by Boerboel
Wed May 13, 2009 3:03 am
Hi
I'm new to all this, so tolerance please!
This is a recent attempted scam that surfaced in the last 3 weeks and turned out in the end to be nothing more than the usual old chestnut a 419 scam.
We have a pretty large and expensive property for sale in South Africa. The property has it's own website, email etc and details have been used in an advertising campaign to sell the property. We were contact by telephone 3 weeks ago by an African gentleman (we ARE in Africa, so no alarm bells rang immediately). The gentleman had seen the property on the internet and wished to view it. After maybe 2 weeks of delays (he had flown to Nairobi and one of the party got sick etc) a viewing was arranged for yesterday as they had now transferred to Johannesburg and would fly in to our local airport. It was arranged that we would collect the potential purchasers from the airport, which we did (with backup of course, this being Africa). A very nervous individual was shown the property and informed us that he was acting on behalf of "Mr Ernest Debrah, the Minister of Agriculture and Food" in Ghana. "The Minister" would now call us directly. Another individual duly called at the appointed time and announced himself as "The Minister" and wished to buy the house at the advertised price and would facilitate payment in the UK. OK we thought, if the money is in a UK bank account, it's obviously complied with money laundering regulations and we do hold UK bank accounts ourselves, so no problem with that! Now came the unusual part. Could we fly to London later in the week, meet in a hotel and take $2million in cash. Er definitely not! But we requested by fax the proposed purchase terms, buyer details and any offer in written form. Surprisingly, this arrived about 3 hours later! We were instructed to fly to London and take delivery of a suitcase full of $s which we were not to open under any circumstances until in private. Before the suitcase full money was handed over, we would have to pay the £3000-£4000 "courier fees" and under no circumstances was the case to be opened in the presence of the courier. On receipt of the fees, we were to telephone a number to receive the "code" to open the case (presumably when the scammers were far enough away with our money).
The names used in this scam are: Ernest Debrah (He is a minister of agriculture and food in Ghana and I am assuming his ID is being used fraudulently), Williams and Claude. The mobile phone numbers used are 0733 987361 (code 00233 for Ghana) and 00233 541532946. Email used [email protected] Do with those what you will!
I feel a little nervous that these people have viewed the property (although we don't live there) and have increased the already tight security around the place which includes armed response, CCTV, electric fences, breaker beams and sensors etc. It is now patrolled by guard dogs too!
These guys went to a lot of trouble to set this up and we were waiting for the scam to appear. So far, it has cost them more than it has cost us with the phone calls, faxes and visit to the property (of course a local could have been used just to appear out of the arrival gate at the airport at little expense) and we have not responded to their "proposal".
A slightly different take on the 419 scam, but probably worth knowing about if you are selling a property on the internet.
I'm new to all this, so tolerance please!
This is a recent attempted scam that surfaced in the last 3 weeks and turned out in the end to be nothing more than the usual old chestnut a 419 scam.
We have a pretty large and expensive property for sale in South Africa. The property has it's own website, email etc and details have been used in an advertising campaign to sell the property. We were contact by telephone 3 weeks ago by an African gentleman (we ARE in Africa, so no alarm bells rang immediately). The gentleman had seen the property on the internet and wished to view it. After maybe 2 weeks of delays (he had flown to Nairobi and one of the party got sick etc) a viewing was arranged for yesterday as they had now transferred to Johannesburg and would fly in to our local airport. It was arranged that we would collect the potential purchasers from the airport, which we did (with backup of course, this being Africa). A very nervous individual was shown the property and informed us that he was acting on behalf of "Mr Ernest Debrah, the Minister of Agriculture and Food" in Ghana. "The Minister" would now call us directly. Another individual duly called at the appointed time and announced himself as "The Minister" and wished to buy the house at the advertised price and would facilitate payment in the UK. OK we thought, if the money is in a UK bank account, it's obviously complied with money laundering regulations and we do hold UK bank accounts ourselves, so no problem with that! Now came the unusual part. Could we fly to London later in the week, meet in a hotel and take $2million in cash. Er definitely not! But we requested by fax the proposed purchase terms, buyer details and any offer in written form. Surprisingly, this arrived about 3 hours later! We were instructed to fly to London and take delivery of a suitcase full of $s which we were not to open under any circumstances until in private. Before the suitcase full money was handed over, we would have to pay the £3000-£4000 "courier fees" and under no circumstances was the case to be opened in the presence of the courier. On receipt of the fees, we were to telephone a number to receive the "code" to open the case (presumably when the scammers were far enough away with our money).
The names used in this scam are: Ernest Debrah (He is a minister of agriculture and food in Ghana and I am assuming his ID is being used fraudulently), Williams and Claude. The mobile phone numbers used are 0733 987361 (code 00233 for Ghana) and 00233 541532946. Email used [email protected] Do with those what you will!
I feel a little nervous that these people have viewed the property (although we don't live there) and have increased the already tight security around the place which includes armed response, CCTV, electric fences, breaker beams and sensors etc. It is now patrolled by guard dogs too!
These guys went to a lot of trouble to set this up and we were waiting for the scam to appear. So far, it has cost them more than it has cost us with the phone calls, faxes and visit to the property (of course a local could have been used just to appear out of the arrival gate at the airport at little expense) and we have not responded to their "proposal".
A slightly different take on the 419 scam, but probably worth knowing about if you are selling a property on the internet.
