E-Mail Scams Trapping Gullible Victims

What’s the easiest way to steal consumers’ personal data for identity theft? Just ask them for it. (Who falls for e-mail scams? By Bob Sullivan, MSNBC.com, November 4, 2005)


I started getting an endless series of e-mails from unknown and unfamiliar sources in 1990s. Earliest e-mails emanated from Nigieria in which the writers wrote about their funds amounting to millions of dollars which were trapped in Nigeria; they couldn’t move the money out because they didn’t have any overseas account. It was an unlikely story but there it was. I was familiar with the problems of transferring money out of Nigeria because I had worked there. Even to transfer your savings from your monthly income was very difficult due to lengthy paperwork that in many cases was bound to fail because it needed clearance from so many (and sometimes unrelated) sources.

In the beginning I thought such e-mails were genuine although quite exaggerated but by and by I began to get wiser. Why were all these people writing to me whom they didn’t really know although they pretended they did? I started deleting these e-mails as soon as I received them, many a time not even opening any of them. Even if I could help them in their pretended projects, I didn’t want to do anything illegal. The bait that they invariably offered me was tempting but I had never fallen for such temptations all my life.

Then after several years I came across some woeful stories of the victims who were duped out of substantial amounts of money. I continued receiving these e-mails and I deleted them routinely. Now it was not only Nigeria from where these desperate people were sending their e-mails; I received several e-mails from European countries as well. I thought of writing about such scams many times but for some reasons I didn’t open this can of worms. Yesterday I received another e-mail and then thought of writing about such scams. I had not started writing yet (August 18, 2007) when another e-mail came in. I couldn’t figure out which country it came from although the writer (Jeff Albert) has provided his and his secretary’s e-mail addresses. He wrote about my “past efforts and attempts” to assist him although I don’t remember any of such things. He generously offered me $800,000.00 “which I (he) mapped out for your (my) compensation for all the past efforts and attempts to assist me (him) in this matter.” He advised me to contact his secretary who would mail the check to me. The scam would be completed if I contacted his secretary who would of course need my bank account, my Social Security number for identification, etc. He wrote that his business was in India.

The earlier e-mail this week (August 17, 2007) was by Miss Safia Ahmed Khamis who addressed me as “Dearest.” I have appended the body of her e-mail at the end of this article as a sample of the phisher e-mails that I have been receiving. The opening paragraph of this e-mail is as follows:

“My name is Safia Ahmed Khamis. I am 27 years old Girl and a nationality of Algerian in North Africa but I live in Iraq. I have been in this country for more than 13 years and throughout all this years, I was serving Mr. Zarife Qusayy. My work is to take care of the residence of Mr. Zarife Qysayy. My Master Zarife Qusayy loved me so much to the extent he revealed many of his secret to me. Mr. Zarife Qusayy my Master had occupied several important posts in Iraq and outside Iraq. He was in 1993 to 1999 ambassador of Iraq in New York. He was a member influencing in the mediation of the relations between the United States of America and Iraq in the year 1980.”

Although composition of the e-mail is rather poor, it seems to be a plausible story to entice the gullible people who want to make a fast buck, in her trap.

Some of the e-mails which I received recently were related to my winnings in lotteries which I hadn’t bought. Others simply said that I had won millions of dollars in some venture of which I was totally unaware.

According to “Is this Britain’s most gullible town,” (http:www.metro.co.uk/money/article.html?in_aricle_id=32222&in_page_id=36), some types of fraud which one should look out for are as follows:

“Phishing: The use of emails which guide unsuspecting users to fake banking websites to steal their login details.
Long firm fraud: Setting up companies to trade legitimately then disappear from one last, big deal.
Lotteries scam: Using lottery – and then charging them thousands in taxes and fees.

Boiler rooms: Cold-calling people to talk them into buying worthless shares at inflated prices.”

Many unsuspecting people in the U.S. and Europe have been defrauded of their hard earned money by phishing scams. Beware of such scams because it is better to be safe than sorry.

