This guy is trying to scam me...Should I play with him?

[Quilst]

Hello Dominik Vig,

My appreciation to you for taken the time and effort at least to read my mail and respond accordingly. I will at this point do ask for your favor by asking you to please click on the links below for various articles and reports that unfolds the whole drama that has led to Mr khodorkovsky predicaments and incarceration and all other moves which are still currently in high gears towards confisticating as many more as can be possible discovered all assets and investments belonging to Mr Khodorkovsky and it is as a result of this that we are urgently and secretly trying as much as possible to get his funds out and safe at least for his family that he lives behind to hold on to.I also know for sure that with this venture you can be able to fulfil the church project you talked about.

BBC NEWS | Business | Yukos ex-chief jailed for 9 years

I also ask that you can conduct as much research as you can on this story and if you are satisfied and convinced that we are indeed real and genuine and that this transaction is for real then we can proceed further.

For now, I cannot disclose were the funds are now or what financial institution is currently holding such investments ,this is purely for security reasons being that for now we cannot ascertain your trust now but when we do do so, trust me you will have assess to all vital information about this transaction and how you are to become involved and what needs to be done.

What i can say is that we are talking of an investment worth US $42 Million (Forty Two Million United States Dollars) and that these funds are currently been held in an investment company. Although these funds are been invested under his wife’s name, what we have planned out to do is to prepare documentation to subcontract and transfer the funds to you or your company to help Mr Khodorkovsky's invest in real estate properties for the family's future so that this way you can contact the Investment company and request for payments so that you will help invest the funds on real estate after your Management 12% fees of the funds has been deducted. We have set up all machinery to make this transition to move smoothly without stress or strain and also to make sure that we conduct this transaction within the full circle of the law so as for us to not have any trouble with any financial regulatory body being in your country when you do request to have the
funds transferred to your account there in your country. , it would be a major plus for us as it will be very easy for us to do the necessary documentation to transfer ownership of the funds to you.

All that is needed is for you receive the funds to your company name or you in person if the company does not belong to you where you work to prepare the necessary documentation that will legally transfer ownership of the funds to your favor and then forward such to the financial institution were the funds are been currently held. Once they confirm receipt of the transfer of ownership and the new order has been effected, we will notify you and give you the necessary information for you to contact them and request for your payment.

Be informed too that before we can proceed deep into this transaction fully, we will have to enter into a contract which will clearly state our both interest and stakes in this transaction so that we will not have any misunderstanding or misrepresentation what so ever during this transaction till when the funds are fully in your care.

Currently those of us that are his close aides are been closely monitored as there are indications and suspicions that we might be trying to hide some of his assets and investment and based on this is why i am very discret about this transaction and i will appreciate if you keep it to yourself as a heavily guarded secret and append to it all the confidenciality that it warrants and pending on my trust on you and also my assurance that yes indeed you have our interest at heart and are really willing to assist with all your heart and full devotion.

I do appeal for your understanding in this matter and i do assure you that i and this transaction wish not to waste your time if the reverse was the case. All you need do for now is to provide me with your Full names, Contact Address, Occupation, Age, Sex and telephone number, fax number to prepare the necessary documentations on transfer of ownership of funds and I will provide further details and instructions.

Please keep this confidential; we can't afford more political problems.Let me once again use this opportunity to reassure you that this transaction will be conducted inside the full circles of the law and nothing illegal will be done what so ever during the course of conducting this transaction and also to ask for your full trust and honesty as well as undivided attention in this transaction.

I will eagerly await your responds.Have a nice day.Best Regards,
James Berry (Esq)
=============================
JAMES BERRY & ASSOCIATES.
5/10 Chistoprudni Blvd Suite 21.
Moscow, Russia

[Quilst]

If somebody can please explain what exactly this guy can do with my personal data?

Thanks a bunch!

[KarlWarren]

I wouldn't recommend playing with him...

Scam baiting is a lot of fun and can take up the time and energy of one of these scammers. However, the operations they run don't just involve the person who is emailing you... they have someone above them who they are probably indebted to.

