Ok these nigerian bums are now targetting property owners. The scam is geared around passing over fake or counterfeit cheques (checks) how the whole scam works I still do not fully understand. However how their other scams work, and they all seem to follow the same format only with slight changes to the scamming senario.

NEVER BELIEVE A STORY THAT SAYS THEY WILL SEND YOU A CHEQUE AS DEPOSIT - THEN YOU SEND MONEY TO THEIR PROPERTY TEAM, SO THEY CAN COME AND INSPECT IT.

Heres what they will try to do!

Say that they want to buy it, but are busy, they will say they are sending someone to view, but they have problem getting money to the person who is to view the property. They will try to get you to take a cheque keep spme as a deposit then you send the rest to the person due to view the property.
Get you to rent the property you are selling - giving you a fake cheque. They decide they no longer want to rent the property when you have the cheque. They will make up some story that will have you feeling sorry for them DO NOT FEEL SORRY FOR THEM! Then will ask you to cash the cheque, asking you to keep some for the hassle. They will be in a real hurry to get the money sent back to them and will suggest you use western union or money gram NEVER USE WESTERN UNION OR MONEYGRAM you have no support if it all goes bad. The cheque will bounce - it will be either a counterfeit or a modified one for a greater amount. Once your bank realises the cheque is fake they will be after the money you sent the scammers from you!
may try to get you to meet them in some other country - not 100% sure why this is, basically never go to see someone overseas. They want to buy your house they come to see you! this I have read is where they show you a trunk box full of money - well the top layer is the rest are photocopies. They then will say they have problems getting the cash out of the country and ask you to pay a security company to help move it.
Avoid people who talk about a third party - they say they are buying for a client, buying for a relative, even they have investors who are interested in buying your home.
If buying never give a deposit to secure a house that you have not seen. There have been cases of fake adverts placed that are well priced - they say that to secure it you need to send a deposit .... you will send a deposit for a house they do not have. If you must then use an escrow service like www.escrow.com (http://www.escrow.com/) no others!
Basically if anything seems complicated, bizarre, awkward or you are just suspicious walk away!

Sample emails are


ATTENTION: SIR/ MADAM,



I AM (DR.NELSON NARTEY) DIRECTOR OF MINISTRY OF
HEALTH, REPUBLIC OF GHANA. I AM CONTACTING YOU IN
RESPECT OF HOUSE PROPERTIES FOR PURCHASE AS CONTAINED
IN YOUR PROFILE OF HOMEBUYER'S JOURNAL.

I WANT A RESIDENTIAL HOUSE FOR MY FAMILY IN YOUR
COUNTRY CANADA, THE LOCATION MUST BE OUTSIDE THE CITY.
AND IT MUST HAVE ALL HOUSE COMFORTS. SECONDLY, I AM
INTO HOSPITALITY INVESTMENT. THEREFORE, YOU SHOULD GET
FOR ME A GOOD HOTEL IN ONE OF YOUR BEST CITIES, VERY
SIGHTED FOR LUCRATIVNESS. IF YOU ARE CAPABLE AND
WIILING TO SECURE THE ABOVE MENTIONED PROPERTIES AS
QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE CONTACT ME IMMEDIATELY ON THIS
TELEPHONE NUMBER: 00233 243 449 223 FOR MORE
INFORMATION REGARDING THIS PURCHASE, ALSO TO INTRODUCE
YOU TO MY PROPERTYAGENT.

ACCORDINGLY, THIS PURCHASE MUST BE VERY CONFIDENTIAL
BECAUSE OF MY POSITION IN THE GOVERNMENT.

EXPECTING YOUR SWIFT RESPONSE,

REGARDS

DR.NELSON NARTEY,

MINISTRY OF HEALTH.


Please do not laugh at this one!

your property

i would like to buy your property asap

pls would you email me on liam_walters@hotmail.co.uk

thanks liam clark

p.s

could you also send me photos of your property

thanks



HOUSE PROPOSAL

HELLO,

<br> THIS IS MARK SHOLA AND ALSO I AM A HOUSE AGENT.I SAW YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS AT GOOGLE SEARCH ENGINE AND REALLY I AM INTERETSED IN BUYING FROM YOU .I HAVE A SENATOR AT HAND RIGHT NOW IN WHICH I WILL LIKE TO PLACE THE HOUSE FOR SO GET BACK TO ME NOW WITH SOME OF THE LIST OF HOUSES YOU HAVE AT HAND RIGHT NOW WITH THEIR PRICE...