Before starting to type this article on my computer, I opened up my e-mail account and saw another phishing e-mail. I am reproducing the body of this e-mail also in the Appendix below. This is regarding bill and exchange at the Bank of Africa. Thus in a space of two days, I received three phishing e-mails.


APPENDIX

Dearest,
My name is Safia Ahmed Khamis, I am 27years old Girl and a nationality of Algerian in North Africa but I live in Iraq. I have been in this country Iraq for more than 13 years and throughout all this years, I was serving Mr. Zarife Qusayy. My work is to take care of the residence of Mr. Zarife Qusayy. My Master Mr. Zarife Qusayy loved me so much to the extent he revealed many of his secret to me. Mr. Zarife Qusayy my Master had occupied several important posts in Iraq and outside Iraq. He was in 1993 to 1999 ambassador of Iraq in New York, He was a member influencing in the mediation of the relations between the United States of America and Iraq in the year 1980.
He died as a result of cancer sickness on Friday July 5, 2006 in New York. Before my Master died, he deposited the sum of USD5,500.000.00 (Five Million Five Hundred Thousand United States dollars) with my name in one of the International Security and Finance Company here in Iraq. The money was sealed in a Trunk Box and deposited with the security Company to avoid the Government of Iraq and the Security Company knowing about the money, and before the War stated here in Iraq, the Security Company shipped all the items in their Security Custody to another Security Company in Abidjan-Cote Ivoire for Security and safe keeping.
Now the USD5,500.000.00 (Five Million Five Hundred Thousand United States dollars) sealed in a Trunk Box is with the Security Company in Abidjan-Cote d’Ivoire and my purposed of writing you is for you to help me Claim the Trunk Box containing the money because I am no longer feeling comfortable here in Iraq.
Since the death of my Master, things has not been as when my Master was alive. The family of my Master has been treating me like a Slave of which my life is now in Danger. I thank God so much that the Trunk Box was registered on my name and the Document for the Deposit is intact with me. I also thank God that the Family members of my Master did not know about the money, which means that the money belongs to me now. I have contacted the Security Company in Abidjan-Cote d’Ivoire and confirmed that the Trunk Box is intact with them.
However, I am honourably seeking for your assistance to help stand as my partner for easy and immediate Claiming of the sealed Trunk Box from the Security and Finance Company in Abidjan-Cote d’Ivoire because I am not allowed here to go out. Every of my movement is being monitored now by the family members of my Master. Once you help me Claim the Trunk Box,I will give you the Secret Code number to enable you open the Box and deep your hand inside the Trunk Box and take 20% of the total money as your share and also send me some amount so that I can run away to meet you in your country for the investments of the money in any profitable business you will advise for the benefit of you and me.

Thanks as I await your positive and immediate response.
Miss Safia Ahmed Khamis.


Dear Friend,

I am the manager of bill and exchange at the foreign remittance
Department of BANK OF AFRICA (B.O.A) here in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. In my department we discovered an abandoned sum of US$10.5m dollars (TEN.FIVE Million US dollars) in an account that belongs to one of our foreign customer who died along with his entire family in Jully 2000 in a plane crash.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/859479.stm
Since we got information about his death, we have been expecting his next of kin to come over and claim his money because we cannot release it unless some body applies for it as next of kin or relation to the deceased as indicated in our banking guidlings and laws but unfortunately we learnt that all his supposed next of kin or relation died alongside with him at the plane crash leaving nobody behind for the claim. It is therefore upon this discovery that I now decided to make this business proposal to you and release the money to you as the next of kin or relation to the deceased for safety and subsequent disbursement since nobody is coming for it.
Upon receipt to your willingness and kindid co-operation to assist with the dislodgement of the said funds, i will furnish you with much kindliness on how to proceed.
For more explanation kindly get in touch with me

Yours Faithfully,
Anthony Aliu