A Scam Email with the Subject "Sierra Leone" was received in one of Scamdex's honeypot email accounts on Fri, 25 Aug 2006 08:28:11 -0700 and has been classified as a Advance Fee Fraud/419 Scam. The sender was "John Sankoh" <jsankoh@netscape.net>, although it may have been spoofed.
Dear Sir /Madam, I am John Sankoh, the son of late chief Anthony Sankoh a native of Freetown of the republic of Sierra Leone, West Africa. My father was a close friend/business partner to the deputy minister for Mining and Natural Resources Dr Abel Majeed Haoun [Deputy to Mrs. Cecilia Bannerman] in Sierra Leone. Until his death he has been doing business secretly with the minister and at the same time representing him in all business correspondence both locally and internationally unknowingly. Before the death of my father, I being the only son, he secretly told me that he had the sum of $22 Million [US Dollars] deposited with a private security firm in Ghana. These funds were realized from the sales of gold dust and diamond, this he transacted on behalf of the minister. The minister has no access to this funds as the funds could not be traced to him or any of his relatives and he does not have the contact details of the security firm were the funds is been deposited. After my father's death, I did search his safe and discover all the documents, which my late father did use to deposit the money as consignment on his name on behalf of a foreign business partner unknown to me. Before his death he use to do business in Europe, America and Asia that is why I believe that my fathers partners will be in one of this countries. The minister has been running after my life asking me if I know were my father deposited the money before his death, which I deny. My fathers uncle advised me to leave the country that is why I left for the Netherlands where i am currently seeking political asylum for security reasons. The reason why I am contacting you is that I want to claim the funds as consignment from the security company as the beneficiary's next of kin and to present you as my late fathers foreign partner who will receive the consignment on my behalf in your country, but the security company does not know the real content of the box because my late father did not tell them that the box contains funds and the box is sealed and lock and the keys are with me. The money shall remain in your custody till my arrival in your country. It can be transferred to your account in any of this country as I have mention that my father use to do business because I am still interested in doing business in your country. Meanwhile the money can be invested into risk-free profitable ventures and there shall be an agreement to protect my interest. I have all the documents to enable you claim the consignment from the security firm. To make this deal reliable, I need a commitment from you that it will be kept confidential, your telephone and fax numbers including mobile for easy communications, your permanent address as well as some forms of identification will be required before we can proceed. For your reliable assistance I will reward you with 25% of the money and i have set aside 10% of the funds to take care of any expense that will be incurred during this transaction and the remaining 65% is for me and my family. I thank you in advance in anticipation of your assistance. The nature of your business does not necessarily matter, Please contact me if you are interested in assisting me through my private e-mail address on jsankoh@netscape.net as it will enable me to scout for another partner in the event of non-interest on your part. Thank you and God bless! Sincerely Yours, Mr. John Sankoh. (For the family)