New email scam?

[CJFusco]

Just found this in my mailbox,

"APPROPRIATE MAIL:FUSCO
FROM: MR.MOHAMMED ABAMA
TELEPHONE:234-1-4737357

I AM BARRISTER. MOHAMMED ABAMA, A SOLICITOR AT LAW. I AM THE PERSONAL ATTORNEY TO ENGR, FUSCO,A NATIONAL OF YOUR COUNTRY, WHO USED TO WORK WITH SHELL-DEVELOPMENT COMPANY IN NIGERIA.

HEREIN AFTER SHALL BE REFERRED TO AS MY CLIENT.
ON APRIL 2003,MY CLIENT, HIS WIFE AND THREE CHILDREN WERE INVOLVED IN A PLANECRASH OF ETHIOPIAN AIRLINE IN COTE D IVOIRE.

ALL ON BOARD THE AIRCRAFT DIED. SINCE THEN I HAVE MADE SEVERAL ENQUIRIES TO YOUR EMBASSY TO LOCATE ANY OF MY CLIENTS EXTENDED RELATIVES THIS HAS ALSO PROVED UNSUCCESSFUL.I AM CONTACTING YOU TO ASSIST IN REPATRIATING THE MONEY AND PROPERTY LEFT BEHIND BY MY CLIENT BEFORE THEY GET CONFISCATED OR DECLARED UNSERVICEABLE TO THE BANK WHERE THIS HUGE DEPOSIT WERE LODGED.

PARTICULARLY, THE FINANCE COMPANY WHERE THE DECEASED HAD AN ACCOUNT VALUED AT (USD12.7 MILLION DOLLARS) HAS ISSUED ME A NOTICE TO PROVIDE THE NEXT OF KIN OR HAVE THE ACCOUNT CONFISCATED WITHIN THE NEXT FOURTEEN OFFICIAL WORKING DAYS. SINCE I HAVE BEEN UNSUCCESSFULIN LOCATING THE RELATIVES FOR OVER 3 YEARS NOW I SEEK YOUR CONSENT TO PRESENT YOU AS THE NEXT OF KIN OF THE DECEASED, SINCE YOU HAVE THE SAME LAST NAME.

SO THAT THE PROCEEDS OF THIS ACCOUNT VALUED AT (USD12.7 MILLIONDOLLARS) CAN BE PAID TO YOU AND THEN YOU AND I CAN SHARE THE MONEY. 65% TO ME AND 30%TO YOU,AND 5% FOR ANY EXPENSE THAT MAY INCURE IN THE PROCESS OF THIS TRANSACTION. I HAVE ALL NECESSARY LEGAL DOCUMENTS THAT CAN BE USED TO BACK UP OUR CLAIMS.

ALL I REQUIRE IS YOUR HONEST COOPERATION TO ENABLE US SEEING THIS DEAL THROUGH.I GUARANTEE THAT THIS WILL BE EXECUTED UNDER A LEGITIMATE ARRANGEMENT THAT WILL PROTECT YOU FROM ANY BREACH OF THE LAW.PLEASE GET IN TOUCH WITH ME BY MY EMAIL AND SEND TO ME YOUR TELEPHONE AND FAX NUMBERS TO ENABLE US DISCUSS FURTHER ABOUT THIS TRANSACTION.

LOOKING FORWARD TO YOUR PROMPT RESPONSE.

ALTERNATIVE EMAIL:sunny_aba@hotmail.com

YOURS SINCERELY,


BARRISTER.MOHAMMED ABAMA"

Hmmm I would think that if they were to notify "next of kin" they would attempt to contact either my two living grandmothers, or either of my parents, first.

[legion]

Just another variation of the old Nigerian scam...

[dtw]

Got one just like it senior year of college... '96

[raj911]

someone else on this board had posted this link ......

http://www.419eater.com/

it is a pretty funny read .......

[cashflyer]

I havn't received any of these in about 3 years, but this arrived today. This one must be legit, though... it's from a Barrister.



Abbas Chambers,
plot 27 surulere
Lagos, Nigeria.
Tel : +234-805-823-3576
Email : tonyabbas@posta.ge

Dear Friend,

Compliments of the day, I hope that this letter will not constitute a sort
of embarrasement to you. Please bear with me let me introduce myself. I am
Barrister Tony Abbas, the attorney to Late Engr Alex, a National of your
country, who owned a metal producing factory (Metalco Enterprise) in Nigeria
and a personal friend died and left behind his deposit in a finance house
(GLOBAL SECURITIES & FINANCE COMPANY) valued at $14.5Millon (Fourteen
Million Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars Only).