REGARDS..

MARK SHOLA


investing

HELLO,

<br>AM DRE SHINNY AN AGENT IN UK AND USA.I HAVE A CLIENT WHO IS READY TO INVEST IN UR COUNTRY AND HE HAS BUDGET A SUM OF 1.2MILLION$ FOR THE PROJECT.HE WILL ALSO SEND U THE MONEY IN CASH.THE CASH IS ALREADY WITH HIS LAWYER BCOS HE MADE HIS LAWYER AWARE OF THESE.SO I WILL LIKE TO ASK U SOME QUESTIONS. <br>1,CAN A NON CITIZEN OF UR COUNTRY INVEST IN UR COUNTRY? <br>2,CAN WE TRUST YOU WITH THIS CASH? <br>3,CAN WE TRUST YOU WITH THIS INVESTMENT? <br>SO GET BACK TO ME ASAP SO AS TO GIVE U THE LAWYER CONTACT . <br>OK HERE IS MY EMAIL ADDRESS shinnyolady3@yahoo.co.uk <br>BEST REGARDS, <br>THANKS <br>DRE <br>


This is a typical 419 scam - I like the "I hope this email reaches you in good condition" - like it could get damaged enroute!

hello

Name: John Kent

Address: Macory abidjan 08 bp
Ivoiry cosat, west Africa
phone number:+22507536217
contact email :ke_john7@yahoo.com
Dear sir

Compliments of the day, i hope this email reaches you in good condition. i am the above named person,Mr. kent john 21years old, from Ivory Coast the son of late Mr&Mrs john.It is sad to say that he passed away mysteriously in France during one of his business trips abroad on the 13 of may 2003. <br> <br>Though his sudden death was linked or rather suspected to have been masterminded by an uncle of his who travelled with him at that time.But God knows the truth! My mother died when I was just 4 years old,and since then my father took me so special. Before the death of my father on may 13 of 2003 called and told me that he has the sum of Twelve million,eight hundred thousand United State Dollars.(USD$12.800,000) compile in a metallic box and deposited with one of the security company here in Abidjan Ivroy coast West Africa 10 of febuary 2002 <br> <br>Therefore i do not want you to be surprised at the nature of my contact with you, the truth is that i actually got your contact on the world wide web (www) while i was in search of a trustworthy person for assitance. Basically i need someone sent by God, who will not be of any mischief nor take undue advantage of my present situation. <br> <br>Furthermore,I want you to help me remit these funds from the security firm as i am incapable of doing it myself,my late farther also said that the security company does not know the content of the safe Box.he decleared it as family treasure and used my name (kent john) to Deposit the Box as his only son for next of kin. He also explained to me that it was because of this wealth that he was poisoned by his business assocaites, That I should seek for a foreign partner in a country of my choice where I will transfer this money to and use it for investment purposes. <br> <br>I want you to assist me in clearing this box from the security company and then transfering the fund inside the box into your account overseas as a beneficiary of the fund, and also use it for an investment purpose for me and as well to further my education. <br> <br>I am just 21 years old and a university undergraduate and really don't know what to do,this is because I have suffered a lot of set backs as a result of incessant political crisis here in Ivory coast.The death of my father actually brought sorrow to my life.I am in a sincere desire of your humble assistance in this regards.Your suggestions and ideas will be highly regarded. <br> <br>Finally, i wish to tell you that after you might have

<br>remitted/collected the funds from the security company i intend for you to use the

<br>funds for the following;

<br>1.To start a better life again and as well further my education. <br>2. Make a charity donation to ophanage home. <br>3. Meanwhile 20% of the total funds will be for you, for your

Assistance.

I will wait to hear from you in order to give details on how you can claim the funds on my behalf, i am positive that this will not take too much of your time. As such i urge you to look at this duty as a call for service from God, also a call for helping me out of this my present trial, a call to put a smile on the faces of people in distress. <br> <br>Best Regards <br>kent john <br>N.B <br> give me a call will this phone number +225-07536217 or you give me your phone number let give a call.

Little advise, never enter in discussion if the guy don't come and see the property.

1st he comes, then you start talking :D

Ok the property buying scam goes like this, they place a fake advert on sites like this and others.


