Robert Todd Carroll
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Nigerian scam (advance fee fraud)
The Nigerian scam (a.k.a. the Nigerian 4-1-9 scam, after the
Nigerian penal code section on fraud), or "advance fee fraud",
involves the plea of a foreigner in desperate need of
your help to transfer millions of dollars from his or her homeland into your
bank account. For your help,
this stranger promises you a percentage of the money. Eventually, you
will be required to spend some money in order to get your share. Some of the
scammers have even gone to the expense of setting up a phony bank website
where you can check your account to see that money has been deposited in
your name. People who have gotten involved in this scam have
lost of millions of dollars.
Though many of the scammers originated in Nigeria, the con is worldwide and
can come from any country. E-mail is the preferred form of initial
communication and the lack of grammatical correctness and oddball
capitalization adds authenticity to the plea.
There are
several variations on this scam. One involves claiming that you have won a
lottery that you didn't enter. To collect
your millions you have to spend a few thousand dollars for a payment to this
official here, a bribe there, a fee here, etc.
Below are some
examples of appeals I have received.
- FROM THE DESK OF MR. EGOMAH FELIX, LAGOS, NIGERIA, an
account officer to late Mark Jones an Immigrant, who was a Businessman and
Building Contractor in my Country.
On the 21st of April 2001, this customer was involved in a Car accident
along Lagos-Shagamu express road. All occupants of the Vehicle
unfortunately lost their lives.
The deceased has an account valued at USD$15.5 million, I have be in
contact with his lawyer prior to locate any of his relatives for over 2
years that seems abortive. Now, I seek your consent, to present you as the
Next of kin of the Deceased, you could not be of same name and Nationality
with the deceased, this grants you opportunity to be presented.
35% will be given to you for your involvement/assistance to the
successful accomplishment of this transaction,10% will be mapped out for
any Internal and External expenses that we will run in the course of this
transaction execution and 55% will be invested on my behalf under your
management.
- I am Professor Frank Obi, a solicitor at law and a partner at Richard
Akinjide and Co. I am the attorney to Mr. James McCullough, an expatriate,
who used to work with Shell Development Company in Nigeria. On the 21st of
April 1999, my Client, his wife and their children were involved in a car
accident along Sagbama express road. All occupants of the vehicle lost
their lives.
[Obi claims to have $38.6 million dollars but didn't tell me how much my
cut would be should I agree to help him move the money out of his
country.]
- I am an official of the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing (FMWH)
in Nigeria. The Federal Government of Nigeria recently set up a contract
review panel of which I am chairman to investigate all contracts awarded,
executed and paid for under the FMWH by the previous military heads of
states. During the course of our duties, we have identified the amount of
US$21,500,000 (Twenty One Million Five Hundred Thousand United States
Dollars) floating in the accounts of the NNPC at the Central Bank of
Nigeria. This money would have been transferred to a foreign account by
the military rulers and their cohorts for their personal use, had their
regime not ended in may 1999.We also believe that if we report the
existence of this money to the present authorities, they would want the
money for their own personal use and they might make up stories to
discredit us in the process. Because of the existing domestic laws
forbidding civil servants from opening, operating and maintaining foreign
accounts, we do not have the expertise to transfer this balance of funds
to a foreign account by ourselves without the help of a foreign partner.
Besides, the money can only be released by the Central Bank as a contract
payment to a foreign company for a contract that has already been executed
for the FMWH. I have therefore been delegated as a matter of trust by my
colleagues of the panel to look for an overseas partner into whose account
we would transfer the funds and whose facilities we would use to legalize
the transfer. Hence we are sending you this letter. We have agreed to
share the money thus- 25% for the account owner (you) 70% for us (the
officials), 5% for miscellaneous. We intend to use most of our share of
70% to purchase real estate properties in your country and also to buy
agricultural machinery to be imported to our country. Please note that
this transaction is 100% safe and we have a blueprint that will make the
transfer completely legal.
- I am Dr. Philip Williams, a citizen of Kenya, I work in Nigeria as a
Medical Doctor with the Lagos State Government Specialist Hospital.
I had a case of a man who had an accident and was rushed to the
Hospital by some good Samaritans. I led a team of doctors to operate on
him, but unfortunately we lost him.
Upon searching his briefcase to enable me issue a certificate of death
and referral to the appropriate authority seeing that he was an alien, I
discovered that he is a citizen of Germany on a business in Nigeria.
Further search revealed documents with which he deposited the sum of
US$18Million Dollars with a Diplomatic Courier Company and evidence of the
transaction (a picture of the money).
[Williams only offered me 20% but he says he'll give 10% to an orphanage.]
- I am Mr Femi Kuye, The manager, Bills and Exchange at the Foreign
Remittance Department of a reputable Bank in Africa. I am writing this
letter to ask for your support and cooperation to carry out this business
opportunity in my department. We discovered an abandoned sum of
$12,500,000.00. [30% to the one who helps Kuye.]
