Nigerian letter scams

I am sure that most persons in North America are by now; well aware of the scams called ‘The Nigerian Letter Scams’ The scammers are always using the same technique to scam people out of their money. Generally you get them via email.

Sometimes, they claim to be government officials of some African country, generally Nigeria, who claim that they are in possession of millions of dollars that must be transferred out of their country. Sometimes they claim to be the heads of large oil firms and that they need to transfer millions of dollars off shore and for this reason, they need your bank’s name and address and your bank account number for them to transfer the money to you.

One day last year I got a message from a woman claiming that her father was a general and had died and left millions of dollars to her but she couldn’t spend it in her country and needs to transfer it to my bank account. Sometimes you will get a message saying that you have won millions of dollars and they will send you the money as soon as you pay them $10,000 in taxes.

Right from the beginning, one should always be suspicious of these offers. First of all, be aware that many of these so called offers are coming from Montreal, Canada. Last year, the police nabbed one of these scammers in that city.

Today, I received another of these ‘Nigerian Letters’ which I am including in this article. After you have read it, I will comment on it. ENJOY


THE DESK OF ADAMU ATTAH
THE HEAD OF FILE DEPARTMENT, AFRICAN
DEVELOPMENT BANK (ADB)
OUAGADOUGOU BURKINA-FASO WEST AFRICA.
TREAT AS URGENT AND CONFIDENTIAL.
PLANE CRASH WEB SITE...http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/859479.stm

("remittance of $15.5million U.S.A. dollars
confidential is the case")

Compliments of the season 2008.

I am (Adamu Attah),head of File Department & Debt recovering in African Development Bank Ouagadougou Burkina-faso in West Africa.

First, I must solicit your confidence in this transaction. This is by
virtue of its nature as being utterly confidential and top secret.
However after a series of petitions were received by this present regime from foreign contractors and inability of the African Development Bank (adb)to fulfill their obligation for the payment to its foreign creditors, in conjunction with the council of ministers, they mandated us to carry out a careful and comprehensive review of all overdue payments to foreign contractors and to effect payments immediately.

During the above mentioned process, we discovered an abandoned sum of us$15.5 m (fifteen million five hundred thousand us dollars) in an account that belongs to one of our foreign customer who died along with his entire family in a plane crash that happened on (Monday 31st July. 2000). (please note my comments below re the crash)

Since we got information about his death, we have been expecting his next of kin to come over and claim his money because we cannot release it unless somebody applies for it as next of kin or as a relation to the deceased as indicated in our banking guidelines and laws but unfortunately we learned that all his supposed next of kin or relation died alongside with him at the plane crash leaving nobody behind for the claim.

It is therefore upon this discovery that I and other officials in my
department now decided to make this business proposal to you and release the money to you as the next of kin or relation to the deceased for safety and subsequent disbursement since nobody is coming for it and we don't want this money to go into the bank treasury as unclaimed bill.

I agree that 40% of this money will be for you as a foreign partner, in respect to the provision of a foreign account and 50% would be for me, while 10% will be for expenses incurred during the transaction. Thereafter I will visit your country for disbursement according to the percentage indicated. Therefore, to enable the immediate transfer of this fund to you as arranged, you must apply first to the bank as relation or next of kin of the deceased indicating your bank’s name, your bank account number, your private telephone and fax number for easy and effective communication and location wherein the money will be remitted.

Upon the receipt of your reply, I will send to you by email the text of the application to fill and send to the bank. I will not fail to bring to your notice that this transaction is hitch-free risk and this transaction will only take us 14 banking days because as a banker, I know what to do and move the fund into your account without any delay and that you should not entertain any atom of fear as all required arrangement have been made for the transfer.

You should contact me as soon as you receive this letter so that I will send you the text of the application to apply to the bank and the data information of the deceased.

Your's faithfully,

Adamu Attah
from (adb) Ouagadougou Burkina-faso.

There you have it. I had to correct the spelling and some of the grammar because it was outrageous. The use of the words, ‘West Africa’ should have been written as French West Africa because his country is in what was formally called French West Africa.

The victims of the Concord AF4590 crash include all 109 people on board and five who died on the ground when the plane crashed into the hotel at the edge of the runway just outside of Paris. In addition to the 96 German passengers were two Danes, an American and an Australian. The nine crew members were all French.

Now think of this. How could this person make the assumption that one of these victims is related to me in any manner whatsoever? If I lost a relative in that crash, I would have heard about it. I am not related at all to anyone who died in that crash.

The writer of the letter claims he’s from the city of Ouagadougou which is the capital of the African country of Burkina Faso which is in the interior of Africa.

This particular scam is not a new one. Last summer, another person got the same email message from Mr Momodu Ali.

