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        riddles >> suggestions, help, and FAQ >> The Lads from Lagos invade the forum
        
(Message started by: Icarus on Sep 29^th, 2003, 9:01am)

Title: The Lads from Lagos invade the forum
Post by Icarus on Sep 29^th, 2003, 9:01am

Okay, this scammer is apparently from Sierra-Leone, not Nigeria, but I got this scam come-on in my Instant Message Box:

Quote:

DEAR ,

I AM MR.PRINCE WENDE THE SON OF THE LATE SIERRA-LEONIAN BUSINESSMAN, LATE DR HENRY WENDE MUTENDE THE OWNER OF (UMS) MINING COMPANY IN SIERRA-LEONE, WHO DIED 7 MONTHS AGO WHEN THE REVOLUTIONARY UNITED FRONT REBELS (R.U.F)ATTACKED OUR RESIDENCE IN MAKENI COUNTY OF SIERRA-LEONE. FOLLOWING THE CURRENT CEASE FIRE AGREEMENT WHICH WAS REACHED WITH THE HELP OF UNITED NATION PEACE KEEPING TROOPS,I USED THE OPPOTURNITY TO LEAVE THE COUNTRY WITH A VERY IMPORTANT DOCUMENT OF (USD$2TWENTY EIGHT MILLION U.S DOLLARS.

THIS DOCUMENT IS A CERTIFICATE ISSUED TO MY LATE FATHER BY A SECURITY COMPANY IN LOME, THE CAPITAL CITY OF TOGO, IN MY NAME FOR THE DEPOSIT OF A BOX CONTAINING THE ABOVE FUND. BEFORE MY FATHER DIED HE INFORMED ME OF IT AND ALSO TOLD ME TO BE CAREFUL BECAUSE THE SECURITY COMPANY OFFICIALS ARE NOT AWARE THAT THE BOX IS CONTAING MONEY.

ALTHOUGH THIS MONEY WAS REALISED FROM THE SALES OF GOLD AND DIAMOND BUT IT IS NOT IN DISPUT. NOW THAT I AM SEEKING ASYLUM IN LOME-TOGO AS A REFUGEE MY MAIN REASON OF CONTACTING YOU IS BECAUSE I RECEIVED A CALL FROM THE SECURITY COMPANY WARNING THAT I SHOULD MAKE HASTE TO DISLODGE THE BOX OR I LOOSE IT TO HIGH DUMURRAGE RATE WHICH HAS PILLED UP SINCE 7 MONTHS UP TILL DATE.

THEY ADVISED THAT I SHOULD PRESENT THE CRTIFICATE AS THE NEXT OF KIN HENCE THE BOX IS DEPOSITED TO MY FAVOR, BUT CONSIDERING MY STATUS HERE AS A REFUGEE I NEED YOUR ASSISTANCE.

I WANT TO PRESENT YOU TO THE SECURITY COMPANY AS THE BENEFICIARY, A FRIEND TO MY LATE FATHER. THEN AFTER RETRIEVING THE BOX FROM THE SECURITY COMPANY YOU WILL ASSIST ME MOVE THE MONEY TO YOUR COUNTRY. I ONLY WANT THIS DONE THIS WAY BECAUSE YOUR COUNTRY IS POLITICALLY SUITABLE FOR ANY PROFITABLE INVESTMENT, WHICH WILL EMPHASIZE THE UNIQUINES OF THE MONEY. HOWEVER I CONTACTED YOU BASED ON YOUR CAPABILITY AND VAST KNOWLEDGE ON INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL INVESTMENT.

MY AIM OF CONTACTING YOU IS PRECISELY FOR YOU TO ASSIST ME IN THE FOLLOWING WAYS:-

(1) TO HELP ME STAND AS THE BENEFICIARY.

(2) TO HELP ME TRANSFER THE MONEY TO YOUR COUNTRY.

