With this letter, I decided to take a new tack. Waste as much of the scammer's time as possible, then get him to turn himself in to the authorities. In the following exchanges, the scammer's messages have red headers, while my replies--written under the pseudonym "Dr. Tom Udo"--are in blue. To help you speed through here, only the important parts of the scammer's messages have been highlighted in red.
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From : john okafor (nwachinemere@epatra.com) Subject : This is the complete message. Date : Wed, 7 Aug 2002 22:59:19 +0530 X-Originating-IP: [206.48.17.53] |
I AM THE MANAGER BILL AND EXCHANGE OF THE FOREIGN
REMITTANCE DEPARTMENT OF BANQUE TOGOLAISE DE
DEVELOPPEMENT. I am writing following the impressive information about your profile through the website your capability and reliability to champion this opportunity. In my department, we discovered an abandoned sum of 20 million US dollars (twenty million US dollars). In an account that belongs to one of our foreign customers who died along with his entire family in September,1992 in a traggic motor accident . Since we got information about his death, we have been expecting his next of Kin to come over and claim his money because we can not release it unless somebody applies for it as next of Kin or relation to the deceased as indicated in our banking and financial policies but unfortunately we learnt that his supposed next of kin or relation died along side with him in the accident leaving no body behind to claim the money. It is therefore upon this discovery that I and other officials in my department now decided to make this business proposal to you and release the money to you as the next of kin or relation to the deceased for safety and subsequent disbursement since nobody is coming for it and we don t want this money to go into the Bank treasury as unclaimed bills. The Banking law and guideline here stipulates that if such money remained unclaimed after so many years, the money will be transferred into the Bank treasury as unclaimed fund. The request for a foreigner as next of kin in this business is occasioned by the fact that the customer was a foreigner and an indegine cannot stand as next of kin to the deceased family. We agreed that 20% of this money will be for you as foreign partner, in respect to the provision of a foreign account, 5% will be set aside for expenses incurred during this transaction and 75 % would be for me and my colleagues. There after I and my colleagues will visit your country for disbursement according to the percentages indicated. Therefore to enable the immediate transfer of this fund to you as arranged, you must apply first to the Bank as relation or next of kin of the deceased indicating your private, telephone and fax number for easy and effective communication and location where the money will be remitted. Upon receipt of your reply, I will send to you by fax or e-mail the text of the application. I will not fail to bring to your notice that this transaction is hitch free and that you should not entertain any atom of fear as all required arrangements have been made for the transfer. You should contact me immediately as soon as you receive this letter. I decided to contact you as you have products of interest in! your part of the world where we can invest our own p! ercentage to avoid peoples awareness as we are civil servants. We can conclude this operation within ten banking days. Please keep this very confidential. Contact me for more information, all confirmable before you apply if you want. May God be with you. Trusting to hear from you shortly for a detailed information which are confirmable before you can make up your mind to apply.
Peace and love always, |
What an impressive array of acronmys after Dr. J's name! He must get spammed by the same degrees-for-sale places that spam me too. And how amazing that he's selected me because of my online profile (as far as I know none exists). Oh well, I decide to yank his chain a bit: |
From : "Tommy Udo" To : nwachinemere@epatra.com Subject : Re: This is the complete message. Date : Wed, 07 Aug 2002 17:44:55 +0000 |
Dear Doc J, This is a very interesting proposition. I will be glad to assist you. However, a 20% share is much too small. After taxes, that would leave me with under $2 million. You advise this is a "hitch-free" transaction. Unfortunately, it is not, as I must misrepresent myself to a bank as next of kin to someone to whom I have no relation. If I correctly understand the Civil Code of Togo, then your banking regulations (cf. Art. 69, SS 314 of the 1992 version--the only one available to me) clearly state that if caught, I could be fined or imprisoned. I believe that the U.S. has an extradition treaty with Togo (you may remember the US vs. Morimoto court case a few years ago), and so by lying to the bank in this way, I am open to a great deal of personal risk. You and your colleagues, on the other hand, appear to risk nothing. I therefore counterpropose a 75% share for me, as I am the one taking most of the risk. It seems to me your choice is clear--refuse, and receive nothing, or accept and receive $5 million, which will no doubt make you the richest folks in Togo. Please let me know if these terms are amenable, and if so please provide me with the proper documents so that we may affect the transfer.
