Nigerian Advance Fee Fraud Victim Statement Involving Marked Currency
I read the letter below and, because I wasn't aware of such a scam, foolishly believed it and replied.
He responded back in a very convincing way, so I thought I could believe that he was to give me 30% of $40 million dollars if I helped him bring the funds to Europe and help him invest his portion.
Every follow-up letter seemed even more convincing and after actually speaking with him I came to believe it was real. Finally he asked me to go to Amsterdam to have the funds released into my name for transfer to my account in Italy.
He said he was going to pick me up at the airport in Amsterdam but there was no one waiting for me. I called him and he said he was busy and that I should take a taxi to a hotel.
Three hours later I opened the door to find a tall and very well-dressed black man with another black individual, with the title of Doctor, that I later discovered was supposedly a chemist.
Douglas hugged me with a "Hello, my friend!" greeting filled with warmth and sincerity. Again, everything seemed so real.
He explained that for the release of the funds the security company wanted $38,000 USD and although he was only able to collect $35,000 he said he had made an agreement with the company whereby they would bring one of the two trunk boxes, which contained $20 million dollars, and we would pay them the remaining $3000 directly from the funds. That seemed to be a perfect idea to me.
He gave the $35,000 to this doctor and told him to go to the security company for the release of the consignment. While Douglas and I stayed in the hotel room, waiting for the doctor to come back, we talked about our families, religion, and other very "nice" things. He was so pleasant and good-natured anyone would think he was a decent man.
Two hours later the chemist came back with another black person carrying a normal travel case. He sit down and asked who the beneficiary was. I said it was me, so he asked me to show him my passport which I did.
Then he took out some documents from a folder and asked me to sign them which I did. He then asked for the balance owing, and Douglas said there was a person who was going to bring the money in a few minutes.
The courier then become upset, saying that this was not the agreement, and that his boss would be upset with him if he didn't come back with the $38,000 USD.
Douglas started imploring him to wait for just ten minutes in the hallway and after some other terse words the man agreed and left the room. I was getting nervous because I realized that things were not going as smoothly and as risk-free as Douglas stated in the beginning.
He and the chemist then opened the trunk, and inside was a locked metallic galvanized case. The chemist asked for the combination to which Douglas replied "431".
The doctor opened the case and inside there was a strange container packed in foam which he took out, revealing the money below, hundreds of stacked US dollars, which filled the entire case.
Then our focus went to the strange container.
There was a bottle inside and when they examined it they remarked, with dismay, that the solution inside had almost entirely solidified; leaving only a very small portion liquid.
I asked what it was and the doctor explained that it was a chemical compound called Lactima Base 98%, used for cleaning the money.
I thought, here is another thing that Douglas didn't tell me; so I asked him to explain further.
He said that for security reasons all the bills had been marked with a stamp which invalidated them and that the liquid is used to remove the stamp.
He planned to wash $3,000 to pay the balance to the Security Company man, but there was only enough left to wash $200. This was confirmed by them actually cleaning two bills in front of me. Everything seemed so real!
Douglas calling someone on his phone, shouting that the liquid had hardened in the bottle. Then he said to me he was stymied and he didn't know what to do.
I was scared, but my mind was still working on how to resolve the thing. I suggested we call in the courier and tell him the person who should have brought the balance couldn't make it, then ask him to return the case until we had the money to retrieve both cases.
The courier returned and again was upset, but finally decided to do what I proposed. After saying that he wanted to be sure the man actually went back with the consignment to the security company, Douglas went with him.
But not before, as a perfect IDIOT, I said that I could raise at least $1500 USD using my credit cards. So off I went to the center of Amsterdam accompanied by the doctor to get cash advances at various ATMs.
Successful, we went back to the hotel and met Douglas, who said he had acquired the remaining money needed, took mine, and went off to the Security Company while I stayed at the hotel with the chemist who brainstormed that we had to somehow liquefy the solution to do the cleaning.
He then called someone on the phone, asking about the possibility of melting it. After some minutes of talking he put down the telephone and said that Prime Chemical Company may be able to melt the solution, but they couldn't say offhand just how much they would charge us for doing so.
