I have won $2.5M on yet another lottery, and I didn't even enter!

How lucky is that?

In reality it is yet another scam.

This particular scam isn't even particularly well written. To begin with the writer claims the date to be 5 August, it is in fact 7 October; he then goes on to say that the draw was held on 10 August, 5 days ahead of the alleged date of the email.

It then follows the usual line of saying that there has been a "mix up with the numbers".

I have put the mail in the trash can, as should you.

INTERNATIONAL LOTTO CO-OPERATION S.A
APARTADO CORREOS NO361,
AYENIDA DE ANDALUCIA NO1,
29080 MALAG ESPANA (0)
FROM: THE DESK OF THE PROMOTIONS MANAGER,
INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS/PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT,
REF: OYL /2551256003/22
BATCH: 14/0017/IPD
ATTENTION: HONOURABLE WINNER,
RE:AWARD NOTIFICATION: FINAL NOTICE
We are pleased to inform you of the announcement today been
the ,5TH
Of August 2004 winners of the multi Famous INTERNATIONAL
LOTTO CO-OPERATION
S.A of the INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS held on 10th of August
2004. You
were,attached to ticket number 025-1146-1992-750, with
serial number
2113-22 drew the lucky numbers 13-15-22-37-39-43, and
consequently won the
lottery in the 3rd category. You have therefore been
approved for a
lump sum pay out of US$2.500,000.00 credited to file REF
NO.OYL/2551256003/22.
This is from total prize of US$20,400,000.00 shared among
the seventeen
international winners in this category. All participants
were selected
through a
computer ballot system drawn form 15 million names from
Australia, New
Zealand, America, Europe and North America and Africa as
part of
International Promotions Program, which is conducted
annually.
CONGRATULATIONS!
Your fund is now deposited with a company insured in your
name. Due to
the mix up of some numbers and names, we ask that you keep
this award
strictly from public notice until your claim has been
processed and your
money remitted to you. This is part of our security
protocol to avoid
double claiming or unscrupulous acts by participants of
this program.
To begin your claim, please contact your claim agent
Mr pecious david FOREIGN SERVICE MANAGER, GLOBAL
CROSSING,
SOUTH WEST S.A
EMAIL:mr_pecious@mail2agent.com
For due processing and remittance of your prize .
Remember all prize money must be claimed not later than
30 Days after today
After 30 Days, all funds
will be returned as unclaimed.
Sincerely,
THE PROMOTIONS MANAGER.
NOTE: In order to avoid unnecessary delays and
complications, please
remember to quote your reference and batch numbers in every
one of your
correspondences with your agent. Furthermore, should there
be any change
of your address, do inform your claims agent as soon as
possible.
Congratulations! again from all our staff and thank you for
being part
of our promotions program. We hope with a part of you
prize, you will
participate in our end of year high stakes US$1.3 billion
International
Lottery

This letter, from Nigeria, bids me good tidings then invokes God's blessing rather too freely.

God, I suspect, is less than pleased to be associated with a con trick like this.

In short, the writer claims to be a high ranking civil servant; who has overinvoiced contracts to the tune of $29M.

In other words, he claims to have stolen $29M; he hasn't really, as the money does not exist.

He then claims that he is very poor, er slight contradiction here surely?

Our boy then asks for my help in transferring, helping him to steal, the money. He assures me that he is a man of great honesty.

Now if that were really the case, how is it he is claiming to have stolen $29M?

These stories do not stand up to even the most rudimentary analysis, I fail to understand how people can be so stupid as to fall for these.

Finally, our boy begs me not to reveal his name; tough luck chum, I will let the world know what a thieving scum bag you are.

Hello,
This mail may come to you as a suprise but it is intended to reach you and
bring good tidings to your business and family.Before going futher to introduce
my purpose of contacting you,it is only appropriate to introduce myself.
I am a Director-General in the Federal Ministry of Mineral and Energy in
the Federal
Republic of Nigeria.I am 56years of age married with three children and
will be going
on retirement soon after 30years of service.

