Yet another scam

[OkeeDon]

Just received this one. The twist is that the person with the locked up funds conveniently has the same last name as me. This one appeals to the little bit of larceny that lives in the hearts of most people -- why not pose as the missing relative? If there are no other relatives, who will it hurt? It's a variation on the old truism that the easiest person to con is a person who is willing to con others.

From: KOJO LUCAS & ASSOCIATES
ACCRA - GHANA

Dear Don Horner,

I am Mr. Kojo Lucas, an attorney at law. I am the personal attorney to
Mr. Richard Horner, a national of your country, who lived and worked with
AGMC, a Gold mining firm in Accra - Ghana.

On the 18th of September 2004, my client was reported dead, He was killed
while on a Trade Mission to the Cote d'ivoire during the civil war there.
My enquiries revealed that his vehicle was ambushed by Boake rebels who
mistook him for a Government mercenary.

I have contacted you to assist in repatriating the money and
property left behind by my client before they get confiscated or
declared unserviceable by the Bank where this huge deposit was
lodged. Particularly, one bank in London where the deceased had an
account valued at about 9.8 million dollars has issued me a
notice to provide the next of kin or have the account
Confiscated within the next twenty one official working days.
Since I have been unsuccessful in locating the relatives, I now
seek your consent to present you as the next of kin of the
deceased since you have the same last name so that the Proceeds
of this account valued at 9.8 million dollars can be paid to
you.

If you agree, we can discuss your percentage. I have all
necessary Legal documents that can be used to back up any claim
we may make. All I require is your honest cooperation to enable
us seeing this deal through. I guarantee that this will be
executed under a legitimate arrangement that will protect you
from any breach of the law.

Thanking you for your anticipated cooperation.


I am awaiting your response.
Best regards,

Kojo Lucas, Esq

 

[Spiffy1]

That's a new one to me. What they don't come up with!

 

[JimR]

I'd email the scumbag and tell him you'll do it. Don't give him any personal info other than your address. Then after he sends the fake check, email him that his portion is on the way. The more emails he sends about the check, keep replying, the checks in the mail.

 

[OkeeDon]

Well, I did reply. Here's what I sent:

Dear Mr. Lucas;

I have excellent news for you! My uncle Richard was indeed reported dead after that unfortunate ambush in which his vehicle was shot to pieces. However, I just recently heard from him, and he is alive! He as taken hostage by the rebels and held for ransom. A condition of his ransom was that no one, not even his attorney, could be informed that he was still alive. The ransom was arranged strictly by my Father, his brother, who is his closest family member.

Unfortunately, I'm afraid that the bulk of his assets, including the $9.8 Million in the London bank, along with some securities and two of his properties, were used to secure his freedom.

Uncle Richard is resting comfortably at our estate, and is beginning to recover from his ordeal. I have conveyed to him your message. He feels certain that the only reason why you are attempting to gain access to his account is to obtain the fees he still owes you for your legal services, approximately $600,000, according to him.

Accordingly, he has requested my Father to pay you your fees. Father has agreed to do so, and has asked me to handle the negotiation, since we are so conveniently already in communication with one another.

The only problem is, the funds available to my Father to handle this debt are in the form of a bearer bond on a large, international company with a current value of approximately $2 Million. Because we don't want the world at large to know that Uncle Richard is actually alive, we cannot cash the bond and send you the funds.

What I propose is this: If you agree, I will send the bearer bond certificate to you. You may cash it or keep it as you wish, but I would strongly advise keeping it, as the value is sure to appreciate soon, as the international company is about to make an outstanding announcement of a new venture. Regardless, you should deduct your fee from the value of the bond, keep an additional 30% for your trouble, and wire the balance back to us by Western Union. This would amount to $600,000 for your fees, an additional $600,000 for your trouble, and the balance of $800,000 returned to us.

Because this is a bearer bond, you will not need any identification to turn it into cash proceeds. The only complication I can see is that it normally takes 5 days for the proceeds of such a security transaction to be released, and we will require our balance of the funds immediately. Uncle Richard tells me yours is a particularly successful law firm; however, and I'm certain you won't have any problem obtaining the funds until the proceeds of the bearer bond are released.

We,of course, are taking what may be considered an enormous risk in sending you the bearer bond. Uncle Richard has assure Father and I, however, that you are an honorable man and can be trusted to return the difference to us.

Our personal attorney, however, is not as certain, and has suggested that we make one more minor addition to these terms. In order to show good faith, to indicate your willingness to engage in this transaction, and to establish that you really are Uncle Richard's attorney, we request that you send a token payment of $500 to us immediately. You may make the deposit directly into my PayPal account using my EMail address.

Thank you,

Don Horner
Acting in Good Faith for Dear Old Uncle Richard Horner

 

[Junkman]

Don.......... you missed your calling..... you should be a screen writer in Hollywood... Junk.

 

[OkeeDon]

Or I should heve been born in Nigeria.

 

[BigAl]

Geez Don ! I am so happy for your family ! I hope good ole uncle Richard lives for many more years. What a terrible ordeal !!!!
Anyway enough about the ole coot . If Mr Lucas does indeed come through for you , can you please have him get ahold of me ASAP . I got some cheap ocean front property in Nevada ,that he would just love .Cheap too!!!

 

[JimR]

Good reply Don. I'm sure you have heard the last from him.

 

[beds]

Classic, Don! get some pictures from him, or some good bits to post for us! I'd be apprehensive about using your legitimate email account. Set up some bogus one. I had one that was salmon_rushdie@maktoob.com (an Arabic webmail site for irony) and then posted on guestbooks that had been marked with the mugu.

 

[OkeeDon]

Classic, Don! get some pictures from him, or some good bits to post for us! I'd be apprehensive about using your legitimate email account. Set up some bogus one. I had one that was salmon_rushdie@maktoob.com (an Arabic webmail site for irony) and then posted on guestbooks that had been marked with the mugu.

The only reason I used my real name and email address is because he already had it; his email was sent to my address, and opened with my full name. It is, however, my open email address (the one I use for anyone); I have others that are more private.

I registered a domain name, created a web site, and registered it through a proxy so no one could tell who owned the site (a service of GoDaddy), all so I could create any number of totally private email accounts. Then, stupid GoDaddy screwed up and dropped the proxy for some reason; they sent me an email saying they had "complied with my request". I protested, but it was too late -- the registration is now open, and the site is useless for the purpose I set it up. Fortunately, I only took the domain name a year at a time at a discount rate, and it doesn't cost me anything to set up additional websites under my multi-user account.