Money washing machine?!!?

Ralph, thanks for taking the time to write the insightful post. You hit on some great truths. If my friend were to read that, he'd argue that the money 'isn't blackened' and dismiss the entire thing because this money is 'stamped'. That would be the detail that would negate your research, in his eyes. I received a letter from a chemist who explained the denial concept perfectly. Here's a part of it:
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Your friend doesn't have to be stupid; the problem is that people will clutch at straws when they are drowning. I have talked to people until blue in the face and it does little good; instead, in desperation they scratch for any detail in the scam that differs in the tiniest way.

"See, mine aren't $100 bills, mine are $50 dollar bills".
"Mine aren't black, they are dark green".
"He didn't approach me, I approached him".
"He didn't wash just 2 bills, he washed 6"
"They didn't wash them with Tebi-Metonic, but with Dufus #14".

Answer all of these and there will always be one more detail that differs because the victim will never stop clutching at the straws. They scratch for a tiny differing detail to keep hope alive.
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Hope is the strength of the whole thing. Anything that reveals the truth is perceived as negativity that will surely cast a shadow on the success of the deal.

My life won't be ruined. It has been affected badly but I'm not the primary victim. And I've left the relationship. Information is being passed on to those who need it, and I leave with a prayer that he will be free from this soon.

Just in case it's of any use, even if only to someone else reading this thread, I've posted another image that's frequently used in these scams. This is not black money, but stamped or defaced. The end result is the same - sleight of hand by the scammer to present you with a probably a much lower denomination bank note saying it's a cleaned one. the rest of the 'consignment' however, is just worthless paper.
http://www.scamwarners.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=4048

Essmi,

Yes, there are some things I posted that will hopefully muster up some logical thinking on his part.

Of course you are right, there will be a flaw in every bit of proof we provide.

The fake bank account, perhaps we have ruined this legitimate site just to spite him
The google hits on the email address, just other jelous people out to ruin this legitimate business
The matching phone number, used in another scam, somebody must have entered the phone number wrong
The fact that all the money changing hands here has come from him, but pay day is just around the corner
The fact that if this money were real his friend could have done it by himself, his friend likes meeting strangers on the internet that he sends thousands of dollars to.

The facts are staring him in the face, he will open his eyes and look at them one day, perhaps only when there is abslutely nothing left.

Of course the only payday is for the scammer when your friend pays again

He need only look around this site to see that we do not waste time ruining legitimate business, we identify, educate and inform victims and potential victims of scams. Well, in his case we try to

Sadly I feel there is little we can do to save him from himself, the only good news here is that the information we have gathered will hopefully help another victim.

It's true. We can't help. There was a glimmer of hope, briefly, that something had tweaked enough doubt to stop the cash flow, but a recent email doused that light.

A long term victim will always be just a hair away from collecting, and after putting so much into it, how can he not see it through to the 'end'. He can't. Scammers sometimes lock in the perfect, endless scenario.

Another friend said,

"It's as if his brain needs to reboot, but he can't find the right key."

I have been contacted by somebody who is a friend of a man who from all accounts is involved in a wash wash scam just like this one.

Currently the man has travelled to the UK so he can see how the money is cleaned.

I have sent him some information and refered him to this post, perhaps we should get these 2 vics to talk to each other, it sounds like they have lots of things in common to talk about ruined lives, lost friends, ever mounting debts and a memory of how much better life was before they recieved an email offering riches for simply giving a little of their time.

You are right. If this victim and Essmi, who luckily is still here, may get together, it might make an interesting and valuable forum thread.
The UK victim´s story might even be a few degrees hotter and even more serious, if this is possible

^^That's what I was hoping.

Just to clarify, the More recent vic is an Aussie, as we speak he is in the UK to met up with the scammers which can be very dangerous indeed.

i have a friend in the depth of a black money scam and right now he's in europe trying negotiate it. thanks to someone on this site, he's helping him to see its a scam.. hopefully as they are very hard to convince.

Hi everyone - If there's anything I can do to aid victims or those trying to help them, I'll pass on any information that might be helpful. After more than five years the one I am familiar with continues. For three of those years I tried to help the victim see the truth. I learned a lot about some nasty criminals' tactics. They are ruthless. In our case, a loving couple devolved into distant friends and a family man put all of his family relationships at risk. They remain estranged. This scam is a shockingly powerful force.

