I have rec'd this email and felt you should be aware of it.

it came from
jonathanowo1 [jonathanowo@netscape.net]

I was concerned that it was more than a scam and was talking about real people.

here is the entire email as rec'd:
------------------------

Dear Sir,
ACT ACCORDINGLY AND PRIVATELY
I am Jonathan Owolabi the bills and exchange director at the African Express Bank Plc. Though I know that a transaction of this magnitude will make any one apprehensive and worried, but I am assuring you that everything has been taken care of and all will be well at the end of the day. I decided to contact you due to the urgency of this transaction.

MY PROPOSITION;
I am writing this letter to solicit for support and assistance from you to carry out this business opportunity in my department.Lying in an inactive account awaiting liquidation is the sum of USD $16.7million belonging to a foreign customer(Paul Hammond) who was an petroleum/gas consultant/contactor with the Nigeria National Petroleum coporation who happens to be deceased during a business trip. He died with his wife(Joan Hammond) on board the Swissair Flight 111 , which crashed into the Atlantic off Nova Scotia in september 2nd 1998.

The news of this crash was on the news which we have notified his relatives to no avail. See links below for more detail informaion:
http://cnnstudentnews.cnn.com/WORLD/9809/swissair.victims.list/

http://cnnstudentnews.cnn.com/WORLD/americas/9809/08/swissair.02/

http://cnnstudentnews.cnn.com/WORLD/americas/9809/05/swissair.transcripts/

Ever since he died the bank has been expecting his next of kin to come and claim these fund, the NDIC could not liquidate the account because I have filled a motion that a next of kin wrote in to the effect. To this effect, they can not release the money unless someone applies for it as next of kin, as indicated in our banking guideline.
Unfortunately he has no family member in Nigeria or Europe who are aware of the existence of the money(as he was a contractor with the federal Republic of Nigeria).

At this juncture i have decided to do business with you in collaboration with some officials in the bank, to this effect we solicit your assistance in applying as the next of kin and beneficiary to Paul Hammond then the money will be released to you. As we do not want this money to go into the bank treasury as an unclaimed bill,or our superiors taking the funds for their own personal use.

The banking law and guideline stipulates that if such money(s) remains unclaimed for a period of up to seven years(7yrs) the money will be transferred into the banks treasury as an unclaimed bill. Our request for a foreigner as next of kin is occasioned by the fact that the customer was a foreigner and a Nigerian cannot stand as next of kin. To effect the immediate transfer of the fund to you as agreed, you must apply first to the bank as the next of kin to the decease, The fund shall then be transferred to you legally in accordance to all laid down procedures governing closure of account and transfer of funds.
If you are willing to assist us, we have agree to give you 20 Percent of USD $16.7 million
Note that this transaction is legal,safe and 100% risk free.
Upon receipt of your reply which should includes the following:

1) Your Full Name
2) Your phone/fax numbers.

I will confidentially work out all modalities for the successful transfer of this money to you as the beneficiary, and send to you by fax or email attachement the text of the application, as soon as you receive the text I will further clarify you in details on how to effect the business.

Await to hear from you
Best Regards
Jonathan Owolabi.



___________________________________________________________________________
Mail sent from WebMail service at PHP-Nuke Powered Site
- http://www.prmag.com

This appears to be a scam. Thanks for posting it. I've brought it to the attention of the person that heads the swissair 111 family's association. It's pretty disturbing that it actually names a person that died on the flight. Definitely a scam. I've seen a ton of these.

Barbara

FAMILY MEMBERS OF FLIGHT 111- DO NOT EVER RESPOND TO THESE AND NEVER GIVE PERSONAL INFORMATION TO ANYONE YOU DON'T KNOW.

ANOTHER SCAM- I received this in my email today. This is really disgraceful.


