|
Burkina Faso is a country in West Africa that is frequently mentioned in Internet scams such as this one. While a majority of scam letters come from the African countries of Nigeria, Ghana, Benin and others, scam emails that contain Burkina Faso are showing up regularly. The Internet scam presented here is a variation of the Nigerian inheritance scam except that it appears to come from Burkina Faso. African scams on average have a predisposition for the inheritance scam theme. These types of letters are very common and the ones from Nigeria are widely known. The current Internet scam, however, uses a different country possibly for that reason. Internet scams that use the inheritance theme attempt to get the potential scam victim to contact the scammer in order to commit a fraud of some kind. In many cases, the goal of the scam is to get the scam victim to cash a counterfeit check. When the check arrives, it is cashed against funds in the scam victim's bank account. The cash itself is wired back to the scammer who receives the money right away. When the bank discovers that the check is a fraud, it takes the amount of the check out of the victim's account. The check scam works by the scammer receiving the cash from the check before the bank finds out and then the scam victim. The scam victim has to send the proceeds of the check as quickly as possible, hence the declaration found in many Internet scams, "MOST URGENT." MOST URGENT
Saturday, April 19, 2008 7:53 AM
FROM THE DESK OF FIRST I MUST SOLICIT FOR YOUR CONFIDENCE IN THIS TRANSACTION, THIS IS BY VIRTUE OF IT?S NATURE AS BEING UTTERLY CONFIDENTIAL. THOUGH I KNOW THAT A TRANSACTION OF THIS MAGNITUDE, WILL MAKE ANYONE APPREHENSIVE AND WORRIED BUT I AM ASSURING YOU THAT ALL WILL BE WELL AT THE END OF THE DEAL. I HAVE DECIDED TO CONTACT YOU DUE TO THE URGENCY OF THIS TRANSACTION, LET ME START BY INTRODUCING MYSELF PROPERLY TO YOU. I AM MR AHMED BENSON, THE BILL AND EXCHANGE MANAGER BANK BICIAB ANNEX HERE IN OUAGADOUGOU, BURKINA FASO.I CAME TO KNOW YOU IN MY PRIVATE SEARCH THROUGH THE INTERNET FOR A RELIABLE AND REPUTABLE PERSON TO HANDLE THIS CONFIDENTIAL TRANSACTION,WHICH INVOLVES THE TRANSFER OF HUGE SUM OF MONEY TO A FOREIGN COUNTRY REQUIRING MAXIMUM CONFIDENCE. THE PROPOSITION: A FOREIGNER WHO MET HIS DEATH IN ?KENYA AIR BUS? (A310-30) FLIGHT Ko430 THAT CRASHED IN ABIDJAN,COTE D'IVOIRE BANKED WITH US AT BANK BICIAB ANNEX HERE IN BURKINA FASO AND HAD A CLOSING BALANCE AS AT THE END OF SEPTEMBER . 2001 WORTH $20 M TWENTY MILLION UNITED STATES DOLLARS). THE BANK NOW EXPECTS A NEXT OF KIN AS BENEFICIARY AND VALUABLE EFFORTS HAVE BEEN MADE BY BANK BICIAB TO GET IN TOUCH WITH ANY OF ABDUL SUDANA'S FAMILY OR RELATIVES BUT TO NO SUCCESS. IT IS BECAUSE OF THE PERCEIVED POSSIBILITY OF NOT BEING ABLETO LOCATE ANY OF THE LATE DEPPSITORS NEXT-OF-KIN ( HE HAD NO WIFE OR CHILDREN THAT IS KNOWN TO US).
BASED UPON THIS DISCOVERY,WE HAVE DECIDED TO MAKE THIS
BUSINESS PROPOSAL TO YOU AND RELEASE THE MONEY TO YOU AS
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 FUNDS.THE BANKING LAWS AND GUIDELINES HERE
STIPULATES THAT, ALL DOCUMENTS AND PROVES TO ENABLE YOU GET THIS FUND WILL BE CAREFULLY WORKED OUT ON YOUR ACCEPTANCE TO PARTAKE IN THIS TRANSACTION. MY COLLEAGUES AND I IN MY DEPARTMENT HAVE SECURED FROM PROBATE AN ORDER OF MANDAMUS TO LOCATE ANY OF THE DECLARED BENEFICIARY (NEXT OF KIN) AND MORE SO I AM ASSURING YOU THAT THIS BUSINESS IS 100% RISK FREE.
MEANWHILE YOUR PERCENTAGE SHARE SHALL BE 30% WITH RESPECT TO
THE PROVISION OF A FORIEGN ACCOUNT, 10% HAS BEEN SET ASIDE FOR
ANY EXPENCES WE MIGHT INCURE WHILE THE REMAINING 60% WILL BE
FOR MY COLLEAGUES AND I. AS SOON AS WE ACKNOWLEDGE RECEIPT OF
YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF THIS BUSINESS PROPOSAL, I WOULD FURNISH YOU
WITH THE NECESSARY STEPS TO TAKE BEGINNING WITH THE TEXT OF
APPLICATION WHICH YOU SHALL FORWARD TO THE BANK FOR SCRUTINY
AND APPROVAL. PLEASE IF THIS IS ACCEPTABLE BY YOU, DO NOT MAKE
UNDUE OF THE TRUST I HAVE BESTOWED IN YOU.
--------------------------------------------------------- Many Internet scams come with features that make them easy to recognize. For example, they use certain words such as "dear friend," "dear beloved," "attention" and "most urgent." Many of the African scam letters also have bad writing. One example of this in the current Internet scam is all capitalized letters. This style of writing is frequently found in spam email that tries to get the email recipient to spend money. Another characteristic of African scams is the statement of a large amount of money. The amount is usually in the millions of dollars or pounds. Recognizing an Internet scam can help prevent email fraud from happening. To report a scam contact the FBI or appropriate authorities. Return to Phishing Internet Scams Home Page » Return to Internet Scams Home Page |