Here's a great exchange from a Sierra-Leone scammer. I answered him as "Hoo Flung Poo," author and dry cleaning store operator. Unfortunately, Mr. Poo's spelling and grammar are rather bad. In the following exchanges, the scammer's messages have red headers, while mine are in blue. In order to speed you through, I've highlighted the important bits of the scammer's text in red.

Like the previous scam, I tried to see if I could weasel the scammer's bank account information from him. It didn't work, but at least I was able to waste this guy's time.

From: "rolandofuku@yahoo.com" (bipalet@yahoo.fr)
Date: lun., 17 juin 2002 17:24:51
Subject: assitance
Received: from host-64-110-146-61.interpacket.net (64.110.146.61)
Dear sir,

I write to solicit your assistance for a transaction of mutual benefit, and I believe that you will treat this with utmost confidence. I implore you excuse me of any embarrassment this letter might cost you, as we have not met before.

I am ROLAND It happens that five months ago , my father who was the chairman of the committee set up by the SIERRA-LEONE GOVERNMENT to monitor the revenue generation from the sales of DIAMONDS, he died after engaging in a motor accidents on his way home from a national conference in Freetown. He was admitted in the hospital for eight (8) days before he finally died, while I was with him in the hospital , he disclosed a secret to me which I am about to share with you. Before my father finally died in the hospital, he told me that he has $16 million cash in a truck box coded and deposited in a security company as a BONDED SHIPMENT. He said that the security company is not aware of it's contents, that on producing a documents which am now in possession of it, I will only have to pay the demurrage, after which the box will be released to me.

He further advised me not to collect the money without the assistance of a foreigner who will open a local account in favour of his company for onward transfer of the funds to his nominated overseas account where i can peacefully invest the money. He said as a civil servant, I AM NOT SURPOSED TO OWN SUCH MONEY? AND I would face lots of problems at the bank if I try to deposit the funds in my name without the assistance of a foreigner.

It is in view of this that I have decided to contact you for assistance with the following conditions:

1)That this transaction is treated with utmost confidence, and absolutely secret which it demands.
(2) That the money would be transferred to an account where the incidence of taxation would not take much toll.
(3) You would have 20% of the total funds for your assistance while 5% will be for your expanses you would have incurred .

Please, contact me Immediately if you can be of assistance. I am at the moment now in ABIDJAN IVORY COST, you can call me at once with my direct number 225 05863244 to enable you get through when calling, make sure you do not exclude any digit from the numbers. (225 is the country code), (05 is the area code).

For confidentiality sake, please do not send me mail, the email address is not a private one until I give you my direct private email but give me a call first so that we will arrange for a better communication. Thanks for your coo-operation

YOURS SINCERELY

ROLAND

Well, which is it? Roland, Rolando, or Willy? Hmmm...

Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2002 07:19:06 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: assitance
To: "rolandofuku@yahoo.com" (bipalet@yahoo.fr)
Dear ROLAND,

Thanking you much for your reply! I am owning small dyr cleaning busines and could use the mooney for to buy new machines to make more money so i can bring my father to this cuntry from Korea.

I talk to my bank and they say to tranfer money they are wanting to know your account number in sierra Lion and that way they can expect you to be sneding me the money can you do that? Also maybe i use some money to publishing my book "Brown Spots on the Wall."

I am looking forward to this wonde3rful business opportunity. Sorry if my enlish is not so good what do they speka in sierra?

Thanking you again,
Hoo Flung Poo

Note that in the following letter, Roland ignores Mr. Poo, and responds instead to the fake name on my Hotmail account--Tom Udo.

Date: Sat, 22 Jun 2002 14:41:44 +0200 (CEST)
From: "willy bipalet" (bipalet@yahoo.fr)
Subject: Re: assitance
Received: from web20307.mail.yahoo.com (216.136.226.88)
Message-ID: (20020622124144.7522.qmail@web20307.mail.yahoo.com)
Received: from [216.148.246.134] by web20307.mail.yahoo.com via HTTP; Sat, 22 Jun 2002 14:41:44 CEST
Hello Tom,
thank you very much for your mail and i really appreciate your zeal to be of assitance to me but it seem that you don't really understand the nature of my mail to you, sending you the funds now is not what i ask for but how to get it is the most important thing, at the moment am in Abidjan, in the Ivory Coast west of Africa, now we will need to get to spain to get the money out, this was why i asked you to assit me to get to Spain, if you will like to go check everything out in Spain before you assit me to get there it's fine with me, but have it in mind that i will like to be there with you when the transaction takes place. tell me now if you will be able to assit me in this area. please include your tel. Number in your reply to be next time,
waiting to hearing from you very soon.
Roland

Date: Sun, 23 Jun 2002 16:37:46 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: assitance
To: "willy bipalet" (bipalet@yahoo.fr)
Hello Roland,

I am not Tom. he work for me in my dry cleaning business. i borrow his email to write to you. Tom he tell me all the time "Hoo, you better watch out. these african guys is bad news and they take all your money and do bad things to you." I tell him go fuck off and then i throw bleach in his face cause nobody talk to me that way. i fix himn good one these days. pansy bedwetter just go back in store and cry and wash bleach from face. i probably fire him soon anyway. stoopid hillbilly always talking about the nascar instead of cleaning clothes like i ask.

