80 Nigerian E-Mail Scammers Arrested

Times Online:

An international crackdown on e-mail scammers and telephone fraudsters has led to at least 80 arrests and the seizure of almost £8 million worth of fake cheques and postal orders heading for the UK.

The Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca) has begun to tackle the multi-billion pound industry of mass marketing cons.

The best known instances are international e-mail scams promising vast wealth in return for financial details, but there are also hundreds of subtler frauds, for example asking victims to call a premium rate number in return for a non-existent prize. The Office of Fair Trading estimates that the cons cost the UK more than £3.5 billion every year.

Read the whole story: Times Online

Comments

[twgbonehead]

I'm shocked, shocked I tell you!

These guys actually WERE from Nigeria?

[VictorLudorum]

[e-mail] wrote:
Dear Sir,

The problem here is that this account is still on hold and the FMU continued
to refuse our request to debit your account for any reason and pay the
invoice amount. The only alternative now is for you to find another source
from which you can take care of of this invoice submitted to your by the FMU
to have the ICC authorization issued for the immediate and unconditional
removal of the hold on your account.

Regards,
Maurice Cruz
Account Manager


NB: Find attached below the email from FMU in response to our earlier
requests to them;
===================================================================


From: [e-mail]
To: [e-mail]
Subject: [HOLD REMOVAL]
ATT: MR. MAURICE CRUZ,
FIRST STANDARD CREDIT UNION
NEVIS, B.W.I.

SIR,

THANK YOU FOR YOUR REQUEST FOR AUTHORIZATION FOR UNFREEZING OF THE HOLD ON
YOUR CLIENT'S ACCOUNT. NOTE SIR THAT THIS REQUEST IS HERBY DENIED DUE TO THE
FACT THAT THE MONEY IN QUESTION IS STILL NOT CERTIFIED CLEAN FROM PROCEED OF
CRIME. WE ONLY WILL GRANT YOU A FINAL AUTHORIZATION FOR THE RLEASE OF THE
HOLD ON YOUR CLIENT'S ACCOUNT IF HE HAS THE ICC ISSUED BY US OR ANY OTHER
AFFILIATE.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR UNDERSTANDING.

YOURS FAITHFULLY,
ANDREW MCCARTY
CHIEF INSPECTOR OFFICER

[VictorLudorum]

[e-mail]

[VictorLudorum]

MEL CHAMBERS wrote:
HER MAJESTY'S COURTS SERVICE HEADQUARTERS
Customer Service Unit
C/o BARRISTER MEL CLEMENT
5th Floor, Clive House, Petty France
London SW1H9EX

Dear Client,

This is to educate you that your massive were received by this honorable chamber,Section 195, sub section A/E which was amended in 1996 stated that To obtain the affidavit of claim in this law firm under the normal legal system will required you to pay the official mandatory charges to empower me get it from HER MAJESTY'S COURTS SERVICE HEADQUARTERS in your favor .

In view of the above, you are required to send to the sum of £600 British pound settling to me through Western Union Money Transfer in favor of secretary MRS. JESSICA WILLIAMS 5th Floor, Clive House, Petty France
London SW1H9EX.
Furthermore, based on the communication I had with the Abbey National Bank Plc today, I shall submit the affidavit of claim on your behalf to the bank while I copy to you the scan copy for your verification.
Yours Attorney

Barrister Mel Clement (SAL
HER MAJESTY'S COURTS SERVICE HEADQUARTERS
Customer Service Unit
C/o BARRISTER MEL CLEMENT
5th Floor, Clive House, Petty France
London SW1H9EX

[VictorLudorum]

CONTACT ME ON EMAIL SO THAT WE CAN DISCUSS IF YOU ARE INTERESTED TO HELP ME.([e-mail] )

THANKS AND REMAIN BLESSED.
DR.ZULU MOHA
AFRICAN DEVELOPEMENT BANK (ADB)

[VictorLudorum]

AS THE DIRECTOR OF THE DEPT, THIS DISCOVERY WAS BROUGHT TO MY OFFICE SO AS TO DECIDE WHAT IS TO BE DONE. WITH THE FEW PERSONEL IN MY DEPT, WE DECIDED TO SEEK WAYS THROUGH WHICH WE CAN TRANSFER THIS MONEY OUT OF THE BANK AND OUT OF THE COUNTRY TOO. THE TOTAL AMOUNT IN THE ACCOUNT IS TEN MILLION FIVE HUNDRED THUSAND DOLLARS (USD 10,500,000.00).