Some of these people will go to any lengths to get money out of you, and have been made to do all sorts... if you're aware of thescambaiter.com and 409eater.com you'll know what I mean.

Problem is, if you're not careful - you will be giving this person information that could identify you and your whereabouts. Although it is highly unlikely, it has been known for the scammers to travel to other countries to try and seek retribution - and they have resources to research info about you.

It has also been known for people on the receiving end of the scam to travel to the scammer, be kidnapped and then murdered when it was discovered that they weren't going to get any more money out of them. Again, rare, but it happens. Life is cheap in some countries.

My recommendation - delete the email.

If you intend to play, be VERY careful and set up an new hotmail account, make sure that it doesn't relate to you. And reply as someone else - making NO mention of the original email.

Kindest regards,
Karl.

[edit]

Just saw your second post...

With small amounts of info, they will try to gain access to your bank account and make withdrawals or they may try to open a bank account in your name, with fake documents.

[Instructor]

Best to just forward it to the BBB or something and move on.

[seasoned]

Instructor and Karl are right, unfortunately. And jerks, like those that deal in 409, can be TENACIOUS! It probably isn't worth it anyway.

Steve

[JohnMcCabe]

At least he finally made it out of Nigeria...

Seriously, I'd leave these folks alone. A while back, Paul Myers (I think) posted a link to a story claiming the Russian mob is behind a high percentage of spam, including scams like this.

They don't even have to come here. They just pay some low-life gangbanger a few bucks to get nasty on you.

I delete those and forget I ever got them...

[submit2.0]

Yes. I'm strongly agree with. You don't give hime your personnal date even I also get lot of opportunity like this and getting every day lot of Scame mail you must be careful about today's scam programme. Just don;t wast your valuable time do not reply these scammer.

Originally Posted by KarlWarren

I wouldn't recommend playing with him...

Scam baiting is a lot of fun and can take up the time and energy of one of these scammers. However, the operations they run don't just involve the person who is emailing you... they have someone above them who they are probably indebted to.

Some of these people will go to any lengths to get money out of you, and have been made to do all sorts... if you're aware of thescambaiter.com and 409eater.com you'll know what I mean.

Problem is, if you're not careful - you will be giving this person information that could identify you and your whereabouts. Although it is highly unlikely, it has been known for the scammers to travel to other countries to try and seek retribution - and they have resources to research info about you.

It has also been known for people on the receiving end of the scam to travel to the scammer, be kidnapped and then murdered when it was discovered that they weren't going to get any more money out of them. Again, rare, but it happens. Life is cheap in some countries.

My recommendation - delete the email.

If you intend to play, be VERY careful and set up an new hotmail account, make sure that it doesn't relate to you. And reply as someone else - making NO mention of the original email.

Kindest regards,
Karl.

[edit]

Just saw your second post...

With small amounts of info, they will try to gain access to your bank account and make withdrawals or they may try to open a bank account in your name, with fake documents.

[Paul Myers]

John,

Seriously, I'd leave these folks alone. A while back, Paul Myers (I think) posted a link to a story claiming the Russian mob is behind a high percentage of spam, including scams like this.

This particular type of scam has little to do with the RBN ("Russian Business Network.") Much more commonly from Nigeria.

Russians are more often involved in phishing and other credit card fraud, as well as selling of fake drugs, pirated software and the like. They are also, as I understand it, the ones most likely to be behind the emails saying, basically, "For $X,000, we'll default on our agreement to kill you, and tell you who hired us to do it."


Paul

[JMichaelZ]

One of the things I have learned in working online is to concentrate on things that can make me money instead of doing other things. I'd say playing around with this guy would qualify as other things. M2C

[Muhammad Jalloh]

Quilst,

I would say just pass it over; it's not worth it.

Also, do remember that these individuals may already be on government agencies' lists and may have their movements being watched. So, if you decide to play with them, you are probably impliacting yourself and you will have no evidence otherwise in the court of law. (I am not a lawyer, by the way)

419 (not 409) is a widespread epidemic, although it is now being easily recognized by most people.

