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The current Internet scam starts off with the typical scammer greeting of "Hi, Good Morning." It then goes on to say that the information being presented by the scammer is an important secret. At this point, the scammers introduce themselves as the characters that they want the scam victim to believe is talking to them. In this particular example, the scammer claims to be from Cote d'Ivoire originally. By the way, Cote d'Ivoire is the French name for Ivory Coast which goes back to when Ivory Coast was a colony of France. The scammer's character goes on to say that his family lived in Atlanta, Georgia in the USA. His family moved back to Cote d'Ivoire or Ivory Coast so the scammer's father could die there. When an Internet scam uses the inheritance theme, bank transfer theme or helpless orphan theme, it will sometimes introduce the evil relatives of the scammer. In the current Internet scam, the evil relative is an uncle of the scammer who wants to steal the inheritance. The evil relatives are useful to the story because they help to preempt questions about why the scammer doesn't seek help from friend and family. There is an odd coincidence between the plot of this fraud email and the movie The Lion King where the evil lion uncle named Scar tries to take the inheritance away from the orphan lion Simba. This would not be the first coincidence between a movie plot and the story in a scam letter from Africa. The plot of The Lion King, by the way, is influenced by Shakespeare's Hamlet. The next thing the scammer asks for in the current Internet scam is for a bank account number for the scammer to transfer the vast fortune. Unlike most scam letters from Africa, this particular scam email does not state the amount of the inheritance. In many cases, an exact figure is given to increase interest in the scam. Usually the amount is in the millions of dollars, pounds or, less often, in euros. The current scam is actually a combined scam. It mixes the inheritance theme with the bank tranfer. Most of the time, the inheritance scam involves a dead millionaire who has left an unclaimed fortune in a bank account in Africa. Hi, Good Morning.
Monday, February 16, 2009 5:01 PM Hi, Good Morning. I know this revelation will keep you wondering why should I trust you with this informations I am about to reveal to you or if what I am saying is the truth especially with the high level of scam mails going around all over the internet, please I need you to trust and believe me if you can. I need you to make out time to read this mail attentively to be able to understand the reason I am sending you this mail. I am Daniel, 20 years of age, the only child of my parents, Mr and Mrs Ernest Kaloja, My parents were Natives of Ivory Coast before they migrated to the United States when I was just 4 year old. We lived at No 215 West Wieuca Road Northeast Atlanta, Georgia USA and I attended the famous Frederick Douglass High School northwest Atlanta, Georgia USA, but when my mother fell sick and died June 2001, My father became weak every now and then he will fall sick, I believe it was the shock of my mum's sudden death that deteriorated his health.. He got retired from his office, Fidelity National Insurance Company at No 200 Galleria Parkway Southeast Atlanta GA 30339 USA October 2004, from there we moved to New York City because of my dad medication. Then December 2005 my father called me and told that he doesn't want to die in a foreign land. That he has made enough money, that he felt the best thing for him to do now is for us to relocate back to his home country of Cote d'Ivoire so that he can set up his own Insurance company and give job opportunities to his people and he also told me that he want me to learn about his people and their culture. On the 14 of December 2005 we returned back to Cote d'Ivoire. Then after some time my dad started to look for properties to buy to use for an office, in several occasions I went out with him to inspect some properties. But unfortunately on the 22nd of February 2006 my father collapsed and later died. Why am I telling you all this a total stranger you may ask!!! The reason I am telling you and revealing to you my family's secret is because my late dad's burial is over and my uncle is searching every where looking for my bank documents that my father used in depositing all his money in the bank when his sickness became serious.. But he doesn't know that I have hide the documents in a safe place outside the house where he can not find them based on my late father's advice on his sick bed before his death. This secret has been in my mind for close to a year now and I don't even know who to tell because I need someone to help me receive this money in a foreign account to enable me leave here peacefully. This is the reason I make contact with you to help me received the money. That mean you will provide an account where the money will be transfer into then I will take the next available flight to join you once you confirm to me that you have received the money in your account.. I have thought about it and I came to the conclusion that, this is the only way I can get the money transfer out of here without my uncle knowing about it. If you have the fear of God and believe that you can help me please respond to this mail and include with it your telephone number to enable me give you a call please. I want you to know that I passed by so many people and many profile before I came in contact with your contact info and when I did, my heart and the spirit of God dwelling inside me asked me to confide and trust you. Please get back to me ASAP. God bless you as I look forward in meeting you soon!!!
From, Daniel Kaloja. Many scams and frauds can be avoided by observing certain elements found in many Internet scams. Emails and other forms of communication coming from foreign countries including those in Africa such as Nigeria, Cote d'Ivoire or Ivory Coast, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Benin and South Africa should by viewed with suspicion and should not be trusted if the email recipient does not know the person sending it. Some of the countries in Europe that are a frequent source of common Internet scams include the UK, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium and Russia. Some of the common elements that can be found in many common Internet scams include the scammer's greeting. Some examples of the scammer's greeting are "Dearest One," "Dear Friend.," "MOST URGENT," "ATTENTION:," "Good Day !," "My Good Friend," as well as others that are similar. Additional elements and characteristics that can be found include mentioning God to give validity as in the current Internet scam along with the request for trust and that the scam victim keep the matter in the fraud email a secret. The scammer may also say something to the effect that they searched far and wide to find the scam victim they could trust when in reality the Internet scams are sent out using huge lists of email addresses that are compiled by scraping websites, surveys, guestbooks, previous responses to scams, combined email lists gathered from marketing methods and purchases and other techniques. Another feature that may be encountered on occasion is the duplicate greeting as found in the current Internet scam. Also, like many other common Internet scams, the current scam abuses the English language with misspellings, improper usage and punctuation along with bad grammar and poor writing. By learning to identify common elements and attributes found in many examples of current Internet scams, email and 419 fraud can be averted. Although African scam letters and fraud emails from other countries have been around for many years, people still fall victim to scammers. The losses amount to thousands, hundreds of thousands and in some cases millions of dollars or pounds. When an Internet scam has been recognized or identified, it is advisable to report the scam to government authorities and law enforcement agencies such as the FBI and Internet authorities such as ISPs and email service providers such as Yahoo, Google and MSN. Return to Phishing Internet Scams Home Page » Return to Internet Scams Home Page |