I had to fly back to Italy the next day so I told Douglas, when he returned, that he would have to finish the operation alone. But wait, he said, first we had to determine how much the melting would be.
I replied that as we, or certainly I, didn't have any more money they should simply make an agreement with the Prime Chemical Company to have the solution melted and then pay them out of the cleaned money.
The next day Douglas brought me all the linked documents below and said that the doctor was still waiting for a price for the melting. He later brought me to the airport and said goodbye like a true friend with a big hug.
I should have flown out at 6 PM, but at 9 PM I was still waiting for my delayed plane so I called him to see what was going on. He was surprised to hear from me thinking I was airborne.
He said that the Prime Chemical Company successfully melted a very small part of the solution as a test, and was asking for $46,000 USD for the total melting. Knowing I was short on funds, he started asking me if I could talk with my father for "assistance".
I guess I finally started cluing in to the possibility that it was a scam so my enthusiasm started to wane. After a couple of days he saw that I was not very convinced and said that he had been able to raise $20,000 and so I "only" had to find the remaining $26,000.
At this point I started searching the web and discovered all your info on this SCAM... and I really felt STUPID and CHEATED!
I hope that this story will prevent other people from becoming victims of this operation and useful in catching him.
Thanks again, Davide V. 02/22/02
My name is DOUGLAS KAUKE a native of Cape Town south Africa. I have a proposal to make that might be interesting to you.
I am in possession of a large sum of money in cash totaling US$40.000,000 Million US Dollars realized from the sale of Gold Dust and precious stones. The money is lodged at security company in south Africa.
I want to move the money abroad to invest it in profitable ventures...
Firstly to assist me to export this money to any suitable country abroad...
And upon your request I want the money to be paid directly to any bank of your choice and for your assistance you receive 30% of total sum with peace also with no risk involved.
Is you to give us very strong guarantee that our share will be well secured and also bear us interest on the fund's, also not take advantage of our position since the money will be paid directly to a bank account that you nominate.
Be assured that there is absolutely nothing to worry about in the view of the claim, it is perfectly safe and good enough. ... You should keep this transaction very confidential, because we are still active public service in south Africa.
And upon your request I will furnish you with the certificate of Deposit issued by the security company at the time of making the deposit...
You can reach me with this E-mail douglas507kauke\\hotmail.com
Stay blessed and GOD bless America.
DOUGLAS KAUKE cell phone number +31 611425641 Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Douglas S. Kauke No. 203 Nelson Mandela Way Johannesburg, South Africa
Global Trust Securities ( World Wide Clearing ) Aalsmeerweg 79, 1059 AE Zone D / Clearance NL Amsterdam, Holland Tel: +31-62-623-6389 Fax: +31-61-751-6082 00-31-61-142-5641 Dr. Allison J. Cole
Global Securities International GSCI Diplomatic Airway Bill GSCI-5432109864
Global Crossing Courier and Finance Ltd. Amsterdam, The Netherlands Certificate of Deposit GBLX77793005655
National Drug Law Enforcement Agency NDLEA Non Drug and Money Laundering Certificate No: NDLEA 23989/00 George H. Wolf - Chairman
A complete commitment to the total fight against drug trafficking and money laundering N.D.L.E.A. The Netherlands. Avoid association with drugs. It kills!
Incriminating source as the authenticity of the said payment has been ascertained after carrying out the necessary investigations to that effect.
Prime Chemical Company Laboratory Analysis 98% Lactima Base Solution Erick Van Der Bosch - Chief Chemist
A lawyer working with a client who has been scammed out of over $2M from scammers using the same Global Crossing setup would like to be contacted by Davide V. at KPBowie\\aol.com
Didn't Plan on Still Being There When the Phone Bill Came
I got one of the Inheritance scam letters about two weeks ago and just now found your site. I have to laugh because they had me coming into the office at 2am - 4am in the morning to make phone calls to the "attorney" so I could get things rolling.
Now I will have to pay back the owner of the company for making international phone calls. That is really going to suck.
I wanted to let everyone know that if you ever get a e-mail, fax, or snail mail letter stating someone in a different country needs help for whatever reason, don't fall for it.
