Large parts of West Africa have communications blackouts after damage was found on the major undersea fiberoptic cable, known as SAT-3, which supplies countries such as Benin, Togo, Niger and Nigeria. The cable runs from Portugal and Spain to South Africa, via West Africa and has cut 70% of Nigeria’s bandwidth, causing severe problems for its banking sector, government and mobile phone networks.
The effects are expected to last as long as two weeks and I will be interested to see if this makes any difference to the numbers of 419 (aka AFF or simply ‘Nigerian’) scam solicitations, considering that the major source of the scourge is the West coastal coutries of Africa due to the endemic corruption and poor policiing in the region.
I look forward to the first email ….
“Due to the recent undersea cable fault, banking institutions had to resort to using cash-only transactions and I have found a large chest containing a huge amount of cash in US Dollars – I need someone in the west to help me to move it to the USA …..”
A backup, the West Africa Cable System linking southern and western African countries with Europe should be in service by 2011. This link will massively improve Internet speeds for South Africa, Angola, the Canary Islands, Cameroon, Nigeria, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Cape Verde, Portugal and the United Kingdom. It will also bring submarine links online for the first time to the countries of Namibia, the Congo and Togo.
We shall see….
My new friend, Patrick – I Love this guy – he contacts me out of the blue – he’s a high-up in the Hang Seng Bank and yet he find me, despite my never (to my knowledge) having given anyone the slightest idea that I am interested in helping move large amounts of money about – well, what a lucky guess!
While I am ‘a bit apprehensive’, because, after all, I don’t know the guy – he says it will be ‘legally done’ so what the heck, let’s ROCK$$$!
But on the other hand, he does seem to be taking a risk - ‘I am putting my career and the life of my family at stake’ – not sure quite what that means, if it’s all legal and totally fona bido as he says ….
Oh well, money is money – gimme mine Pat!
Hey, if anyone out there wants to get in on this, just send me $100 (to paypal@scamdex.com) and I’ll be more than happy to send him your name too – perhaps he has more money to ‘transfer’
patrickchankw53@yahoo.com.hk
Mr.Patrick K. W. Chan [patkwchan_53@yahoo.com]
From: Mr.Patrick K. W. Chan
(Executive Director & Chief financial Officer) Hang Seng Bank Limited
83 Des Voeux Road, Central
Hong Kong SARFOR YOUR ATTENTION!
It is understandable that you might be a little bit apprehensive because you do not know me but I have a lucrative business proposal of mutual interest to share with you. I got your reference in my search for someone who suits my proposed business relationship.
I am Mr. Patrick K. W. Chan Executive Director & Chief financial Officer of Hang Seng Bank Ltd. I have an obscured business suggestion for you. I will need you to assist me in executing a business project from Hong Kong to your country. It involves the transfer of a large sum of money. Everything concerning this transaction shall be legally done without hitch. Please endeavour to observe utmost discretion in all matters concerning this issue.
Once the funds have been successfully transferred into your account, we shall share in the ratio to be agreed by both of us.
I will prefer you reach me on my private email address below (patrickchankw53@yahoo.com.hk) and finally after that I shall furnish you with more information’s about this operation.
Please if you are not interested delete this email and do not hunt me because I am putting my career and the life of my family at stake with this venture. Although nothing ventured is nothing gained.
Your earliest response to this letter will be appreciated.
Kind Regards,
Mr. Patrick Chan
As reported in the Washington Post’s “The Trail‘ section, here’s an email that’s making the rounds in Washington, and now, the rest of the world. No one is claiming authorship, but the ‘trail’ seems to start at the SEC. Enjoy!
Dear American:
I need to ask you to support an urgent secret business relationship with a transfer of funds of great magnitude.
I am Ministry of the Treasury of the Republic of America. My country has had crisis that has caused the need for large transfer of funds of 800 billion dollars US. If you would assist me in this transfer, it would be most profitable to you.
I am working with Mr. Phil Gram, lobbyist for UBS, who will be my replacement as Ministry of the Treasury in January. As a Senator, you may know him as the leader of the American banking deregulation movement in the 1990s. This transactin is 100% safe.
This is a matter of great urgency. We need a blank check. We need the funds as quickly as possible. We cannot directly transfer these funds in the names of our close friends because we are constantly under surveillance. My family lawyer advised me that I should look for a reliable and trustworthy person who will act as a next of kin so the funds can be transferred.
