You've been named as a beneficiary and now stand to receive lots of money (NOT)

This is a slight variation on the above scam. You're not being asked to stand in as the beneficiary. Instead, the scammer would have you believe that you've been named as beneficiary by someone you've never met or even heard of (note the incorrect english in the scam come-on). Yes, indeed! Buckets of money falling from the sky. I particularly liked the 95 cents in the amount that the mark is supposed to receive. Of course, as with all of these scams, a few fees have to be paid first before you become "rich".

From: GEORGE HYCENT
Reply-To: georgehycent@ozu.es
Subject: Beneficiary
Date: Mon, 13 Feb 2006 12:37:35 +0100

Dear Beneficiary,

It is with great delight that I write you. On January 31st in the year 2000, tragedy struck and if you can recollect fully, the tragic incident was the fatal air mishap of Alaska airlines flight 261 from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico enroute sanfrancisco and Seattle. Eighty-eight people were onboard that flight, eighty-three passengers and five crew members, none of them made it alive. You can look it up at Alaska airlines archives with google.com.

Onboard that ill fated flight was a worthy and highly respected customer with LACIAXA BANK Spain in the name of Morris Thompson. He was onboard that flight in the company of his wife Thelma and his only child Sheryl Thompson. They had been in Mexico for vacation as at that time.

Let me add here that I had the rare privilege of meeting late Morris Thompson on two occasions and I can attest to the fact that he was a very fine gentleman, very simple, very humane and admired by all. He was one of the state of Alaska most wealthy businessmen and prominent native. Late Thompson had in a domiciliary account with LACIAXA BANK Spain a certain amount totalling eight million, nine hundred and seventy-five thousand, ninety-five cents ($8,975,000.95)

It would interest you to know that late Thompson had appended the name of Sheryl and yours as his next of kin and for whatever reasons late Thompson may have had to include your name as next of kin no one can question. Consequently, Sheryl Thompson demise now leaves you as the sole beneficiary and next of kin to the said funds in the account of Late Thompson. Frantic efforts has been made since then to locate you and the delay was actually to ascertain the authenticity of your name as the true next of kin to Morris Thompson and you must forgive us for contacting you this late.

Once again, accept my deepest apologies for the delay in reaching you. On receipt of your acknowledgement of this mail, you can reach me at your earliest convenience or at my alternative email, georgehycent@ozu.es I anticipate your quick response. Best regards,

George hycent
Real Estate: For Sale by Owner

I got a note from a gentleman in one of the Southern states who had listed his home for "sale by owner" on Yahoo. He got a note from a Nigerian buyer who claimed that he wanted to buy the house. Of course the money was tied up, but, with the help of the US seller, could be transferred to a US account. The Nigerian's english was not very good, so I did not fully understand his proposal, but he apperently wanted the US seller to sign a note that would be balanced by $2 million that would be transferred to the US. Then the accounts would be settled and the house purchased.

Complex cash transfers for any transaction are a red flag. The money involved is either non-existent (as is the case with these Nigerian scams), is from illegal sources, or the buyer is unreliable. In all these cases, you are better off staying away from such a transaction.

Foreign nationals usually have to purchase US property for cash, unless they have existing assets in the United States which can be used for collateral for a loan. Anyone who has real cash or assets for such a purchase will not need to engage in some complex transaction to do so. As I have stated repeatedly above, there is a whole international infrastructure available for financial transfers, both legal and illegal. Anyone who has real cash does not need the help of someone not involved in this business.
Pay us money or we'll kill you!

According to an article in the British Internet publication The Register, there is a new Nigerian scam that claims to be from a group of assassins for hire (with offices in 102 countries around the world). The SPAM email informs the recipient that they have been targeted for termination by someone they offended "a long time ago". Only by immediately paying $40,000 will the recipient avoid being killed by local minions of the multinational Assassins Inc.

One wag on Slashdot suggested responding with something like this:

    Dear Mr. Assassin:

    Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to save myself from immediate death by paying your company $40,000. I not only wish to save my life for myself, but also for my wife and children, who depend on me for support.

    I will immediately pay you the money you demand as soon as I can retrieve my assets from a security company in the Netherlands.

    For many years I worked with my brother as a mining engineer and businessman in Sierra Leone, where I had a diamond mining company. During the recent troubles my brother was killed and I was forced to flee Sierra Leone. Fortunately, before I left I managed to transfer $20,000,000 (twenty million dollars, US) in diamonds to a security company outside of Amsterdam, in the Netherlands.

    I was forced to flee Sierra Leone with little more than the cloths on my back and do not have the funds to pay the shipping and storage fee for the trunk containing the diamonds. If International Assassins Inc. will send me $3,800 for the shipping and storage fees, I will not only pay the $40,000, but %20 of the value of the diamonds (that's four million dollars, US).

    Please do not kill me before we have had an opportunity to work out all of the modalities for this transaction.

    Yours,
    Ursus Bearcave

Bank Scams are Frequently Inspired by Current Events

I'm still waiting for a Bank Scam based on the massive Enron corporate fraud. The Bank Scammers probably don't read the business press, so my satire (near the end of the web page) may be the only version in existence. Included below is a Bank Scam based on the US invasion and occupation of Iraq. As it turns out, the US military did, in fact, find millions of US dollars in shipping crates and false rooms. Billions of dollars in both Iraqi and US money have also gone missing. But the best path to these ill gotten gains is to be a Bush administration crony. The email below is included because it is a scam. This scam is constructed with some care. If the amount of money mentioned had been too big, a large shipping container would have been needed. $7 million would probably fit in a box the size of a luggage trunk. The scam is meant to appeal to both greed and sympathy for members of the US military who are serving in Iraq. Here's this guy whose risking his life, doing his duty to his country. Help him get his ill gotten gains out of Iraq.

This is a transparent scam. Not only is the story outlandish, but the english reads like it was written by someone who is not a native speaker. But just imagine for a moment if this scam was actually true. What would happen if you went to a bank and tried to deposit a suitcase full of $100 bills? The US Treasury Dept., the FBI and perhaps the DEA would be by to see you as soon as the bank made the phone calls they're required to make.

From: "Donald Greene"
Subject: URGENT!!!
Date: Tue, 24 Jan 2006 17:20:17 +0100
Reply-To: "Donald Greene"
X-Priority: 3 (Normal)
Organization: Donald Greene

FROM: Sgt. Donald Greene

To whom it may concern.
I am an American soldier, I am serving in the military of the 1st Armored Division in Iraq, as you know we are being attacked by insurgents everyday and car bombs.

We managed to move funds belonging to Saddam Hussein's family. The total amount is US$7.2 million dollars in cash, mostly 100 dollar bills. We want to move this money to you, so that you may invest it for us and keep our share for banking. We will take 60%, my partner and I. You take the other 40%. No strings attached, just help us move it out of Iraq, Iraq is a war zone. We plan on using diplomatic courier and shipping the money out in one large silver box, using diplomatic immunity. If you are interested I will send you the full details, my job is to find a good partner that we can trust and that will assist us. Can I trust you? When you receive this letter, kindly send me an e-mail signifying your interest including your most confidential telephone/fax numbers for quick communication also your contact details. This business is risk free. The box can be shipped out in 48hrs.
Respectfully,
Sgt. Donald Greene
Private Email: donald22greene@netscape.net