From the desk of
> Mr.Clement Chi,
> Senior manager,
> Foreign Remittance,
> Nill Bank of Nigeria PLC,
> Lagos, Nigeria.
> Reply To: mrclementchi@masrawy.com
>
> Dear Friend,
>
> I sincerely write to seek your co-operation and trust to enable my
colleagues and I carry out an urgent business opportunity
in my
department.
>
> I work with the Nill Bank of Nigeria PLC; currently I am the senior
manager of bills and exchange at the foreign remittance
department of
my
bank. I was the account officer to one Mr. FORREST STEPHEN
DeMARTINO of
Sidney, Ohio United States of America. Who was involved in
an {AIR
CRASH}
that occurred on Jan Thursday 9th 2003 With an air craft
{US Airways
Express
Flight 5481 } which crashed Wednesday at Charlotte/Douglas
International
Airport, killing all 21 aboard passengers were involved as
you can
confirm
from the website below:
{http://www.thestate.com/mld/state/4904572.htm}
>
> I got your contact through the help of my sister-in-law that works
with
the American Chambers of Commerce and Tourism, due I did
not disclose
to her
my humble intention for an honest foreigner like you,
Having noted the
confidence reposed on your person by the sponsor of the
recommendation.
>
> He left in his domiciliary account the total sum of $25.5m,{Twenty
Five
million, five hundred thousand USA Dollars}. Since the
management got
the
information of his death we have been expecting any of his
relation or
his
next of kin to come up and claim his
> money.
> Below is his account information:
> ========================================
> Nill International Bank Nigeria Plc
> ACCOUNT NUMBER: 2342765709/784768
> ROUTING NUMBER: 2342657765
> CODE: NIB/LILLACWONG/99/05
> BENEFICIARY'S NAME:
> MR. FORREST STEPHEN DeMARTINO
> AMOUNT: $25.5 MILLION UNITED STATES DOLLARS
> ========================================
> Unfortunately, From the day of his death till the time of this letter
none
of his relation or friends has come up for the claim.The
banking and
financial law of Nill Bank of Nigeria PLC stipulates that
if such fund
remained unclaimed after a period of (2)Two years, it will
be
transferred
into the bank treasury as unclaimed bill. On this
discovery sir, I and
two
other senior staffs now decided to do business with you
and release the
money to you as the next of kin to Mr. FORREST STEPHEN
DeMARTINO for
safety
and subsequent disbursement. I will soon proceed for my
retirement
leave
this year, and I personally do not want this fund to be
transferred
into the
bank treasury as unclaimed bill.
>
> That is why I wanted the fund to be move out of the bank before I
proceed
on my retirement from the banking services by December
15th 2004.
> The need for a foreigner as next of kin in this project is occasioned
by
the fact that the customer Mr. FORREST STEPHEN DeMARTINO
was a
foreigner
and a Nigerian cannot stand as his next of kin or heir. We
have agreed
that
30% of the Fund would be for you as foreign partner;
thereafter my
colleague
and I will visit your country for disbursement according
to the
percentages
indicated.
>
> To enable the immediate transfer of the fund into your nominated
account,
you will first apply to the bank as the next of kin of the
deceased,
indicating your bank account number and location where in
the money
will be
remitted. Upon receipt of your acknowledgement indicating
your
interest, I
will send to you the text of the application that you will
send to the
Nill
Bank of Nigeria PLC authority for an approval to submit
your claims.
>
> Send your reply through my direct and Private:
mrclementchi@masrawy.com
>
> Indicate the following;
> 1. Your Full Names, Address Direct Fax and telephone numbers for
effective
communication that this transaction needs.
> 2. Your Banking details, include your Bank Names, Address, Bank
account
Number /swift code and bank routine number.
>
> Looking forward to urgently hearing from you.
>
> Yours Faithfully,
> Mr.Clement Chi.
>

This is absolutely disgraceful, for the lack of more colourful language. The world, I'm afraid, is teeming with parasites such as these
individuals. Their insensitivity and utter greed, especially when directed at the families of victims is atrocious, to say the least.

At our firm, we too have seen e-mails such as these, and BF is absolutely correct when she advises people to NOT respond to these "notifications".

