More Information on the Nigerian Scams & what to do...

This could not happen to anyone in New Zealand.... could it?

Saturday Press Christchurch Sept 14 2002

Nigerian scams still get suckers NZ
Four Nigerian scams have suckered Kiwis out of $10 million in the last two years. The liquidator of Ashburton based stock firm, Cuttle and Isaacs Ltd, which folded in January with debts of about $4m, this week sought judgment confirming the firm's former director, Peter Bell, owed the business more than $3. 4rn. Bell paid $1.7m, in two installments to Citibank in New York and London, after falling for an African con-artist, who said the cash was to help release millions in currency. Liquidator Warwick Ainger said the funds were traced to Nigeria's Federal Savings Bank, but that the bank had not responded to approaches from the liquidator. Bell got the idea for his Nigerian investments, after attending the 1999 Investors International seminar in Fiji - a scam that has fleeced Kiwis out of $9.5m, Mr Ainger said.

Earlier this year, Nelson accountant Kerry Francis was jailed for 4½ years on 18 fraud, theft, and forgery charges involving $700,000 of client's money. Francis' defense council, Garry Barkle, told the court his client, who lost more then $500,000 after making a Nigerian "investment' had fallen into a "professional black hole".

In August 2000, former Auckland senior executive of Citibank, Graeme Rutherford, swindled friends and banks out of $7m, after he fell into a Nigerian investment scam. Men from Nigeria told him he could get control of a fund. worth $US30m if he raised enough money.

Consumer Ministry Scam Watch coordinator Pamela Rogers said the cases did not fit the profile of most Nigerian scams, which usually involve' much smaller sums. The scams now ran from many west or Southern African nations.

Nigerian scams have the following common elements

· The writer has specially chosen you, or your firm to get the letter.
· The needs your bank account bank details to transfer a large sum of Money from his or her nation or your help in a investing funds.
· The money has been left to the writer, after civil unrest, war, the death of a prominent person or head of state, or an account overpayment.
· You will receive a portion of the money for helping the writer

Nigerian scam letters were originally mailed, but were now faxed and emailed much more widely, she said. "People should not provide personal or company details without finding out from Government agencies who could verify the bona fides of the investments."

MY LATEST LETTER TO THESE SCAMMERS

I have selected you as the most learned person in your city with your title
of Doctor.

I have just sold New Zealand to USA for $US2698 billion and have over invoiced it by $US 24 billion and need help to launder the money. I currently have it in used $US1 bills which I AM ASSURED CAN NOT BE TRACED.

I am prepared to take .25c in the dollar so if you send me a bank draft payable to the charity listed below, I will forward you the money in a plain brown paper parcel addressed to you anywhere in the world.

I must ask you to keep this confidential as at this rate of discounting I will be flooded with enquiries if word gets out.

I have decided to give all of the money I obtain to my favourite charity which is "Children Aid Suffer Humanity" Just use the initials, they are well recognized in this country

This is a genuine offer and is risk free, so dash off your Bank cheque to me today and get a risk free return of 4 to 1

Regards
Ivan Ymstbkiding
The Old Rookery
1278953a Robbery Lane
YAFOOL (near Auckland)
New Zealand

PS do not forget to include your address with your bank cheque for me to send the money ....

New Just in I If you want to help this POOR soldier write direct to the contact below

Dear Friend,

How Are You And Your Family?. Hope All Is Well.

My Name Is Sgt David V. Ess, I Am An American Soldier, Serving In The Military With The Army 3rd Infantry Division, With A Very Desperate Need For Assistanc Therefore I Have Summoned Up Courage To Contact You.

I Found Your Contact Particulars In An Address Journal. I Am Seeking Your Kind Assistance To Move The Sum Of ( $8 Million U.S. Dollars )Eight Million United States Dollars To You In United States, As Far As I Can Be Assured That My Share Will Be Safe In Your Care Until I Complete My Service Here.

Send Your Response To : Davidess@Cosmo.Com

Source Of Money:

Some Money In Various Currencies Was Discovered In Barrels At A Farm House Near One Of Saddam's Old Palaces In Tikrit,Iraq During A Rescue Operation, And It Was Agreed By Staff Sgt Kenneth Buff And I That Some Part Of This Money Be Shared Among Both Of Us Before Informing Anybody About It Since Both Of Us Saw The Money First. This Was Quite An Illegal Thing To Do, But I Tell You What ? No Compensation Can Make Up For The Risk We Have Taken With Our Lives In This Hell Hole Which Has Claimed The Life Of My Brother In-Law Through A Road Side Bomb Blast.

The Above Figure Was Given To Me As My Share. To Conceal This Kind Of Money Is A Problem For Me, So With The Help Of A Brithish Contact Working Here- His Office Enjoy Some Immunity- I Was Able To Get The Package Out To A Safe Location Entirely Out Of The Trouble Spot. He Does Not Know The Real Contents Of The Package.He Assumes That The Package Belongs To A Brithish/American Medical Doctor Who Died In A Raid Here In Iraq Who Before Giving Up, Entrusted Me With The Duty Of Handing It Over To His Family In United States. I Have Now Found A Very Secured Way Of Getting The Package Out Of Iraq To Your Country For You To Pick Up.I Will Discuss This With You When I Am Sure That You Are Willing To Assist Me And Or I Believe That My Money Will Be Well Secured In Your Hand.