Just so you know, 419 does not involve just these types of proposals. It could be in the form of business proposals, "you won the lottery" (especially the 'UK National Lottery'), credit cards, European and US Visa frauds, and many more. It is an industry in its own right.

Once I was passing through Benin Republic, a neighboring country of Nigeria, which has a large Nigerian population (Benin's economy is mostly dependent on Nigerian business owners.) Anyway, I walked into a "Cyber Cafe" (an Internet center) to check my email and browse a little. There were some Nigerian guys who were evidently involved in these kinds of stuff in the Cyber Cafe.

Well, one of the guys had written an email to a certain "white guy" who was a distributor of some products asking for "samples" before he buys in bulk for his business. But the "white guy" was smart enough. His response? He replied with a pretty abusive email that let the guy know that he is not that gullible to fall for his scams. Apparently he also used some f-words to spice up his email.

It is sad that people will commit to this full time, but that's their choice. And it is a reality.

My advice? Just delete any such email and move on. Else, you are either wasting your time (as somebody said above) or you'll be risking being an accomplice yourself.

By the way, visit CNN.com and look up "How to Rob a Bank" for a documentary on this issue.

Originally Posted by seasoned

Instructor and Karl are right, unfortunately. And jerks, like those that deal in 409, can be TENACIOUS! It probably isn't worth it anyway.

Steve

Steve,

Actually, it is 419, not 409. It is the section of the Nigerian constitution that deals with "Advanced Fee Fraud." And the site that was mentioned by Karl is 419eater.com .

My advice? Delete the emails and move on with the more important things of your life.
~Muhammad

[KarlWarren]

Oops, typo... lol.

It is 419. Some of the scam baits on both sites are fairly amusing.

[Cali16]

Originally Posted by Paul Myers

They are also, as I understand it, the ones most likely to be behind the emails saying, basically, "For ,000, we'll default on our agreement to kill you, and tell you who hired us to do it."

Paul, interesting....I've never heard of that. That sort of email would be a bit unnerving!

As for the others.....I'd be a gazillionaire several times over for all the times I've "won" the UK lottery or been bequeathed the millions of dollars belonging to some "charitable" person on his or her deathbed. I've always found those emails especially amusing as no one with an ounce of common sense would believe that someone they've never meant, who lives halfway around the world, would suddenly decide to appoint them the beneficiary of their multi-million dollar estate. I just delete them.

Quilst, I agree with the others here....just delete them. You never know what sort of pandora's box you may open if you decide to play their game. And from what a couple people have reported here, it sounds like a potentially very dangerous game to play in some instances.

[2bwealthy]

just delete it and move on. I get these all the time. you dont want your personal info, especially banking info out there.

[Eric Lorence]

Or at the very least they'll "mpack" your browser and give you a very bad headache!

Best!

[KarlWarren]

If you've got a spare hour or three, look up the story of Cole, on TheScamBaiter. If I remember correctly, user TheFailure had the
guy jumping through hoops in what's known as a freight bait.

The site does contain a lot of strong language and the baiters
and other forum users see it as a challenge to provoke the
scammer to retaliate with "dead" threats once they've been
"burned." Even more funny is when they hook them again.

[zeurois]

I got many emails like that from many people and in different formats, first one many years ago

They're just scammers, so delete it.

Cheers,
- Peter

[Rein]

Playing with scammers is just asking for more trouble. My suggestion is delete it and block his i.p.

If you're going to report, trace his isp and send a report to their abuse department.

[DanGTD]

Originally Posted by JMichaelZ

One of the things I have learned in working online is to concentrate on things that can make me money instead of doing other things. I'd say playing around with this guy would qualify as other things. M2C

Very well said.

[Quilst]

Does anybody know where could I proceed this mail?
Is there anybody who deals with this sort of people and work for the goo guys?

[Dave777]

Here you go...
Consumer Reports Web Watch Investigations: Fraud: Phishing Scams, Online Fraud & More

Dave

[Quilst]

Originally Posted by Dave777

Here you go...
Consumer Reports Web Watch Investigations: Fraud: Phishing Scams, Online Fraud & More

Dave

Thanks!

It has been sent to proper people.

I feel so much better now