WITH OUR POSITIONS AS STAFF OF THE BANK, WE ARE HANDICAPPED BECAUSE WE CANNOT OPERATE FOREIGN ACCOUNTS AND CANNOT LAY BONAFIDE CLAIM OVER THIS MONEY WHILE WE WERE CONTEMPLATING ON WHAT TO DO. A FRIEND OF MINE WHO WORKS WITH THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY RECOMMENDED YOUR PERSONALITY TO ME AND ADVISED ME TO ASK YOU FOR HELP, TO TRANSFER THIS MONEY OUT OF THE COUNTRY. THE CLIENT IS A FOREIGN NATIONAL AND YOU WILL ONLY BE ASKED TO ACT AS HIS NEXT OF KIN AND I WILL SUPPLY YOU WITH ALL THE NECESSARY INFORMATIONS AND BANK DATA TO ASSIST YOU IN BEING ABLE TO TRANSFER THIS MONEY TO ANY BANK OF YOUR CHOICE WHERE THIS MONEY COULD BE TRANSFERED INTO.

I AND MY PARTNERS HAVE DECIDED TO GIVE AWAY THIRTY % (30%) TO YOU FOR YOUR ASSISTANCE AND TEN (10%) FOR ANY EXPENSES THAT MIGHT ARISE DURING THE TRANSACTION OF THIS TRANSFER. WE WANT TO ASSURE YOU THAT THIS TRANSACTION IS ABSOLUTELY RISK FREE SINCE WE WORK IN THIS BANK AND THAT IS WHY YOU SHOULD BE CONFIDENT IN THE SUCCESS OF THIS TRANSACTION BECAUSE YOU WILL BE UPDATED WITH INFORMATION AS AT WHEN DESIRED.

WE WILL PLEASE WISH YOU KEEP THIS TRANSACTION SECRET AS WE ARE HOPING TO RETIRE WITH OUR SHARE OF THIS MONEY AT THE END OF TRANSACTION WHICH WILL BE WHEN THIS MONEY SAFELY HITS YOUR ACCOUNT. WE WILL THEN COME OVER TO YOUR COUNTRY FOR SHARING ACCORDING TO THE PREVIOUSLY AGREED PERCENTAGES. YOU MIGHT EVEN HAVE TO ADVISE US ON POSSIBILITIES OF INVESTMENT IN YOUR COUNTRY OR ELSEWHERE OF OUR CHOICE. MAY GOD HELP YOU TO HELP US TO A RESTIVE RETIREMENT. AMEN.

cont.,

[VictorLudorum]

I AM DR.ZULU MOHA AND I AM THE DIRECTOR OF THE ACCOUNTS & AUDITING DEPT. AT THE AFRICAN DEVELOPEMENT BANK OUAGADOUGOU - WEST AFRICA. WITH DUE RESPECT I HAVE DECIDED TO CONTACT YOU ON A BUSINESS TRANSACTION THAT WILL BE BENEFICIAL TO BOTH OF US.

AT THE BANK'S LAST ACCOUNTS/AUDITING EVALUATIONS, MY STAFFS CAME ACROSS AN OLD ACCOUNT WHICH WAS BEING MAINTAINED BY A FOREIGN CLIENT WHO WE LEARNT WAS AMONG THE DECEASED PASSENGERS OF AN AIRLINE CRASH ON 6TH NOV.2002.

