New Version of Old Scam Thread poster: Sandra Alboum
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Sandra Alboum 
United States
Local time: 15:38
Member (2003)
Spanish to English
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Hi.
Not sure if this is the proper forum for this message, but I just got an email with a new version of an old scam. Please be on the lookout. Now if you didn't help "the Bishop" move a bajillion dollars out of Nigeria, it's okay. He got someone else to do it, but he'd like to thank you for your efforts by sending you a thank you cashier's check AFTER you send his buddy $800. Fun, fun.
Here's the email I got this morning:
"I have a new email address! ... See more Hi.
Not sure if this is the proper forum for this message, but I just got an email with a new version of an old scam. Please be on the lookout. Now if you didn't help "the Bishop" move a bajillion dollars out of Nigeria, it's okay. He got someone else to do it, but he'd like to thank you for your efforts by sending you a thank you cashier's check AFTER you send his buddy $800. Fun, fun.
Here's the email I got this morning:
"I have a new email address!
You can now email me at: [email protected]
DEAR FRIEND,
I'M HAPPY TO INFORM YOU ABOUT MY SUCCESS IN GETTING THE FUND RELEASED AND TRANSFERRED TO DEUTSCHE BANK GERMANY, UNDER THE COOPERATION OF A NEW PARTNER FROM SOUTH AFRICA, WHO IS A CITIZEN OF UNITEDKINGDOM.
PRESENTLY I'M IN NIGERIA, PLANNING HOW TO TRAVEL OUT TO GERMANY, WHERE HE ASSISTED TO DEPOSIT THE MONEY, AND THE MONEY HAS BEEN CURRENTLY DEPOSITED WITH DEUTSCHE BANK GERMANY.
I WILL SOON LEAVE FOR GERMANY FOR INVESTMENT PROJECTS WITH MY OWN SHARE OF THE TOTAL SUM. MEANWHILE, I DIDN'T FORGET YOUR PAST EFFORTS AND ATTEMPTS TO ASSIST ME IN TRANSFERRING THOSE FUNDS DESPITE THAT IT FAILED US SOME HOW.
NOW CONTACT MY SECRETARY,HIS NAME IS SEAN CARTER, AND HIS EMAIL ADDRESS IS,([email protected]) ASK HIM TO SEND YOU THE TOTAL SUM OF USDOLLARS800.000.00 WHICH I MAPPED OUT FOR YOUR COMPENSATION FOR ALL THE PAST EFFORTS AND ATTEMPTS TO ASSIST ME IN THIS MATTER.
NOTE THAT ALREADY I HAVE WRITTEN A CASHIER CHEQUE WORTH THAT VALUE, I HAVE ALSO INSTRUCTED HIM TO INSERT YOUR NAME FULL NAME ON THE CHEQUE AS SOON AS YOU REPLY THIS MAIL TO HIM SO THAT THERE WILL BE NO MISTAKE, I APPRECIATED YOUR EFFORTS AT THAT TIME VERY MUCH.
SO FEEL FREE AND GET IN TOUCH WITH JAMES MY SECRETARY,I INSTRUCTED HIM TO SEND THE CHEQUE TO YOU VIA AN INSURED HIGHCLASS COURIER SERVICE.
PLEASE, DO LET ME KNOW IMMEDIATELY YOU RECEIVE IT SO THAT WE CAN SHARE THE JOY AFTER ALL THE SUFFERINGS, AND STRESS AT THAT TIME, I AM VERY BUSY HERE BECAUSE OF THE INVESTMENT PROJECTS WHICH ME AND MY NEW PARTNER ARE HAVING AT HAND, FINALLY, REMEMBER THAT I HAD FORWARDED INSTRUCTION TO THE SECRETARY ON YOUR BEHALF TO RELEASE THE CASHIER CHEQUE TO YOU , SO FEEL FREE TO GET IN TOUCH WITH HIM, AND HE WILL SEND THE CHEQUE TO YOU WITHOUT ANY DELAY,I AM NOW A HAPPY MAN IN LIFE.
