URGENT REPLY NEEDED.

I will now point out the wrongness of anyone even thinking about responding to the following email.

I received it today.

Twice.

That would probably be the first reason for becoming suspicious.

I will translate as we go...

FROM MR AMADI SALAM
ADB. OUAGADOUGOU,
AFRICA DEVELOPMENT BANK.
BURKINA FASO.
EMAIL: amadi_salam100@yahoo.fr

(A banker with a generic Yahoo France address?? Hmmm...prestigious...)

DEAR FRIEND, (isn't it nice to be called "friend" by a complete stranger who spams your inbox)

PLEASE THIS IS IMPORTANT AND VERY URGENT I HAVE AN URGENT TRANSACTION OF $8 MILLION USD TO TRANSFER
TO YOUR NOMINATED ACCOUNT,I AM MR AMADI SALAM

(In a search for Amadi Salam in Google, the first result found was "Email Scam, Fraud and Phishing Resource" Probably not a good start)

,I AM AN
AUDITOR,WITH ACCOUNTING DEPARTMENT,ADB HERE IN
OUAGADOUGOU,BURKINA FASO IN WEST AFRICA.
AFTER GOING THROUGH SOME OLD FILES IN THE RECORDS,I
DISCOVERED THAT IF I DO NOT REMIT THIS MONEY OUT
URGENTLY IT WILL BE FORFEITED FOR NOTHING THE OWNER
OF THIS ACCOUNT UNFORTUNATELY DIED IN THE PLANE
CRASH OF UNION TRANSPORT AFRICAINS FLIGHT BOEING 727
IN COTONOU,BENIN REPUBLIC ON THE DECEMBER FRIDAY
26TH,2003.YOU WILL READ MORE STORIES ABOUT THE CRASH
ON VISITING THIS WEBSITE BELOW:

www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/africa/12/26/benin.crash/

(Hey wow! This is a real story. If this guy links to a CNN article, he MUST be legit!!)

NO OTHER PERSON KNOWS ABOUT THIS ACCOUNT OR ANYTHING
CONCERNING IT,THE ACCOUNT HAS NO OTHER BENEFICIARY
AND MY INVESTIGATION PROVED TO ME AS WELL THAT HIS
COMPANY DOES NOT KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THIS ACCOUNT
AND THE AMOUNT INVOLVED IS ($8 MILLION USD)
EIGHT MILLION UNITED STATES
DOLLARS.

(Well, that's not exactly true. Nobody knows about this account because you're not a real banker/auditor and you made up $8million fictional dollars. Conversely, EVERYBODY knows about it because you just did a mass email.)

I WANT TO TRANSFER THE ($8 MILLION) EIGHT
MILLION UNITED STATES DOLLARS
INTO A SAFE FOREIGNERS ACCOUNT ABROAD,BUT I DON'T
KNOW ANY FOREIGNER,I AM ONLY CONTACTING YOU AS A
FOREIGNER BECAUSE THIS MONEY CAN NOT BE APPROVEED TO
A LOCAL BANK HERE,BUT CAN ONLY APPROVED TO ANY
FOREIGN ACCOUNT BECAUSE THE MONEY IS IN US DOLLARS
AND THE FORMER OWNER OUR DECEASED CUSTOMER IS A
FOREIGNER TOO.

(Thank goodness the money can be APPROVEED here. I feel much more confident now.)

I KNOW THAT THIS MESSAGE WILL COME TO YOU AS A
SURPRISE AS WE DON'T KNOW OUR SELVES BEFORE,BUT THE
REST ASSURE THAT THIS IS LIFE TIME BUSINESS FOR BOTH
OF US EVEN FOR OUR GENERATION TO COME.

(Actually, I'm not surprised. I get these every day. What makes you so special? Oh, yes, that's right. "The rest assure that this is life time business for both of us even for our generation to come...")

WITH THE BELIEVE IN GOD THAT YOU WILL NEVER LET ME DOWN IN THIS BUSINESS.YOU ARE THE ONLY PERSON THAT I
HAVE CONTACTED IN THIS BUSINESS,SO PLEASE REPLY
URGENTLY SO THAT I WILL INFORM YOU THE NEXT STEP TO
TAKE URGENTLY,SEND ALSO YOUR PRIVATE TELEPHONE AND
FAX NUMBER.
I WANT US TO MEET FACE TO FACE OR SIGN A BINDING
AGRREEMENT TO BIND US TOGETHER SO THAT YOU CAN
RECEIVE THIS MONEY INTO A FOREIGN ACCOUNT OR ANY
ACCOUNT OF YOUR CHOICE WHERE THE FUND WILL BE
SAFE.WHENT THE MONEY IS SUCCESSFULLY TRANSFER INTO
YOUR FOREIGN ACCOUNT,YOU WILL SEND ME AN INVITATION
LETTER SO THAT I WILL COME TO YOUR COUNTRY FOR
SHARING AND AFTER WITH MY OWN PERCENTAGE YOU WILL
HELP ME FOR INVESTMENTS IN YOUR COUNTRY.
I AM CONTACTING YOU BECAUSE OF THE NEED TO INVOLVE A
FOREIGNER WITH FOREIGN ACCOUNT AND TO STAND AS THE
BENEFICIARY OF THE FUND.

(Blah, blah blah. If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit. And bad grammer. And really dodgy spelling.)

I NEED YOUR FULL CO-OPERATION TO MAKE THIS WORK
RESORT TO GOOD FOR US BECAUSE THE MANAGEMENT IS
READY TO APPROVE THIS PAYMENT TO ANY FOREIGNER WHO HAS THE CORRECT INFORMATION ABOUT THE DECEASED
CUSTOMER'S ACCOUNT,WHICH I WILL FEED YOU WITH,IF YOU
ARE ABLE AND WITH THE CAPABILITY TO HANDLE
TRANSACTION IN STRICT CONFIDENCE AND TRUST ACCORDING
TO MY INSRUCTIONS AND ADVICE FOR OUR MUTUAL BENEFIT
BECAUSE THIS OPPORTUNITY WILL NEVER COME AGAIN IN MY
LIFE.
I NEED TRUTHFUL (gullible!) PERSON IN THIS BUSINESS BECAUSE I
DON'T WANT TO MAKE MISTAKE (get caught),I NEED YOUR STRONG
ASSURANCE AND TRUST (not to inform the police). WITH MY POSITION NOW IN THE
OFFICE I CAN TRANSFER THIS MONEY TO ANY FOREIGN
RELIABLE ACCOUNT,WHICH YOU CAN PROVIDE WITH
ASSURANCE THAT THIS MONEY WILL BE INTACT PENDING MY
PHYSICAL ARRIVAL IN YOUR COUNTRY FOR (kidnap, robbery, fraud) SHARING AND YOU
WILL DIRECT ME ON WHAT KIND OF INVESTMENT I WILL DO
WITH MY OWN PERCENTAGE IN YOUR COUNTRY.
AND I WANT YOU TO REMIND YOU THAT YOUR SHARE HAS
BEEN CALCULATED TO 35% OF THE TOTAL SUM (...get out your calculator. See the dollar signs....) I AM WATING
FOR YOUR URGENT REPLY SO THAT I WILL GIVE YOU MORE
INFORMATION ABOUT THIS DEAL. PLEASE REPLY BACK THROUGH MY MAIL ADDRESS.THANKS.
EXTEND MY GREETINGS TO YOUR FAMILY AND HAVE A NICE
DAY.
WITH BEST REGARDS,
AMADI SALAM.

(shit. I left the caps lock on)

technorati tags: africa bank email scam phishing fraud