Hi Essmi and welcome Aarah,

Both of you have come here for the same reason, you both know somebody who has been the victim of the same scam, in Aarah's case the person is in the UK to see the money get cleaned and to prove to him that the money exists.

I did a search on wash wash scam and wikipaedia has a good rundown on how it works Click Here to see the search result

if only we could get these 2 vics to work together perhaps they will both see the light

The latest victim has been directed to this post but seeing as he is not a scam victim according to him he is unlikely to bother to read this, I sure hope he does

Thank you Essmi for the offer of help, I may soon call on you

can someone tell me do the scammers have some legitmate cash in the boxes of money they show people?

i would like to write more but as my friend might be directed here, don't want to say too much for fear of identifying them or causing them too much embarrassment.

I cant begin to imagine how Essmi deals with this, I guess coming here to try to save people from getting into the same situation as she has witnessed must be of some comfort.

According to what Essmi posted, (and I havn't read it for while) the scammers did produce a bank note which was cleaned in front of him and they let him keep it, according to the wikipaedia report the scammers basically use a magic trick to clean a different bank note from the one selected, either way it certainly would appear that the bank note came from the trunk box, it is of course an elaborate illusion and the scammers wouldn't do it if they thought it wouldn't work to further entrench the victim.

What I would suggest if the curent vic is reading this is to hold and clean a note that he has selected for himself, picking a note from towards the bottom of the pile.

Another thing that may be of use, I did it once before in regards to a differnt scam, searchgoogle images for cash, there are a few pictures out there, some of which are posted here but one I found was a pile of confiscated drug cash that did have a value attached, it was a huge pile of money and the value was much lower than would be expected

Hi Ralph...and anyone interested in the aftermath of an incredibly frustrating story...I dealt with the strain of the situation through education - seeing the addictions counselor who was consulted originally to try to help the victim. The victim never saw himself as either a victim or an addict, so the counseling didn't help him at all, but I went for 20 sessions to learn about the psychology of all those involved - the victim and the 'helpers' who get so involved in trying to convince the victim that they become overwhelmed and distraught. Eventually we have to concede that some people cannot be helped. See a professional to help sort that out if you are caught up in a similar situation. Since there aren't any specialists in African scams that I know of, a gambling counselor was the closest thing and really helpful but sadly not for the victim. I should add that in the midst of it all it was very comforting to find this site and these kind people who give their time to assist victims and their families and friends. The situation can make one feel extremely isolated and it's a huge comfort to know there are people who understand and are willing to help.

Also, over three years of seeing an array of fake documents, hearing the convoluted stories, and corresponding with the criminals in the hope of ending the nightmare, I learned a lot about how they work too. If anything I have to offer helps someone get out of the clutches of this devastating scam, yes it is a comfort.

To follow up on your mention of the black money - the money in 'my' scam wasn't black but was supposedly marked with a banking stamp that made the money non-negotiable outside of Ghana. The chemicals are supposed to remove the stamp. The fictional machine used the chemicals to process the cash. Delays include malfunctions of the machine and of course the chemicals cannot be applied by hand to remove the stamps so that some of the cash can be used to repair the machine. There is a constant demand for more 'investment' for all the crazy reasons for delays. I'm not sure how the money was presented in the scenario in Africa, but I believe there was a vault set up to look like a legitimate vault where there were trunks of 'money' and none of it was taken by the victim. His associate in Africa - 'Charles Koffi' swore that he was later given a real 'Benjamin Franklin' note and that the rest of the money was definitely genuine.

One thing I would suggest to the man from Australia - if you are paying for and being given copies of documents - look at the origin of the documents - they'll be stamped from various official offices, banks, whatever the scammers come up with - and follow up by researching the source of the documents. You will soon find that some of the offices don't exist. Or, if there are offices, they either don't issue the documents you received (the titles of the documents are ficitional) or if there are such documents, they haven't issued the ones you were given. I was in touch with banks and other organizations in South Africa to verify that documents didn't exist. It wasn't difficult to prove that - the real challenge is convincing the victim to absorb the information. Hope, excitement, fear, pride and guilt get in the way. I pray the Australian man finds his way home safely and with support to help deal with his situation.

Hello, will my bank have a record of me checking my balance at another banks cash machine? I just wondered if they would have a record of this or not? The police needed to check with my bank if my card was used at a certain cash machine and I wondered if the bank could tell them, yes it was used but only to check the balance. I wasn't sure if they kept a record because I didn't withdraw money or get a mini printed statement.