THANKS,AND REMAIN BLESSED.
BARRISTER JOSEPH
- joseph gonzales" ▲ Collapse
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Adaptrans (X)
Egypt
Local time: 21:38
English to Arabic
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| Get used to it! | Mar 15, 2006 |
Dear Sandra,
It is very normal to get several e-mails just like yours to my Bulk mail.
So, please get used to it , all you have to do is to report Spam and that’s it.
Anyway, thanks for help in increasing other Proz member’s awareness of such bluffs.
Respects,
Adaptrans, Egypt
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Richard Creech
United States
Local time: 15:38
French to English
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Sandra Alboum
United States
Local time: 15:38
Member (2003)
Spanish to English
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TOPIC STARTER | Yes, I know... | Mar 15, 2006 |
Adaptrans wrote:
Dear Sandra,
It is very normal to get several e-mails just like yours to my Bulk mail.
So, please get used to it , all you have to do is to report Spam and that’s it.
Anyway, thanks for help in increasing other Proz member’s awareness of such bluffs.
Respects,
Adaptrans, Egypt
Hi.
Yes, I know. But I hadn't seen THIS one. Normally, I get the direct solicitation. Now they're saying thanks anyhow, I got it done, but I want to give you some money for trying to help anyway (which I didn't). And then they try the same scam!
Sometimes it's fun to see the lengths they'll go to to try and take our money, huh?
Best,
Sandra
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Woodstock (X)
Germany
Local time: 21:38
German to English
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| Here are some links on how to handle these | Mar 15, 2006 |
Please take this very seriously. Innocent people have been murdered, or kidnapped for ransom, when they were naive (ok, maybe greedy) enough to meet up with some of these criminals. I firmly believe that the more these attempts are reported, the faster new people would be discouraged from even trying it or stopped before getting very far.
Here are some URLs about how to report this. It may help prevent a further crime if you do.
... See more Please take this very seriously. Innocent people have been murdered, or kidnapped for ransom, when they were naive (ok, maybe greedy) enough to meet up with some of these criminals. I firmly believe that the more these attempts are reported, the faster new people would be discouraged from even trying it or stopped before getting very far.
Here are some URLs about how to report this. It may help prevent a further crime if you do.
http://www.fraudaid.com/ScamSpeak/Nigerian/I'veReceivedaNigerianLetter-WhatDo-I-Do.htm
http://home.rica.net/alphae/419coal/
http://www.potifos.com/fraud/
http://cybercrime.planetindia.net/nigerian_scam.htm
Spamcop is another good address. They try to find the ISP of the email sender and report them that way, so the account is shut down at the source.
Yes, I know. Every time I see a post about these scams now, I post the links. I don't want to get on anyone's nerves, but when I learned that in some cases there had been murders, I stopped thinking it was just a tired joke, and am trying to make sure everyone else knows that they can help stop potentially more serious crimes than fraud if they report these letters. ▲ Collapse
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Robert Forstag
United States
Local time: 15:38
Spanish to English
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| My own encounter with scamology | Mar 15, 2006 |
Many thanks to Sandra for the alert on the new "Nigerian twist". I usually get one or two such e-mails per week, always from someone claiming to be from an African country. I immediately delete them.
For a period of six weeks or so earlier this year, I seemed to have been targeted by a more "translator specific" scam. I received mail from a "Peter Reed" beginning in January. "Mr. Reed" indicated that he wanted interpreting services for his two daughters who would be visiting the Cle... See more Many thanks to Sandra for the alert on the new "Nigerian twist". I usually get one or two such e-mails per week, always from someone claiming to be from an African country. I immediately delete them.
For a period of six weeks or so earlier this year, I seemed to have been targeted by a more "translator specific" scam. I received mail from a "Peter Reed" beginning in January. "Mr. Reed" indicated that he wanted interpreting services for his two daughters who would be visiting the Cleveland area on such and such date (which was subsequently changed several times) and he was willing to pay very good money, even in the face of my limited availability.