Please reply with all of your bank account, IRA and college fund account numbers and those of your children and grandchildren to wallstreetbailout@treasury.gov so that we may transfer your commission for this transaction. After I receive that information, I will respond with detailed information about safeguards that will be used to protect the funds.
Yours Faithfully Minister of Treasury Paulson
Return-path: <HarryJantaman@un.org>
Delivery-date: Tue, 23 Sep 2008 13:55:08 -0700
(envelope-from <HarryJantaman@un.org>)
id 1KiEua-0001DI-Em
Received: from smtp-out.orange.net (smtp59.orange.fr [80.12.242.30])
X-ME-UUID: 20080923205501279.4453E6C00180@mwinf5902.orange.net
Reply-To: <”harryj@e-mile.co.uk, jan_harry”@un-aaid.org>
From: “H. Jantamanta” <HarryJantaman@un.org>
Subject: [Bulk?]From Harry & Partners
Message-Id: <20080923205501.4453E6C00180@mwinf5902.orange.net>
From: Harry Jantamanta
3 Whitehall Court, London,
SW1A 2EL London
Private Mobile: 44 704 576 2068My name is Harry Jantamanta, UN humanitarian abuse reporter here in UN Independent Station United Kingdom. I got your contact through cross border business information centre situated here in London as an online investor.
On behalf of my partners, I seek your assistance to accommodate and invest for us the sum of USD22.6M. The money in question is sourced to us by a particular head of states as a gesture for appreciation of a good work rendered to their country, but In line with the moral principal of our services, we are not required to accept gift of any kind nor own more than 10,000 USD in our respective bank account, hence our plea to be represented by a trust worthy person to accommodate and invest the sum for us.
Please note that this request is not a hoax.
We count on your ability to accommodate and invest the funds for us until we are able to process our resignation successfully.
If you are interested please provide me with the following in return email:
YOUR NAME IN FULL
YOUR OFFICE OR RESIDENTIAL ADDRESS
TEL AND FAX NUMBERAs soon as I hear from you, further details regarding the transaction will be unveiled to you.
I look forward for your urgent response.
This just in….
Australian victims of Nigerian online scams are greedy and should be jailed along with the Africans who relieved them of their cash, according to High Commissioner Sunday Olu Agb (Nigerian Envoy to Canberra).
“People who send their money are as guilty as those who are asking them to send the money,”
He said media coverage of Nigerian scams had given the corruption-plagued country “a bad image.” Agbi was responding to a police report that said Australians were losing A$36 Million (about $US 31,000,000) to online scams.He complained that “those who want to transact business with us are always very suspicious”.
read more in the report by the Sydney Morning Herald
I agree that greed is what drives a large number of scams – as a social engineering construct, it works very well – the knowledge that the actions that they are taking are at best immoral, at worst criminal is normally tempered by the displacement of the crime (eg. another continent) and also the large amounts of money involved and the sense that no-one will ever find out.
When the scam is exposed, the common pattern or events is disbelief, then rage and then either shame/penitence or denial (The Sunk Cost Fallacy?). The last is always the most destructive – This is exploited by scammers who, when the victim has realized his errors, will offer more scams, purportedly to enable the victim to recover some of his lost money. I have seen this many times and the 419 type scammers are the experts at this type of ’scam cascade’.
Greed, Opportunity and Low Risk drives all financial crimes – an email arriving with a request from an African official to help him ‘move’ some money out of his country to yours is just the ‘carrot’ that many people need.
This spoof scam has been around for a while, but it bears repeating. Obviously done by soemone with a high geek factor AND a GSOH!
I think I’ll do one in the style of ‘His Dark Materials (Philip Pullman)’
Dear Beloved,
I am Danladi Majah , The only Son of late Counsellor Gríma Grimbeth Majah of the Kingdom of Rohan.
My father was Chief Counsellor [equivalent to Prime Minister] to late lamented king Théoden of Rohan. In his position my father altogether legally and correctly acquired significant assets throughout Rohan in order to protect the Kingdom from enemy forces within and without. In the course of lamentable events succeeding, my father was illegally deprived of office and expelled from the Kingdom.
Before this he had with foresight already entirely legally deposited gold worth US$4.5m with one of the Africa leading Banks in Cote d´Ivoire of which I will let you know if you identify your interest . While in exile in the north he was assaulted and murdered by a band of northern Orcs. My family was obliged to seek refuge in northern Dunland among some of our sympathisers.
My father left to me all documents necessary the retrievement aforesaid from the Bank. However, in the current political circumstances my solicitor believes it unwise for me to attempt to make the trip from Dunland to Cote d´ivoire, and has recommended that I seek a trustworthy foreign business partner to tranferred this amount into your account.
