[Cody Dawg]

Mr. George Maurice
88 Green Street,
London W1K 7AT
Fax: +44 870 121 9379
email: <[email protected]>

Dear Friend,

I am George Maurice, I work with a bank in the United Kingdom, and I am writing to intimate you on a profitable business and will appreciate if you can maintain absolute confidentiality as regards this proposal. I hereby seek your consent to present you to my bank as the next of kin to one of our late costumers (Mr. Peter Callenda), Who had deposited a huge sum of money with my branch, but had died over {4} years now without any heir to his money.

During the course of auditing my branch, I discovered a floating fund in an account opened in the name of a security company in 1994 and since 2001, nobody has operated on this account again. After going through some old files in our records, I discovered that the owner of the account died without a heir, hence the money has been floating and if I do not remit this money out quickly, it will be confiscated by the management as unclaimed fund, meanwhile the owner of this account was Mr. P. Callenda, a foreigner and an industrialist, he died since 21st January 2001. Certainly no other person knows of this account or anything concerning it. The account has no beneficiary and my investigation proves well of that, Mr. Peter Callenda until his death was the Managing Director, C.E.O. Diamond Saffari pty SA.

We would like to transfer these fund installmentally, and will start with Five million British Pounds Sterling (�5,000,000.00) upon successful transfer without any disappointment from your side, we shall re-apply for the transfer of the remaining Sixteen million five hundred thousand British Pounds Sterling [�16,500,000.00] into your account bringing the sum total to Twenty One Million Five Hundred Thousand British Pounds Sterling [�21,500.000.00].

Since the fund was deposited without a next of kin, it is only proper for me to take advantage of this golden opportunity as a once in a life time chance.

I am contacting you as a foreigner because this money can only be approved to a foreigner with a valid International Passport or Drivers license, because the former owner of the account Mr. Peter Callenda was a foreigner. I will like us to sign a trusteeship Agreement that will bind us together in this transaction. I will appreciate that upon successful conclusion of this deal, you will assure me of safe keeping of the funds pending my arrival in your country for sharing and disbursement of my own share of the fund. The fund will be shared as follows; 20% for your assistance, 75% will be for us, while 5% will be set aside to take care of all the expenses that may be incurred during the course of the transfers.

I am revealing all this to you with the belief that you will never let me down in this deal. I'LL like you to forward your telephone number in your response to this mail, as this will enable me to have verbal contact with you in a case of urgency. You can reply via fax: +44 870 121 9379 or to this email address <[email protected]> (confidential)

Thanks, as I look forward to your earliest response.
Best regards.

Mr. George Maurice

Pls. Get BacK ASAP !

I wish one of our British MacNNers living in London could post a picture of this address if it exists?

[Lateralus]

My favorite is the fake PayPal service e-mail with the link to 'update your account', which if you copy-paste the link into a web browser rather than clicking it you'll see its an IP address.

I made the mistake of clicking it once and my browser went ahead and loaded my password and user name for PayPal from a cookie, and I logged in. Wasn't until about a week later that I realized what I had done. Luckily, I changed my password before any damage to my account was done and all has been well since.

Lesson: Never click links in e-mails unless they're URLs.

[Cody Dawg]

Good suggestion.

I always look at the Source to see where it came from and never click on a link either.

I just forward them all to [email protected] or [email protected]

But, what I want to know is this: Do people actually fall for emails like this one posted? SERIOUSLY?

[Lateralus]

Originally posted by Cody Dawg:
But, what I want to know is this: Do people actually fall for emails like this one posted? SERIOUSLY?

If I had to guess the target demographic; Old people and internet newbs.

[Mafia]

i think they do. there used to be that whole website about people who had fallen for the 409 scam.

[MacmanX]

I've always had a soft spot for this scam because it preys on the greedy (well, the stupid greedy). The scam calls on the punter to engage in clearly illegal activity. Basically, the scam asks our green eyed rube to join in with a criminal on a scam! And, when the jig is up, poetic justice is served for our na�ve coconspirator.