J.O

Here is another one that was received by Mark:


Dear friend,

I am Mr Jotex fribong and i work with a bank (one of the African
leading banks in the West Coast).I am writing you following an
oppurtunity in
my office that will be of immensebenefit to both of us,in my department
we
discovered an abandoned sum of $30.5million United State Dollar (thirty
million
five hundred thousand United State Dollar)in an account that belongs to
one of
our foreign customers Late Mr.Morris Thompson an American who
unfortunately
lost his life in theplane crash of Alaska Airlines Flight 261 which
crashed on
January 31 2000, including his wife and only daughter. You shall read
more
about the crash on visiting this website.

http://www.cnn.com/2000/US/02/01/alaska.airlines.list/ and
http://www.nativefederation.org/history/people/mThompson.html

Since we got information about his death, we have been expecting his
next of
kin or relatves to come over and claim his money because the Bank
cannot
release the funds unless somebody applies for it as next of kin or
relation to the deceased as indicated in our banking
guidelines.Unfortunately I
learnt that his supposed next of kin being his only daughter died along
with
him in the plane crash leaving nobody with the knowledge of this fund
behind
for the claim. It is therefore upon this discovery that I and two other
officials in this department now decided to do business with you and
release
the money to you as the next of kin or beneficiary of the funds for
safety
keeping and subsequent disbursement since nobody is coming for it and
we don`t
want this money to go back into Government treasury as unclaimed bill.

We agreed that 40% of this money will be for you as foreign
partner,while the
balance will be for me and my colleagues. I will visit your country for
the disbursement according to the percentages indicated above once this
money gets into your account. Please be honest to me and trust is our
watchword in this transaction.

Note this transaction is confidential and risk free. As soon as you
receive this mail you should contact me by return mail
(contactjotex@sify.com)
whether or not you are willing to enter into this deal. In the event
you are
not interested, I sincerely ask that you disregard this email and tell
no one
about it. I am very careful on truncating my banking career should you
mention this to someone else.

I hope you can be trusted in this regard.Please note that all necessary
arrangement for the smooth release of these funds to you has been
finalised. We will discuss much in details when I do receive your
response.Please in your response include your Name, Telephone number
and Fax
number for a better communication between us.

Best Regard,

Mr Jotex fribong
contactjotex@sify.com

The horrible scams continue regarding swissair. I received this in my email today.

Direct Phone: +874-7629-18970
Direct Fax: +874-7629-18971
Direct Mobile: +882-1646-685796
Email: wilsondavvis@k.ro

Dear Sir,

I am Wilson Davis, a solicitor, and the personal attorney to Mr. Francois Hoel, who is the President/Chief Executive Officer of (HGMT) Hoel Incorporated France, Herein referred as my client. On the 2nd, of September 1998 at: 11:16 p.m. EDT (0316 GMT, Swissair Jetliner, with 229 passengers on board bound from New York JFK to Geneva, Switzerland, crashed catastrophically off the coast of Nova Scotia vanishes from radar near Nova Scotia Halifax, my client Mr. Francois Hoel, and his wife Mrs. Anne Sophie Hoel, with their three children Marie-Francoise Hoel, Olivia Hoel, Paul Edward Hoel, were involved in a horrific flight crash, 215 passengers and 14 crew members unfortunately lost their lives in the disastrous crash of Swissair Flight 111.May their gentle souls rest in glorious peace Amen.

However, I have taken it upon myself to trace the next of kin if possible claim the sum of US $85,500,000.00 (Eighty Five Million Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars Only), which is the total payable to the next of kin. The funds have already been withdrawn from Nat west Bank Manchester United Kingdom and boxed. My late client deposited this cash with a security company in Europe without them knowing the content of the boxes for security reasons.

If you are interested in the business, a quick arrangement for you to claim the funds will be made to avoid the cash being returned to EU Government as untraceable/unclaimed dividend. We cannot wait and see such amount of money wasting in the government coffer. This claim must be made not latter than three weeks time. After the business, each partner will be entitled to receive half of the money and I will then let you know how I am going to meet you in your country for investment discussion. Note, that this business is 100% legal, risk free and should be handled with utmost urgency and confidentiality.

You can reach me on my direct telephone, fax and mobile as indicated above without adding my country code.

NOTE:
All replies MUST be forwarded to this confidential e-mail address: wilsondavvis@k.ro

BEST REGARDS,
BARR. Wilson Davis

Website of Disaster:
http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/americas/9809/07/swissair.victims.list/index.html


The tragedy was caused by some greedy individuals with no conscience, and it continues to attract those that are unscrupulous.

