The Nigerian Virgin Galactica Scam
“MY name is Mr.Moses Odiaka. I work in the credit and accounts department of Union Bank of NigeriaPlc,Lagos, Nigeria. I write you in respect of a foreign customer with a Virgin Galactica ticket. His name is Engineer Manfred Becker. He was among those who died in a plane crash here in Nigeria during the reign of late General Sani Abacha.
Since the demise of this our customer, Engineer Manfred Becker, who was an oil merchant/contractor, I have kept a close watch of the deposit records and accounts and since then nobody has come to claim the airmiles in this a/c as next of kin to the late Engineer. He had only 18.5mllion air miles in his a/c and the a/c is coded. It is only an insider that could produce the code or password of the deposit particulars. As it stands now,there is nobody in that position to produce the needed information other than my very self considering my position in the bank.”
March 1st, 2008 at 1:55 pm
Known in the trade as 415 scams although I cannot remember why, these have been entertaining many of us for years. I have not seen one where airmiles were the bait rather than cash. In the past it was the proceeds of over-invoicing for oil that produced the ill-gotten gains which languished in an account from which they could only be extracted with the help of a dishonest foreigner and his firm’s bank account.
It would be great fun, but sadly every year it seems a couple of hundered thousand quid is extracted from gullible citizens of the UK who fall for these and cough up a few thousand in advance payments to meet the poor old Nigerians’ unavoidable requirements to bribe the key person at the bank or ministry, and other vital expenses.
When I was a lad, a scout master in my home town killed himself. It turned out he had been a victim of the old carbon paper fraud. This is nasty stuff when it works.
March 1st, 2008 at 2:55 pm
I get a couple of thse a week in my hotel email. Nigeria, Ivory Coast, and all along that part of africa, not to mention those which come from London.
Those are of the “we want to send a group of 18 delegates to ‘your country’ to a conference in ‘your area’ type.
I went along to see what would happen and to see how this hotel version worked and talked to my bank about it.
You are supposed to set it all up, and you tell them the total price. You then get a cheque, for more than three times the total cost. In my case it was drawn on a French bank but sent from Ireland.
You present the cheque, and then you are supposed to remit the balance to their “Agent” who is going to do the plane tickets, car hire and so on.
It works because a French bank will take over six weeks to send the cheque back through the system to your own bank, saying there is no account or whatever. Meanwhile your cheque has been presented, and your money has disappeared. The balance that you thought was safely in your own account is also withdrawn by your own bank.
Clever, but only if you are stupid.
But who can get the police to be interested. Were does the fraud take place. Which court would have jurisdiction. Which police would have the power to arrest and interview. Who is going to be interested in 2000 pounds lost through stupidity. That bit is clever. Multinational crime on a multiple tiny scale. Perhaps that is the future.
Mercifully the “english” they use has heavily accented black african grammar and one spot them a mile off and can delete immediately.
It was written up in the Olive Press, which has a website if anyone is interested in reading further.