I did, and after ten months of dealing with them I was told to go to Canada for a cash call. Oh, they showed me the cash all right, but said it needed to be cleaned.
In the end I "invested" money to get nothing but a large phone bill, a headache, heart break, and most of all a rocky marriage. I really should have investigated before.
Tracey 04/20/02
Lagos - 04/02 - Starting off as a houseboy and later motor mechanic Festus Dare Babayemi a.k.a. Dare Babs has became a notable figure in the Lagos social circle who thrives on duping unsuspecting business partners.
Thanks to his first wife Bisi's father's money, Dare, in concert with others, succeeded in duping such notable Nigerians as Mallam Saleh Jambo, Tanko Ayuba, Bolajoko Kadiri and Alhaji Abubakar Alhaji among others.
The latest victims, Mr. Lang Simon and one Joachakim, both from Zurich, have somehow succeeded in putting so much heat on him that he appears to be in hiding.
Dare was said to have sought the assistance of the two foreigners in a business deal which would see him (Dare) floating an airline since he had a licence already, in exchange for their financial contribution.
The two men were playing ball until they discovered they had fallen into the hands of a conman.
Mr. Lang Simon, who was said to have been swindled to the tune of $5M and his counterpart are currently seeking visas to enter Nigeria and hunt him down.
A prosperous middle-aged, Washington, D.C. entrepreneur was duped out of $750,000 in one operation which was based out of Toronto and Nigeria from 1994 to 2000.
The cell swindled more than 300 people, including about 20 in the Washington area, out of approximately $20 million, according to law enforcement officials.
Whenever the man called a bank supposedly involved in the transaction, the call was forwarded to a boiler-room operation in the Toronto area, staffed by accomplices in the scam, according to Sgt. Mark Van De Graff of the Royal Canadian Provincial Police fraud unit in Toronto.
At the end of April I got an email from a person with the urgent request for help in the overseas transfer of $20,500,000 from South Africa in return for 20%. We wrote each other emails and unfortunately I have to date transferred $14,800 USD.
Last weekend I got a notification that it was necessary to have some certificates to transfer the money to "my" account in South Africa (non drug clearance certificate, money laundry certificate and anti terrorist certificate). The fees for these are a further $21,610 USD.After finding your site, I see now that I have been duped.
Olaf K., Germany 05/18/02
Grandpa Gets Greedy
Between 1999-2001 my family and several business associates of ours were approached by a local businessman whom we trusted (first mistake!).
This elderly, grandfatherly gentleman asked to borrow money from us and the others for a wide variety of reasons, ranging from covering his business payroll to needing to cover import taxes on a piece his company was receiving from Korea.
At any rate, he got about $150,000 from all of us, and all along he was wiring the money he borrowed from us to an individual in Nigeria to a 419 scam.
Now the Nigerian is in jail (that's another story!), but this gentleman is still "borrowing" money from people who don't know any better. He still believes the scam is going to work and he's going to be rich in the end.
We would like to know if you have ever heard of this type of person being convicted of anything. We all would like to see him in jail, but don't know how. We have lawyers involved, etc. Any suggestions? Sincerely,
Rebecca Rance 06/10/02
I am the CFO of a company in Schaffhausen, Switzerland investigating a fraud case, which occurred in our company. By a google search of the name TRANSGLOBAL TRADERS I came to your sites example of Nigerian fraud correspondence which was related to the same bank account at the Bank of India in Hong Kong as two of the payments in our case.
The bank account number is 02G11/030020 and related to G. Doulatram & Sons (H.K.) Ltd. which is also acting on behalf of Transglobal Traders.
Our case is placed at all the relevant authorities in Switzerland, the US, in Lebanon, in Hong Kong and I hope even in Nigeria.
However my personal experience in this matter is, that with their speed and their commitment they will never be successful in really getting these highly organised criminals.
I have found many international connections in the case but someone would have to trace them. The bureaucracy worldwide is the best enabler for our Nigerian, Lebanese and Indian friends.
I really tried to help the authorities with a lot of information but their interest and capability seems very limited to me.
F. H. 07/10/02
Where's Inspector Clousseau When You Need Him?