This business involves US$29.5M.which i want to introduce to you
and it emanated from over-invioced contract executed on behalf of my ministry
by
foreign contractors.The original contract awarded by me was US$115,000,000,00
which
i over-invoiced to the tune of US$29.5M for my future retirement and
the actual contract value has since been paid to the foreign contractors
leaving
me with the extra US$29.5M.for my retirement plan.

I have decided to contact you because i need a reliable person who can help
me invest this accrued sum of US$29.5M into a profitable foreign venture
because as a civil servant and also because of the position i occupy,I am
not allowed to own foreign accounts or investments.Although,I am highly
placed
but poorly paid hence i need this investments for the future of my family
after
years of meritourous service to my ministry hence i want someone who can
confidentially
invest on my behalf into a profitable business such as real estate for a
brighter future.

To do this,I will register you as a foreign contractor in my ministry in
category A of foreign contractors and make an application for payment in
your favour
which i will approve for payment into the beneficiary account for the sum
of
US$29.5M Once the money is transfered,you will be legally entitled to 20%
of the
US$29.5M for all of your assistance,10%will be set aside for expenses
such as taxes while 70% will go for my investments.

Meanwhile,please send me your confidential telephone and fax so that we
can speak and communicate to know ourselves better considering the amount
of money
involved while you can contact me through my confidential e-mail address.

Finally,I strive for the commitment to operate only on high standards of
intergrity and honesty and i need thesame comittment to this transaction
from you and if however you are not intrested,I plead with you in the name
of God
to kindly destroy this mail due to my position and personality in service.
Thanks for your anticipated co-operation.
Remain Blessed,

Dr Philip Adekunle.

Yipee, I have won $750K!

Well, in reality I haven't; in fact all that has happened is that I have received another scam email.

This time the mail comes from a new sweepstake scam, allegedly run by a German company that has an unpronounceable name.

The usual bullshit, "there has been a mix up with the numbers...keep it secret etc etc"

Bottom line, it is a con; do not fall for it.

STEDELIJK FOUNDATION INC.
S.S.L.F. LOTTERY HEADQUARTERS,
COLOGNE-GERMANY.
Email:

REF NO:SSLF/75553114/06
BATCH NO:18/2006/7X06
WINNING NOTIFICATION.
We are please to inform you that the result of STEDELIJK FOUNDATION INC,SWEEP-STAKE INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM held on the 1st of OCTOBER 2004 in conjunction with GERMANY FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION (D.F.B.)http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/o/. http://www.eifl.org.uk/wc2006/. For the Successful Bid to host the Fifa 2006 Soccer World Cup have been released.Your name with email address attached to ticket number 226-88159-115 with serial number 1966/06 drew the lucky numbers 4-12-25-28-31 which consequently won the lottery in the 2rd category.

You have therefore been approved for a lump sum payment of USD$750,000.00(SEVEN HUNDRED AND FIFTY THOUSAND UNITED STATES DOLLARS ONLY)in cash credited to file REF NO: SSLF/75553114/06.This is from a total cash prize of US$10,500,000.00 (TEN MILLION FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND UNITED STATES DOLLARS ONLY)shared among the (14)FOURTEEN International surprise winners in this category.
CONGRATULATIONS!!!
Your fund is now deposited with our partners insured to your name,Due to mixed up of some numbers and names we ask that you keep this award from the public notice until your claim has been processed and your money remitted to your account as this is a part of our security protocol to avoid claiming or unwarranted taking advantage of this program by participants.All participants were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from 350,000 names as part of our international promotions program.

To begin your claim please contact:
Mrs. MARIA DE BOER.
FOR LOTTERY PROMOTERS.
S.S.L.F. LOTTERY HEADQUARTERS.
E-mail:

Kindly send your telephone/fax number so that you will be sent the processing form, All winning money must be claim not later than 24th OCTOBER 2004.

Note:In order to avoid unnecessary delays and complications please remember to quote your referenceand batch numbers in every correspondence with us. Furthermore, should there be any change of your address do inform us as soon as possible.
Congratulations for being a part of our promotions program.

Sincerely,
Mrs. Maria De Boer.
(FOR LOTTERY PROMOTERS)

Our "friends" in Nigeria have written to me today; this time starting off by addressing me, rather incongruously, as "Dear Bogdan..".

