Nigerian Scam: "Barely literate UK barrister" variant
Posted May 25th, 2008 by Murray @ ulblog
Filed under: Email Scams, False
Tags: 419 scam, advanced fees fraud, email, nigerian scam, scam
Barry Williams, Supreme Universal Skeptic Of The 12th Magisterial Order [1], has sent in another interesting variant of the infamous Nigerian Scam.
As Barry mentions in his email:
Murray
I despair for the continuing deterioration of literacy among barristers admitted to the bar in the UK.
Barry
I can understand Barry’s emotional distress, since the email asks you to believe that it has been sent by a barrister located in the UK, while simultaneously being pockmarked with a truly impressive variety of misspellings and grammatical errors.
Aside from the UK barrister detail, this variant is pretty standard for a Nigerian Scam:
- Someone has passed away who had access to buckets of money
- The person who now has access to the money needs a co-conspirator to get the money out of the country
- The reward for being of help is generous beyond all expectation (35% of $9.5 million is $3.3 million and some small change — not a bad return if the money ever existed)
- You need to supply your contact details so further details can be sent
Of course, what really happens if you send your details is a complex confidence game in which you are constantly promised that you are about to receive a very large sum of money but not before some ‘unexpected fees’ are paid, to which you will be asked to contribute. Once these ‘fees’ are paid, more ‘fees’ will arise, and still more, until you are unwilling or, in many cases, unable to provide any more money into the scam.
Dear Sir/Madam,
This letter might surprise you because,we have not met
neither in person nor by correspondence. But I believe
it is one day that you get know somebody either in
physical or through correspondence.
I am Barrister Joe Goodmann, an attorney to late
Richard Lim (foreigner) who is an Engineer with
Kvaerner Oil & Gas Limited, United Kingdom here. Late
Richard Lim has an account with Citibank International
Plc, United Kingdom.
I received a memo early this year from the Bank
remittance department for an interview about $9.5M USD
that belongs to my client Late Richard Lim ,the bank
informed me on their policy to freeze the account of
Late Richard Lim,I was asked to redirect the ($9.5m
USD) back to government treasury because they saw no
Next of Kin in his entire file within the bank and his
account has been dormant for years which is against
the policy of the Bank.
I am contacting you because of the need to involve a
foreigner as the foreign beneficiary to that fund. I
have resolved to share the money in this ratio.
(1) 50% for me.
(2) 35% for you.
(3) 10% for the remittance manager in the bank who has
agreed to guide us for the success of our objectives.
(4) 5% for any expenses both party might incur during
the processing of this transaction.
I will need your full name and address including
telephone and fax number for the internal processing
of the fund transfer and the internal processing of
the required documents to back up our claim on receipt
of all the required information from you which was
given above.
I will give you further details on the entire process
when I receive your positive response.
Thanks and I wish to have a long and profitable
relationship with you!
Regards,
Barrister.Joe Goodmann.
N/B: send your reply-to< barr.jgmann1@yahoo.ie >
Footnotes:
| 1. | And owner-operator of the Barry Williams Blog. |
| Return |
