I'm gonna be rich!

[TreeDoc]

Can you believe how nice this guy was to think of little ol' me when he has all this money coming to him? I'm gonna send him all of my credit card numbers, bank account info, and anything else he needs from me so I can help him out and then he's GHANA make me rich!

Here's the nice letter he sent asking for my help....

FROM:MR MICHAEL EZRA.
THE MANAGER INTERNATIONAL
COMMERCIAL BANK GHANA
FIRST LIGHT BRANCH
ACCRA, GHANA.

ATTN:

I GOT YOUR CONTACT DURING MY SEARCH FOR A RELIABLE,HONEST AND A TRUST WORTH PERSON TO ENTRUST THIS HUGE TRANSFER PROJECT WITH.

MY NAME IS MR MICHAEL EZRA. I AM THE MANAGER OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL BANK GHANA, FIRST LIGHT BRANCH. I AM A GHANAIAN MARRIED WITH TWO KIDS.

I AM WRITING TO SOLICIT YOUR ASSISTANCE IN THE TRANSFER OF US$3,700.000.00. THIS FUND IS THE EXCESS OF WHAT MY BRANCH IN WHICH IAM THE MANAGER MADE AS PROFIT DURING THE LAST YEAR. I HAVE ALREADY SUBMITTED AN APPROVED END OF THE YEAR REPORT FOR THE YEAR 2004 TO MY HEAD OFFICE HERE IN ACCRA AND THEY WILL NEVER KNOW OF THIS EXCESS. I HAVE SINCE THEN, PLACED THIS AMOUNT OF US$3,700.000.00 ON A SUSPENCE ACCOUNT WITHOUT A BENEFICIARY.

AS AN OFFICER OF THE BANK, I CANNOT BE DIRECTLY CONNECTED TO THIS MONEY THUS I AM IMPELLED TO REQUES T FOR YOUR ASSISTANCE TO RECEIVE THIS MONEY INTO YOUR BANK ACCOUNT. I INTEND TO PART 30% OF THIS FUND TO YOU WHILE 70% SHALL BE FOR ME. I DO NEED TO STRESS THAT THERE ARE PRACTICALLY NO RISK INVOLVED IN THIS. IT'S GOING TO BE A BANK-TO-BANK TRANSFER. ALL I NEED FROM YOU IS TO STAND AS THE ORIGINAL DEPOSITOR OF THIS FUND.

WITH REGARDS,

MR MICHAEL EZRA.

Given that I do all my banking business in frikkin' GHANA, how can I lose? Anyone wanna go halfsies with me on this?

[GoodOlBoy]

WOW! His brother sent me that same offer last week! TD we will soon be rolling in the dough!

GoodOlBoy

[Skinny Shooter]

I'm opening up an empty bank account right now...

[fabsroman]

What amazes me is that people fall for that crap.

My brother received an e-mail last week that was a little bit more reasonable, but still unreasonable. A guy in Britain was selling a 2004 Suzuki GSXR 1000 for $3,000, but that bike new sells for around $12,000. His reason for the price being so low was because his wife was making him get rid of it. The person in the US only had to pay $3,000 plus shipping to the US. My brother e-mailed me and wanted to know what I thought. Simple response is if it is too good to be true, it is either a fraud or stolen merchandise, both of which can get you in trouble, with one landing you in jail.

Why is it that no other person in England wants this motorcycle for $3,000? Why would anybody in their right mind be selling something worth around $10,000 for only $3,000. I just cannot believe people fall for this stuff, but people buy lottery tickets all the time too.

[TreeDoc]

Fabs, tell him to have a looksy on ebaY. On average ebaY is on the up and up but when it comes to Motorcycles and ATV's it's a paradise for fraud. They almost always eminate from the UK for some reason but I have seen others that are blatant fraud from other countries like Denmark, that's another common one.

I may have relayed this story before but a member from an ATV Forum sent me an email asking when I had shipped my ATV to the UK to sell it. He then provided me with a link to an ebaY auction. Some crook had copied all the pictures I had posted in my Gallery of this forum and put my ATV up for sale for a "Buy It Now" price of $2000 USD. I had just paid over $6 grand for it without all the extras I had outfitted. The pictures even included a couple with my wife on it! These guys always seem to offer free 4 Day Air service via FedEx too.