It seems that the idiot writing this is, under the impression that my surname is Bogdan.

He claims to have $7M held in the account of the late Mr Bogdan, who has no surviving relatives.

Needless to say, our boy from Nigeria has tracked me down becaue I have the same surname; er, I don't???

He wants me to come forward as next of kin, to claim the money.

Same old bullshit, just less well presented.

FROM THE DESK OF:
BARRISTER USMAN BELLO
ADVOCATE AND SOLICITOR
GARRY CHAMBERS
16 WILLIAM STREET,SW
IKOYI, LAGOS - NIGERIA.
Alternative E-mail:

PERSONAL AND CONFIDENTIAL

Dear Bogdan ,

I am Barrister Usman Bello,an advocate and Solicitor.
I am the Personal Attorney to Engr.Fredrick Bogdan ,a
foreigner, who used to work with shell Petroleum Development Company in
Nigeria.On The 21st of April 2000,my client, his wife and their three children
were involved in a car accident along Sagbama Express Road. All occupants
of the vehicle unfortunately lost their lives.

Since then I have made several enquiries to his
embassy to see if i can locate any of my clients
extended relatives, this has all the while proved
unsuccessful. After these several unsuccessful
attempts, I decided to trace his relatives (i.e.same surname) to locate
any member of his family but to no avail, hence I contact you.I have contacted
you to assist in repatriating the money
left behind by my client before it is confiscated or
declared unserviceable by the bank where this huge
deposit were lodged.

Particularly, the Bank where the deceased had an
account valued at about 7.3 million dollars has issued me a notice to provide
the next of kin of the deceased or have the account confiscated within the
next ten official working days. Since i have been unsuccessful in locating
the relatives for over 2 years now I seek your consent to present you as
the next of kin of the deceased since you are still a foreigner and share
the same last name,so that the proceeds of this account valued at $7.3 million
USD
can be paid to you and then you and me can share the
money, 60% to me and 35% to you, while 5% should be
for expenses or tax as your government may require. I
have all necessary legal documents that can be used to back up any claim
we may make.

All I require is your honest cooperation to enable us
see this deal through. I guarantee that this will be
executed under a legitimate arrangement that will
protect you from any breach of the law. Please get in
touch with me by my email to enable us discuss further.

Best Regards,

BARRISTER USMAN BELLO
ADVOCATE AND SOLICITOR
GARRY CHAMBERS
16 WILLIAM STREET,SW
IKOYI, LAGOS - NIGERIA.

What do these things have in common?

$9M

Two dead bodies

Africa

Cocoa

Modalities

Yes that's right, it's another Nigerian scam letter.

This time from a brother and sister, who address me as "dearest one"...Enjoy!

From: David & Susan Adams

Dearest One,
It is our pleasure to write you after much consideration since we can not be able to see you face to face at first. I am David Junior and my younger sister Susan, Being the only son and daughter of our late father, Mr. Adams. Our late father was a limited liability Cocoa and Gold merchant based in Republic of South Africa before his untimely death. After his business trip to Abidjan Cote D'Ivoire.
A week after he came back from his trip , he was assassinated with our mother by his enemies (business colleages). Which our mother died, instantly, but my father died after five days in the hospital, on that faithful afternoon. I didn't know that my father was going to leave us after we had lost our mother. But before he gave up the ghost, it was as if he knew he was going to die. He our father , (may his soul rest in perfect peace) he disclose to me that he deposited the sum of $9.5 million US dollars
in one of the prime bank here in Abidjan Cote D'Ivoire.
That the money was meant for his Cocoa and Gold business he wanted to invest in Abidjan Cote D'Ivoire. Though, according to our father, he deposited the money in the bank's suspense account,he disclosed to me where he kept the documents(Lodgement documents) issued to him by the bank and instructed me to seek for a life time investment abroad.
we have succeeded in locating the bank and confirmed the existence with most honest and confidentiality .
Now we are soliciting for your assistance to help us transfer this money out from Abidjan to your account abroad so that we should invest it in any lucrative business in your country because this is our only hope in life. Your handsome reward is negotiable and we promise to compensate you greatly. Awaiting anxiously to hear from you so that we can discuss the modalities of this transaction.
If this proposal is acceptable, please kindly contact us through e-mail address immediately for more discussion.
Thanks for your kind attention and mutual understanding .
Best Regards,
David & Susan

The scam boys have written to me again, this time from South Africa.

