"Heah, Yeah Wanna Help Me Launder Some Money?"

FTLComm - Tisdale - April 8, 2001

The first time I heard about the "Nigerian" scam was in 1996 when I received a very authentic looking letter with a Nigerian post mark and postage stamp that told me about this big time bureaucrat who would give me millions if I would help him sneak about thirty million out of his country. I was puzzled and concerned about this and took the letter to the local RCMP detachment and through the glass barrier I could tell the letter and its nature were of little interest to the officer. He had seen it all before it was just old news and a niave guy to him. However, to alie my concerns somewhat he agreed to take the letter from me and promised to report the incident.

I also contacted the Regina head office of the RCMP when I got several similar proposals in e-mail. Though I had heard the issue discussed on the CBC radio phone-in show I just assumed that many people were getting similar approaches and were sensibly just discarding them.

One day Mario deSantis got one of these in his e-mail and told me about it and it was then I realised that most people only have heard rumors about this scam and had not been approached with the real things. So when I received this one last week I decided you should have a chance to see what one of these scam letters is like.

STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL DR.FRANCIS JAJA. TEL: 234 1 7593517 FAX: 234 1 7593906 EMAIL: fjaja@eudoramail.com ATTENTION: TIMOTHY W. SHIRE Dear Sir, RE:URGENT BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP/PARTNERSHIP. First I must solicit your utmost confidentiality in this transaction.I am making this contact with you based on reliable information available to us courtesy of our local our chamber of commerce and industry,thus we are convinced that you would be capable of providing us with a solution to a money transfer transaction of US$36,400,000.00 (Thirty-Six Million,Four Hundred Thousand United States Dollars). Source:During the last military regimes here in Nigeria,government officials setup companies and awarded themselves contracts that were to be paid from thePetroleum Trust Fund (PTF) set up by the military regime for the purpose of financing special projects and these were grossly over-invoiced.The present civilian government have constituted an Interim Management Committe (IMC) with the mandate to investigate all contracts awarded as well as carry out debt verification of all claims that have not yet been paid with a view of settling all legitimate debts owed by the Federal Government of Nigeria to both local and foreign contractors before the government wind up the Trust Fund.We as members of this committee have identified a lot of inflated contract funds which are presently floating in the Central Bank of Nigeria. In the meantime,the government have already made a budget allocation for the payment of these contracts,but by virtue of our position as civil servants and members of this panel,we cannot acquire this fund in our names.I was delegated as a matter of trust by my colleagues to look for an overseas partner into whose account we would transfer the funds totalling (USD36,400,000.00) and you will be adequately compesatedwith 25% of the entire sum, hence we are writing you this mail. The present Civilian Government is determined to pay foreign contractors alldebt owed so as to maintain an amiable relationship with both the Foreign Governments and Non Government Finanacial Agencies and to attract foreign investment into our economy.We have decided to include our bills for approvalwith the co-operation of some officials of the Federal Ministy of Finance(F.M.F) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (C.B.N.).We seek your assistance in providing us with a good company account or personal account into which we can remit this money,you will be acting as an ORIGINAL CONTRACTOR in this deal, the fund will be paid to you. This we can do by SWAPPING of account information and changing of beneficiary information to apply for payment. We prepare letters of claims and job description on your behalf,on receiption of the following information (your banker's name and address,account number,your telephone and fax numbers)It is our intention therefore,while having your understanding and co-operationto invest 70% of this funds in pulp and paper manufacturing plant for worldwide distribution and importation of agricultural and oil prospecting equipment to sub-western region of Africa.While the balance 5% will cater for all local and foreign expenses incurred in facilitating the transfer of this funds. Endeavor to contact me immediately you recieve this mail by TEL:234 1 7593517 or send me a fax at my confidential FAX No.:234 1 7593906 thus signifying your capability and willingness to assist us.We are building our trust on sincerity of purpose, mutual understanding and recommendation.The business itself is 100% safe and fail proof, provided you treat it with utmost secrecy and confidentiality and you follow my instructions carefully and religiously.Your line of specialization does not matter as it cannot hinder the successful execution of this transaction. Again we look forward to doing business with you and solicit your utmost confidentiality in this transaction.Thank you for your co-operation. Yours faithfully, DR.FRANCIS JAJA. N.B. The telecommunication system in my country is very poor, please do not be discouraged if you have difficulty in contacting me, your efforts will be appreciated.(PLEASE,DO QUOTE REFERENCE NUMBER (FJ/01)IN YOUR RESPONSE.)

As I understand the way this little operation works is that once you have passed on the vital information about your bank accounts and provide them with access to your account you end up with withdrawals rather than deposits so if you should get a message and decide that a few million in your account would be worth the risk, realise that this is a scam intended to steal your money.

As I understand it, this particular scam has been going on for more than a decade and is frequently successful. The reason it continues is that it is being carried on remotely so that law enforcement is unable to lay hands on the con artists involved.