Monday, September 8, 2008

This is Getting Funny

I, like many others, have received numerous emails from Nigeria, Ocean Bank, Gabon and so on, all purporting to want to send me millions of dollars or have me share in millions of dollars of tied up funds simply by becoming a conduit. They are, of course, scam emails. I just delete them, usually without reading them.

However, I happened to read down through this one and found it humorous (not that the writer was trying to be) for the effort the scammers are putting forth trying to conjure up a different angle. Here is the email in its entirety:


Federal Ministry of Finance.
Directorate of International Payment.
Liaison Office - Africa.

This email is to notify you about the release of your outstanding payment which is truly $4.7 million. The Federal Government scheduled a time frame to settle all foreign debts which includes Contract/Inheritance/Gambling/Lottery and other internal loans. News had it that over the past, numerous individual(s) who happen to be impostors (claiming to be individuals, banks and organizations) are claiming to release numerous sums of fund via numerous ways.

With the help of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission we have
noticed that you have being asked to pay outrageous amount of money by these impostors for the transfer of your funds to you. We want you to stop all communication that has to do with these fraudsters who have been requesting unreasonable sums of money from you to release your funds which they do not have access to.

We have received a mandate and instructions of the President, Federal
Republic of Nigeria: Umaru Yar'Adua (GCFR) together with the EFCC Nigeria, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to commence the immediate release of your funds through one of the following payment options stated below depending on your choice:

1. Payment via Automatic Teller Machine (ATM card): This where you

will be sent an Automatic Teller Machine card also known as ATM card
(Debit Card issued by MasterCard). Upon receipt of your ATM card you
will be allowed to withdraw $10,000.00 per day by default and you are
given the option to increase the withdrawal limit of your card to a
range of $20,000.00 if you want.

2. Certified Cashiers Check or Bank Draft: In this case you will be

sent a certified bank draft or check signed in your favor which you
will deposit in your bank for it to be cleared within 3 to 5 working
days at most depending on your bank.

You are advised to select one out of the two options on how you wish
to receive your $4.7 million. Your ATM card or Check/Bank Draft will
be shipped via Fedex Shipping Company and would get to you within 2
to 3 working days at most.

DO NOT SEND MONEY TO ANYONE UNTIL YOU READ THIS: The actual fees for
shipping your ATM card is $96.99 but because Fedex have temporarily discontinued the C.O.D which gives you the chance to pay when package is delivered for international shipping as stated on their website:
http://fedex.com/us/international/irc/profiles/irc_ng_profile.html?gtmcc=us#C10

We had to sign contract with them for bulk shipping which makes the fees reduce from the actual $96.99 to $73.95 nothing more and no hidden fees of any
sort!

You are advised to contact the dispatch officer responsible for the
shipping of your Check or ATM card with the following information for shipping of your payment Check or ATM card.

Dispatch Officer: Michael Grizla
Email:
michaelgrizla@gmail.com
Tel: +234-234-702-638-5998 and 011-234-702-638-5998


And provide him with the following information:


Your full Name...

Your Address:................

Home/Cell Phone:...................

Preferred Payment Method (Check or ATM):................


The dispatch officer will provide you with instructions on how you
are to make payment of the $73.95 only for the shipping of your ATM card or Cashiers Check.

This measure is intended to stop the impostors you have erroneously
been dealing with. You are to adhere strictly to the instructions above for more information contact the dispatch officer.

Remember that you are not paying any fees extra no matter what. Once again note that the actual Fedex Retail Price: $96.99 Your Price (Because of our contract signed): $73.95 ($23.04 Savings!).

Yours sincerely,
Mr. Jerry Lisbon

Cc: Senate President

Cc: All Foreign Payment Offices



Note: don't ever reply to emails like this. Delete them right away.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I to have just received this stupid email and if they will get me to believe that you can withdraw $10,000 from a teller machine then I have got to be the most gullible person. I even received some return emails from this Micheal Grizla and He depicts his self as a sincere, honorable person but really, $4.7 Million, OMG! I looked up the place where the money would go and they look like they could use the $4.7 million more that I could and I am in financial distress now so how can they possibly give me that amount of funds when they need it. Call it what you want, I also found this very amusing and will not be responding because if he is dealing with that amount of money then he can send me the funds and I will send him back $20,000 for trusting me. Wow! Now that is a deal and it will still leave me plenty to help others. God Bless!

Jeff Howe said...

Unfortunately, people will respond to these emails and that's why they are still around. When you consider that millions of spam emails are sent out daily, a return of 1/8 of 1% (insignificant by regular advertising standards) is over a thousand people, and these frauds have little to no overhead (from a business point of view). So that's why scamming is profitable. Blessings to you too.

Anonymous said...

I've been scammed not once, but twice because they came nearly back to back and I had had no prior experience with on-line scammers. I thought this was a Godsend since I am now raising four of my grandchildren alone. It cost me close to $3,000 for the two scams. What's that compared to millions...right? Beware of a Reverend Jude, and a British lottery.

Jeff Howe said...

God bless you in your efforts to raise the grand kiddies. Hope you have recovered from the scams. It's an expensive way to learn, eh?

Anonymous said...

thank you jeff, for saving me the time and money. I too just received this email, It just tells me what my father use to say...if its too good to be true...then its probably is...I really do appreciate it....

Jeff Howe said...

Best to ya! Jeff

Anonymous said...

i not to long ago received an email from the Yahoo Lottery claiming that i have won a large sum of money...In the email they asked me to send my account information and I did...That was over a year and a half ago...So when I get this email scam and any others, Im far to experienced to even read them...It so hard to believe that we have people like this who go to bed without a conscience. I feel very sorry for those who fall for things like this....I doubt if anybody will touch my account but if anybody asks for your personal info over the internet and you don't know them please don't follow them into a possibly major trap...God bless

Jeff Howe said...

Personal information via email, internet or telephone should not be given out. Thanks for relating. I just posted another scam that has been emailed to me. I hadn't seen it before, so I guess it's new. Take care, Jeff