In 2005, another person received a similar message via email. He got in on August 10th 2006. Here is the message he received.

AS IT MAY INTEREST YOU TO KNOW, I GOT YOUR IMPRESSIVE INFORMATION THROUGH A BOY I KNOW VERY WELL WHOM IS EXPACT (EXPERT) IN SEARCHING IN BURKINA-FASO CHAMBER OF FOREIGN RELATIONS HERE IN OUAGADOUGOU BURKINA-FASO BUT WITH THE INFORMATION I GAVE HIM, HE DID IT BUT LEFT YOU TO WELL CLEAR ME WITH A CLEAR INFORMATION TO BE SURE OF YOU. I WILL LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU WHETHER YOU OR NOT. MEANWHILE ALL THE WHOLE ARRANGEMENT TO PUT CLAIM OVER THIS FUND AS THE CONFIDE 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 US AND ALSO BENEFIT YOUR SELF TO THIS GREAT BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY.

First of all, if the money was due to a person who is the next of kin of a deceased person, why should anyone think of it as a business opportunity? This next one is a beauty.

MR ZONGO ALI AFRICAN DEVELOPEMENT BANK BURKINA FASO (ADB) OUAGADOUGOU - BURKINA FASO.
DEAR FRIEND:
I AM A FRIEND MR ZONGO ALI AND I AM THE DIRECTOR OF THE ACCOUNTS &AUDITING DEPT. AT THE AFRICAN DEVELOPEMENT BANK OUAGADOUGOU - WEST AFRICA. WITH DUE RESPECT I HAVE DECIDED TO CONTACT YOU ON A BUSINESS TRANSACTION THAT WILL BE BENEFICIAL TO BOTH OF US. AT THE BANK'S LAST ACCOUNTS/AUDITING EVALUATIONS, MY STAFFS CAME ACROSS AN OLD ACCOUNT WHICH WAS BEING MAINTAINED BY A FOREIGN CLIENT WHO WE LEARNT WAS AMONG THE DECEASED PASSENGERS OF AN AIRLINE CRASH ON 6TH NOV 2002. SINCE THE DECEASED WAS UNABLE TO RUN THIS ACCOUNT SINCE HIS DEATH. THE ACCOUNT HAS REMAINED DORMANT WITHOUT THE KNOWLEDGE OF HIS FAMILY SINCE IT WAS PUT IN A SAFE DEPOSIT ACCOUNT IN THE BANK FOR FUTURE INVESTMENT BY THE CLIENT. SINCE HIS DEMISE, NOBODY, NOT EVEN THE MENBERS OF HIS FAMILY HAVE APPLIED FOR CLAIMS OVER THIS FUND AND IT HAS BEEN IN THE SAFE DEPOSIT ACCOUNT UNTIL WE DESCOVERED THAT IT CANNOT BE CLAIMED SINCE OUR CLIENT IS A FOREIGN NATIONAL AND WE ARE SURE THAT HE HAS NO NEXT OF KIN HERE TO FILE CLAIMS OVER THE MONEY. AS THE DIRECTOR OF THE DEPT, THIS DISCOVERY WAS BROUGHT TO MY OFFICE SO AS TO DECIDE WHAT IS TO BE DONE. WITH THE FEW PERSONEL IN MY DEPT, WE DECIDED TO SEEK WAYS THROUGH WHICH WE CAN TRANSFER THIS MONEY OUT OF THE BANK AND OUT OF THE COUNTRY TOO. THE TOTAL AMOUNT IN THE ACCOUNTS IS TEN MILLION FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS (USD 10,500,000.00. WITH OUR POSITIONS AS STAFF OF THE BANK, WE ARE HANDICAPPED BECAUSE WE CANNOT OPERATE FOREIGN ACCOUNTS AND CANNOT LAY BONAFIDE CLAIM OVER THIS MONEY WHILE WE WERE CONTEMPLATING ON WHAT TO DO. A FRIEND OF MINE WHO WORKS WITH THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY RECOMMENDED YOUR PERSONALITY TO ME AND ADVISED ME TO ASK YOU FOR HELP, TO RANSFER THIS MONEY OUT OF THE COUNTRY. THE CLIENT IS A FOREIGN NATIONAL AND YOU WILL ONLY BE ASKED TO ACT AS HIS NEXT OF KIN AND I WILL SUPPLY YOU WITH ALL THE NECESSARY INFORMATIONS AND BANK DATA TO ASSIST YOU IN BEING ABLE TO TRANSFER THIS MONEY TO ANY BANK OF YOUR CHOICE WHERE THIS MONEY COULD BE TRANSFERRED INTO. I AND MY PARTNERS HAVE DECIDED TO GIVE AWAY THIRTY % (30%) TO YOU FOR YOUR ASSISTANCE AND TEN (10%) FOR ANY EXPENSES THAT MIGHT ARISE DURING THE TRANSACTION OF THIS TRANSFER. WE WANT TO ASSURE YOU THAT THIS TRANSACTION IS ABSOLUTELY RISK FREE SINCE WE WORK IN THIS BANK WHICH IS WHY YOU SHOULD BE CONFIDENT IN THE SUCCESS OF THIS TRANSACTION BECAUSE YOU WILL BE PDATED WITH INFORMATION AS AT WHEN DESIRED. WE WILL PLEASE WISH YOU KEEP THIS RANSACTION SECRET AS WE ARE HOPING TO RETIRE WITH OUR SHARE OF THIS MONEY AT THE END OF TRANSACTION WHICH WILL BE WHEN THIS MONEY IS SAFELY HITS YOUR ACCOUNT. WE WILL THEN COME OVER TO YOUR COUNTRY FOR SHARING ACCORDING TO THE REVIOUSLY AGREED PERCENTAGES YOU MIGHT EVEN HAVE TO ADVISE US ON POSSIBILITIES OF INVESTMENT IN YOUR COUNTRY OR ELSEWHERE OF OUR CHOICE. MAY GOD HELP YOU TO HELP US TO A RESTIVE RETIREMENT. AMEN. CONTACT ME ON EMAIL SO THAT WE CAN DISCUSS IF YOU ARE INTERESTED TO HELP ME.THANKS AND REMAIN BLESSED.MR ZONGO ALI AFRICAN DEVLOPEMENT BANK (ADB)