There is a certain beauty there. Ok, to appreciate it you have to engage in a bit of schadenfreude, but it does smack of karmic justice.

Cheers!

[roberto blanco]

http://www.419eater.com/

[Daveecee]

You should have those 5,000,000 pounds transferred but not wire your share of the money... They'd deserve it.

[olePigeon]

They think we're stupid because the National Enquirer is the #1 selling "news" paper in the country. Hell, I think we're f*cking morons.

[Nivag]

well, they've go the right post (zip) code for the street clicky so it must be real....

Twenty One Million Five Hundred Thousand British Pounds Sterling - i'll be rich beyond my wildest dreams *cue evil laugh!!!

hangon, i've had some fairly wild dreams in the past, maybe not that rich

[olePigeon]

Originally posted by Nivag:
well, they've go the right post (zip) code for the street clicky so it must be real....

Twenty One Million Five Hundred Thousand British Pounds Sterling - i'll be rich beyond my wildest dreams *cue evil laugh!!!/i]

Can I have �750,000?

[storer]

Well they obviously think we are stupid, because they said:
"a heir"
instead of
"an heir"

[OwlBoy]

Originally posted by Lateralus:
internet newbs.

75% of users?

-Owl

[Nivag]

Originally posted by olePigeon:
Can I have �750,000?

of course you can!!! send us your bank details, mothers maiden name, D.O.B and first line of your address

[moonmonkey]

The postcode is the Embassy of Brazil.

UK postcodes can usually be narrowed down to to individual addresses very accurately.

[effgee]

Originally posted by Cody Dawg:
Do These People Think We're Stupid?

They not only think so - they know so. People (in general, not you or your family) are beyond stupid - and their state of mind (or lack thereof) only seems to worsen as their financial situation gets more and more desperate ...

- Tennessee
- Illinois
- Illinois
- Forida
- Brits in general

... and most likely any other state/country you search for on Google. Some of the victims even commit suicide after falling for this shit.

Yes, people are that stupid. And then some.

[Mastrap]

Contact Scotland Yard here. They do take action on 419 scams.

[sugar_coated]

Get rich quick!

[Cody Dawg]

Has anyone ever noticed that NO ONE gets rich "quick?"



I mean, even lottery winners are usually habitual lottery addictst that have spent $50,000 on lottery tickets. They go week after week after week and spend hours driving to a location that sells lottery tickets, filling out lottery numbers, waiting in line to give the ticket to the clerk and to pay for it, then waiting and watching and sweating to see if they win.

The only person who "gets rich quick" is someone born into wealth.

[ghporter]

To answer the original question, yes, they think we're that stupid, or at least they hope we are. And unfortunately there are tons of Internet users that are that gullible, who don't read the whole thing, or won't note the errors, and who think that the Internet is one vast gold mine just waiting for them to show up and become rich. Right after they get done watching Jerry Springer or Dr. Phil. (Did that come out out loud? Bad me!)

[Cody Dawg]

I wish I was in London because I'd go to that address and ask for that guy. I'd also take a picture and post it here.

[Mastrap]

You wouldn't get very far. The postcode points to the Brazilian Embassy in London, although the house number is wrong:

Embassy of Brazil in London
32 Green Street
London W1K 7AT
020 7399 9000

It's an address in Mayfair, just south of Oxford Street and east of Hyde Park. Not too shabby.





Edit: Wtf? Seems the mugus are starting an all out assault. Just got this in the mail. My heart bleeds.

INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL BANK, HIGH STREET BRANCH,
TAKORADI, GHANA.