This guy claims to be in the South African civil service.

He has a shed load of money, allegedly!!!, which has arisen out of over invoicing contractors.

To be quite clear, if this money really existed....which it doesn't, then he is saying that it is stolen.

He wants me to get involved with his grubby lttile scheme, as he wants to make lots of money.

A liar, cheating scum bag...do not fall for it; if you do, then you desrve everything you get.

FROM:THOMAS KWANZI
DEPARTMENT OF MINERALS AND ENERGY
REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA
(MINERALS & ENERGY FOR DEVELOPMENT AND PROSPERITY)

CORPORATE TEL/FAX NO:
DIRECT TEL NO:011-
DIRECT FAX NO:011-

Dear Sir/Madam,

I know this email will reach you as a surprise, but need not to worry as we are using the only secured and
confidential medium available to seek for foreign assistance/partnership in a business transaction which
is of mutual benefit.

I am a member of the Federal Government of South Africa Contract Award and Monitoring Committee in
the Department Of Minerals and Energy (DME) Sometime ago, a contract was awarded to a foreign firm
in DME by my Committee. This contract was over invoiced to the tune of US$21.5M. U. S. Dollars. This
was done deliberately.The over-invoicing was a deal by my committee to benefit from the project. We
now want to transfer this money which is in a suspense Account with DME into any Overseas Account
which we expect you to provide for us.

SHARE: -

For providing the account where we shall remit the money into, you will beentitled to 20% of the
money,70% will be for me and my partners while 10% has been mapped out from the total sum to cover
any expenses that may be incurred by us during the course of this transfer,both locally and
international expenses.

It does not matter whether or not your company does contract projects of this nature described here. The
assumption is that your company won the major contract and subcontracted it out to other companies.
More often than not, big trading companies or firms of unrelated fields win major contracts and
subcontracts to more specialized firms for execution of such contracts.

We have strong reliable connections and contacts at the Reserve Bank of South Africa, as well as the
Federal Ministry of Finance and we have no doubt that all the money will be released and transferred if
we get the necessary foreign partner to assist us in this deal. Therefore, when the business is
successfully concluded we shall through our same connections withdraw all documents used from all the
concerned Government Ministries for 100% security.

We are ordinary civil servants and we will not want to miss this once in a lifetime opportunity to get rich.
We want this money to be transferred to the overseas Accounts for us, before the present Democratic
Government starts Auditing all Federal Government owned Parastatals.

Please contact me immediately through my phone numbers above whether or not you are interested in
this deal. If you are not, it will enable me scout for another foreign partner to carry out this deal. But where
you are interested, kindly call me with these numbers NO: or CORPORATE FAX
NO:,for further details upon your acceptance of this proposal. as time is of the essence in
this business.

I wait in anticipation of your fullest,

Yours Truly,

MR.THOMAS KWANZI

The boys from El Gordo Sweepstake are up to their old tricks again.

I received a note from them today, advising me that I have won 615K Euros in their prize draw.

Needless to say, "there has been a mix up with the numbers"!!!

The bottom line is this:

1 These people are scum

2 This is a con

DO NOT FALL FOR THIS

EL GORDO SWEEPSTAKE LOTTERY COMPANY
PLAZA DE COLONE-29080 MADRID SPAIN.
TEL/FAX:.
ALTERNATIVE EMAIL:


THE MANAGING DIRECTOR,
INTERNATIONAL PROMOTION AWARD DEPT.
REF:EG/25516003/01
BATCH NO:000750013.


ATTENTION:BENEFICIARY.


RE-AWARD NOTIFICATION/FINAL NOTICE.

We are pleased to inform you of the release today the 29th day of
September,2004,of
the result of the EL GORDO SWEEPSTAKE LOTTERY/INTERNATIONAL PROMOTION
EUROMILLIONS
PROGRAMS held on the 5th DAY of September,2004.