A reminder again that these are scams.

I reported this to AOL, but they never do anything about it.

Two years later, I found a mail from a guy claiming to have the inheritance of a family that died on an Alaska Airlines crash.

And I have an idea on how to punish the scammers!

419eater has instructions on how to "bait" these scammers. More or less one makes a Gmail account with a fake name and location and e-mails the scammer, pretending to be interested in the scheme. The goal is to waste the scammer's time and infuriate him (if this means making him wait at the airport, or go to Western Union to get a nonexistant wire transfer).

See: http://www.419eater.com/html/baiting.htm

In Response to Vincent:

"Two years later, I found a mail from a guy claiming to have the inheritance of a family that died on an Alaska Airlines crash."

Alright, I hope the community of this forum didn't take my "Falling From You" post for SCAM. I could understand though - and it would explain, why we didn't get any reply. However, anyone who follows the link included will find out...

Fair winds,

nick.

Nick, Another family member and myself, tried to get the song, but couldn't. Thanks for posting.

Barbara

Barbara,

I'm very sorry, that's embarrassing...

We've already talked to our system administrator, please try again soon.

Thank you & best wishes,

Nick.

quote:

Alright, I hope the community of this forum didn't take my "Falling From You" post for SCAM. I could understand though - and it would explain, why we didn't get any reply. However, anyone who follows the link included will find out...

Oh, the description of the scam about the Alaska Airlines crash did not originate from this forum, and it has nothing to do with SevenSeas's post. It was from a spam mail sent to an account I set up.

I am "baiting" the scammer as I type.

The mail reads:
"... Good Day Sir/Madam,

I am keith Harrison.personal Attorney to Ronald Lake and Joyce Lake who
used to work with Frank Howard Allen Realtors. On the 31st of January
2000, my client and his wife were involved in a Plane Crash (Alaska
Airlines Flight 261) all passengers unfortunately lost their lives, since
then I have made several enquiries to locate any of my clients extended
relatives but this proved unsuccessful. ..."

Vince, I recently saw something on MSNBC where they were catching these scam artists. They couldn't really do anything to them, but they certainly freaked a few of them out when they called them on their criminal behavior. Good luck with what you are doing.

Barbara

After some dialog with the con artist, he sent me a fake death certificate for the Lakes...

These 419 con men LOVE to send fake documents to make the victims believe that the deal is real. Sometimes the scammers open fake websites.

By the way, 419 is the Nigerian criminal code for an act of fraud, and advance fee fraud is often referred to as "419."

http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/consumersmarts/archives/125509.asp

Phuong Cat Le, a writer for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, noticed the scheme too.

I e-mailed her telling her about how I baited a fraudster. The correspondence seems to be over (for some reason one account bounces back e-mails and another is giving me no responses), but this was hilarious - I love how he got impatient with me about sending "Documents" (birth certificate, medical certificate - just ruses to make me think the deal is real) - I had him talk to a "doctor" (me using a different e-mail account) who sent him a really fake-looking certificate. I can't believe how stupid this guy is.

Do you want me to post the correspondence?

Vince, sure, please do post it. Have you checked out MSNBC's show, 'To catch a criminal' or something like that? They are exposing these guys. Thanks.

I just got a response from one of the accounts used by the scammer - Apparently the other account hasn't said anything, and it seems like this particular guy takes awhile to respond to what I say.

Anyway, I'll wait until I know it is over before posting it

Okay, I had several months of groping and wrangling with the scammers. They e-mailed me every so often days and I couldn't understand what they wanted at first. When I finally got the request for money, I forged a Western Union transfer slip. When they realized that there was no money, I saw demands for a corrected slip, complete with entertaining headers like "TIME IS RURNING OUT."

I decided to make a plot twist - A lawyer tells the barrister that Pl4c1d L4k3 (my original "victim" character) died in a boating accident and that her inheritance is up for grabs in a contest.

The barrister's response to that: "fuck you................." - The guy waited two months for a payday he never saw! If he still replies, it will be even more fun - more time wasting. If not, well, I wasted two months of his time.