SINCE THE DECEASED WAS UNABLE TO RUN THIS ACCOUNT SINCE HIS DEATH. THE ACCOUNT HAS REMAINED DORMANT WITHOUT THE KNOWLEDGE OF HIS FAMILY SINCE IT WAS PUT IN A SAFE DEPOSIT ACCOUNT IN THE BANK FOR FUTURE INVESTMENT BY THE CLIENT. SINCE HIS DEMISE, NOBODY, NOT EVEN THE MEMBERS OF HIS FAMILY HAVE APPLIED FOR CLAIMS OVER THIS FUND AND IT HAS BEEN IN THE SAFE DEPOSIT ACCOUNT UNTIL WE DISCOVERED THAT IT CANNOT BE CLAIMED SINCE OUR CLIENT IS A FOREIGN NATIONAL AND WE ARE SURE THAT HE HAS NO NEXT OF KIN HERE TO FILE CLAIMS OVER THE MONEY.

cont.,

[VictorLudorum]

There is no formal education in UK concerning Lotteries and Money Moving ..Although 78% of these cases are not so wierd.......But the mob is controlling these ..........

[bdl0715]

I was just about ready to quit working and live on the 20 mil or so a day they keep promising me. I guess I can't retire now after all.

[LindaSmart50]

I have a standard answer to their emails.

I start out by telling them.

'Dear friend in Jesus Christ',

I want very much to help you in your quest for getting your late husbands money out of Switzerland.

One condition, you allow me to fuck that big black Nigerian booty of yours.

Yours in Christ,

XXXXX

Oddly enough I never hear from them again.

[mrcontinental]

Strange, because Nigeria is 40% christian so you would think that they would have been more tolerate of your wishes.

You must have been dealing with a muslim and in that case should have been offering your booty.

[realitytrumpsbull]

But wait, but wait, I'm still waiting for the
check to be deposited to my bank account for
L 20,000,000.00. I GAVE them my bank routing
number....? LOL

[Ginzaman]

And 79 of them emailed me today!

[larry278]

It's about motherf#cking time these theives were put out of business. These motherf#ckers deserve long terms in prison & large fines. One or two of them can write a book about their scams while doing time. Those who wallow in self pity can call the book "Gullible's Travels".

[mrcontinental]

They are only in business because of others greed and as long as there is greed they will be in business.

4 million for a mere upfront investment of $2500 or please cash this certified check for $10,000 and keep $3000 for your troubles and send me the rest. Get real.

[larry278]

The Nigerians have made crime pay since you can't cheat an honest person. A fool & his money are soon parted as the popularity of state lotteries show. If it sounds too good to be true-it isn't true. Barnham had it right; "A sucker is born every minute.". Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people. To paraphrase Lincoln, "You can fool some of the people all of the time..."; Nixon & W built successful careers in politics because of that fact. End of grousing.

[kellygrrrl]

So does this mean they're not using my PIN code to deposit my inheritance????
bummer!

I just can't believe anyone actually falls for these scams.

[mrcontinental]

And apparently the brits are just as stupid as we are. Who would have thought that.

Check out this site, it's a hoot:

http://www.scamorama.com/

[Ramirez]

Love that site! No one baits a Mugu like those guys.

Here's one of my favorite sites for Mugu baiting. I have linked to "the trophy room."
http://www.419eater.com/html/trophy_room.htm

For those who do not know the game, the trick is to reply to the scammer and demand he prove this or that; usually by sending you a photo of himself doing stupid things. And the dumber the betta!

[sandhi]

You would think it would be elderly people who are out of touch with reality, but I have a friend whose 27 year old niece fell for this scam.

Everyone told her not to do it, but she went ahead and cashed the check for some large amount of money that she is now responsible for.

It is sad. This was a girl, stupid as she may be, who was desparately in need of money and I guess she just lost all judgement.

I hate these people who do this to innocent, trusting people. It's not just that they're greedy...most of the time they're just in need of money.

I put up several high cost items for sale once on Craigslist and was emailed by several people (whom I'm assuming were Nigerian because of the bad spelling and grammar).

What they do is promise to buy the items, sight unseen. They send a third party to pick up the item and give you the "check".

I knew right away it was a scam and reported it, but I wish I could have done more.

I wish I could be the one responsible for putting them away (after shooting their kneecaps off....just kidding:)
Maybe.

People who take things that don't belong to them
make my blood boil.