Your name attached to the ticket number 025-11464992.750 with serial number
2113-05 drew the lucky numbers 25-35-36-41-43-46 which consequently won
the lottery in the category.

You have therefore been approved for a lump sum pay E615,810{SIX HUNDRED
AND FIFTEEN THOUSAND EIGHT HUNDRED AND TEN EUROS} in cash credited to file
REF NO EG/25516003/01.This is from a total cash prize of E5,386,770.00{FIVE
MILLION THREE HUNDRED AND SIXTY EIGHT THOUSAND SEVEN HUNDRED AND SEVENTY
EUROS}.Shared among the seventeen international winners in the category
1&3.CONGRATULATIONS.

Your fund is now deposited with a security company insured to your name
Due to mixed up of some numbers and names,we ask that you keep this award
top secret from public notice until your claim has been processed and your
money remitted to your account as this is part of our security protocol
to avoid double claiming or unwarranted taking of advantage of this program
by participants.

All participants were selected through computer ballot system drawn from
25,000 names from Europe,Asia,Middle East and North America as a part our
international promotion program which we conduct once every year.We hope
with a part of your prize you will take part in our end of the year high
stake of e1.3 billion international
lottery.

To begin your claims please contact your claims agent,JOSE CARLOS,the foreign
service manager of UNIVERSAL SECURITY CONSULTING S.A. On Tel:34-647298891
for processing and remittance of your prize money to a designated account
of your choice.Remember,all prize money must be claimed not later than 20th
day of October 2004,after this date all fund will be returned to the Ministerio
De Economiay Hacienda as unclaimed.Also be informed that 5% {Five Percent}
of your wining fund belongs to UNIVERSAL SECURITY CONSULTING S.A which will
be remitted after you might have received your winnings.It might interest
you to know that the fund is insured and authorization can guarantee any
deduction from your total winning prize.

NOTE:In order to avoid unnecessary delays and complications please remember
to quote your reference and batch numbers in every of your correspondence
with us or your agent,furthermore,should there be any change of address
do inform your claims agent as soon as possible.

Congratulations again from all members of our staff and thank you for being
part of our promotion program.

Yours sincerely,

BENARDO MAZO SERRANO.
VICE PRESIDENT.

Mukta Aziz wrote to me today, he claims to be an auditor with the Bank of Africa.

He is in fact "scum of the earth".

His little scam involves $30M lying dormant in the account of a dead man. Note, neither the money nor the account really exist.

He wants me to pose as the next of kin, and claim the money; he will then give me a percentage.

Fine auditor he is!

Needless to say, the transaction is "risk free"; for Mukta maybe, but not for the poor greedy, stupid fool who gets sucked into this.

How many times do I have to say this?...it is a con!

THE DESK OF MR MUKTA AZIZ.
AUDITING AND ACCOUNTING UNIT.
BANK OF AFRICA (BOA),
OUAGADOUGOU BURKINA-FASO.
TELE:
Dear Friend,
I am Mr.Mukta Aziz,the Manager in charge of auditing and accounting section of Bank of Africa (BOA) Ouagadougou Burkina-faso West Africa with due respect and regard. I have deceided to contact you on a business transaction that will be very beneficial to both of us at the end of the transaction .

During our investigation and auditing in this bank, my department came across a very huge sum of money belonging to a deceased person who died on November 1999 in a plane crash along with his entire family the fund has been dormant in his account with this Bank without any claim of the fund in our custody either from his family or relation before our discovery to this development.
The said amount was U.S $30M (Thirty million United States dollars). As it may interest you to know,I got your impressive information through internet while i was searching for a business partner.
Mean while all the whole arrangement to put claim over this fund as the bonafide next of kin to the deceased, get the required approval and transfer this money to a foreign account has been put in place and directives and needed information will be relayed to you as soon as you indicate your interest and willingness to assist us and also benefit your self to this great business opportunity.
In fact I could have done this deal alone but because of my position in this country as a civil servant(A Banker),we are not allowed to operate a foreign account and would eventually raise an eye brow on my side during the time of transfer because I work in this bank. This is the actual reason why it will require a second party or fellow who will forward claims as the next of kin with affidavit of trust of oath to the Bank and also present a foreign account where he will need the money to be re-transferred into on his request as it may be after due verification and clarification by the correspondent branch of the bank where the whole money will be remitted from to your own designation bank account.

