Stupid Punts!

This lady wrote to me three times today.

She claims to be a mother of three (all together now "aaaahhhh!!"), and the deputy minister for minerals in South Africa.

She is offering me a share of $18.5M if I help get her late husband's money (coming from diamonds of course) out of the country. He was a businessman who was vast and successful (or was it his business that was vast?)

Rather ironic (or using her words "strange and surprising") that she picked me, as I did once work for De Beers.

Do I believe her story, no!

From: Mrs. Susan Shabangu.

Greetings to you,

With warm heart I offer my friendship, and greetings,
and I hope this mail meets you in good time. However
strange or surprising this contact might seem to you
as we have not met personally or had any dealings in
the past, I humbly ask that you take due consideration
of its importance and the immense benefit it will be
to you.

After careful consideration with my children, we
resolved to contact you for your most needed
assistance in this manner. I duly apologize
for infringing on your privacy, if this contact is not
acceptable to you, as I make this proposal to you as a
person of integrity.

First and foremost I wish to introduce myself properly
to you. My name is Mrs. Susan Shabangu, mother of
three and the Deputy Minister of Minerals and Energy
of The Republic of South Africa for seven years
running.

I will now give you a general overview of the
situation. When I was sworn in as Deputy Minister of
Minerals and Energy in 1996, with my influence, my
husband Mr. Ndelebe Shabangu a very successful
businessman was awarded several contracts in my
ministry and had direct dealings with foreign
investors in this field. Due to my political status, I
was not involved in my husband's business which was
very vast and successful. My beloved husband died
whilst on an official trip to Trinidad and Tobago in
February 2001.

When my husband died, I was contacted as next of kin
by a private security firm in Europe to come forth
with the Certificate of Deposit and claim a safety
deposit my husband has in their Vault in his name. At
that time, my children and I did not have an idea
where the Certificate might be. We then instructed the
security firm to continue holding the safety deposit
until further instructions from me. Whilst preparing
for the second remembrance of my beloved husband, I
was going through his library collection and to my
astonishment I discovered a Certificate of Deposit for
the safety deposit with this private security firm,
and other documents relating to the safety deposit in
a book. The safety deposit which is a trunk, is
stocked with hard currency (US Dollars)totalling
$18,500,000 which was generated from cash payments
from his business associates in the diamond trade from
Antwerp, Belgium.

Though I knew my late husband was in the diamond
business, I did not have the knowledge that he moved
funds in cash. This has came as a shock to me and my
children, and we have decided to have this fund
invested immediately in commercial and residential
properties abroad as well as profitable ventures, as
any member of my family cannot hold such a huge
amount in our name due to my political status, hence
we sincerely propose to you to render us your most
needed assistance in this regard.

If you agree to render us your assistance, your role
in this project will be to act on my behalf as a
trustee to receive the safety deposit containing the
funds from the Security firm. Though I believe this
transaction should be based on mutuality, my family's
interest will be protected by a family associate, who
is my son . He is now aware of the safety deposit, and
I have informed him that I am locating one of my
husband's business associates (you) to handle the
funds and invest on our behalf.

For your reliable assistance, we are offering you 15
%($2,775,000) of the funds. I thank you in advance as
we anticipate your assistance in enabling us achieve
this goal.
On hearing from you, I will forward your contact to
my son and give you his contact for both of you to
communicate and proceed with the transaction.

He will be working with you for a mutual conclusion of
the process and I look forward to a long lasting
business relationship with you. As you may
understand,due to my sensitive position in the present
government,it is not safe to communicate with me via
phone or fax.

This is why I have communicated with you with my
private email address, and I like us to keep this way,
for the safety of this transaction.



With warm regards,
MRS. SUSAN SHABANGU
Deputy Minister of Minerals and Energy
South Africa