Place a fake advert with a nice looking property - make the price less than the going rate - this will get a good response
When the replies come in - they send this basic email thanks for your interested so you can try and call me right now.or you can meet me at my yahoo mesanger.
They delay replying for a day or two, then make up some lies that a family member has been really ill send an email like this thanks for the mail so i am in canada because my only son is very sick but i will coming tomorrow to london and we can meet each other.so can i call you if i get london to morrow.so that we can meet and i will show you the house and we can better.
So hopefully the potential buyer of the non existent fake house will feel sorry for you.
DO NOT LAUGH AT THIS NEXT PART OF THE SCAM :D now they send you an email like this one below how you doing .so i was very busy fornot replying your mail all this days because of my kid that is sick but i want you to help me for something i want to sell the house to treat my kid and live in a small place and can you just borrow me a ticket fee of 1500pounds so that i can come and show thw house and talk about how to pay.and i can come as soon as possible.ok.
Now is anyone really going to fall for this? We really hope not - but these idiots seem to think we all live in cloud cuckoo land.

NEVER TRUST ANYONE IF THEY WANT MONEY UP FRONT - IF THEY TALK GIBBERISH, HAVE POORLY FAMILY MEMBERS, HAVE A PROPERTY, BUT NEED YOU TO LEND THEM SOME MONEY TO ALLOW THEM TO FLY OUT TO SHOW YOU THE HOUSE .....

WALK AWAY





We have no real way of checking the validity of the adverts, although we do run checks from time to time.

You think you're getting grief. We run a website at that has a database of 1200 constantly updated properties on. They are all suitable for invstors so we attract fraudulent enquiries at quite a rate. We ignore most of them. However it can be fun to string them along for a while. Why not waste their time as they want to waste not only your time but also nick your dough!!

Splatthefly

Latest letters


My client would be glad to have the property soonest,and he has finally accepted your price(244,900).
He was very happy to read your mail regarding the property. He saw the picture of the property and would be very happy to have the property, there is no problem regarding the payment, he will come and see the property when he returns from his trip. he would like to see the property before the payment is been done. He will not be able to come for the payment soonest because he has travel to japan.

My client made out a certified cashiers check of deposit of ($13,000) before he travelled to japan on a business trip,for a previous property and taxes charges etc,but it was unfortunately sold. so the check is meant for the total expenses which includes the deposit of your property and also the transportation of my client agent and attorney to the present location of the property. You are require to state the date which you would like my client agent to come over for the view the property and inspect the property.

The $13,000 deposit is a down payment and is meant for the assurance fee and other maintainance you think is required for the property. As soon as my client agent and attorney comfirm that the property is acceptable and good, my client would come over for the payment of the property. You are to arrange a date for my client agent and attorney to meet in person, he will also be becoming with a bill of sale and a signed agreement for the purchase of the property

You are required to deduct $8,000 from the deposit of the property and send to a travel agency for him to secure a flight ticket for my client agent and attorney. The travel agency has also assured my client that as soon as he recieve his payment from you, he will book a ticket which will enable my client agent and attorney to come over to see you in person and both of you will finalized the transaction in a proper procedure and sign a contact of sale between you and my client, so my client agent and need to see you in person before the transaction will be sealed. Both of you need to be there to finalize the transaction.
The $13,000 deposit is not part of the amount of the property but for the removal of the property from the ad you posted it to avoid complications from other interested buyers of the property, the refund of the $8,000 will be sent to a travel agency, not me nor my client agent and attorney, as soon as the travel agency receive the fund he will notify my client and book a ticket reservation for my client agent to come over there a meet you in person. You should not be worried regarding the refund for transportation of my client agent.




I want to go for the property at ???? ($xxx,000). I had planned to send a team from the British Columbia. But the problem i am having now is how to get their payment down to them.
I am ready to make any down payment you require.
The team expressed difficulty in cashing International money Orders in the British columbia. So if you can help me receive the Money Order in your name, then you cash and pay them. that will be great. please get back to me ASAP

We get them everyday.

Last year one of them started off saying he was interested in buying property over here. As time went on we slowly realised he wanted us to got to belgiun and collected the money from his bank account. Also at the same time he wanted us to write an invitation to come and view the money. he claimed he was unable to come here and bring or send the money himself.

once we decided to go no furhter with this, he kept sending more emails, pestering us al the time.

It was all too dodgy for me!

Goto www.419eater.com and it'll cheer you up to see people turning the tables on these scammers! very funny!:)

Goto www.419eater.com (http://www.419eater.com) and it'll cheer you up to see people turning the tables on these scammers! very funny!:)

Yep I have been a member for years! These guys rock .... check out the gallery & forum

Somehow I just think that every people using the internet should be aware of all the scams that come from Nigeria; still impressive that some buy it..