I will not fail to inform you that this transaction is 100% risk free. On smooth conclusion of this transaction, you will be entitled to 30% of the total sum as gratification, while 5% will be set aside to take care of expenses that may arise during the time of transfer and also telephone bills, while 65% will be for me and my partners. Please, you have been adviced to keep "top secret" as I am still in service and intend to retire from service after we conclude this deal with you.

I will be monitoring the whole situation here in this bank until you confirm the money in your account and ask me to come down to your country for subsequent sharing of the fund according to percentages previously indicated and further investment, either in your country or any country you advice us to invest in. All other necessary vital information will be sent to you when I hear from you.
I look forward to receive your email.
Yours faithfully,
MUKTA AZIZ

"Dr Okon" from Nigeria wrote to me today. Now that should set the alarm bells ringing!

He claims that he has $10M in a bank account, which of course he doesn't, which belonged to some chap who died.

Funnily enough the dead person left no will.

Now I ask you, how likely is that? Anyone with that kind of money would of course leave a will.

Dr Okon then goes on to ask me to commit fraud, how nice of him, and impersonate the next of kin of the dead man.

That way I can steal the money, and split it with Dr Okon.

As the good doctor, says "there is no risk whatsoever". Quite, that is because I am not stupid or dishonest enough to fall for your scam Dr Okon.

DR.THOMAS OKON

GULF BANK LTD, LAGOS NIGERIA TEL:

Email:

Dear Friend,
I am DR.THOMAS OKON.The Manager Gulf Bank, Lagos,
Nigeria. I have urgent and-ery confidential business
proposition for you. On April 6, 1996, a Foreign Oil
consultant/contractor with the Nigerian National Petroleum
Corporation, Mr.james smith made a numbered time (Fixed)
Deposit for some months, valued at S$10,500,000.00 (Ten
Million Five hundred Thousand Dollars only) in my branch.
Upon maturity,I sent a routine notification to his
forwarding address but got no reply. After a month,we sent
a reminder and finally we discovered from his contract
employers,

the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation that Mr. james
smith on 1 February 1997 died in a plane crash on air
senegal on aircraft Name Hawker Siddeley HS-748. This
crash happened in Tambacoumba, Senegal, Africa and the
registration number of the aircraft is 6AV-AEO, and since
his untimely death the funds has been dormant in his
account with my Bank without any claim of the fund On
further investigation, I found out that he died without
making a WILL, and all attempts to trace his next of kin
was fruitless. I therefore made further investigation and
discovered that Mr. james smith did not declare any kin or
relations in all his official documents, including his
Bank Deposit paperwork in my Bank. This sum of
US$10,500,000.00 has carefully been moved out of my bank
to a security company for safe-keeping.No one will ever
come forward to claim it. According to Nigerian Law,at the
expiration of 8 (eight) years, the money will revert to
the ownership of the Nigerian Government if nobody applies
to claim the fund.Consequently, my proposal is that I will
like you as a Foreigner to stand in as the next of kin to
the late mr.james smith as to cla im the money I deposited
with the security company in two trunk boxes though the
security company does not know the real contents of t he
boxes as I tagged them to be photographic materials for
export.am writing you because as a public servant, we can
not operate a foreign account or have an account that is
more than $1m.I want to present you as the owner of the
boxes in the security company so you can be able to claim
them with the help of my attorney.All these are to make
sure that the fruits of this old man's labor will not get
into the hands of some corrupt government officials. This
is simple.I will like you to provide immediately your full
names and address so that the Attorney will prepare the
necessary documents which will put you in place as the
owner of the boxes. The money will be moved out for us to
share in the ratio of 70% for me and 25% for you and 5%
will take care of all expenses incure on both side.There
is no risk a t all as all the paperwork for this
transaction will be done by the Attorney and this will
guarantee the successful execution of this transaction. if
you are interested, pleas e reply immediately via my email
address/phone upon your response, I shall then provide you
with more details and relevant documents that will help
you understand the transaction.