I guess i didn't udnerstand too much the nature of your email cause my english not so good. i very sorry. i am wanting very much to helping you get to Speen. but i am too busy running dry clean store, so i no have tiime to check investment myself. maybe i help you out. can i send you money for to go to Spaan? I have account with $20,000 US that i supposed to pay to governemnt for something called "social security tax" byut i no wanna pay, so i put in in bank instead. stoopid governemtn. next time they come to my store i fix them good. they always nosing around telling me "Hoo you got to dispose of waste in environemtnally firendly manneer." i say fuck environment, wheat has it ever done for me??

Anyway, if you send me account mnumber of your bank account, i can be transferring to you whatever you need to go to spain, as long as you promise i get it back when we done with deal. that ok with you?

wishing you much happiness,

Hoo Flung Poo

Date: Mon, 24 Jun 2002 12:52:23 +0200 (CEST)
From: "willy bipalet" (bipalet@yahoo.fr)
Subject: Re: assitance
Received: from web20301.mail.yahoo.com (216.136.226.82)
Message-ID: (20020624105223.35283.qmail@web20301.mail.yahoo.com)
Hello Hoo Flung Poo,
really i don't know what you want me to believe, why will you use your friend email address to write me ?? anyway what ever the reason i will want you to take me very serious, this business has something to do with my future, if you really mean to assit me please don't play cames with me, i don't have a bank account, the only way i can get money is by western union Money transfer, to tell you that an really this was the reason why i wanted us to meet in spain so that you will see things for yourself and we can move from their, but if you will want to send my money to go to spain then send it by westren union money transfer. please give me your tel. # or call me on this tel # +22505863244, dial as quoted.
waiting to hearing from you soon.
Roland.

Date: Tue, 25 Jun 2002 12:42:47 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: assitance
To: "willy bipalet"
Hello roland,

> really i don't know what you want me to believe, why
> will you use your friend email address to write me

I no have computer of my own and when i tried to get my own email yahoo wouldnt let me. so tom let me use his. must be kind of like you-roland-and this willy bipalet who let you use his.

> my future, if you really mean to assit me please don't
> play cames with me, i don't have a bank account, the

i dont play games, iwant to make money big. you no have bank account? ha ha, you should come to this country. i from korea and they let me have bank account even though yahoo no let me have email. yahoo racist bastards just becuase i come form Korea. Well I fix them good too. they come inna my shop for dry clean, i spit on their clothes that what i do.

> spain then send it by westren union money transfer.

i look in phonebook, but there is no western union here. there is western steakhouse, and western boot shop, and northwest air, but no western union here where i live in Upper Buttcrack, kentucky. stoopid hillbilly rednecks. you have any idea how hard it is to get cow shit out of clothes? real fucking hard, that how hrd!

> please give me your tel. # or call me on this tel #
> +22505863244, dial as quoted.

I dial number you give me and i get pizza store in town. They say they no have a roland or willy bipalet that work there. i think i dial wrong number, so i redial again and get them again and they yell at me and call me stupid chink. fucking italians, i fix them good next. i come over and piss in their pizza dough that what i do.

roland, why you no give me good phone number. are you making fun of me for korean? that not very nice, especially when i want give you money goto spain. you give me right phone number this time ok?

wishing hapenis on you,
Hoo Flung Poo

I wonder what finally gave it away. Did Roland show this email message to a less-moronic-than-he buddy who tipped him off that "Hoo Flung Poo" probably isn't a real name? Or was he just upset that I called him on the Roland/Willy thing? Either way, Roland/Willy's final message to me makes Mr. Poo's writing style seem almost erudite. I'm still not sure what this all means:

Date: Tue, 25 Jun 2002 23:14:08 +0200 (CEST)
From: "willy bipalet" (bipalet@yahoo.fr)
Subject: surpirse!!!!!
Received: from web20304.mail.yahoo.com (216.136.226.85)
Message-ID: (20020625211408.73065.qmail@web20304.mail.yahoo.com)
Received: from [216.148.244.38] by web20304.mail.yahoo.com via HTTP;
hello Tom, now i know that you are a horse shit, when things were OK with me and my father was still alive, people like you were house keepers in our house never mind, one day i will meet you and will fix your dry clearing house of shit really good. this is why you can never do anything good even getting a yahoo mail is too hard a task for you to do. see in heelll money ASSS

Needless to say, no further messages were received.

Note that the IP addresses in RolandoWilly's messages trace back to proxys.sjc.marketscore.com. This appears to be a company offering a "No Cost Internet Accelerator that allows them to surf the Internet up to 100% faster. Enjoy faster Internet speed, at work or at home, with a dial-up connection or a high-speed connection."

This is probably about as legitimate as a 419 scam, and seems to be blocking his true originating IP address behind this proxy server.

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