- You may be suprise [sic] to receive this email since you do not know
me. I am the son of the late president of Democratic Republic Of Zaire,
President Mobutu Sese Seko, (now The Republic Of Congo, under the
leadership of the son of Mr. Laurent Kabila). I presume you are aware
there is a financial dispute between my family (THE MOBUTUS) and the
present civilian Government.
[No, never heard of you or your government's dispute, but for the offered
20% of $30,000,000 I might pretend to know these things. This fellow
claimed to be "presently in the refugee camp here in the Netherlands under
the united nations refugee camp in Netherlands and I can be reached on
phone number +31-613364615." Give him a call. He's probably still there.]
- From MICHEAL SANKOH JUNIOR.
URGENT ASSISTANCE NEEDED WITH ABSOLUTE
TRUST IN GOD AND DUE RESPECT TO YOU, I WRITE YOU THIS LETTER WHICH I
BELIEVE YOU WOULD BE OF GREAT ASSISTANCE TO ME AND WOULD KEEP THE
INFORMATION CONFIDENTIAL AND PRIVATE. I AM MICHEAL SANKOH JUNIOR, A SON TO
FODAY SANKOH, THE REBEL LEADER IN SIERRA LEONE WARRING FACTIONS, I AM
ABSOLUTELY AGAINST THE UNENDING POLITICAL CRISES IN MY COUNTRY THAT HAS
RESULTED TO MISSIVE DESTRUCTION OF HUMAN LIVES AND PROPERTY WHICH IS
CURRENTLY IN THE WORLD NEWS. ON THIS LAST ASSAULT BY THE FORCES. I ESCAPED
TO THE NETHERLAND THROUGH THE HELP OF UNITED NATIONS SOLDIERS WHO ARE
THERE ON A PEACE MISSION. ON ARRIVAL IN AMSTERDAM, I WENT DIRECTLY TO THE
ASSYLUM [sic] CAMP, TO SEEK FOR POLITICAL ASSYLUM [sic], I WAS ACCEPTED,
BEFORE THE WAR MY FATHER DEPOSITED THE TOTAL SUM $15.5 MILLION USD IN A
REPUTABLE SECURITY COMPANY IN AMSTERDAM, AS FAMILY VALUABLES. [Junior only
offered 15%.]
- I AM MRS. SESE-SEKO WIDOW OF LATE PRESIDENT MOBUTU SESE-SEKO OF ZAIRE?
[$18,000,000 in this one but the only promise is that her son will "put me
in the business."]
- My name is MR. FRANK WINPOE from Liberia, a Country in West Africa. My
Uncle is MR JOHN Y. WINPOE, former DEPUTY MINISTER OF NATIONAL SECURITY in
LIBERIA. My uncle was falsely accused of plotting to remove the then
PRESIDENT OF LIBERIA (CHARLES TAYLOR) from office. Without trial, Charles
Taylor killed him. [The offer was a "negotiable percentage" of $28
million.]
- I am AVAN UNOKO the son of Mr UDO UNOKO, a farmer who was murdered in
the land dispute in my country [South Africa]. [Farmers make a lot of
money in South Africa, I guess, because this guy had stashed away $14
million and for helping him move the money I could have had 15%.]
Many of the letters contain thanks and blessings from God.
Do real people fall for these pleas? Yes, they do. I have before me an article in The Sacramento Bee (March 12, 2005) about a
Nigerian named Roland Adams who was sentenced to 97 months in prison for his
part in one of these scams. The article claims that he helped defraud some
20 "victims around the world out of more than $1 million." He set up
BankofAfrica.com, a phony bank website and gave victims a special password
so they could see how much money had been "designated" to be transferred
into their accounts as soon as they paid the fees to cover the transaction.
According to the article, some of the victims lost hundreds of thousands of
dollars.
One victim, Margie Ziereis of Wisconsin, said she had hoped to collect
$50 million for allowing Adams to deposit $150 million into her bank
account. She wired him $8,000 to pay for a "transaction fee." Of course, no
money was ever deposited into her account.
Anyone who has been victimized by a variant of this scam in the U.S. is
advised to contact your
local Secret
Service field office.
further reading
further reading
Levine, Robert. The Power of Persuasion - How We're Bought and Sold
(John Wiley & Sons 2003).
Stein, Gordon. Encyclopedia of Hoaxes (Prometheus, 1993).
Stein, Gordon and Marie MacNee. Hoaxes!: Dupes, Dodges & Other Dastardly Deceptions
(Visible Ink Press 1995).
Steiner, Robert A. Don't Get Taken: Bunco & Bunkum Exposed - How to
Protect Yourself (Wide-A-Wake Books, 1989). |
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