"Mr. Reed" ended up saying he would be willing to pay $800 or so for just two partial days of escort interpretation. But then: He wrote me suddently that his "sponsoring agent" had made a mistake and had already sent a check for several thousand dollars to me. "Reed" sternly reminded me in an e-mail that "trust is the basis of all business relationships" and asked me to take good care of all of the money that was supposedly on its way to me.
In the meantime, his "sponsoring agent" "Martin Luthers" was also sending a series of e-mails to me, apparently referencing the same request for service.
One characteristic of these e-mails was that they were written in ALL CAPS, and that, grammatically and stylistically, were very poorly written. Both writers claimed to be associated with a Christian organization and signed each of their letters "REMAIN BLESSED" (I suppose that the idea here was to weaken their targets' natural defensiveness).
Anyway, when I received the letter from "Mr. Reed" indicating that thousands of dollars was headed my way, I immediately replied telling him not to send any money, since I would not be available to provide him any service. I told him that, if he had sent me a check, he needed to provide me an address so that I could send it back to him.
I then sent a similar message to "Martin Luthers". In both messages, I wrote in conclusion: "I do not participate in scams, either as an accessory or as a victim."
I never heard from either of them again.
But a couple of weeks after this was all over, I received a letter from a "Sarah Williams" also claiming to be associated with a Christian organization and signing her ALL CAPS letter "REMAIN BLESSED", inquiring re interpretation services several weeks hence for family members who would be visiting the Cleveland area.
From what I have read about such scams, one of two denouements would have been possible, had I carried on:
1.) They would have assured me repeatedly that the check for thousands of dollars was really on its way, but that they wanted me to send them a bank draft for X hundreds of dollars NOW because they were suffering short-term cash flow problems.
2.) They would have actually sent a check, but insisted with veiled or specific threats that I send a bank draft for some lesser amount of money to them *immediately upon receipt* and then the check that I had received would soon prove to have been no good.
So, there you have it. Translators beware.
[Edited at 2006-03-15 22:40] ▲ Collapse
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sarahl (X)
Local time: 12:38
English to French
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I read $800,000.00 here. Who would want to go through "the stress of investing" for a measly $800?
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| language tutor emails | Mar 16, 2006 |
I must be extremely lucky! Not only am I getting the Nigerian ones but also had the privilage of deleting few "interpreter needed" ones.
My specialty are emails asking for a Czech language tutor "for my son/daughter who will be in your area and will require several hours weekly. He will be coming to your house for private lessons for at least 6 months. We had a teacher, were very satisfied with him but his wife had died and he was forced to leave his positionas a tutor. Please inform us o... See more I must be extremely lucky! Not only am I getting the Nigerian ones but also had the privilage of deleting few "interpreter needed" ones.
My specialty are emails asking for a Czech language tutor "for my son/daughter who will be in your area and will require several hours weekly. He will be coming to your house for private lessons for at least 6 months. We had a teacher, were very satisfied with him but his wife had died and he was forced to leave his positionas a tutor. Please inform us of your price and other monies you need us to pay you for your services. Send your address and phone number and hours when you will be availbale to teach my son. Looking forward to hear from you ASAP....."
The names always look "real", but there is never any location mentioned, spelling is usually poor and they are always in English. Been receiving up to 5 a month and "wondering" why would somebody want to send his child to the US to learn Czech
Martina ▲ Collapse
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mediamatrix (X)
Local time: 15:38
Spanish to English
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| Fraudster caught in Nigeria - sentenced to 342 years in jail | Aug 7, 2006 |
Followers of the Nigerian scam scene might be interested in this:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/5245742.stm
But don't get complacent! Keep sending those dodgy e-mails straight to 'Trash' without passing 'Go'.
MediaMatrix
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