I Want You To Tell Me How Much You Will Require For The Assistance You Will Give To Me.

The Only Passionate Appeal I Will Make To You Is Not To Discuss This Matter With Anybody, Should You Decide To Reject This Offer. Please Please And Please Destroy This Message As Any Leakage Of This Information Will Be Too Bad For Us Soldier's Here In Iraq.

I Do Not Know How Long We Will Remain Here. I Have Been Shot,Wounded And Have Survived Two Suicide Bomb Attacks By The Special Grace Of God.

This And Other Reasons I Will Mention Later Has Prompted Me To Reach Out For Help, I Honestly Want This Matter To Be Resolved Immediately, Please Contact Me As Soon As Possible With My E-Mail Address Which Is My Only Means Of

Communication For Now :

Send Your Response To : Davidess@Cosmo.Com

God Bless You And Your Family.

Sincerely,

David V. Ess.

Mail sent from WebMail service at - http://www.perfectgamestudios.com

I Replied

Hello DAVID ESS,

YES I will help you ...... I have placed on my web site your letter so you should get 100's of letters from all around the world, I am doing this for nothing and just hope I am helping a God fearing, upstanging American Hero that is keeping the world safe with no though of reward.....

Saturday Press Christchurch Dec 14 2002

Jail for using company cash in scam .....NZ
A bank has reached agreement over responsibility for some of the $690,000 that Norman John Webster withdrew from company accounts and sent to Nigeria for a money laundering scam.

The name of the bank and the details of the settlement have been suppressed at Webster's sentencing, by Christchurch District Court (New Zealand) Judge Murray Abbott.
He has been sentenced to two years and eight months in jail after pleading guilty in September to five charges of fraudulently using documents to get money.

The suppression order on Webster's name and those of the two companies has been lifted. The companies are John Webster Transport Repair Services Ltd and Heavy Transport Parts and Accessories Ltd. Webster, 53, was a shareholder and a company director.

He had used the fact that he was well known at the bank to make transactions with only his signature when they should have been countersigned.
The money he sent to Nigeria on the promise of a $US4O million return has been lost. Judge Abbott said that after Webster's initial involvement in the scheme - using money of his own -proved fruitless, he began sending company money.

Defense counsel Philip James had submitted that with hindsight the scam was so obvious that it was difficult to understand how Webster had fallen for it. Judge Abbott told him: "You should have realized that you were putting good money after bad, but it appears you must have been blind to the fact that you were being taken for a ride."

Webster has no previous convictions. The court was told that over two years he made 90 withdrawals totaling $691,812 at the bank, and the money was almost all converted into foreign currency and sent to Nigeria. He also made seven international fund transactions to Nigeria totaling $88,674, telling bank staff they were for parts he was ordering.

Webster has since been declared bankrupt, and Judge Abbott said it was not realistic to make an order requiring reparations.

From Wired News found this in the UK
A Hampshire businessman was £100,000 poorer last week, the latest victim of the e-mail scam that promises riches in exchange for help in transferring cash. You probably know the format typically the money is tucked away in Nigeria, and the e-mailer needs a gullible British partner to arrange a bank transfer.- which invariably ends in the victim's account being emptied.

But have you ever wondered who writes these things? Now, thanks to a Nigerian whistleblower named Taiwo, we have a clearer idea. This is a sophisticated family business, Taiwo tells Wired News, that has provided a living for dozens of relatives since 1986. "We have the letter writers and the people who create the official documentation, the people who talk to our clients on the phone, the people who arrange travel and meetings and tours of government offices in Africa, Canada, Japan and the US," he explains from New York, where he is a student Taiwo's role is to write the e-mails, using language that evokes someone "educated, upper-class, out of touch with the common people".

It is when people e-mail back, normally skeptically, that the game begins. "Once they realize there is a real person on the other end of the e-mail, they sometimes get interested," Taiwo says. And if they can be lured to Nigeria, about one in three will pay upfront to have the "money" laundered - which, of course, never materializes. Taiwo has found religion, but he says it is not his fault that foreigners are greedy. Be warned.

Sunday Times UK

Don't just delete fraudulent e-mails
JL writes: Please forgive me for forwarding this e-mail to you. I know not to reply or get involved with it in any way, but it is clearly fraudulent I thought you might know whom to pass it on to.
The e-mail you sent me was a classic "419" or "advance fee" letter - named 419 after the section in the Nigerian penal code dealing with such offences. These letters or e-mails, which apparently promise vast sums to their recipients in return for a relatively modest fee upfront. used to emanate almost exclusively from Nigeria. Now the fraudsters appear to be changing base, with many coming from South Africa, Botswana and Gabon.

With the move from letters to e-mails, the National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS) fears that many more people could be duped. Already it estimates as much as £150m a year is lost by people who are taken in by the promises of free cash.

Many readers ask what they should do about these e-mails. Obviously you should not act on them, but before you hit the delete button, send a copy to <419@spring39.demon.co.uk> -a dedicated NCIS address, which will help it to keep track of the extent of the fraud.

In addition, the NCIS suggests that you alert the internet service provider from which the e-mail originated by sending a copy to abuse@thelSPname
(for example, abuse@yahoo. com). The ISP should then terminate the account.

Note that while businesses and individuals are the most common recipients of such letters, churches and charities have also been targeted. these organizations have been promised large donations or legacies in exchange for fees paid in advance.