Beware Of Scammers
 Sunday, March 16th, 2008

I get so many of these scam e-mails - I don't know what list I might have gotten on, or if it's just because of this website and people thinking my goal is to let my pockets out to random foreign actors investors.  I've seen the documentaries and inside investigations into these scammers, from the Ivory Coast or Côte d'Ivoire to Nigeria, elsewhere in West Africa, Hong Kong, China, the U.A.E., and more.

So, I try to post the ones that come in.  I do this because these fraudulent "investors"--who spend their working days looking for suckers to loan them thousands of dollars (to allegedly get "millions" in return)--often redistribute the same lines and phrases over and over.  Copy, paste, forward the bait on to a fresh batch.

I know not to respond to these type of e-mail solicitations, but there are people who have been tricked out of their life savings for us to learn about internet fraud.  And actually, according to Snopes.com, "The 4-1-9 or Advance Fee Fraud Scheme" aka "The Nigerian Scam has been emptying the pockets of victims for decades - first through letters, then with faxes, and now with e-mail...its earliest incarnation...dates to the 1920's - it was known as 'The Spanish Prisoner' con."

Because of technicalities amongst international laws and treaties, the ratio of criminals to countries' law enforcement, and the difficulty of tracking down the head(s) of these cybercrime organizations, cyber criminals are not always able to be prosecuted.

According to The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) and the FBI and National White Collar Crime Center's 2007 annual report on internet fraud, "Credit/debit card fraud, computer fraud, confidence fraud, and financial institutions fraud round out the top seven categories of complaints referred to law enforcement during the year."  And Nigerian Letter or "419" Fraud has it's own category under major fraud schemes.

(This is not, of course, to say that the FBI doesn't prosecute cybercrime - they do, wherever they can, and I LOVE our U.S. FBI.)

Since, thankfully, I'm not a victim of any of these e-mails I get from cyberscammers, the best I can do to pass on warnings is to republish the ones I do receive, in hopes that a future victim, Google, and then this info, will ultimately connect!  It pains me to think of the poor bleeding hearts who are getting scammed every year.

Now that I've explained all of that...here is today's, sent to our "Tips" e-mail address.  As if.  It's shocking how little regard these scammers have for people's sympathy and compassion.  KEEP IN MIND THAT INHERITANCE E-MAILS are scams.  Spelling mistakes intact:

SUBJECT:  *WILL FOR CHARITY* FROM:  Mrs. Sarah May (sarahmayallportATaim.com), but e-mail name shows "Mr. Patrick K. W. Chan."  Both are probably fake. DATE:  Sun, Mar 16, 2008 6:32 pm "Urgent Assistance Dear Sir Madam, After going through your profile I decided to contact you for friendship and assistance and distribution of my inheretance.  I have to say that I have no intentions of causing you any Pains so I decided to contact you through this medium.  I got your Contact through a personal search via the internet.  As you read this, I don't want you to feel sorry for me, because, I Believe everyone will die someday. My name is Sarah May I am a dying woman who have decided to donate What I have to you/ church/charity Organizations.  I was diagnosed with esophageal Cancer for about 7 Years ago, I am married to Sir Gerald Allport who worked with British Judicial Commission in Chelsea England for over a decade before he died on 5th July in the year 1989.  We were married for fifteen years without a child and he has left me everything he worked for. I have not particularly lived my life so well, as I never really cared For anyone. Though I am very rich, I was never generous, I was always hostile to people and only focus on my self as that was the only thing I Cared for. But now I regret all this as I now know that there is more to life than just wanting to have or make all the money in the world. I Believe when God gives me a second chance to come to this world I would Live my life a different way from how I have lived it. Now that I know My time is near I have been touched by God to donate from what I have Inherited from my late husband for the good work of God, rather than Allow my relatives to use my husband hard earned funds ungodly. So far, I have distributed money to some charity organizations in the U.A.E, London and Ireland. Now that my health has deteriorated so badly, I cannot do this my self any more. I once asked members of my family to Close one of my accounts and donate the money, which I have there to Charity organization in Bulgaria; they refused and kept the money to Themselves. Hence, I do not trust them anymore, as they seem not to be contended With what I have left for them. The last of my money which is the huge Cash deposit that I have with Financial Firm Abroad .I will want you to Help me collect this deposit and dispatched it to charity organizations And let them know that it is me Sarah May that is making this Generous donation. I am writing this from my laptop computer in my hospital bed where I wait for my time to come. I pray that God uses you to support and assist Me with good heart Please pray that the good Lord forgive me my sins. I have asked God to Forgive me and I believe he has because He is a merciful God. I will be Going in for an operation in less than few days. I decided to WILL/donate the money to you for the good work of the lord, And also to help the motherless and less privilege and also for the Assistance of the widows according to (JAMES 1:27). I took this decision because I do not have any child that will inherit This money and my husband relatives are not inclined to helping poor Persons and I do not want my husband's hard earned money to be misused Or spent in the manner in which my late husband did not specify. At the moment I cannot take any telephone calls right now due to the Fact that my relatives are around me and my health status. I wish you All the best and May the good Lord bless you abundantly, and please use The funds well and always extend the good work to others. NB: I will appreciate your utmost confidentiality in this matter until The task is accomplished as I don't want anything that will jeopardize My last wish. And Also I will be contacting with you by email as I don't Want my relation or anybody to know because they are always around me. Regards, Sarah May Mrs. Please contact me through the email address below sarahmayallportATaim.com"

1.  If you know anyone who has received these types of e-mails, forward them a copy of this Fraud Flyer from IC3.gov.

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