Widow scammed in 419 con
p2pnet news | Crime:- p2pnet’s problem of finding enough $$$ staying online is about to be solved, we posted November, going on
“Below is a little something we’ve just received from the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Finance from Mrs Amina Shittu, addressed to .Beneficiary.
“And it acknowledges the ‘fraudulent activities going on in world now’.
“That’s a relief. For a moment, we thought it might be another of those nasty Nigerian 419 scams.”
We get at least five or six of these every day and like the vast majority of people who are also on the receiving end of these conmails, we simply trash them.
Most people fall for them out of sheer greed. But not always.
Australia’s Sunday Mail has a story about a 65-year-old Brisbane widow, first-time Net user it says is now almost bankrupt, “after being seduced out of $60,000 in successive online romance scams”
She joining a website for seniors and, “was approached by a man claiming to be an English professor of physics who was building a robotic tractor,” says the story.
The woman, with Shirley as her nom de plume, quickly fell in love with “James” who over several months sent photos of himself, his children and his passport and, “We were supposed to be married this Christmas,” the scam victims says.
“He asked if I could assist him with his project and I didn’t hesitate because we were a couple. I borrowed $20,000 on a personal loan and sent him the lot.” She also sent him $10,000 for airfares and has ow been forced to postpone her retirement to pay off a large debt,” says the Sunday Mail.
Because “James” turned out to be one of a gang of Nigerian scammers targeting dating sites.
But it get worse.
While Shirley was “dating” James, another gang member, a fake Texan pharmacist, also went after her, telling her James was a Nigerian scammer, prompting her to twosome online research when she discovered “James” had scammed $220,000 out of seven other women in the past year.
But Kay seemed geniuine. Shirley checked out his business credentials —- again, online —- eventually maxingout five credit cards and spending $30,000 on him.
“He said he was going to Nigeria to buy holistic medicine for his business,” she said, according to the story.
Very sad.
Below is part of a 419 scam-mail we received today:
FROM THE DESK OF .KHAN IBRAHIM.
BILL AND EXCHANGE MANAGER.
BANK OF AFRICA BANK B.O.A.
OUAGADOUGOU BURKINA-FASO.
WEST AFRICA.
THIS IS MY PRIVATE NUMBER….00226 78 84 21 34.
PLANE CRASH WEB SITE HTTP://WWW.CNN.COM/2003/WORLD/AFRICA/12/26/BENIN.CRASH/INDEX.HTML
( “REMITTANCE OF $22.5 TWENTY TWO MILLION AND FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND UNITED STATES DOLLARS U.S.A CONFIDENTIAL IS THE CASE”)
COMPLIMENT OF THE SEASON,
ON A VERY GOOD DAY. I AM ( KHAN IBRAHIM) MANAGER OF BILL AND EXCHANGE IN BANK OF AFRICA (BOA).I GOT YOUR CONTACT FROM A YAHOO GOOGLE SEARCH.
WHEN I WAS SEARCHING FOR A FOREIGN PARTNER I ASSURED OF YOUR CAPABILITY AND RELIABILITY TO CHAMPION THIS BUSINEES OPPORTUNITY WHEN I PRAYED TO GOD OR ALLAH ABOUT YOU.IN MY DEPARTMENT WE DISCOVERED AN ABANDONED SUM OF $ 22.5 MILLION U.S.A DOLLARS ( TWENTY TWO MILLION AND FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND UNITED STATES DOLLARS U.S.A DOLLARS ONLY) . IN AN ACCOUNT THAT BELONGS TO ONE OF OUR FOREIGN CUSTOMER MR SALLA KHATIF WHO DIED ALONG WITH HIS ENTIRE FAMILY ON (FRIDAY DECEMBER 25TH,2003 ) IN A PLANE 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 RELATION TO THE DECEASED AS INDICATED IN OUR BANKING GUIDELINES, BUT UNFORTUNATELY WE LEARNT 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 ONE OFFICIAL IN MY DEPARTMENT NOW DECIDED TO MAKE THIS BUSINNESS 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 DONT WANT THIS MONEY TO GO INTO THE BANK TREASURY AS UNCLAIMED BILL.
THE BANKING LAW AND GUIDELINE HERE STIPULATES THAT IF SUCH MONEY REMAINED UNCLAMED AFTER FIVE YEARS, THE MONEY WILL BE TRANSFERED INTO THE BANK TREASURY AS UNCLAIMED FUND. THE REQUEST OF FOREIGNER AS NEXT OF KIN IN THIS BUSINESS IS OCCASIONED BY THE FACT THAT THE CUSTOMER WAS A FOREIGNER, AND A BURKINABE CANNOT STAND AS NEXT OF KIN TO A FOREIGNER. 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 ……….
Also See:-
about to be solved – Nigeria acknowledges debt to p2pnet, November 8, 2007
Sunday Mail – Brisbane widow tricked by online beaus, January 14, 2008
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January 15th, 2008 at 6:37 pm
nothing worce then those monkey scams but they say there is a sucker born every minute…
it took her 65 years to find that out.
January 16th, 2008 at 9:40 am
That’s a warning to people who have elderly parents – watch out for them please, especially if they are just getting to learn what the internet is all about.
The elderly have spent decades in a much more protected and smaller environment and have no realistic idea of how many evil people are ready to scoop money from them.
January 16th, 2008 at 9:52 am
Maybe she just had a senior moment. My mom works with mentally handicapped kids and after meeting some of them I thought “so these are the kind of people who would buy junk from spammers”.