My father has let go of over a million dollars (his life savings and loans he can't repay…) in a Nigerian lottery scam through Amsterdam.
Now that he is penniless and dying of cancer, but still convinced he's going to recoup several millions of dollars, he's turned the baby over to me, one of his sons.
The Nigerians call me daily, I'm stalling them to figure out the best way to deal with all this. Do you have any advice as per a police contact in Holland? I live in Paris, the police here say it's none of their business since this all started in the US.
The Nigerians want me to come ASAP to Amsterdam. I want to go, to give them a piece of my mind, but only with police if possible. Anyways thanks for your site. Too bad we found it so late!
Sincerely yours
Patrick B. - France 09/10/02
Nigerian Vampire in Paris
Right now my husband is in Paris France, sitting on a trunk of black money at the Holiday Inn. He still hasn't paid for the chemical to take off the black yet but is to do that tomorrow and I'm really worried.
I tried to tell him some of the things I read on your web page concerning the black money and the 419 scam, but he just started yelling at me.
I don't know how to get in contract with the police there, or even if it should be the police, but I think somebody should be there to protect my husband and son who is there also.
The thing I don't get is, when things are going down like this, why can't someone start arresting these horrible criminals? Why does no one seem to be doing anything about this crime? We hear of people getting killed or held for ransom yet no one is trying to prevent any of it.
It would be so simple to do stings on these guys. Just arrest them all. But why is it that no one has?
Aren't there international laws that protect the world from this? My husband is assured that everything is for real but is still scared. Well, I'm trying to help and also protect the lives of my family.
Later: He is bringing it home. he says it has a white powdery substance on it, that they said was mercury, and it made them very ill. The Sengelese Government, at least that was who they said they were, said they would still send him the solution to clean it with.
My husband wasn't going to give them any more money. They said they would raise the rest of it. But I'm going to try and clean it myself so I can see just what it is. If it is fake it probably will clean easy.
My husband says it is on the same paper as our bills are on. So until I see it I still wont know for sure. He made it through custom in France, now he just needs to make it through US customs.
Pat M. 09/22/02
They had me going for about 7 months, intermittently. I have a very thick file and some of the emails are real gems. I have references from Angel Smith's minister, his dead father's minister, a Barrister recommended by his minister and yet another Barrister when the first demanded terms I chose not to honor.
I had a slight notion this may be legit, so I set up a trust to receive the funds. I insisted all along that Valentin "Angel" Ike Smith find an attorney that would pay all fees and expenses and I would only reimburse them at the end when the money was really transferred.
A so-called banker demanded $4000 to pay the "transfer tax" about a week ago. I refused and the "Barrister" in Abidjan claims to have "paid" the tax as his commission was going to be 11.5% of the alleged $23m.
The use of religion partially hooked me and may induce someone else to suffer big losses. I only lost about $800 playing the game--in L/D phone charges and my own lawyer's fees though I spent lots of time on this, if that is worth anything.
I could write a book on this one, but I still feel very duped and angry at myself for even believing in this a little bit.
I could have saved a lot of time and money if I had just looked up a list of banks in Abidjan. I finally did last week and there is no such "Coopec Bank" as Smith alleged held his father's fortune. They even "dummied" a bank receipt with convincing graphics
Thanks for the wonderful work you do----Tom Cavanaugh 09/08/02
ANGEL V. SMITH
ABIDJAN. IVORY COAST WEST AFRICA
... GREETINGS IN JESUS NAME... I PRAYED OVER IT AND SELECTED YOUR NAME...
... FIRST CHILD OF LATE CHIEF AND LOLO CHRISTOPHE SMITH MY FATHER WAS A VERY WEALTHY COCOA MERCHANT... SECRETLY CALLED ME ON HIS BEDSIDE AND TOLD ME THAT HE HAS A SUM... THAT I SHOULD SEEK A FOREIGN PARTNER...
... WOULD LIKE TO GO TO PASTORAL SCHOOL... WILLING TO OFFER YOU 15% OF THE TOTAL SUM... THANKS AND GOD BLESS
Bankers Will Be Worse Than Assassins
At the end of July 2002 I received an E-mail from Dr. Jubril Martins and his "mother" Cecilia Aku telling me that they had US$28.5 million in diplomatic bags somewhere in Europe.