This appears to be the best option as we are unable to open an account in Dunland. Therefore I am seeking your trustworthy assistance and cooperation.
You will provide information about your account that will enable a deposit to be made in your name. I will contact the Bank and inform them that the money is to be placed into your account. Upon completion of the transaction your share of the proceeds will be 15%.
If the transaction goes well I will also look forward to maintaining you as a profitable business partner for future ventures. Therefore I will need your phone and fax numbers to enable me send them to the bank immediately as well as the account number of which this fund will be transfer into.
It goes without saying that I can expect your complete cooperation in keeping this matter confidential prefatory to completion as I awaits your urgent response.
Best regards,
Master Danladi Majah
SOUTH WINDSOR, Connecticut police today warned of a fraudulent checks scam in which residents have been receiving bogus checks from FedEx or U.P.S. The checks are made out to the resident, and a form letter instructs the recipient to contact the sender via e-mail for further instructions.
The scam works by having the unsuspecting recipient deposit the check in their checking account, and then transfer some or all of the money to the sender, police said. Banks later learn that the checks are fake. The victim loses the money they have transferred to the sender because the money that is wired can not be retrieved, police said.
Just another twist in the advance fee scam, using the postal mail, before reverting to email removes one level of obvious inauthenticity.
From: Lady Rebecca Thatcher.No:36 Old Shrewberry Street,London England.
Beloved,i am Lady Rebecca Thatcher, suffering from cancerous ailment..I used to be married to Sir Jeremy Thatcher an Englishman who is dead
and resting peacefully. My husband was into private practice all his life
before he passed. Our life together as man and wife lasted for three decades without offsprings. My husband died after a protracted illness in an accident he got from Africa while on humanitarian duties.
My husband,while he was alive made a vow to uplift the down-trodden and the less-privileged individuals as he had passion for persons who can not help
themselves due to physical disability or financial predicament.I can adduce this to the fact that he needed a Child from the marriage, which never came.
When my late husband was alive he deposited the sum of Twenty Million Pounds which were derived from his vast estates and investment incapital market with his bank here in UK. Presently, this money is still with the Bank. Recently, my Doctor told me that I have limited days to live due to the cancerous problems I am suffering from.
Though what bothers me most is the stroke that I have in addition to the cancer. With this hard reality that has befallen me, I have decided
to donate this fund to you and want you to use this gift which comes from my husbands effort to fund the upkeep of widows, widowers, orphans,
destitute, the down-trodden, physically challenged children, barren-women and persons who prove to be genuinely handicapped financially.
I took this decision because I do not have any child that will inherit this money and my husbands relatives are bourgeois and very wealthy persons and I do not want my husbands hard earned money to be misused or
invested into ill perceived ventures. I do not want this money to be misused hence the reason for taking this bold decision. I am not afraid
of death hence I know where I am going. I do not need any telephone communication in this regard due to my deteriorating health and because of
the presence of my husbands relatives around me. I do not want them to know about this development because i want the money used for the Less
Previledged.
My happiness is that I lived a life worthy of emulation. Please assure me that you will act just as I have stated herein.
Hope to hear from you soon.
You can contact me through my personal email address at:
rebeccathatcher008@yahoo.com
Scamdex believes that every provider of interactive services should have, front and center, a simple way to report abusers of it’s service. So, a provider of free email needs to
have an easy-to-find way to report people using it’s email for scamming or spamming. This reporting should be linked directly to a mechanism which flags the account and, if possible, immediately suspends the account until the claim has been verified.
Remember, in most cases we’re talking about ‘free’ services, with little or no verification of any of the registration data. In that environment, the strictest possible enforcement should be used.
Providers of these free services (gmail, hotmail, AOL, yahoo etc etc) almost always fail these seemingly obvious criteria and actually contribute to the deluge of spam and scams by their inaction.
In the past two days, I have used two services and got two different scam solicitations.
The owner of a truck in Omaha Nebraska was almost caught by a scam commonly used to dupe people out of thousands of dollars using the comm ads website, Craigs List (www.craigslist.org). He was trying to sell his truck on the site and was contacted by a buyer who sent him a cashiers check by UPS, The truck sold for $5000 but the check was for $10,000 and he had instructions to cash the check and wire the remaining $5,000 to another address in Billings Montana.
The victim was a retired police officer and smelled a rat. He contacted the KETV NewsWatch 7 I-Team investigation who did some investigating….Full Story.