A NEW ANGLE

Bank of Nigeria



I get a LOT of emails from those "Nigerian Bank Scams". You know the deal:



Hello ,
I am writing to you for a business co-operation and your assistance .
I have some money, i will like to invest with you in your country on a good areas you could choose . . .



Dear Respectful One
I am writting this letter with due respect and heartful of tears since we have not known or met ourselves previously I am asking for your assistance after I have gone through a profile that speaks good of you. I will be so glad if you can allow me and lead me to the right channel towards your assistance .




END OF YEAR AWARD BONANZA
FROM THE DESK OF THE DIRECTOR
PROMOTION/PRIZE AWARD DEPT.

Dear Winner,
We are pleased to inform you the result of the computer random selection for the LUCKY DAY LOTTO NL International program held on 4th of Feb,2010 as part of our new year Bonnaza.Your personal or company email address, attached to ticket number EE7-_____YH-__, with serial number PP___B-__ drew the lucky numbers 5-2_-_8-2_-_2-6_, and consequently won the lottery in the 2nd category . . .




Here's a new format I haven't seen before:



Hi there,

How are you doing today? I am Kenneth P_______, a US Marine currently serving in Iraq. I am actually one of the few Marines remaining in Iraq. We are waiting for executive order for our next deployment to Afghanistan this new year. I got your email from a business directory and I believe that you will maintain the level of confidence and trust that this mission I am about to inform you of require. Several months ago, my unit discovered some abandoned cash in the mansion of a militant ruler during a covert military raid. The total cash we discovered was $11.5 Million USD. We stashed all the funds in one trunk box and moved it secretly out of Iraq to Kuwait for safekeeping. We waited for several months to ensure that nobody is on our trail. Now, we need to move the money out of Kuwait. I am contacting you because we need your assistance in receiving the box for us on our behalf, and securing the cash until we return home from service. Please note that we cannot use any of our known relative or friend for this

1. Your Full name
2. The address where you want the box to be delivered
3. Your private telephone number where you can be reached 24 hours

If for some reasons you don't want to or can't help us, I want you to delete this message immediately and assume we never had this conversation. However, if you are going to fully cooperate with us in this transaction, we will compensate you with 25% of the total cash after the mission is accomplished. Like I said earlier, we are a GO and waiting for your response. This is a very serious deal and I wouldn't be asking for your help if I am not convinced that this is not going to bring any harm to you or your family, or put you in a risky position. We have worked the kinks out and am very convinced this is gonna be successful.

Once we get a positive response from you with the info requested, we will proceed into the next step and I will give you further instructions. I hope I can rely on your sense of discretion. Write back soon buddy. Wishing you a prosperous new year.

In God we trust,

Ken

kenneth._____@infantry-marines.com




What's interesting is this one seems to be genuinely written by an American; "We have worked the kinks out and am very convinced this is gonna be successful." but I doubt he was a Marine, or even in the military. Indicators: "trunk box" - we call it "foot locker", and a Marine doesn't end a letter with "In God we trust," he says "Semper Fi".


The greatest indicator is the email address suffix: 'marines.com' - no .mil or .gov

My instincts aroused, I ran the " @infantry-marines.com " suffix through Google and came to SCAM-O-MATIC - a site that alerts on such scams. It turns out I WAS RIGHT! In fact, they have a copy of the email I posted above practically verbatim from a different guy but with the same email address at the end of it.


Some comments by the SCAM-O-MATIC:

* The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:

o "trunk box" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
o "million us dollars" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
o "i got your email address from " (this SPAM email was probably sent to thousands of people)

* This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.


I know plenty of Marines - they are honorable, decent upright people; the Marines I know and have worked with, I would trust with my life.




"No Greater Friend, no Worse Enemy."



This guy is a wannabe, a phisher and a scamster. Be warned.


- Sean Linnane