I cannot believe Nigerians are still able to pray on gulliable internet users. They've been out there for ages now, you would just think no one would fall for their schemes anymore. Kind of scary when you think about it though!

Well, I guess that they normally get the 'newbie' person who is all happy about their first received email...hopefully.

This is amazing. Do they have some sort of internet school in Nigeria where these people go to learn how to scam people? Every time I ever get a bogus email it's from someone claiming to be the president, the secretary of state, or some rich man's daughter from Nigeria. You'd think they'd at least learn to change where they say they come from.

Well, not a school exactly, but mob-ruled internet cafe actually :rolleyes:

View this report about how mobsters had divisions were they seek techies teenagers and offered them a much-higher-than-normal salary to work in internet cafes...apparently it's that lucrative for them :(

hi, all.

I'm a Nigerian. I'm a real estate agent Lagos Nigeria.

I'm sorry that some of my country men have behaved far below expectation. I can't possibly undo the evil that have been done by Nigerian scammers. But I can help people from being scammed if they let me.

In this regard, i wrote a short article on Nigeria real estate fraud on my web site. Here's the link . . .

http://www.lagos-nigeria-real-estate-advisor.com/nigeria-real-estate-fraud.html

You may wish to check it out.

I am not sure if this is a joke or not; given good intentions, I think the entire country is banned from common sense. People will not make any more transactions with anything based in Nigeria; I think the problem has come that big.

While that is excellent advice blessing2006. I'm afraid slashmire is correct. It's a shame that a few bad apples have to taint the good ones. I personally no matter how good a company appeared would not do business with a Nigerian company. I'd have to consider anyone that did a bit on the foolish side as well all things considered.

Well, it is nice to know that you are legitimate, I do trust you, and I would like to trust many, and it's nice to see that your businesses are doing well. However, I just find it sad that Nigerians organizations have made a bad for Nigeria :(

I cant believe this still around! My goodness this scam been around since 1998 or somethng and it is shame some people still fall for it.

I think the problem lies in the fact that even though the scam has been living on forever, some people are still new to the internet phenomenon every years :(

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: John Serek <jserek011@yahoo.com>
Date: Feb 28, 2007 4:42 PM
Subject: Re:

Hello ,

Thanks for your response, meanwhile I believe first to secure the property through a deposit before any arrangement is to be made. I am impressed with the property, I should love to call you to discuss with you but am on a field assignment in London and would like to know the followings details concerning the property:-

1. What’s the bottom price of the property? Is the house still on it’s originally paint?
2. What major repairs has the house undergone? How the house has been maintained.
3. Are you the original owner? Is the house under insurance policy?
4. When did you buy the house and why do you want to sell it? Are you a US citizen?
5. The property and the ownership are on whose name?

However, I would like to know your last price (non-negotiable) from that of the net price for onward transaction, if your price is ok then I can arrange for a deposit while my agent will call you to arrange for the property inspection and other necessary renovations if any will be taken care of by him. Do get back to me immediately as I have limited time to conclude this transaction.

Thanks and have a nice day.
Regards,
John

well I don't know what to think; I am a legitimate advertiser, selling real estate property in the Caribbean, and so far all the response has been from two very obvious scammers.

One obvious scammer from Ethiopia and another "UK agent" as follows:

"This is Mr. Benser, i am an Estate agent based in the U.K, i have received a contract from a client Shirk Ahmed Muktar of Saudi Arabia to purchase a befitting house in your location for his newly wedded daughter...."

Anybody heard of Benser? or is this another guest at the Yahoo E-Mail Hotel ?


And I'm now wondering if THIS WEBSITE is a fake as well??
I mean, it doesn't look like ANY buyers from the UK are looking HERE for real estate, does it?

well I don't know what to think; I am a legitimate advertiser, selling real estate property in the Caribbean, and so far all the response has been from two very obvious scammers.

One obvious scammer from Ethiopia and another "UK agent" as follows:

"This is Mr. Benser, i am an Estate agent based in the U.K, i have received a contract from a client Shirk Ahmed Muktar of Saudi Arabia to purchase a befitting house in your location for his newly wedded daughter...."

Anybody heard of Benser? or is this another guest at the Yahoo E-Mail Hotel ?


And I'm now wondering if THIS WEBSITE is a fake as well??
I mean, it doesn't look like ANY buyers from the UK are looking HERE for real estate, does it?
Rest assured Uk buyers are looking for real estate on this site & no it's not a fake site. I try to warn sellers about these scammers, if you let me know I will investigate this person.