DEAR SIR,
MY NAME is Clement Kufor, I AM THE REGIONAL MANAGER OF
INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL BANK
OF DAKAR BRANCH IN THE WESTERN REGION OF
TAKORADI. I GOT YOUR INFORMATION ON A RECENT BANK
CONFERENCE WITH OTHER WEST AFRICAN COUNTRIES HELD IN
LOME THE CAPITAL CITY OF TOGO IN WEST AFRICA. I WRITE
YOU THIS PROPOSAL IN GOOD FAITH, I AM 42 YEARS OLD
MARRIED WITH TWO KIDS. I AM A DEVOTED CHRISTIAN
AND A MAN OF PEACE.
I HAVE PACKAGED A FINANCIAL TRANSACTION THAT WILL
BENEFIT YOU AND I,AS THE REGIONAL MANAGER OF THE
INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL BANK IT IS MY DUTY TO SEND
IN A FINANCIAL
REPORT TO MY HEAD OFFICE IN THE CAPITAL CITY ACCRA AT
THE END OF EACH BUSINESS YEAR. ON THE COURSE OF THE
LAST YEAR 2004 BUSINESS REPORT, I DISCOVERED THAT MY
BRANCH IN WHICH I AM THE MANAGER MADE FIVE
MILLIONS, US
DOLLARS($5, MILLIONS DOLLARS WHICH MY HEAD
OFFICE ARE NOT AWARE OF AND WILL NEVER BE AWARE OF. I
HAVE PLACED THIS FUNDS ON WHAT WE CALL ESCROW CALL
ACCOUNT WITH NO BENRFICIARY. AS AN OFFICER OF THIS
BANK
I CANNOT BE DIRECTLY CONNECTED TO THIS MONEY, SO MY
AIM
OF CONTACTING YOU IS TO ASSIST ME RECEIVE THIS MONEY
IN
YOUR BANK ACCOUNT AND GET 20% OF THE TOTAL FUNDS AS
COMMISSION. THERE ARE PRACTICALLY NO RISK INVOLVED,
IT
WILL BE A BANK TO BANK TRANSFER, ALL I NEED FROM YOU
IS
TO STAND CLAIM AS THE ORIGINAL DEPOSITOR OF THIS
FUNDS
WHO MADE THE DEPOSIT WITH MY BRANCH SO THAT MY HEAD
OFFICE CAN ORDER THE TRANSFER
TO YOUR DESIGNATED BANK ACCOUNT.
IF YOU ACCEPT TO WORK WITH ME I WILL APPRECIATE IT
VERY
MUCH. YOU CAN REACH ME ON MY EMAIL AS APPEARED ON
THIS MAIL PRIVATE BOX [email protected]
IF YOU THINK WE CAN WORK TOGETHER SO THAT WE CAN GO
OVER THE DETAILS.I WILL PROVIDE MY PHONE AND FAX
NUMBERS ON YOUR
REQUEST, THANKS YOU IN ADVANCE AND MAY GOD
BLESS YOU AND YOUR FAMILY.
YOURS TRULY
Clement Kufor

[Cody Dawg]

Hi Mastrap!

It's an address in Mayfair, just south of Oxford Street and east of Hyde Park. Not too shabby.

Guess not - if he's succeeded with this scam his location would be rather nice, wouldn't it?

[Mastrap]

That's just a fake address. If you want to have a good laugh at these scammer's expense check out http://www.419eater.com

These guys bait the scammers, with sometimes hilarious results. I was involved in a bait myself once, which was hugely entertaining. We confused the hell out of him by only communicating with him in movie quotes.

[Sherwin]

So it's finally happened. The UK's slipped so far that we're now actually part of Nigeria.

[macroy]

It only takes one or two idiots to make this effort worth it given the little amount of resources you need to set this up. I forgot what the number was - but Dateline NBC did a thing on spammers awhile back, and I was shocked on the % of respondants these guys receive.

Having said all that - I think we need to respond back to this guy and give him an experience that he'll remember.

[Person Man]

The reason that there are so many of these scams is because there are so many gullible people. This type of thing is TREMENDOUSLY profitable. If nobody fell for it, there wouldn't be so many, would there?

This article was written a year ago. I want to know what kind of progress they have made.

[Mastrap]

Originally posted by Sherwin:
So it's finally happened. The UK's slipped so far that we're now actually part of Nigeria.

This scam is one of the oldest in the book. It can be followed all the way back to 1588, when it was known as the 'Spanish prisoner" scam.