Please observe with utmost confidentiality, and be rest
assured that this transaction would be most profitable for
both of us because I shall require your assistance to
invest my share in your country. Please reply to my
private mail box
Hoping to hear from you.

REGARDS, DR.THOMAS OKON.

This note, from someone calling themselves Chief Oboh, dropped into my mailbox this morning.

Chiefy wants me to help him with his apartment in the USA, which he leases to another party for a paltry $125K. It seems that the other party does not pay the rent in installmentally, whatever that means!

Now chiefy wants me to help him out, by letting him pass money through my bank account.

A warning here, if money really did pass through (and I don't for one minute believe that it would); then there is a risk that the transaction is being used for money laundering purposes.

However, chiefy is offering me 5%; this means that I would only make around $6K. That is the lowest amount of money I have ever been offered in one of these scams; I though that I had made it clear that I don't get out of bed for less than $1M these days.

Dear Friend,
Compliments to you ,i know this will come as a surprise.
I am chief Dr Godwin Oboh ,chairman on committee on protection of government
property edo state .
I have a property which i lease to one of my business partner for 15years ,
which is in america at the cost of $125,thousand dollars and both of us have
agreed that he should be paying installmentally.
Because of my present position as a chief and as a government official in my
state,
i am not allowed to own a foriegn account ,all i want from you is to act as my
foriegn agent so that i will instruct him to pay the money through you or via
your account .
this transaction demands trust ,you shall be entitled to 5% of any money payed
through you.i will feed you with all necessary information as soon as you
indicate your assisted humanitarian gesture .
Thanks for your co-operation .
Best Regards ,
Chief ,Dr,Godwin Oboh.

Francis Omoto wrote to me yesterday, he claims to be in the Kenyan Ministry of Finance.

The letter starts rather oddly, even by scammer standards. He says that he was going to have a meeting with me, even though he does not know me or where I live!, but decided to use email instead.

He then says that he doesn't want to influence my decision, clearly by sending me an email he does.

Then Omoto says that he got my address from a friend of mine (yeah right!), who happily gave it to him; even though he doesn't know what business deal is being offered.

Now if by this stage you are still not convinced that this letter is a load of "bollocks", then there is something clearly wrong with you.

The rest of the letter is the usual tosh about having $18M, which arose out of commission charges made to investors, our "boy" now wants to get the money out of the country; and will pay me $3M to help him.

Oh, I must keep this secret; damn....looks like he won't be able to do business with me after all!

Bottom line, as usual, it is a con; no money exists, and anyone stupid enough to fall for this will lose their shirt.

I had intended to hold a personal meeting with you to discuss the
issues contained in this letter but decided to send your this personal
letter instead, so as not to influence your decision to participate in the
project. However to ensure that you receive this letter timely and
confidentially, I have suggested the use of your email address so that uou
can get it,read its content and make up your mind if you can assist me
or not.

A close associate of yours recommended you to us, even though he does
not know the exact nature of the business that we intend to do with you
except that it involves millions of dollars and that we require a
partner with unwavering reliability and trust. This is the most vital reason
for our decision to invite you to partake in this project.

The project: I am Francis Yekoyada Omoto Jnr, a former Permanent
Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, during the presidency of Daniel Arap
Moi and currently a Director in the Energy Ministry here in Kenya. In
the course of our duties, my colleagues and I were privileged to
influence contract decisions and operate consultancy firms to receive
consultation fees and commissions from contractors as well as multi-national
companies that operated in my country. These commissions in monetary terms
totaled $18,620,000 US (Eighteen million, six hundred and twenty
thousand united states dollars) and are currently held under an escrow
account with the national bank as claims due for an executed contract. We now
desire to move these funds to your country and invest it until our
retirement in the near future. However to ensure minimal attention and tax
implication, I will require your assistance in the transfer of these
funds to your country. We are handicapped in the circumstances, as the
new reformed Civil Servic
e Code of Conduct does not allow us to open or maintain foreign
accounts hence your importance in the whole transaction.

