries.
You will receive this fund directly and keep it safe or invest it in any business of yours till this saga is over then I will get back to you on how the fund or profit will be shared. By the special grace of Allah nothing will happen to me.
If you are ready and will keep it top secret and avoid the media contact this email address (aarifqasif@hotmail.com ) the details of where the fund exit and how it will be transferred will be made known t
I know you may have little fear on you but it is risk free.
I know you will be in hurry to reply me but due to what my family is facing now and security reasons I will not be responding ! ! ! ! ! ! !.
All you need to do is to contact my representative with the email given to you and tell him that you received an email from Saif Al Islam Gaddafi and that you are willing to receive the fund.
Assalamu ‘alaikum
Saif Al Islam Gaddafi
Little Diamond, that’s the best laugh I’ve had all day. 😀
For Me, Two Special Offers, Money Money Money
To me, it’s just amazing; they don’t know me and yet I am a winner. They want to give me lots of money. Big Whoop.
Attention Winner
Greetings of the day, Hoping that this mail meets you in a perfect condition.
(UN Information Service) — The United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC) has made available today a total of $595,044,579.38 to six governments for distribution to 8,303 successful claimants.
Payment is being made in respect of 2,946 claims in category (A-(claims of individuals for damages up to $100,000).
Claims in category (B-(claims of corporations, other private legal entities and public sector enterprises), that were approved for payment by the Governing Council at its fifty-fifth session, held from 8 to 10 March 2005.
Today’s payment are being made in accordance with the Governing Council’s decision 227, which extended the temporary payment mechanism set out by the Governing Council in its decision 197, under which up to $200 million from the Compensation Fund will be made available for the payment of claims every quarter. In the present round of payment, all newly approved claims, i.e. claims approved for payment at the fifty-fifth session, will receive $500,000 or the principal amount of the award, if less, and some claims will receive up to $300,000.
The present payment brings the overall amount of compensation made available to date by the United Nations Compensation Commission to $500,000.00.
Participants for the online version were selected randomly from World Wide Web sites through computer draw system and extracted from over 100,000 unions, associations, and corporate bodies that are listed online. We are using this opportunity to thank you for using the internet daily.
We do hereby Congratulates you, as your e-mail appears among one of the list extracted from this websites.
The card center will send you an ATM DEBIT CARD, which you will use to withdraw your money in any ATM machine, Banks and Union Pay Credit outlets in the world; you are hereby selected as an honour for this payment approval, which you are to acknowledge the receipt of this mail to the Logistic Department by email listed below.
Contact Mr. Peter Nick with below e-mail;
Mr. Peter Nick
Manager Foreign Operation
E-mail: mrpeternick@yahoo.co.jp
Good luck and kind regards,
Making the world a better place
Adam Shamir
Personal Assistant To
Dr. Ban Ki-Moon
{Send copy of email to: mrpeternick@yahoo.co.jp}
In respect to the delivery of this ATM Debit card, you are to bear the cost
And on the same day, this one in from Ouagadougou – don’t you just love that name? People in the state department used that as a threat, like if you aren’t good, you go to Ouagadougou:
From the desk of Mr. Hassan Ahmed.
Auditing and Accounting section of
Bank of Africa (B.O.A)
Ouagadougou, Burkina-Faso
West Africa
Good day,
I wish to know if we can work together because i would like you to stand as the
beneficiary to a deceased client Mr. Emmanuel Etukudo who made some deposit sum
of_ ($15.5million) fifteen million five hundred thousand united states dollars
in my department in the Bank of Africa Burkina-Faso, West Africa before his
death.
He died on the 2nd may 2007 without any registered next of kin and as such the
funds now have an open beneficiary mandate. Upon your reply i will give you
details on how the transaction will be executed, and I’ am assuring you that it
is 100% risk free hence you co-operate with me.
Best regards and expecting your response.
Mr. Hassan Ahmed.
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