Sincerely,
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From : John Okafor (john_okafor1@yahoo.com) To : Tommy Udo Subject : It can be negociated Date : Wed, 7 Aug 2002 14:39:44 -0700 (PDT) Received: from web20414.mail.yahoo.com ([66.163.169.90]) Received: from [206.48.17.130] by web20402.mail.yahoo.com via HTTP; Wed, 07 Aug 2002 14:39:44 PDT Message-ID: (20020807213944.71487.qmail@web20414.mail.yahoo.com) |
PLEASE THIS IS THE SAME JOHN OKAFOR AS IN
nwachinemere@epatra.com BUT I OPNED THIS EMAIL ACCOUNT
FOR THE CONFIDENCIALITY OF THIS TRANSACTION SO ALL
YOUR FURTHER CORRESPONDANCE SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO THIS
ADDRESS. Dear Dr. Thomas Udo,
I understand your points,percentage should not be a
problem between us but i want you to know that we are
three here on our side to share out of that 75%
secondly we have also studied US banking regulation on
inheritance fund,we are not going to pay any taxes on
this fund because the deseased is not an American so
are to pay only 40% to the government when the fund is
in US.
As a matter of fact I can convince my colleagues so
that you will take 25% while we now share 70% amoung
us billsand 5% will be for expenses such as phone
calls, fax bills and any other expenses that may
arrise on the cause of this transaction. Please I will like you to call me as soon as you recieve this mail so that we will finalise this and get started.
Dr.John Okafor
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What the hell? This guy is going to argue over my share--of imaginary money??? Does he believe his own scam too much, or could it be...maybe...this is a true offer, and I'm letting the chance of a lifetime slip through my fingers? Could be, could be. |
From : "Tommy Udo" To : john_okafor1@yahoo.com Subject : Re: It can be negociated Date : Thu, 08 Aug 2002 12:22:26 +0000 |
Dear Dr. J, I think you fail to fully understand my concerns: to conclude this transaction, I HAVE TO LIE and say I am a next of kin. This opens me to the risk of FINES or JAIL. As far as I can tell you three share NO RISK WHATSOEVER. I'll lower my offer somewhat: 70% for me, 30% for you three. That's 10% a piece for you, or $2 million each. In Togo, that's a LOT of money--probably equivalent to $30 million in the US. But 70% for my services is as low as I am willing to go. Remember, because I AM BREAKING THE LAW, I stand great risk and deserve a much greater percentage. I think I am in a position to be of much service to you. Through shrewd investing, I have a net worth of over $80 million. I am *very* good friends with the president of my bank, who is in a position to help us expedite this transaction, I believe. In addition, next week my university is sending me to a conference vowel usage in Ouagadougou, Burkina Fasa. I could certainly drop by Togo if my presence would help the transaction. Where is the closest airport to you? I tried calling you at the number you gave, but have had no luck. I have alternatively received: (a) a "your call could not be completed as dialed", (b) a busy signal, and by altering one of the digits (c) a pizza parlor in some town called, I think Soutouboua. Do you have another phone number?
