Maybe we should have here at the forum a special folder for email scams - Nigerian type, e-gold scams etc. This way everybody will know where to look.
Here are a 2 examples of Nigerian type scam:
Subject: JUST URGENT DEAR
From: harunnah_saraki@zonai.com
To:
FROM THE DESK OF DR.HARUNNAH SARAKI
AUDITING DEPARTMENT
INTERNATIONAL BANK OF AFRICA
LAGOS, NIGERIA.
Dear:
Hello and in the name of Allah the merciful be
blessed, I got your address via the internet. I have a
proposal for you - this however is not mandatory nor
will I in any manner compel you to honour against your
will.
I am 49, and work with a bank (one of the African
leading banks in the West Coast). Here in this bank
existed a dormant account for the past 8 years which
belong to a Syria national who is now late.
When we discovered that there had been no deposits nor
withdrawals from this account for this long period, I
and my two other colleagues decided to carry out a
system investigation and discovered that non of the
family member nor relations of the late Syrian is
aware of this account.
This is the story in a nutshell.
Now we want an account overseas where we can transfer
this funds. Thereafter, we had planned to destroy all
related documents for this account. It is a careful
network and for the past eleven months we have worked
out everything to ensure a hitch-free operation.
The amount is not so much at the moment and plus all
the accumulated interest the balance in this account
stands at-(US$ 9.5 million US dollars). The first
payment that the bank will pay into your account will
$4.5 miliion US dollars and upon a suscessful transfer
of the first fund without any disapportment from your
side,we will hornestly proceed with rest $5 milion US
dollars as i planed the transfer with you.
Now our questions are:-
1. Can you handle this project?
2. Can we give you this trust?
3. What will be your commission if you can sponsor
this project?
Consider this and get back at us as soon as possible.
Finally, it is our humble prayer that the information
as contained herein be accorded the necessary
attention, urgency as well as the secrecy it deserves.
We Expect your urgent response if you can handle this
project. Call me at this direct line +234-80-55127800
after sending a mail for confirmation.
Respectfully yours,
Dr.HARUNNAH SARAKI
Please send reply to my direct email
hsaraki@yahoo.com
------------------------------------------
Este mensaje fue enviado usando ZONAiMail.
"Registra tu buzón con ZONAi ya!"
http://www.zonai.com
And the poor widow:
From: "paulina ndhlovu" <paulynzek03@yahoo.co.uk>
Subject: REQUEST FOR YOUR MUTUAL ASSISTANCE:
To:
166 Becker Grace Street,
Yeoville, Johannesburg, 2198
South Africa.
STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL:
Sir/Madam,
I am Mrs. Paulina Ndhlovu, a Zimbabwe widow with two daughters and an only son Alexander Ndhlovu. My husband was late Mr Ezekiel Ndhlovu. My husband was among the people that were killed by the agent of President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe. Since after my husband's death, I ran away with my daughters and only son to South Africa as refugees.
Sir/Madam, may I introduce this business proposal to you and also do hereby wish to ask for your assistance in this urgent business transaction that requires absolute honesty and secrecy. The president of Zimbabwe killed my husband who was a very rich farmer. But from my husband files Iunderstood that he had deposited the sum Seven Million Five Hundred Thousand Dollars (US$7,500.000.00) in a security company here in south Africa. Immediately my husband was confirmed dead, I made away with all the documents he used to deposit the money in the security company here in south Africa with my only son so that we can not be reached by the President Mugabe or other of his ZANU-PF agents.
I have really been waiting for a more suitable time and opportunity like this to contact you concerning this transaction. Right now, I have all information that prove to me that the money is in a safe place, as my husband deposited it with a security company for safe keeping. I am using this opportunity to seek for your assistance to move this money to your country, to be invested on behalf of the family through my son.
For this business to be concluded immediately, I am please requesting you to arrange to meet with my son and I so that we can negotiate all the necessary arrangement to facilitate the transfer of this fund after clearing all procedures with the security company that is in custody of this fund before we transfer it to an account which must be opened in your name here in South Africa. In the process of the transaction, you will be presented as the sole the beneficiary of the consignment, after due change of ownership of the entire documents to your names so that the fund will be transferred to your bank account in your country. In this case you will need a lawyer to represent you if you do not have the chance to come South Africa.
I canot achieve all this process I have explained to you on our own because we do not have another foreign account else where, moreover, we are refuges here in south Africa, this is why we needed your assistance. I am ready to offer you 30% of the total sum, and also willing to give you the full power to manage the remaining 70% on behalf of my son and I. This money was deposited in the best security company in South Africa. Upon conclusion of arrangement, we shall forward to you all the necessary documents including the certificate of the deposit. As soon I receive your response, I will forward to you my son's phone numbers so that you can contact him for more discussion. You may send your phone and fax numbers so as to contact you or fax to you all that documents my husband had at the time he did the deposit.
Please I want us to arrange to conclude this business soonest. Please secure this information as strictly confidential as possible even when you may not wish to assist us. In your response to this proposal, I am requesting you to contact me via my confidential E-mail box:(paulyn_zek@yahoo.co.uk) and also my son Patrick Maulungi on his E-mail:(ndhlovualex1-4@yahoo.co.uk) as I will instruct him to proceed with you as soon I read from you.
Yours faithfully
Mrs. Paulina Ndhlovu.
(For / on behalf of the family).
Do you Yahoo!?
Here is also a fake e-gold mail I recieved a few months back:
From: "AccountRobot_donotreply@e-gold.com" <AccountRobot_donotreply@e-gold.com> Add to Address Book
To:
Subject: Fraudulent transactions with your e-gold account
Date: Tue, 6 Apr 2004 21:12:28 +0400
Fraudulent activity with your e-gold account have been detected. That
activity appears to be illegal according to:
Title 18. "Crimes and Criminal Procedure" Part I "Crimes"
Chapter 47 "Fraud and False Statements"
§ 1030. "Fraud and related activity in connection with computers"
Go to:
(Link removed for security reasons)
----...----
(A)(i) knowingly causes the transmission of a program, information,
code, or command, and as a result of such conduct, intentionally causes
damage without authorization, to a protected computer;
(ii)
intentionally accesses a protected computer without authorization,
and as a result of such conduct, recklessly causes damage; or
(iii) intentionally accesses a protected computer without
authorization, and as a result of such conduct, causes damage; and
(B) by conduct described in clause (i), (ii), or (iii) of subparagraph
(A), caused (or, in the case of an attempted offense, would, if
completed, have caused)--
(i) loss to 1 or more persons during any 1-year period (and, for
purposes of an investigation, prosecution, or other proceeding brought by the
United States only, loss resulting from a related course of conduct
affecting 1 or more other protected computers) aggregating at least $5,000
in value;
----...----
Go to:
(Link removed for security reasons)
E-gold antifraud department.
I removed the links because they don't take you anywhere in particular and you'll only get a key-logger (I know because I tried the link and had to immediately run Ad-Aware). And of cource I've never had any fraudulend transactions with my e-gold.
The most strange thing is that these Nigerian scams come to the email of a friend who died in February and she wasn't involved in PTR and never gave her email to anyone. I ocasionally send a card to her email, maybe they got it from there.