My relationship with Engr.Alex started in 1999 when I was working
with the security company as a Legal Adviser, Marina branch. We met in my
social club's annual end of the year party and I introduced him to the said
security company where he deposit most of his treasures some few weeks
later,making me the Legal officer to the account which he operated until his
unfortunate demise.On the 31st of March 2001, Engr.Alex, his wife and their
two children were involved in a car accident. All occupants of the vehicle
unfortunately lost their lives.
After the incident i contacted Engr.Alex sister (Ms Martha Stevens)
which was his beneficiary/next of kin but unfortunately before she
could claim his estate she too died in September 11, 2001 terrorist
attack at the world trade center in the United State Of America. See
http://edition.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/memorial/lists/by-name/page95.html

Since then I have made several enquiries to locate any of Engr.Alex
extended relatives this has also proved unsuccessful. After these
several unsuccessful attempts, I decided to track his last name over
the Internet, to locate any member of his family or anyone related to him
hence I contacted you . Since I have been unsuccessful in locating the
relatives for over 2 years now I seek your consent to present you as the
next of kin to the deceased so that the proceeds of this account valued at
US$14.500,000 (Fourteen Million Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars
Only) can be paid to you and then you and I can sharethe money.70% to me and
30% to you.The request of a foreigner as next of kin in this business is
occasioned by the fact that My client was a foreigner and a Nigerian cannot
stand as a next of kin to a foreigner.

I am ready to re-negotiate the mode of sharing with you.Thereafter I will
visit your country for the disbursement/investing of my share according to
the percentages we agreed upon.If you find this proposal suitable for you do
get back to me with the following informations Your full Name and Contact
Address,Your private telephone Number Your Age Your Occupation and Position.

All I require is your honest cooperation to enable us see this deal
through.I guarantee that this will be executed under a legitimate
arrangement that will protect you from any breach of the law. Please for the
sake of confidentiality send your reply to my private email :
tonyabbas@posta.ge or call +234-805-823-3576.

Hoping to receive a positive response from you.

Best regards,

Barrister Tony Abbas.

[Groesbeck Hurricane]

I led one of these guys on for about three months a few years ago. We talked about my imaginary family and how I was disowned years ago and that this money would be just reward to getting them back for that action. Lovely since the e-mail address they sent the message to was an imaginary name. Might as well create an imaginary family. Finally had to come "clean" and request he send all the documents to me to sign via US Postal Service. Never heard from them again... Miss my imaginary friend...

[cashflyer]

Money is gone and town's trust nearly spent
Residents fear fallout from Nigerian scam

January 31, 2007

BY JIM SCHAEFER and TINA LAM

FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS

HARRISVILLE, Mich. -- Way up high on Michigan's index finger, in a sparsely populated place with lazy streets and a cluster of buildings on Lake Huron, the county treasurer can also be the referee of your kid's basketball games, the guy in the next booth at the diner, the man who does your tax returns.

Thomas Katona, 56, was all those things as he oversaw Alcona County finances for more than a decade. But now Katona is a prisoner in the local jail, accused of violating one of rural northeastern Michigan's most hallowed tenets:

Trust thy neighbor.

Police and prosecutors say Katona lost at least $186,500 in county funds last year to one of the notorious Nigerian investment frauds, the kind of seemingly transparent schemes that people delete from their e-mail boxes every day. The damage, authorities say, may be much worse. An ongoing audit so far concluded more than $1.2 million in county money is missing. Police say Katona also lost $72,500 from his personal bank account.

As Katona awaits a Feb. 28 preliminary hearing on 10 counts of embezzlement and forgery, residents in Harrisville, the 500-resident county seat, are dismayed by the unfolding drama and fearful over what the loss means to a county with an annual operating budget of about $4 million.

The sheriff, whose department eats up about half the budget each year, said he worries he'll have to cut patrols. Government workers fret over their pensions. There is anger that officials were unable to spot the fraud earlier, and there is confusion over how someone with an accountant's smarts could have fallen for such a scheme.

"Here we have a gentleman that not only has been the treasurer for 13 years ... but he's got an extensive financial background," said State Police Sgt. Steve Harshberger, who investigated the case. "And he still allowed himself to knowingly get involved in this."

Shock and worry

At the Flour Garden Restaurant, the central meeting place in Harrisville, rumors about Katona swirled for two months, right after authorities closed his office and the County Commission fired him. That was in November, after Katona returned from a mysterious trip to England, where he told friends he had gone to "pick up checks."

By then, State Police said, Katona had wired nearly $187,000 in county funds to banks based in Taiwan, London and New York. All but one of the transfers went into accounts linked to a well-known Nigerian scam.