[turtle777]

Originally posted by Mastrap:
This scam is one of the oldest in the book. It can be followed all the way back to 1588, when it was known as the 'Spanish prisoner" scam.

Wow, didn't know that emailw as THAT old...

-t

[Cody Dawg]

So it's finally happened. The UK's slipped so far that we're now actually part of Nigeria.

Sherwin, you're so FUNNY!



(Meanwhile, my NEW printer that Xeo helped me get DOES NOT WORK...I'm on the telephone with HP right now. )

[wdlove]

I imagine that George is and will make money off this.

[d0ubled0wn]

I try to report all scam emails if possible. I tried reporting a Paypal scam recently but their web site for reporting email scams stinks as it kept rejecting the raw email source because of some non-standard character. I'd like to think it isn't a waste of time and they actually catch some of the crooks out there.

[turtle777]

Originally posted by d0ubled0wn:
I try to report all scam emails if possible. I tried reporting a Paypal scam recently but their web site for reporting email scams stinks as it kept rejecting the raw email source because of some non-standard character. I'd like to think it isn't a waste of time and they actually catch some of the crooks out there.

You are SO naive. Cute though...

-t

[SeSawaya]

they are getting better all the time though. I just was approced on ebay while selling a cover for an instrument. A guy said he was authorized to purchase it for his client. Sent me a $3700 MO that I still have. Wanted me to take my cut and send him the rest.

What the crap????!!!!!!

Sounded ligit at the time.

[turtle777]

Originally posted by SeSawaya:
Sent me a $3700 MO that I still have. Wanted me to take my cut and send him the rest.

So why did you not cash it and find out what's going on ?

-t

[effgee]

Originally posted by turtle777:
So why did you not cash it and find out what's going on ?

-t

Old scam - the money order is a fake. He cashes it, sends the difference between the asking price for the item and the amount the MO was made out for back to the buyer (this time in real money) along with the item itself. A couple of days later the bank notices that the MO was a fake, and takes the money back out of his account. Buyer is long gone by the time that goes down.

Used to be very popular with used cars. Guess they had to tone it down a bit.

In the end he'll be out of his item as well as $3700. Add to that the fraud charges the bank is likely to file against him and the eBay experience is complete.

[d0ubled0wn]

Originally posted by SeSawaya:
they are getting better all the time though. I just was approced on ebay while selling a cover for an instrument. A guy said he was authorized to purchase it for his client. Sent me a $3700 MO that I still have. Wanted me to take my cut and send him the rest.

What the crap????!!!!!!

Sounded ligit at the time.

I too ran into this kind of scam. Was attempting to sell my Durango on Autotrader.com and someone offered to buy it for well over the asking price. He wanted to send me a MO for 18 grand and have me send him back the difference. Then he'll hire a service to pick up my vehicle. I think the perception is that MOs are guaranteed $$$. I'm guessing a few days later the bank will find out the MO is fake and hit you up for the amount.

[turtle777]

Originally posted by effgee:
Old scam - the money order is a fake.

Well, part of "find out what's going on" is to wait long enough to see what happens...

-t

[olePigeon]

Originally posted by Nivag:
of course you can!!! send us your bank details, mothers maiden name, D.O.B and first line of your address

George W. Bush
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
NW Washington, DC 20500

[ghporter]

Originally posted by d0ubled0wn:
I try to report all scam emails if possible. I tried reporting a Paypal scam recently but their web site for reporting email scams stinks as it kept rejecting the raw email source because of some non-standard character. I'd like to think it isn't a waste of time and they actually catch some of the crooks out there.

That non-standard character was there for a reason-to keep you from being able to copy and paste into most web applications. It also messes with spam filters.

My favorite is the scam where the email is actually an image file. I've seen some really good ones. And I've seen attempts that were absolutely pathetic-a poor jpeg of badly typed text. If the browser cursor turns into "Mr. Hand" over the WHOLE email, it's all a link and it's 100% bogus.