If I would be interested in working with them to retrieve this money they were willing to give me 30% of the total amount. Of course they needed some money to bribe the diplomatic people to release that fund.
For the next three months I refused to fall into this trap, because it sounded so bizarre to get millions of dollars so easily. They used a barrister named Mathew Eyeye to make everything look so legal.
For three months we have been talking on the phone and sending E-mails back and forth. I thought they would give up, but they did not.
This week Rev.Samuel Adodo sent me a cashier's check for US$130,400 and said that Mrs. Cecilia Aku (who claimed to be the widow of an assassinated cabinet minister in Nigeria) had borrowed that money in my name to finance the retrieval of the $28.5 million.
I went to the bank and deposited the check into my bank account. Very soon afterwards the barrister Mathew Eyeye called and told me to send him US$10,000 from the money that had just been deposited into my account.
I checked with my bank to ensure that check was good. The lady at the bank said that the check should be good because it was a cashier's check from the Wells Fargo Bank in California.
A cashier check is as good as cash, the bank lady said. So I sent him the $10,000 through Western Union. Now I realize that I have been had, despite my tough stance for almost 3 months.
I tried to call Mrs. Cecilia Aku and Dr.Jubril Martins but the phone was already dead and my e-mails have gone unanswered. I have not called the barrister yet because I didn't want to alarm him, but I have a feeling he is still at the same address.
Mrs. Cecilia Aku
23 Lavender Close, Dolphin Estate
Ikoyi-Lagos, Nigeria
Tel. 234-803-304-1434
E-mail: jubril_martins\\lycos.com
or xxvhjktmwk\\consultant.com
Tel. for Mathew Eyeye is 234-1-775-3351 or 234-803-304-9172
E-mail: matheweyeye\\hotmail.com
Please keep my name out of this. I am afraid they have their hit men all over the USA ready to kill trouble-makers.
H. S. Chandler, AZ 10/05/02
See the section on Nigerian victims who are charged with bank fraud.
I thought about the whole Nigeria scam thing and it seems kind of like gambling where people go to the casino for the prospect of a big payoff and they get further in to the hole by using ATMs and credit cards.
At some point there seems to be a point of no return and out of desperation they think "If I can just borrow or come up with some extra cash I can get my cash back" and further in the hole they go.
Charles Switzer 10/31/02
Almost Too Sad a Tale
I have visited your website and appreciate your initiative to get the world informed about these evil people. I am a pastor in United Arab Emirates and am also a victim of them. I am poor and hardly feed my family with my meager earnings.
I received an email on 28 Feb 2001 from a person called "Shan Lee Shun" saying that he is the adopted son of a Japanese widow who left huge wealth.
He informed that this lady made a will to divide a part of her wealth to many humanitarian organizations and churches world wide and my name is also included in that.
My portion he said was $1.6 million. He sent some documents to 'prove' that and said that the money is invested with a GLOBAL SECURITIES AND COURIER COMPANY in Amsterdam and I was invited to visit Amsterdam to get this transaction done.
Foolishly believing this I went to Amsterdam but before going they said that a handling charge of $18,000 should be given but I had not even $500 with me.
When I told about this to a friend, trusting me, he gave this money by acquiring a loan from his bank on the promise that I would return this amount soon.
I sent this to them to transfer the money to account in UAE. Then they informed me that in order to release the amount I should produce a Drug Clearance Certificate. For that they said that $50000 was required.
Still believing this, I told another friend of mine and he offered to help me by acquiring a loan from the bank. With this amount I went to Amsterdam where they took the money from me, gave me a 'certificate' and sent me back along with some bank transfer 'receipts' of money to my account.
Later on I came to know that this was fraud and I got cheated. Since then I am in a very difficult situation that I cannot even feed my children well or send them properly to school.
I am paying back the amount every month with almost all of my earnings and still I need to pay a big amount which is left.
I just pray to God to settle my debt. I have complained once to the Amsterdam Police and no action has been taken by them. God bless you for all what you are doing to help these kind of victims.
Yours sincerely
Pastor John Cherian 04/12/03
