Got this in my email yesterday.

If they get some hopelessly stupid sucker to bite on this, then they ask for him/her to pay a couple hundred (or thousand) dollars in "document fees" and other "costs" - and then you never hear from them again.  It's essentiall a "send me a buck and I promise I'll send you a 100 dollar bill" scam.

I wrote them back and told them that I knew it was a scam, and the reason I knew was that I've lived in Nigeria (in Lagos, in fact) and no self-respecting Nigerian bank would go to the trouble of such an elaborate scheme - they would just outright steal the money.

I love the fact that they are supposedly a legitimate bank asking you to commit fraud.  Hmmm - even if this story were true, they still wouldn't be trustworthy.

Since we all have gullible and/or stupid friends, I thought I would post it here as a warning - but mostly because it is so damn funny.

Enjoy (I put the letter below)

--------------------------------

Dr. Abbas Baba
Union Bank of Nigeria Plc
Registered Office, Marina Lagos.
Mobile Phone:  234-1-7754093
Fax: 234-9-2720239



First, I must solicit your confidence in this transaction, this is by virtue of its nature as being utterly CONFIDENTIAL and TOP SECRET.  Though I know that a transaction of this magnitude will make any one apprehensive and worried, but I am assuring you that all will be well at the end of the day.  We have decided to contact you due to the urgency of this transaction, as we have been reliably informed   of your discreetness and ability in transactions of this nature.

Let me start by first introducing myself  properly to you.  I am Dr. Abbas Baba, a director with the Union Bank of Nigeria Plc, Lagos.   I came to know of you in my private search for a reliable and reputable person to handle this confidential transaction which involves the transfer of a huge sum of money to a foreign account requiring maximum confidence.

THE PROPOSITION:
A foreigner, Engineer Johnson Creek, an Oil Merchant/Contractor with the Federal Government of Nigeria, until his death three years ago in a ghastly air crash, banked with us here at Union Bank Plc, Lagos and had a balance of USD$12.5m (Twelve Million, Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars) which the bank now unquestionably expects it to be claimed by any available foreign next-of-kin of the late beneficiary or alternatively be donated to a discredited trust fund for arms and ammunition at a military war college here in Nigeria.  Fervent valuable efforts are being made by the Union Bank to get in touch with any  of the Creek's family or relatives but proved to no avail.

It is because of the perceived possibility of not being able to locate any of late Engr. Johnson Creek's next-of-kin (he had no wife and children) that the management under the influence of our Chairman and member of the board of directors, retired Major General Kalu Uke Kalu, that an arrangement be made for the funds to be declared "UNCLAIMABLE" and subsequently be donated to the Trust Fund for Arms and Ammunition to further enhance the course of war in Africa and the world in general in order to avert this negative development, some of my trusted colleagues and I now seek your permission to have you stand as a next -of-kin to late Engr. Johnson Creek so that the funds USD$12.5m would be released and paid into your bank account as the beneficiary's next-of-kin.  All documents and proofs to enable you get this fund will be carefully worked out and more so we are assuring you of a 100% risk free involvement.  Your share stays while the rest would be for myself and my colleagues
for investment purposes in your country.

We have agreed that, the funds will be shared thus, after it has been transferred into your account.

1. 30% of the money will go to you for acting as the beneficiary of the funds.
2. 10% will be set aside for  reimbursement to both parties for any incidental expenses that may be incurred in the course of the transfer.
3. 60% to us the originators of the transaction.
If this proposal is OK by you and you do not  wish to take undue advantage of the trust we hope to bestow on you and your company, then kindly get me immediately via my Direct Fax#234-9-2720239 furnishing me with your most confidential telephone, fax number and exclusive bank particulars so that I can use these information to apply for the release and subsequent transfer of the funds in your favour.

Yours faithfully,

Dr. Abbas Baba.
Executive Director operations(Union Bank Plc).
Tel no:   234-1-7754093  
Fax no.:  234-9-2720239.
Email: [email protected]

This has been going around for awhile. I got mine about three weeks ago.

There's a sucker born every minute.

The Nigeria scam has been around for years.

A variation of this one was written up in the Wall St Journal last year,where they mentioned that some victims who were invited to Nigeria to pick up their money were found dead soon after arrival to the country.

Doesn't surprise me - after you 've arrived at the airport in Lagos, the first thing that happens is that you get pulled over at a military road-block outside the airport.  While one guy holds a belt-fed MG on you from behind sandbags, others (usually with G-3s or FALs) rummage through your bags and your belongings.

No - it's not a safety stop or a checkpoint - they are in fact looking for money, and if you give them some they'll let you go.

Sometimes traffic downtown would be slowed or stopped because there'd be a body in the road, or because someone was being burnt alive (the classic tire around the body was most popular).

Scary place, Nigeria.

Don't EVER go there, even if someone gives you a free ticket.

LMAO!!!!