It’s been a while since I post an entry on scam awareness. Basically, what I’m trying to do is to highlight some of the popular scam which is going on. It’s sad but even with the on-going education of scam awareness, people still fall for it. Hopefully my little contribution here will tip the scale a bit.
I received this email recently. To save some space, I’m attaching the whole email at the comment section.
Generally, The person’s name is Larry and he is a director of a bank in Ghana. One of his client apparently died leaving $4.5 million with no heir to claim them.
Now, he’s asking whether I can present as the next kin to collect the money. If I agree I will be awarded with 30% of the wholel amount. That’s very gracious don’t you think?
/end email
Why it is confirmed a scam? (Please refer to the email in the comment section)
- There’s no explanation as to where he got my email. Even so, if you are about to do an illegal transaction involving millions of dollars, will you believe a complete stranger?
- There is one flaw. The client was said to die on the 21st of April 2001. That’s 7 years difference.
- The usage of a yahoo email is very suspicious looking.
- I’ve received about 2 or 3 emails very similar to this. A clear sign
How it scams?
It starts very convincingly that you bear no risk at all. But in time, I can guarantee you that the scammer will start asking you to deposit some money with the reason that his account is being monitored.
The amount may not be that much. Maybe a few hundred dollars. And you will be tempted since comparing that amount to the millions you will be receiving, that is nothing.
The scammer will then ask for more money to be used for other administration fee. This time it will be in thousands of dollars. He will even guarantee you your money back anytime you want.
Of course your money is already lost.
- I wonder -
Have you ever received emails alike?
Disclaimer – I am not by any chance associating Ghana with scam. It just so happen that the email I received stated the name.
Related Post
Scam email attached
From Mr Larry Abel Peters
International Commercial Bank Ltd.
Accra, Ghana
Auditing & Accounting Department
Reply To My private email larrypeters1930@yahoo.com
Dear Friend,
I wish this my proposal will not come to you as a surprise I am Mr Abel Peters,a Regional Director of ICB Bank Accra Ghana. (Economic community of West African Bank) with regional Office here in Accra Ghana. We had a foreign client,who used to work with Shell International Republic of Ghana,he deposited a huge amount of $4.5m(Four million five hundred thousand United States Dollars),with our Bank.
Eventually this client, died on the 21st of April 2001,our client, his wife and their children were involved in a car accident along Kara-Sokode expressway while arriving from a Holiday to Accra Ghana.
A situation I have monitored closely with my position in the Bank. Now, having monitored this deposit and managed it over the years before his death, and hence nobody has showed up as the next of kin for the past three years plus, I have removed the file to my private vault.
I seek your consent to present as the next of kin to the deceased, so that the proceeds of this account can be paid to you. I now solicit for your assistance to present you as the next of kin as every other arrangement has being concluded by me and I am only waiting for a foreigner to enable me move the fund to his designated foreign bank account in his country.
This does not have any risk attached to it as all the internal documentations will be handled by me. I therefore request you to confirm your interest by a return message and I will furnish you with details but do not forget to keep top secret. you will be entitled to 30% of the total sum as gratification, while 5% will be set aside to take care of expenses that may arise during the time of transfer and also telephone/fax bills, and 65% will be for me and my partner.
I look forward to hearing from you immediately you receive this message. and reply me on this my private email larrypeters1930@yahoo.com
Best Regards,
Mr Larry Abel Peters
N/B please reply me on my private email larrypeters1930@yahoo.com
Karut…just yesterday i receive this kind of email…dear friend…u have win bla bla bla bla…if u want ur price plz bla bla bla…u’ve won 2.3million…
ampeh ya ampun…terus i spam kan aje email itew…
Dalam hidup ni tarak duit bergolek dtg kat kita…rite…
aRa – masalahnya ada lagi org yg terpengaruh tu. clerk saya sendiri kena arii tu, yg sms akademi fantasia tu, dan yg paling mengecewakan, dia siap bagi pin number kad atm. tu dah kire basic scam tu.
adeh
William Attah
I have a new email address!
You can now email me at: william.attah723@yahoo.com
- Hello Dear, Pardon me for not having the pleasure of knowing your mindset before making you this offer and it is utterly confidential and genuine by virtue of its nature. I write to solicit your assistance in a funds transfer deal involving US$ 4.500, 000M.This fund has been stashed out of the excess profit made last year by my branch office. I have already submitted an approved end of the year report for the year 2007 to my head office here in Accra-Ghana and they will never know of this excess. I have since then, placed this amount on a Non-Investment Account without a beneficiary. Upon your response, I will configure your name on our database as holder of the Non-Investment Account. I will then guide you on how to apply to my head office for the Account closure/ bank-to-bank remittance of the funds to your designated bank account. If you concur with this proposal, I will give you further details on this proposal and I intend for you to retain 30% of the funds for your efforts while 70% shall be for me. Thank you for your understanding. Best Regards, Mr. William Attah,
Rolandi – Thanks for sharing
On the 1st of February 2010, I received an email from a “Barrister Bill Lenford” from Togo. I was told that he was the private attorney of a Mr D.Kramer. Mr Kramer was a major contractor for Shell Petrolium and also owned some businesses in Togo. Mr Kramer died in a car accident along with his wife and their only daughter on the Kara-sokode expressway on the 21st of October 2006,which just happens to be my birthday. All lost their lives. Mr Lenford had been searching for relatives for 4 years, unsuccessfully. Even searched through South Africa’s embassy. Mr Lenford asked for my permission to be named the next of kin,since I had the same surname as his deceased client and the bank gave him 21 working days to produce one,after which the money would be declared unservicable and would be taken by the board of directors because there is a lot of corruption in that country and then it would be history. I was assured that the whole process would be legal and that I would receive documentation that would protect me from any breach of the law. I was told I would inherit US$20,500,000.00. Mr Lenford even said “God bless you” to me over the phone.I almost fell for this story. Thank goodness I did some searching and came accross this site!
Lisinda – Thank you for sharing Lisinda. That’s the thing about scam. They will go all out to convince you that this is for real. Even I personally will not lend my closest friend a few thousand dollars, how can a complete stranger be willing to part with millions.
Hopefully your story here will be read by others who is approached the same way