I swear that I get one of these ridiculous e-mails every three or four days. WHO would be STUPID enough to fall for this...?

FROM:MRS.GLORIA MUTUNGA

JOHANNESBURG SOUTH AFRICA,

E_MAIL :mutgab_2010@yahoo.com

ATTN: SIR/MADAM,

PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL

With due respect trust and humility, I write you this proposal, which I believe will be a great interest to you.I found your contact while I was doing a private research on the internet for a reliable and capable foreign partner that will assist my family and i. that is why I contacted your.I am MRS.GLORIA MUTUNGA the wife of MR. MIKE MUTUNGA of Zimbabwe. During the current war against famers in Zimbabwe and from the support of our president ROBERT MUGABE to claim all the white owned farms in our country,all the white and black farmers were ordered to surrender their farms to his party members and his followers.

My husband who was one of the best farmers in our country and treasurer of the farmer's co-operation did not suport his idea and so the party members invaded my husband's farms and burnt everything in the farm,Killed my husband and made away with a lot of items in my husband's farm.After the death of my husband, I and my childern descided to move out of Zimbabwe because our lives was in danger with the money that my husband kept in his hidden safe in my house.

The amount contained in the safe is US$20Million (TWENTY MILLION UNITED STATES DOLLARS) and we descided to code the money and move to SOUTH AFRICA where we deposited the money in a SECURITY COMPANY as a valuable item.So I decided to make contact with an overseas firm who will assist me and family to move this money out of South Africa,because we are asylum seekers here in South Africa,and can not continue to suffer when we have such amount of money in the security company.

So,if you consider this proposal, my family and i have agreed to give you 25% of the total sum for helping us to move this money out to your country and 5% will be mapped out for expenses both of us may incure during this transaction and 70% Will be for me and family to invest in your country. All I want is for you to furnish me with all your banking details and your personal phone and fax numbers for easy communication.You can contact my elder son on the above Tel and e-mail address. NOTE: That this

transaction is 100% risk free and absolutely confidential. Then,if you are interested to help me and my children please contact my elder son, MR.GABRIEL MUTUNGA with the above e-mail .

Thanks and God bless you.

Best Regard,

GLORIA MUTUNGA(MRS)

It's a scam. Same as the ones that come from Nigeria

used to get a bunch.

once i e-mailed them back asking how often the trick works, ect, out of curiousity, but the guy just kept playing the scheme like it was real... bastard.

cborgman said:

Maybe I should e-mail him back and politely decline sending him my bank info...but offer to buy one of his daughters or something...?

PurpleJedi said:

DO IT!!

messing with them is fun!

and let us know if they mail back

cborgman said:

luv4u said:

what? it's not like they can find your house or something, and god knows they deserve it

cborgman said:

Let me think of something convoluted and clever...then I'll post it here. Probably tomorrow...can't think too hard right now (allergies).

cborgman said:

send a copy to Interpol http://www.interpol.int/

PurpleJedi said:

luv4u said:

I already deleted the one above...so I'll forawrd the next one I get.
Gracias!

ThePurplePeopleEater said:

[Edited 9/29/05 20:21pm]

cborgman said:

Dude...

Nigerian money transfer fraud, Nigerian scam or 419 scam after the relevant section of the Nigerian Criminal Code [1] that it violates, is a fraudulent scheme to extract money from investors living in relatively richer countries in Europe, Australia, or North America. This type of scam, originally known as the "Spanish Prisoner Letter" [2], has been carried out since at least the sixteenth century via ordinary postal mail. These scams have come to be associated in the public mind with Nigeria due to the massive proliferation of such confidence tricks from that country since the mid-eighties, although they are often also carried out in other African nations, and increasingly from European cities with large Nigerian populations, notably London and Amsterdam.

Originally, the schemers contacted mainly heads of companies and church officials, however, the use of e-mail spam and instant messaging for the initial contacts has led to many private citizens also being targeted, as the cost to the scammers to make initial contact is much lower.

The schemers seem to believe the saying "You can't cheat an honest man" thus victims deserve what they get. As all the deals or offers involve "something for nothing" schemes.

The United States Federal Trade Commission has issued a Consumer Alert about the Nigerian scam. It says: "If you receive an offer via email from someone claiming to need your help getting money out of Nigeria — or any other country, for that matter — forward it to the FTC at spam@uce.gov."

i forget where i read or heard this, but a guy emailed them back with an even better offer/scheme and they fell for it and he ended up with a few bucks in his pocket! i wish i could find that article, i think he pretended to be some baron or something like that.

ThePurplePeopleEater said:

i just didn't know what the number meant