Ahhhh. Spam!
by Slack, on August 19th, 2002
So, can someone tell me what the deal is with the international widow who keeps sending me pleas for help to get her husbands fortune laundered to her in some asylum country she had to flee to to escape revolutionaries? I get about one of these every other day! For the life of me I cannot figure out the catch here. As we all know spam like this is designed to give you a virus, or trap you into releasing your password, or some other such nonsense. I don’t see where this email can get that from you, or what the motive to it is. All common sense tells me the mail is a hoax. :) But, what is the damn motive! Someone tell me! It is driving me nuts! Anyway, here’s the infamous email. :)
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From: rose williams
Date: Mon Aug 19, 2002 08:21:00 PM America/Phoenix
To: williams.rose1@caramail.com
Subject: PERSONAL
From Rose Williams. Attn. I am Rose william , the first wife of late Chief Amuso Azaguma Williams from Sierra-Leone. I got your contact via internet in my desprate situation searching for a help. The source of your contact gave me courage and confidence to rely on you. I am writing you in confidence to seek your assistance to stand as my Husband foreign partner to claim cash of Eighteen Million United State Dollars (US$18 ,000,000.00) deposited in a trunk box by my Late Husband before his death with a security company here in Abidjan, Cote dIvoire to your private account. My late husband Chief Amuso Azaguma williams , a Native of Mende District in the northern province of Sierra-Leone, was the General Manager of Sierra-Leone Mining orporation (S.L.M.C), Freetown. According to him, the money was miscellaneous income from mining activities, Over-draft and minor sales. Before the civil war between the rebel forces of Major Paul Koromah and ECOMOG Peace-Keeping Forces that almost destroyed my country, following the forceful removal of the democratically elected President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah by the rebels, my Husband had already Made arrangement for me , and my children and I have to be evacuated to Abidjan, Cote d` Ivoire. My husband and some other top government functionaries were attacked and killed by the rebels because of their loyalty to the President. We are in this strange country suffering without any care or help. Without any relation, we are now like refugees .. Our only hope now lies on you and the money deposited in the security company. To this effect, I humbly solicit your assistance in The following ways : 1. To claim the consignment containing the fund in your name to your country and make a good arrangement for a joint business investment on our behalf in your country with you as the overseer ; 2.To secure a college for my children in your country for them to further their education ; 3. And to make arrangements for us to travel with you to your country after you have claimed and transfer this fund. All the necessary documents issued to my late husband at the time of deposit are in my custody. For your assistance, I have decided to offer you 20% of the total sum to you. Please feel free to get in touch with me or my son abba williams on this number +225 0775 6823 immediately you receive my mail because we are waiting you call for further explanation . Best regards, Rose Williams.
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Boîte aux lettres - Caramail - http://www.caramail.com
Don’t listen to Rose. She is crazy and has escaped from the asylum again. As you can plainly see, I am not dead and there is no need for you to launder any money for anyone. The Sierra-Leone Secret Police are tracking Rose now, and should have her back in custody in no time.
Yours in peace,
Amuso A. Williams
Freetown, Sierra Leone
They are BOTH crazy. Amuso Williams was never Chief of ANYTHING, and is part of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF). I am currently in control of Sierra Leone, and the UN troops protecting Freetown will soon have them both back where they belong.
Respectfully,
The Honorable Ahmad Tejan, President
Freetown, Sierra Leone
Allen,
Looking for the motive? Look no further than the almighty dollar. The phone number they are urging you to call is probably going to be one of those numbers that run $35.00 a minute. Most of the scams using those numbers are based in the Carribean because they use the same area code system as we do, so the numbers look like they might be in the US. When you call them though, BAM! Your phone bill hits the stratosphere and they get the money whether you pay the bill or not. This number does not appear to be in the same numbering scheme, but that just makes it sound more legit. If the number looked like it was in the US, more people would be likely to be suspicious. The fact that the number is obviously foreign tends to pique some people’s interest and increase the chance that they might just call the number…
p.s.
Looks like 225 is the country code for Ivory Coast (C?te d’Ivoire), thus making it seem even more legit.
Source:
http://kropla.com/city_hij.htm#ivory_coast
p.p.s.
For more of these, check out Scamorama.com:
http://www.scamorama.com/merchant.html