I was "almost" involved in one but I vowed that I would only participate in an auction for an ATV if I could drive to see and touch the merchandise, prove it had clear title, and hand the seller the cash. I had one lined up down in Southern California, 4 hours south of me where I have lots of Family still. I had many good communications with the seller prior to bidding and I was going to bid this thing to win it. All was good till right before the end of the auction when my last communication with the guy was about me winning the auction and then driving down there to review the documentation, check the machine, and give him cash. He never replied in the last few minutes and the auction was bidding at about $3300 for a nearly new Polaris Scrambler 400, a 4x4 Sport Quad for the dunes by my house. I watched the auction until it was down to the last 30 seconds and I entered my proxy of $4500. I was positive I had it nailed only to see a screen come up saying "Auction ended early...winning bidder is XYZ Person". It "supposedly" sold for $3325! I emailed the guy fuming pissed and asked him what was going on and he replied immediately that he didn't feel he could trust me so he let it go to the another bidder who had never bought anything on ebaY before and had zero feedback and hadn't even submitted a prior bid on this item. He left about $1700 dollars on the table! It was obviously a Con that he was hoping to pull and I would have called his bluff had I won.

Amazing how people out there in the real world conduct themselves!

[buckhunter]

Usually these things involve a "wire transfer". Normally they will give you a routing/account information. Then they ask for yours. Then they drain your account. Be careful folks, this can really do you a lot of harm.

TD, want to share?

[fabsroman]

That is why the jails are full, law enforcement has their hands full, and everyday people are left not trusting anybody. Sad thing is that a minority of people are flagrant law breakers. Obviously, some of break the speed limit by a little bit each day, but we aren't trying to scam people.

My ex-girlfriend's niece's boyfriend was selling PS2's on E-bay several years ago when they are really hot. He was selling them for $300 a piece and having the checks mailed to a PO Box. However, he wasn't shipping any PS2's because he didn't have any (i.e., it was scam). Needless to say, law enforcement got him one day while he was checking the PO Box. What an idiot. I am surprised that E-bay doesn't have really strict guidelines for selling stuff on it. I am also surprised that they do not require people to post a bond if they sell a lot of pricey stuff or just happen to be selling one single item that is really pricey. Along with all the good the internt provides, it is a haven for fraud and other criminal activity.

[Andy L]

TD,
I am starting a new company. Im gearing it toward protecting people that get into situations like yours. Just email me your bank account numbers (checking and savings), and your credit card numbers, along with the expiration dates. I will see to it that you have no money, I mean, nothing to worry about from now on.

Thanks for your trust.

Andy

[Rocky Raab]

Now, now, Andy, it's wrong to just keep all their money and not give them something for it.

Lemme think...hey, I got it! In return for all their cash and credit, why not give them a brand new mortgage?

Sounds fair, huh?

[Skinny Shooter]

In Andy We Trust

[muledeer]

I get these all the time. I usually delete them. The ones I respond to I tell them my name is Tim F., give them Tim's address and well I guess that's how you got this one
muledeer

[TreeDoc]

mule...you forgot my bank account number...

02-726340-01

...and the routing number...

133331697

[muledeer]

Thanks!!
muledeer

[fabsroman]

Here is another good one that smells terrible:

Protect Yourself Against Fraud

At the Bank of the West, we take protecting your financial information seriously. We recognize and respect your right to privacy when it comes to your personal financial information. Please attend to our request to our active consumers to protect them of online fraud and frequent rising scam attacks against our financial institution.

Actually, we are performing security improvements of our banking community and enforce customers to register their sensitive information for an additionally created free security service to prevent any fraudulent activity against their assets and savings. We, hereby ask you to respond within few hours of current notification and complete security application form via our SSL protected website to apply for this service absolutely for free, otherwise your account(s) may not process posted transactions correctly and on time.

Please visit us to apply : http://www.bankofthewest.c0m/ssl_chiper?affiliate

- in case you are not enrolled for Internet Banking use your Social Security Number both as User ID and Password.


Copyright 2005 Bank of the West. Member FDIC. Equal Housing Lender

[Aim to maim]

The fact that many of these things are written in Nigerian Pidgin English should be a dead giveaway to anyone who reads them. The example given by fabs above is a classic one.