From the Desk of: Chief wilson Mbami. B.Sc. (SAU)
M.Sc., MNIM
_______________________________________________________________________

DEPARTMENT OF MINERALS AND ENERGY, PRETORIA, SOUTH
AFRICA.


Sir,
It is my great pleasure to write you this letter on
behalf of my colleagues .Your information was given to
me by a member of the South African Export Promotion
Council (SAEPC) Who was with the Government delegation
on a trip to your country for a bilateral conference
talk to encourage foreign investors. I have decided to
seek a confidential co-operation with you in the
execution of the deal hereunder for the benefit of all
parties and hope you will keep it confidential because
of the nature of this business. Within the Department
of Minerals & Energy where I work as a Director of
Audit and Project Implementation and with the
co-operation of two other top officials, we have in
our possession an overdue payment in US funds. The
said funds represent certain percentage of the total
contract value executed on behalf of my Department by
a foreign contracting firm which we the officials
over-invoiced to the amount of US $26.500,000.00
(Twenty Six Million Five Hundred Thousand US Dollars).
Though the actual contract cost has been paid to the
original contractor, leaving the excess balance
unclaimed.

Since the present elected Government is determined to
pay foreign contractors all debts owed, so as to
maintain good relationship with foreign governments
and non-government agencies, we included our bills for
approvals with the Department of Finance and the
Reserve Bank of South Africa (RBSA). We are seeking
your assistance to front as beneficiary of the
unclaimed funds, since we are not allowed to operate
foreign accounts. Details and change of beneficiary
information upon application for claim to reflect
payment and approvals will be secured on behalf of
you/your company. I have the authority of my partners
involved to propose that should you be willing to
assist us in this transaction your share as
compensation will be Twenty five percent (25%), while
my colleagues and I receive Sixty Five percent (65%)
and the balance of Ten percent (10%) for taxation and
miscellaneous expenses incurred.

The business is completely safe and secure, provided
you treat it with utmost confidentiality. It does not
matter whether you/your company does contract projects
as a transfer of powers will be secured in favour of
you/your company. Also, your area of specialization is
not a hindrance to the successful execution of this
transaction. I have reposed my confidence in you and
hope that you will not disappoint us. Kindly notify me
via email, for further details upon your acceptance of
this proposal. Thanks for your co-operation.

Regards,
Chief wilson Mbami

Damn, that stupid letter again. I thought maybe the roof fell on you at McDonalds this moring, or you got ran over by the BBT.

Cool, how come the US doesn't have a department of minerals and energy?

lol, there was a website with some guy that played along, and even started having conversations iwth them and pretended to have fled the USA and was looking for them in south africa with all cash..
it was great

I get them every once in a while.  I use to get letters and faxes before e-mail became popular.

U.S. Warns Nigeria Over Net Fraud

Officials ordered to halt online investment scams that have cheated victims around the globe out of millions.

Gideon F. For-Mukwai
Wednesday, September 26, 2001

Online schemes operating out of Nigeria that have defrauded victims of tens of millions of dollars have become so pervasive that the U.S. government has given the West African country until November to take steps to decrease such crimes or face sanctions.

Financial fraud is now reportedly one of the three largest industries in Nigeria, where crime syndicates are using the anonymity of the Internet to reap a windfall. One often-used form of fraud is known as "419"--a reference to Article 419 of the Nigerian criminal code--and involves scam artists sending unsolicited e-mail, faxes, or letters proposing either an illegal or a legal business deal that requires the victim to pay an advance fee, transfer tax, or performance bond, or to allow credit to the sender of the message.
 
Victims who pay the fees are then informed that "complications" have arisen, and they are asked to send more payments, according to The 419 Coalition Web site, which explains the scam, offers rules for doing business with Nigerian companies and individuals, and provides specific instructions for recourse to residents of Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and South Africa. The global scam began in the early 1980s and had defrauded victims of $5 billion as of 1996, according to the Web site.

Europe Hit Hard
The 419 scams and other forms of online fraud are damaging the budding Internet markets of West Africa because consumers have grown wary of doing business with Nigerian companies and those in neighboring countries. Europeans have been victimized more than have others by the fake online investment deals, according to government and media reports.

The U.K. National Crime Intelligence Service has counted more than 78,000 letters linked to online schemes sent to London residents. The letters have defrauded residents there of more than £24 million ($37.2 million).

Scams Spreading
Some practitioners of online fraud are full-time professionals who have set up sophisticated but bogus e-commerce shop fronts with high-class Web sites, according to Emmanuel Akutu of Softrail Nigerias.

The online criminal activity has spread to other countries, including Ghana, Liberia, Togo, and the Ivory Coast, where technological literacy is improving rapidly with government aid. Of these nations, only Ghana has a viable computer crime act on the books. The Nigerian government has set up a special fraud unit staffed by people from a range of agencies including the State Security Service and the Nigeria Intelligence Agency. The fraud unit has made many arrests, but as yet no one has been successfully prosecuted, according to news accounts.

[url]http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,105308,00.asp[/url]

Tell them you want only a small portion, $100,000 should be sufficent, to ensure the money isn't counterfeit. [:P]

Africa = Hell on Earth

That's racist

Maybe So, but its also true.