JUST RECIEVED THIS

09/08/2007 16:11:03
From: ronbi45
To: tidustom
Subject: hello

Dear seller i am highly interested in your aboved mentioned property and okay with the stated price, i appreciate the pictures and i beleive in good faith that the property is in good condition like you have explained to me i am making payments with a certified bankers drfat or cheque that will clear in your bank before proper documentations are followed my attorney as i am relocating to this area where the property is situated and will like to settle for this kindly get back at me with nessesary infos so like your phone number and regular email for a seamless communication so i can proceed with nessesary steps
i look foward to read from you with anticipation
Kind Regards
Luciano

Anything from Nigeria has to be viewed with distrust, it seems lawless over there. Mind you, i think it's getting that way over here too... :-)

BB

Date: 10/06/2007 13:02:01
From: Pastorjames_williams
To: gha0011
Subject: Will Of Late Engineer Richard K.C Douglas

Dear Beloved In Christ,
Greetings to you In The Name Of Our Lord Jesus Christ
On behalf of the Trustes and Executor of the estate of Late Engineer Richard K.C Douglas again i try to notify you as my earlier letter through the Post Office to your residence address was returned undelivered. I hereby attempt to reach you via your e-mail address .
I have been directed to inform you again that Late Engineer Richard K.C Douglas made you a beneficiary to his will. He left the sum of Nine Hundred and Fifty Thousand Dollars(US$950,000)to you in the codicil and last statement of his will.Being a widely travelled man, he must have been in contact with you in the past or simply you were nominated to him by one of his numerous friends abroad who wished you good.
Late Engineer Richard K.C Douglas, until his death was the Chairman,Chief Executive Officer and pioneer of Universal Steels and Construction Company in West Africa. A giant Steel Production and Construction Company.
He was a Cheerful and dedicated Christian who loved to give out.His great philanthropy earned him numerous awards during his life time. Late Engineer Richard K.C Douglas Died at the age of 79 years , and his Will is now ready for execution. According to him this money is to support your Christian activities and to help the poor and the needy.Please If I reach you as I am hopeful, endeavour to get back to me as
soon as possible to enable the immediate execution of your portion of the bequest to enable early disbursment by the Paying Bank.You should foward along your telephone and fax numbers,including a proof to confirm your identity as the beneficiary in question and your current mailing address if
different from the above.Proof of Identity should be either clergy ID or International passport or drivers License.On demand I would send you the Obituary notice of Late Engineer Richard K.C Douglas for your perusal and maybe you would recognise him . I hope to hear from you in no distant time.
Yours in His service,
Pastor James Williams
Assembles of God Christain Church
363, Springfield Road
Chelmsford, Essex CM2 6AW
United Kingdom
Tel:+447024096606
E-mail:pastorjames_williams2005@yahoo.com

i advise to stay away from any property or real estate scam emails you may have. from what i've heard they send you a fake check and try to have the difference in money wired over to them.

Don't trust anyone. Always use Escrow with a reputable company. It may cost more but is cheaper than being ripped off.

There are definitely too many scammers out there for my tastes. Seems like every time I turn around someone is sending me e-mails about property or wanting to send me an overdraft cheque.

I also receive some emails like this.

ya these scammers are bad..but cant avoid them..

gee, thanks for this information.

What a crazy story! Lately you hear a lot about scammers from Nigeria - how come that so many come from there?

Hi,

the tell-tale signs of fraud are:

1. Bad English. Sometimes it is so bad that it must be machine-translated.
2. No real commitments from the scammer. You must deliver everything.
3. Logical fallacies. You have to send a certain amount of money, in order to receive more money.

I think it is best to do business with people in your own country or market (EU) rather than take the risk of some unknown "client". Even though the economy is globalizing, the best is to keep with the known knowns and not the unknown unknowns.

Cheers!

Angie

I've had loadsa Nigerians plaguing me on Ebay with just about everything, normally they try the game with the phoney pal pal websites for funds.

I've not had any issues with my properties abroad tho "fingers cross", I guess there not to bother about the UAE real estate.

Problem is sometimes they can often hack legitamate peoples accounts, basically using identity theft and then a scam aswell.

They are in every kind of scam from Nigerian and recently I saw that they are giving billions, they want to sell their properties to you or want to buy your properties as well.

Even somewhere I read that one lady have lost one million to these nigerian people as well.

We should really take necessary step.

There is considerable press coverage about managing agents hicking up insurance premiums

has any one suffered this or wants;) to know how to find out if they are getting the correct deal