(2) TO HELP ME GET A PROFITABLE BUSINESS TO INVEST THE FUND BASED ON YOUR PROFESSIONAL ADVISE. FOR YOUR ASSISTANCE AND CO-OPERATION I AM WILLING TO GIVE YOU 25 % OF THE TOTAL SUM REALISED AFTER THE SUCESSFULL UPLIFT OF THIS FUND TO YOUR COUNTRY, WHILE 5% WILL BE SET ASIDE FOR ANY EXPENSES YOU MAY INCUR DURING THE EXERCISE. PLEASE KINDLY COMMUNICATE YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF THIS MAIL SO THAT WE CAN DISCUSS THE MODALITIES OF SEEING THIS TRANSACTION THROUGH.

I COUNT ON YOU GREATLY FOR YOUR ASSISTANCE.

AWAITING TO HEAR FROM YOU SOON.

SINCERELY,

MR PRINCE WENDE

Gosh - I wonder how he found out about my vast knowledge in international investment. (My knowledge is so vast that I've actually heard of it! :D)

Just in case someone else got this and isn't sure if this is genuine or not, check out this site: Scam-o-Rama (http://www.scamorama.com)

I would advise against attempting this, but it is fun to read about scammers getting scammed.

Title: Re: The Lads from Lagos invade the forum
Post by maryl on Sep 29^th, 2003, 9:06am

Ditto

Title: Re: The Lads from Lagos invade the forum
Post by wowbagger on Sep 29^th, 2003, 9:07am

Yeah, I got one of these, too.

on 09/29/03 at 09:01:05, Icarus wrote:

Gosh - I wonder how he found out about my vast knowledge in international investment.

That's exactly what I was wondering... ;D

Title: Re: The Lads from Lagos invade the forum
Post by BNC on Sep 29^th, 2003, 9:26am

Same here.

I wonder if they used some kind of automatic engine to reach everyone.

Title: Re: The Lads from Lagos invade the forum
Post by william wu on Sep 29^th, 2003, 12:49pm

I got the same. I would ban the member, but at the moment I'm too impressed by the possibility that this whole spam operation was performed by a robot -- particularly considering that as of a month ago or so, new member registration has flood protection which asks users to retype a sequence of randomly generated characters shown in an image. Anyways, we'll see how deep the spam hole goes.

Title: Re: The Lads from Lagos invade the forum
Post by Icarus on Sep 29^th, 2003, 5:06pm

Is there any way you can delete all of his as-yet unread IMs? While I am sure the vast majority of forum members will immediately see through this clown, there are always a few who are too trusting for their good, and too greedy as well. The activities of scammers like this one are more sordid than simply fooling people out of their money. These guys regularly kidnap and kill their victims.

If you look through the Scam-o-rama site I linked to, you will find not only some very funny records of scammers being scammed, but also e-mails from people who were nearly taken in by some scammer before a friend managed to pound enough sense into them, or they happened to come across the site by themselves.

Title: Re: The Lads from Lagos invade the forum
Post by maryl on Sep 30^th, 2003, 7:30am

Speaking of scams, here's a funny one:

Perhaps you've heard the story of the not-so-bright fellow who saw an
advertisement for a cruise. The sign in the travel agency window read
"Cruise-$100 Cash."

I've got a hundred dollars, he thought. And I'd like to go on a cruise.
So he entered the door and announced his desires. The fellow at the desk
asked for the money, and the not-too-bright guy started counting it out.
When he got to one hundred, he was whacked over the head and knocked out
cold. He woke up in a barrel floating down a river. Another sucker in
another barrel floated past and asked him, "Say, do they serve lunch on
this cruise?"

The not-too-bright fellow answered, "They didn't last year."

Title: Re: The Lads from Lagos invade the forum
Post by otter on Sep 30^th, 2003, 9:15am

Got the scam message, too. Sad thing is that there are folks who believed this balderdash and went for it. It cost me a lot of money last time. I hope I'll do better this time around. ::)

Title: Re: The Lads from Lagos invade the forum
Post by mistysakura on Oct 1^st, 2003, 5:45am

I might have read a few more words of it if it weren't in caps and so hard to read. A bit daft, I'll say. But even then, I'd have stopped on about the 3rd line.

Title: Re: The Lads from Lagos invade the forum
Post by TenaliRaman on Feb 18^th, 2004, 9:49pm

Don't get laughed at by spammers, Have a laugh at them
http://www.ebolamonkeyman.com/
;)