Sincerely, |
From : John Okafor (john_okafor1@yahoo.com) To : Tommy Udo Subject : See the way to reach me on phone. Date : Thu, 8 Aug 2002 10:20:05 -0700 (PDT) Received: from [66.163.169.92] with ESMTP id MHotMailBF1BF34600574136E85C42A3A95CB8930 Received: from [206.48.17.53] by web20404.mail.yahoo.com via HTTP |
Dear Dr. Tommy, Thank you for your repons to my mail.First of all I will like you to understand the proccess of this transaction and your roll,you have to call me to deliberate on the percentage.The nature of the transaction in details: My colleagues and I are members of the bank panel that will be charged to investigate the whole process of this inheritance fund transfer. We are to prepare the proof of kinship right here in the bank with the personal information that you will give us.We do not want to have any hitch in this transaction as a result of delays and in the process put USD20,000,000.00 at stake. We have been in the banking profession for years and know what can make a transaction of this kind to backfire. This will mean toying with our career which we don't want. *** You will send your application to the bank which will undergo some screening but you don't have to be afraid because me and my colleagues are also members of the pannel,we are there to protect you. *** Soon as your application is received, it will be processed and you will in turn receive your acknowledgement letter from the bank showingthereceipt of your application. *** The bank will stipulate in the acknowledgement letter the conditions with which this fund shall be swift transferred to your designated account in your country or as the case may be. Transfer charges will be deducted from the principal(USD20,000,000.00) and to be paid by none of the participants( owners of this transaction-You and us). *** In the application it will be stated that you will take care of transfer charges. This is a mere official protocol to get us protected. *** Now I think everything is very clear. We are only interested in getting the transaction successfully concluded. We know that our share of USD20,000,000.00 is enough for us to live comfortably till we die. Greed kills.
My Word:
1-Dr.John Okafor Nwachinaemere.
2-Dr.James Akouvi.
3-Mr.Richard Ogere Ayouvi
Your brother, |
Hey! He avoided the question of money. Dammit! I want my 70% |
From : "Tommy Udo" To : john_okafor1@yahoo.com Subject : Re: See the way to reach me on phone. Date : Thu, 08 Aug 2002 18:43:18 +0000 |
Dear Dr. J, I just tried again to phone you--it's NOT working. I followed the directions just as you said and I get a "Call cannot be completed as dialed." I tried calling the operator and having her help me. She got the same problem. She even managed to contact an operator in Togo, but she only babbled something in Dagomba at us and hung up. Do you have any other friends in the States whom you could have call you, to see if they have the same problem? Personally, I don't see why the phone is necessary. We can communicate fine over email. Plus, as I stated in my previous letter, I am more than happy to come visit you, as I will be passing through Burkina Faso next week. Please let me know where the airport in Togo is, and what a good time is to meet. I am a serious person, and you sound like a serious businessman, so I think we can conclude these proceedings much more efficiently face to face. I understand that you intend to have me pay the transfer fees. I assume that I can pay that from my share of the $20mil, and I am not required to front any money of my own? Speaking of my share...I still insist on 70%. Is this amenable? Please attach a copy of the application forms to your next message. I will fill them in with the relevant information and send them back.
Sincerely, |
I got to thinking about what he said--how greed kills--and so I wrote this one too: |
From : "Tommy Udo" To : john_okafor1@yahoo.com Subject : Re: See the way to reach me on phone. Date : Thu, 08 Aug 2002 18:47:36 +0000 |
Dear Dr. J, I have done some checking on Togo, and I see that government revenue for 1997 was $232 million. I am worried that by pulling off this scheme, since we're essentially defrauding the government of an amount equal to 10% of its gross revenue, that they might catch wind of it and try to stop us. Don't you think the government are eagerly awaiting the money to be defaulted to them? Won't they investigate to whom it's going? Like you said, "Greed kills" and I have no wish to end up dead.
