I can be rich, if I just help move some hidden money

Yesterday I received an incredible offer. A director of an investment funds company has siphoned off millions of dollars illegally, and needs someone to help him get it out of the country. If I help him, I will earn a fortune. I am so excited. I love the thought of easy money.

I can’t believe that I need to write this blog article, but apparently there are still lots of people who fall for this. These schemes are often called the “Nigerian currency scam”, as for decades Nigeria has been the source of most of these and Nigerian government officials have been implicated in their operation. It’s also referred to as “Advance Fee Fraud” and “419 Fraud”, 419 being a former section of Nigeria’s Criminal Code. According to published reports, it’s estimated that this scam is the third to fifth largest industry in Nigeria, having “earned” several billion dollars.

While these scams are usually distributed by e-mail, they predate the Internet. For many years solicitations were sent via postal mail. I remember receiving one, on nice letterhead, at my business address many years ago.

While the specific details in the letters vary, they tend to share these characteristics:

• The sender claims to be in a position of authority or trust with a government or large organization.
• Sender has managed to hide millions of dollars.
• Your help is needed to claim or receive this money.
• In exchange for your help in retrieving this money, you will be given a huge commission or reward, usually hundreds of thousands of dollars or more.
• You must keep everything confidential, and you cannot contact the sender through normal channels at his organization, but only through the e-mail address provided (usually a free webmail address).

Once you are hooked, various messages are exchanged between you and the scammer. You will likely be asked for your phone number, address, bank account number, and more. Even at this point you will be vulnerable because your identity may be stolen and used for fraudulent or illegal purposes.

At some point you will be asked for money. There is always a good explanation: funds are required to bribe a government official; a clearing fee is needed for the bank to release the funds; or some other excuse.

Surprisingly, many people send the money. Then, more money is requested, to take care of some other unexpected hitch. Their eyes blinded by visions of earning a huge, undeserved fortune, many people continue to send money.

The people who lose money in these scams are normally referred to as “victims”, but I haven’t used that term. These are not like innocent victims of a robbery. The suckers in these scams willingly participate in the scheme to obtain money they know to be unlawfully obtained. They become partners in the fraud or criminal plan, in hopes of a payoff.

If you receive one of these messages, just delete it. If you think that the one you received is legitimate, and that you can make some money, go for it. As the old adage goes, “There’s a sucker born every minute.”

Below are excerpts from a few of these scam letters, beginning with the one I recently received.

I am Mr. Arthur Morris, an Associate Director, and investment expert with ‘Aurum Funds Limited, a Private Limited Liability Company established as a non-financial institution and licensed by Bank of England in 1994 to operate as a ‘Finance House/Hedge Fund Builder, (Non-Deposit Taking Category). Aurum Funds Limited Popularly known as London leading Funds Management Company with over 2.1 Billion GBP Capital Investment Funds.

As Aurum Funds Limited Associate Director and Investment expert, I handle all our Investors Direct Capital Funds and to be frank with you, I developed a flawless scheme that electronically extract 1.2% Excess Maximum Return Capital Profit (EMRCP) per transaction on each of the investor’s Marginal Capital Funds. I have made reasonable amount of money from this scheme which I have discreetly placed the beneficiary anonymous. These funds are lying fallow with a reliable Safe Deposit Firm here in Europe, I will want to entrust it with a reliable person, if we can come to an agreement on the issue and if you can prove to be trusted and stand as an investor to receive the funds as annual Investment Proceeds from Aurum Funds Limited paying centre.

Another one:

My name is MR GARUBA USENI the eldest son of Rtd General JEREMAIAH. J. T. USENI who was the est. while Minister of the Federal Capital territory Abuja in the late General Sani Abacha’s Regime of 1993-1998.

I am contacting you in a benevolent spirit; utmost confidence and trust to enable us provide a solution to a money transfer of $60M that is presently putting my entire family into great disarray. You may be quite surprised at my sudden contact to you but do not despair, I got your contact from a business site on the internet and following the information I gathered about you, I was convinced that you could be of assistance to me. So, decided to contact you at once due to the urgency required for us to immediately transfer the said funds out of the country.

… [paragraphs removed] …

Right now, my father has been arrested and detained for interrogation. As the eldest son of my Father, I believe that I owe the entire family an obligation to ensure that the $60M is successfully transferred abroad for investment purposes. With the present situation, I cannot do it all by myself. It is based on this that I am making this contact with you. I have done a thorough homework and fine-tuned the best way to create you as the beneficiary to the funds and effect the transfer accordingly. Is rest assured that the modalities I have resolved to finalize the entire project guarantees our safety and the successful transfer of the funds. So, you will be absolutely right when you say that this project is risk free and viable. If you are capable and willing to assist, contact me at once via email for more details.

Another one:

I am a highly placed Government official working for the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology.

My committe – The Niger Delta Development Corporation(NDDC)-which is in charge of managing and supervising the disbursement of oil sales revenues for the Nigerian government. The revenues under our control runs into several hundred of millions of dollars monthly. My self and other colleagues in the NDDC are currently in need of a silent foreign partner with whose bank account we shall transfer the sum of Forty Nine Million Five Hundred Thosand United States Dollars($49.5m). This fund accrued to us as commission for oil sales contracts handled under our supervision.

The fund is presently waiting to be transferred by our offshore fund managers to the beneficiary submitted to us as the funds receiver. However, by virtue of our position as civil servants and members of the NDDC, we cannot acquire this funds in our name. This is because as top civil servants, we are not allowed by law of the land to own or operate bank accounts outside our shores.

Another one:

It is my great pleasure writing you this letter on behalf of myself and my colleagues.

Your particulars were given to me by a member of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) who was at the Federal Government Delegation to your country during a trade exhibition. I have decided to seek a confidential cooperation with you in the execution of the deal described hereunder for the benefit of all parties and hope you will keep it as top secret because of the nature of this business.

Within the Ministry of Petroleum Resources where I work as a Director, Project Implementation and with the cooperation of four other top officials, we have in our possession as overdue payment bills totalling Twenty Seven Million, Five Hundred Thousand U. S. Dollars (US$27,500,000.00) which we want to transfer abroad with assistance and cooperation of a foreign company/individual to receive the said fund on our behalf or a reliable foreign non-company account to receive such funds. Moreso, we are handicapped in the circumstances as the Nigerian Civil Service Code of Conduct does not allow us to operate offshore account hence your importance in the whole transaction.