The themes are always the same. Someone has died and you may be the next of kin. Sometimes the same amount of money is mentioned but generally, the authors of these messages have different names. Look at this next one. It gives more detail as to how the money is to be shared.

"We agree that 30 % of this money will be for you as foreign partner, in respect to the provision of a foreign account, 10 % will be set aside for expenses incured during the business and 60 % would be for me and my colleagues. There after I and my colleagues will visit your country for disbursement accoding to the percentages indicated. Therefore to enable the immediate transfer of this fund to you as arranged, you must apply first to the bank as relations or next of kin of the deceased indicating your bank name, your bank account number, your private telephone and fax number for easy and effective communication and location where in the money will be remitted. Upon receipt of your reply, I will send to you by fax or email the text of the application. I will not fail to bring to your notice that this transaction is hitch free and that you should not entertain any atom of fear as all required arrangements have been made for the transfer.You should contact me immediately as soon as you receive this letter. Trusting to hear from you immediately.

Yours faithfully,

DR JOHN DAVID.
Bill And Exchange Manager,
African Development Bank ADB


Why would a responsible bank manager ask for a large part of an estate? That in itself should tell you that something is not right.

Are you ready for this? Some fools in North America and elsewhere actually fall for this kind of scam. What they don’t know is that after they express a willingness to have that money sent to them, they are sent another message telling them that there are costs to be paid and then they get milked for whatever the scammers can suck out of them. One man after realizing that he wasn’t getting any money deposited in his bank account after paying thousands of dollars in so-called taxes; went to Nigeria to find out what happened to his money. He was never heard from again.

If you still want to invest your money in something worthwhile, I have a bridge I would like to sell you. It’s in Brooklyn. Think of the millions you can make in tolls.
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NEW INFORMATION: Many of us are getting a Nigerian letters in which we are advised that the sender has millions of dollars that we can have if we send the sender thousands to change the chemically altered money back to normal. I didn't think anyone would fall for that scam but a man in Aurora, Ontario did.

The York Regional Police Central Fraud Unit apprehended and charged a Brampton couple with a $165,000 fraud in the Town of Aurora, Ontario. The victim was selling his Orangeville restaurant and was approached by a suspect as a possible buyer. The suspect wanted to pay cash for the business and told the victim the money had been shipped out of an African nation and for security reasons had been chemically altered, causing the bills to look like blank paper. The victim was told that the cash had to be treated with a special chemical to be restored to its original condition and the recovery process required the use of the victims' cash. After falling for the an elaborate hoax to restore the money, the victim realized that the so-called cash given to him was just blank paper and the $165.000 of his own money was gone.

On Friday, April 18, 2008, investigators in the York Regional Police Central Fraud Unit, with the assistance of Peel Regional Police, executed a Criminal Code search warrant on a residence in the City of Brampton. Officers located materials used in the fraud. The female suspect was charged at that time, while the second suspect turned himself into police on April 24, 2008.

What amazes me is that a man smart enough to operate a restaurant would be stupid enough to give the Brampton couple his own money when in fact, it was the so-called purchaser's responsibility to give him real cash for his restaurant.

This proves what I have always suspected, These Nigerian scams are not necessarily coming from Nigeria. They are home grown and so are our fools.