Wow, my first 419 Scam email. It’s tempting to reply just for the t-shirt.
These guys are real slick. Take note of the International Dialing Prefix 873 found in their email below. That belongs to Inmarsat, a global satellite phone service. I can see them now, sitting in a tent in the Congo jungle, sweat beading on their forehead as they wait expectantly by their briefcase size satellite phone, occasionally swatting at blood sucking mosquitos.
I should point out just how serious these scams are. Wired went into great detail in a nice article the other day, Meet the Nigerian E-Mail Grifters, by Michelle Delio. “According to State Department figures, 25 murders or disappearances of Americans abroad have been directly linked to 419 fraud. Other people have been held against their will, beaten and blackmailed, according to information provided by the U.S. Embassy in Lagos.”
The best resource for information is the Crimes of Persuasion site. Further frightening details are found there.
“There have been cases where victims have had meetings with genuine Nigerian Government officials in their offices to discuss a 419 “deal” during office hours. There are also cases of victims verifying the phone number of the relevant Parastatal from the Lagos directory assistance, calling that number (CBN, for example), asking for their scammer by name, and getting put through during office hours.
On January 5th, 2001 the Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Mr. M. R. Rasheed was charged in a US Federal District Court with lying under oath and providing false testimony regarding his direct involvement in setting up secret offshore accounts and trusts.“
and
“One of the nine, Jean Pierre Li Shing Tat, a Canadian resident of Mauritius, was found bound and shot twice through the head next to the motorway south of Johannesburg in June/99. He flew to South Africa in response to a “419″ letter later found at his home. After a few days his family received a demand for $200,000 but the deal went wrong and he was murdered. Four others had survived after paying a ransom, and a fifth had been freed by police.“
Here’s the email I received. I’ve removed some of the contact details to prevent temptation. I’d rather not give anyone a reason to make contact with these people.
FROM: COL. BANGI HAMA.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO.
Tel No: Your country Intl. access code +873xxxxxxxxx
Fax No: your country Intl. Access code +873xxxxxxxxx
bangihama@xxxxxxxxx.com
Dear Sir/Madam,
SEEKING YOUR IMMEDIATE ASSISTANCE.
Please Permit me to make your acquaintance in so informal a manner. This is necessitated by my urgent need to reach a dependable and trust wordy foreign partner. This request may seem strange and unsolicited but I will crave your indulgence and pray that you view it seriously. My name is COL. BANGI HAMA of the Democratic Republic of Congo and One of the close aides to the former President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, LAURENT KABILA of blessed memory, may his soul rest in peace.
During the military campaign of LAURENT KABILA to force out the rebels in my country, I and some of my colleagues were commissioned by the Late President Kabila to negotiate the supply of arms and ammunition from abroad worth Twenty Million, Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars only
(US$20,500,000.00) to fight the rebel groups. We were then given this money privately by the then President LAURENT KABILA, without the knowledge of his Cabinet Members. This was mainly because some of us and some Cabinet members never wanted more wars and most of the Cabinet members were opposed to the fighting. But when President Kabila was killed in a bloody shoot-out by one of his Body Guards a day before we were schedule to travel out of Congo, we immediately decided to put the funds into a private security company here in Congo for safe keeping. The security of the said amount is presently being threatened here following the arrest and seizure of properties of Col. Rasheidi Karesava (One of the Body Guards to Laurent Kabila) a tribesman, and some other Military Personnel from our same tribe, by the new President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the son of late President Laurent Kabila, Joseph Kabila.
In view of this, we need a reliable and trustworthy foreign partner who can assist us to move this money out of my country as the beneficiary. WE have sufficient ”CONTACTS” here to move the fund under Diplomatic Cover to a security company in Europe in your name. This is to ensure that the Diplomatic Baggage is marked ”CONFIDENTIAL” and it will not pass through normal custom/airport screening and clearance.
Our inability to move this money out of Congo all this while lies on our lack of trust on our supposed good friends (western countries) who suddenly became hostile to those of us who worked with the late President Kabila immediately after his son took office. Though we have neither seen nor met each other, the information We gathered from an associate who has worked in your country has encouraged and convinced us of your country and hence with your sincere assistance, this transaction will be properly handled with modesty and honesty to a huge success within two weeks.
We would please need you to stand on our behalf as the beneficiary of this fund in Europe. This is because we are under restricted movement and watch and hence we want to be very carefull in other not to lose this fund which we have worked so hard for. Thus, if you are willing to assist us move this fund out of Congo, you can contact me through my email address, Tel/Fax nos. above with your telephone, fax number and personal information to enable us discuss the modalities and what will be your share (percentage) for assisting us.
Please note that There are no RISKS involved in this Deal as every ones Security is Gurranteed as far as we follow the required guidlines. I will hence furnish you with further details of this Deal as soon as I am assured of your Sincere interest to assist us. We wish to inform you that this deal is based on Mutual Trust as we cannot conclude this deal on our own without trusting someone. Also, friends are discovered and friends are made and we hope to build a lasting friendship of trust from this deal.
I must use this opportunity and medium to implore you to exercise the utmost indulgence to keep this matter extraordinarily confidential, What ever your decision, while I await your prompt response.
Thank you and God Bless.
Best Regards
COL. BANGI HAMA (RTD). bangihama@xxxxxxxxx.com
N\B. When you are calling my line, you dial your country Intl. access code, then you dial directly, do not include my country code i.e. (243). Just dial your country Intl. access code + 873xxxxxxxxx and my fax number is your country Intl. Access code + 873xxxxxxxxx
3 Comments
I work with someone who knows a man who lost his wife and $100K+ because of pursuing one of these scams.
i received an email like this one but it was sent to me by her own mistress, though the story is quite different, same as seeking assistance…
I would say I agree about the way you see the issue. I remember that, in the past, Mark Twain did say something like “For everything that is positive, it also has a negative side; for everything that is negative, it also has a positive side.” I find it is interesting too to read different viewpoints on the topic.
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