Funds Origin: The funds $18.6 million dollars is total balance of the
commissions and consultancy fees which my colleagues and I charged and
accumulated on contracts executed by foreign contractors building
various multi-million dollars contracts over a 14 year period. While the is
nothing illegal about the funds, the change in political scene has made
necessary our desire to effect the transfer of the money to your
country before any new service reforms affects the funds mobility. We have
all required documentation, certificates and approval bonds that properly
documents the funds origin and receipts.

Your role The whole transfer process will transpire in a matter of
days and your role is to provide a transit account that will receive the
money as proceeds for an executed contract. This processing is
necessary to conform to international financial guidelines and money-laundering
laws as specified for both your country and mine. For your assistance,
we have agreed that you will receive the sum of $3.5 million dollars.
You will need to provide,

1. A company name (including a confidential telephone and fax number)
2. The bank account (where the contract money will be remitted)

Be rest-assured that there is absolutely no risk involved as the
contract certification and approval bonds have been issue by government and
the money is ready for onward transfer. Needless to say that some top
officials in the national bank and important ministries are my friends
and will also benefit.

Contact me. It is important that you inform me on of your decision
without delay at my confidential email address
as my telephone and fax numbers are unreliable but I will be taking
delivery soon of new confidential telephones numbers specially for this
project which I will make available to you. What is of utmost importance
is that you maintain absolute confidentiality and not inform anyone of
this project at any time. I am available to clarify any questions you
may have concerning the project.

I await your fullest cooperation.

Your Faithfully,

Francis Yekoyada Omoto Jnr.

A bleeding heart letter from a bleeding nuisance. However, she does not want to cause me any pain; don't worry madam, you haven't.

The writer of this letter is trying to pull at my heart strings, by claiming that she is dying from cancer. Rather oddly her disease has "defiled" medicine, an interesting abuse of the English language.

The writer claims to be very rich, and wishes to give all her money away to charity.

She does not trust her relatives, and so has sought me out to distribute it for her.

Now here is the interesting thing, she offers no reward or payment for this; the writer is cunningly trying to tempt greedy dishonest morons in cyberspace, who think that they can run off with the money without giving it to charity.

Of course in reality there is no money, but the trap has been set.

I wonder how many greedy, dishonest idiots have fallen for this one?

Dear Friend,

This letter may come to you as a surprise due to the
fact that we have not yet met. I have to say that I have no intentions of causing you any pains so i decided to contact you through this medium
.As you read this, I don't want you to feel sorry for me, because, I believe everyone will die someday.

My name is Anne Kasongo ,I have been diagnosed with Cancer that was discovered very late due to my laxity in caring for my health. It has
defiled all form of medicine and right now, I have only about a few monthsto live according to medical experts.
I have not particularly lived my life so well, as I never really cared for anyone not even myself but my business,i did not even bother having children.
Though I am very rich, But money cannot buy life, I only focus on my business as that was the only thing I cared for.

But now I regret all this as I now know that there is more to life than just wanting to have or make all the money in the world. I believe
when God gives me a second chance to come to this world I would live my life a different way from how I have lived it. Now that I
know my time is near,I have willed and given most of my properties and assets to my immediate and extended family members and as well as a few close
friends and Schools in South Africa. I have decided to give alms to charity organizations, as I want this to be one of the last good deeds I do on
earth. So far, I have distributed money to some charity organizations.
Now that my health has deteriorated so badly, I cannot do this myself any more. I once asked members of my family to close one of myaccounts and donate the money,
which I have there to charity, they refused and kept the money to themselves. Hence,
I do not trust them anymore, as they seem not to be
contented with what I have
left for them. The last of my money is deposited with
a Security Firm in Holland.
I will want you to help me collect this deposit and
dispatch it to charity organizations
and let them know that it is I ANNE KASONGO that
is making this generous donation.

I am writing this from my sick bed where I await my
time to come. I pray that God uses
you to support and assist me with a good heart.

NB: I will appreciate your utmost confidentiality in
this matter until the task is accomplished as I dont want anything that
will Jeopadize my last wish and i don't want my family members to know about this.

Thanks.

Yours Sincerely

Anne Kasongo