"It shell-shocked a lot of people," said Brenda Renner, 47, a waitress at the restaurant and bakery.

Stanley Gill, 71, said he and his friends, who meet every morning for coffee at the Flour Garden, are all "wondering how things can go so far without being noticed, wondering if our board of commissioners is asleep at the switch or what."

Owner Manny Pompa, who retired as a Detroit cop and opened the Flour Garden in 1999, said his customers are expecting more bad news.

"A lot of people are upset because they don't know if their taxes are going to go up because of the shortfall," Pompa said.

Alcona County is a summer place, where visitors to Lake Huron during warmer months push its sleepy year-round population from 11,000 to upwards of 70,000. A third of the county is private hunting land or government forest, and the majority of the people are retirees.

Katona's father, now deceased, was president of the local school board and a cattle farmer. The family's land anchors the south-central area of the county, near Sprinkler Lake. Katona's younger brother still lives there, running the farm while helping care for their elderly mother.

People in Harrisville, about 20 miles from the Katona farm, say the family is well-respected. Thomas Katona raised two girls, played adult-league baseball and also coached boys track. He is divorced.

He was elected treasurer in 1993. It's a full-time post and most recently, Katona made about $37,000 a year. Friends and acquaintances said he turned to tax-return work and accounting on the side.

That got him into trouble in 1998, when he pleaded guilty to two felonies, according to court records in Harrisville. He was charged with mishandling incorporation papers for area businesses. His sentence was delayed for a year, and records show a judge dismissed both felony convictions in 1999.

Around town, people overlooked the blemish, re-electing him twice. Kevin Boyat, the county commission chair, conceded Tuesday that he always thought Katona's crime was just a misdemeanor.

Warnings ignored

Last summer, according to friends, Katona began telling people he had found an excellent investment opportunity overseas. He said he dreamed of retiring and traveling to see his daughters, who now live in Texas and Georgia. Finally, he told friends then, his "train had come in."

"I told him it was too good to be true," said one of the friends, who requested anonymity for fear of being ostracized.

It wasn't Katona's only warning. Repeatedly, as he was sending tens of thousands of dollars to the Central Bank of Nigeria, the bank that handled his personal account warned him they suspected he was caught up in a Nigerian scam, police documents show.

Katona ignored all the warnings. Police said their initial investigation showed he sent money first from his personal account in June, then from county accounts in August and September. In November, employees of a different bank notified Alcona commissioners they suspected fraud, and commissioners asked State Police to investigate. Authorities closed his office during his trip to London.

Boyat said the commission, which only recently learned it had the authority to fire the treasurer, did just that when Katona returned home. The county now requires two signatures on investment funds.

People often duped

People fall for such schemes because they want to think something good has finally happened to them, said a Detroit agent for the Secret Service who has investigated such scams.

Police records show Katona received an $81,600 check in June from a company called Global Asset Management, most of which he then wired overseas.

In so-called Nigerian frauds, the victim receives an unsolicited e-mail saying a relative of a corrupt official needs help to transfer millions of dollars out of the country and, in exchange, the helper will get a chunk of the cash. Next come requests for funds to bribe officials, pay customs or attorney fees, or to buy chemicals to wash currency that has been blackened to disguise it.

State officials and local leaders in Alcona County declined to discuss exactly what kind of scam seduced Katona.

They also said the losses attributed to him could be higher. The financial audits are expected to be finished in March.

Sheriff Doug Ellinger said he already has cut his budget by 20% this year, and that was when the county thought the losses were much smaller. "Overtime is one of the areas where we took a major cut," he said. "It makes me fearful."

Boyat said it is unclear how long it might take to recover, because the money Katona allegedly lost came from $7 million in investment funds, not the general operating fund.

"We live in a small community," he said Tuesday. "You trust people. And I guess maybe you shouldn't."

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070131/NEWS06/701310377

[masraum]

Originally posted by cashflyer
Money is gone and town's trust nearly spent
Residents fear fallout from Nigerian scam

January 31, 2007

BY JIM SCHAEFER and TINA LAM

FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS

HARRISVILLE, Mich. -- Way up high on Michigan's index finger, in a sparsely populated place with lazy streets and a cluster of buildings on Lake Huron, the county treasurer can also be the referee of your kid's basketball games, the guy in the next booth at the diner, the man who does your tax returns.

lots of stuff snipped

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070131/NEWS06/701310377

Amazing, isn't it. I'd say this appears to have been a case of rampant avarice.

[azasadny]

None of these scams are "new", they've all been around and I'm constantly amazed that there is anyone who hasn't seen them before...