OT - Nigerian Pigeon Drop Scam

Gee, I feel like I've finally arrived. This evening, I received the infamous Nigerian megabucks scam email (see below) Hey, this is a pretty infamous scam -- maybe I can sell this "Rare, collectable confidence scheme email" on eBay! :-) -- Tony --------------------------- From: Dr. Waziri Dongoyaro [mailto:kaza5005@hotmail.com] Sent: Tuesday, May 22, 2001 10:28 PM To: Eros, Anthony Subject: Urgent Proposal REQUEST FOR ASSISTANCE - STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL I am Alhaji Waziri Dongoyaro, an Accountant in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and I head a seven man tenders board in charge of Contract Awards and Payment Approvals. I came to know of you in my search for a reliable and reputable person to handle a very confidential transaction which involves the transfer of a huge sum of money to a foreign account. There were series of contracts executed by a Consortium of Multinationals in the oil industry in favour of NNPC among which were: (1) The expansion of the pipeline network within Nigeria for crude oil and downstream products distribution and subsequent evacuation - US$5 Billion (2) Contract for the Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) of the various Refineries in the country. (3) The construction of storage tanks for Petroleum Products (Depots) - US$90 Million The original value of these contracts were deliberately over-invoiced in the sum of USD Thirty Six Million, Five Hundred and Sixty One Thousand ($36,561,000.00) which has now been approved and is now ready to be transferred being that the companies that actually executed these contracts have fully been paid and the projects officially commissioned. Consequently, my colleagues and I are willing to transfer the total amount to your account for subsequent disbursement, since we as civil servants are prohibited by the Code of Conduct Bureau (Civil Service Laws) from opening and/or operating foreign accounts in our names. Needless to say, the trust reposed on you at this juncture is enormous. In return, we have agreed to offer you 25% of the transferred sum, while 10% shall be set aside for incidental expenses (internal and external) between the parties in the course of the transaction. You will be mandated to remit the balance to other accounts in due course. You must however NOTE that this transaction is subject to the following terms and conditions: a) Our conviction of your transparent honesty and diligence b) That you would treat this transaction with utmost secrecy and confidentiality c) That the funds would be transferred to an interest bearing account where the incidence of taxation would not exert a heavy toll. Modalities have been worked out at the highest levels of the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of Nigeria for the immediate transfer of funds within 14 working days subject to your satisfaction of the above stated terms. Our assurance is that your role is risk-free. To accord this transaction the legality it deserves and for mutual security of the fund, the whole approval procedures will be officially and legally processed with your name or the name of any company you may nominate as the bonafide beneficiary. Once more, I want you to understand that having put in over 19 years in the civil service of my country, I am averse to having my image and career dented. This matter should therefore be treated with utmost secrecy and urgency. Kindly expedite action as we are behind schedule to enable us include this transfer in the last batch within this quarter payment for the 2001 financial year. Contact me on Tel/Fax no. 234-1-7597613. e-mail: kaza5005(a)hotmail.com Reply is preferable by Fax number as the e-mail server is not reliable here. Yours sincerely, ALHAJI WAZIRI DONGOYARO 234-1-7597613.