Thanks, |
From : John Okafor (john_okafor1@yahoo.com) To : Tommy Udo Subject : Give me you number to call you. Date : Fri, 9 Aug 2002 00:51:00 -0700 (PDT) Received: from web20420.mail.yahoo.com ([66.163.169.96]) Received: from [206.48.17.130] by web20408.mail.yahoo.com via HTTP |
Dear Tommy Udo, I want you to give me your phone number to reach you,after which I will farward the text of application to you. Dr John Okafor. |
This guy really wants my phone number. OK, I'll give him a phone number. The number I'm giving him is that of the US Secret Service's Financial Crime Division, the department that handles 419-scam complaints. Calling it the "Financial Cram Division" is intentional--I assume this guy's going to be speaking heavily accented English, so it'll sound like "Crime" anyway. |
From : "Tommy Udo" To : john_okafor1@yahoo.com Subject : Re: Give me you number to call you. Date : Fri, 09 Aug 2002 12:00:45 +0000 |
Dear Johnny, OK, my phone # is (202) xxx-xxxx. This is the number to my side business (university professor doesn't pay all the bills, if you know what I mean), USSS Financial Cram Division. I don't have a direct phone number--all my calls get screened, and for security reasons I don't have a phone at home or at my University office--but this should help to keep our transaction confidential. I have NOT told them to expect your call (I want to keep this quiet). So when the secretary answers, just give her your full name, tell her you're calling from Togo, and say you need to report an "advance fee type 419 issue." She'll put you in touch with someone else. Explain to him that you're offering a business proposal, and need to speak to the guy in charge. That ought to do it for you. Email me if you have any trouble.
Sincerely, |
Dammit! He's not answering. Guess I need to prod a little:
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From : "Tommy Udo" To : john_okafor1@yahoo.com Subject : Re: Give me you number to call you. Date : Sat, 10 Aug 2002 20:04:03 +0000 |
Johnny, Do you want to do this thing or not? If you don't want to talk by email, then for god's sake give me a call on Monday. I need to get my travel plans together. I leave Thursday. Tom Udo |
Oh how I'd love to hear the conversation if he really makes the call. "Hello, this is John Okafor from Togo. I want to discuss a 419 issue with USSS Financial Cram." "Yes, Mr. Okafor, please go on." "I need to speak with Mr. Udo. He's helping me with a very large financial transaction." "Mr. Okafor, you do realize you're calling the Secret Service? Mr. Okafor? Hello?" |
From : John Okafor To : Tommy Udo Subject : Give me you number to call you. Date : Sun, 11 Aug 2002 09:06:56 -0700 (PDT) Received: from web20417.mail.yahoo.com ([66.163.169.93]) Received: from [62.56.189.81] by web20405.mail.yahoo.com via HTTP |
Tommy Udo, Give me your direct line to call you. John. |
Is this guy thick or what? I told him I have no direct line. Sigh.
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From : John Okafor (john_okafor1@yahoo.com) To : Tommy Udo Subject : After today no more with you. Date : Mon, 12 Aug 2002 08:36:07 -0700 (PDT) Received: from web20419.mail.yahoo.com ([66.163.169.95]) Received: from [206.48.17.130] by web20407.mail.yahoo.com via HTTP |
Dear Tommy, I try to call but the line is not through,I will wait for your call today,if you are serious try to call me but after today we will look for another person who will be serious,as I already told you that this transaction does not belong to me alone so my other colleagues are worried. John Okafor. |
From : "Tommy Udo" To : john_okafor1@yahoo.com Subject : Re: After today no more with you. Date : Mon, 12 Aug 2002 15:53:54 +0000 |
Now look here Johnny, This is not that difficult. I understand why I have trouble phoning you--you're in a third-world country with bad phone service. But I gave you a perfectly good number in the US. I don't know what your problem is. Ask the operator to dial the US for you and CALL THAT NUMBER. Good luck finding anyone else to help you who is willing to spend as much time and money as necessary to conclude this deal. I am still willing to visit you on my trip next week--BUT YOU NEED TO CONTACT ME AND TELL ME WHEN IS A GOOD TIME AND WHAT AIRPORT. I do not understand why these dealings cannot be concluded via email. Please try again. Tom |
And that's the end of that. I never heard back from Dr. J. Note that Johnny's messages originate from togogw1.togotel.net.tg, or Togo Telecom. This appears to be a Togo ISP. |