Is this a scam... I also got a call

Hello !! I received an e-mail few days back. It is as below

Dear sandy,

I am Michel James(Esq), a solicitor at law.personal attorney to late Mr.Robert Sandeep ,who was a contractor with European Development company.Herein after shall be referred to my client.

On the 11th of september 2001 my client was involved in world trade center bombing.unfortunately lost his life three month after the incident due to injuries he substained in the bombing , since then I have made several inquiries to your embassy to locate any of my client extended relatives but this has proved unsuccessful.

After these several unsuccessful attempts, I decided to track his last name to locate any of his relatives hence I have contacted you to assist in repatriating the fund valued at US$10.5 million left behind by my client before it gets confiscated or declared unserviceable by the Finance Security Company in Lome/Togo where this huge amount was deposited in a trunk box under the coverage of family valuables. The said security company has issued me a notice to provide the next of kin or have this box confiscated within the next twenty one official working days as they don't know the content of the box.

Since I have been unsuccessfully in locating the relatives for over 2years now,I seek your consent to present you as the next of kin to the deceased,so that the proceedings of this box can be transfer to you.Therefore, on receipt of your positive response,we shall then discuss the sharing ratio and modalities for transfers as I have every necessary information and legal documents needed to back you up for claim.

All I require from you is your honest cooperation to enable us see this transaction through. I guarantee that this will be executed under legitimate arrangement that will protect you from any breach of the law.

Thanks and God bless
Michel James(Esq)

FEW DAYS LATER..

l wish to notify you that i am still waiting to hear from you, meanwhile go through my Email and proceed for the transaction.

Or If you are not interested to help me out of this transaction let me now know so that i can look for somebody else who is reliable and trust wordy person who can assist me immediately.

Thank and God bless.
Looking forward to hear from you immediately.
Mr. Michel James(Esq.)


FOR THIS I GOT A BIT FISHY AND SENT HIM SOME OF MY DETAILS...


Thanks for your mail and i am very sorry for my late respond to your letter which you sent to me since on 05-10-2008, it was due to some family logistic problem which has been resolved.

Before i will proceed into details , Let me introduce my self clearly to you .I am Barrister Michel James ( Esq ), a solicitor at law.personal attorney to the late fund owner, Mr.Robert Sandeep ,who was a contractor with European Development company.Herein after shall be referred to my client.

I contacted you into this transaction because you are bearing the same last name with my late client and with your last name being the same with the fund certificates, the bank will not hesitate to release and transfer this fund to your destinated bank account over there in your country without delay , because i am going to present you to the bank as the NEXT OF KIN to the late fund owner since you have the same last name with the late fund owner.

You are the only person that will be able to claim this fund out from this bank because the bank management have gave me the go ahead as the personal lawyer to the late fund owner , to look for any relative of this late fund owner since he died On the 11th of september 2001 in world trade center bombing.unfortunately lost his life three months after the incident due to injuries he substained in the bombing , since then I have made several inquiries to locate any of his family relatives but this has proved unsuccessful before i successfully got your contact email through internet directory.

I have trust on you and i want you to also trust me and sincerely open you mind with me in this transaction, and it's going to be done legally with ORIGINAL CERTIFICATE OF the fund .

What you have to do is to Fill and send an APPLICATION FORM to the bank over here in Rep Of Togo for them to release and transfer the fund into your bank account . I will pause here and wait to hear from you before i will send you the APPLICATION FORM to fill and send to the bank and i will be telling you what to say and answer the bank until this fund will be delivered to you soon.

Are you ready to commence on this transaction and Fill the Application form to the bank ?

Reply back and let me know and immediately you reply back after reading this message then i will send you the APPLICATION FORM to fill and send to the bank .

Kindly send me your direct telephone number in your next reply .

Send my greetings to your family and reply soon.

Yours sincerely,
Barrister Michel James ESQ

ON MY NEXT REPLY
I ASKED HIM IF THIS TRANSACTION IS TRUSTWORTHY..... HA HA ..


Thanks for your mail and i really have trust and confident in you to be a honest and reliable person that will conclude this transaction with your influence immediately to your country with trust and without betraying me later.

I have sent you the APPLICATION FORM to Fill and send to the bank immediately because as soon as the bank receive this APPLICATION FORM from you then the bank will not delay to Approval and transfer this fund to your bank account over there in your country because you are Bearing the same Last name with the late fund owner and with this , the bank will not hesitate to release and transfer this fund to your bank account over there in your country before i will come over to meet you there then we will share this fund 50% For you while 50% will be for me as soon as the total fund is completely transfered into your bank account soon.

Fill and send the APPLICATION FORM to the bank through the bank official E-MAIL ADDRESS OR FAX NUMBER which i attached to the APPLICATION FORM .

Immediately you fill and send the application form to the bank through the bank email or fax number then , try to call the bank on telephone to enable you speak with the bank director and manager personally .

Do you receive the APPLICATION FORM which i sent to you ?

Reply and let me know and as soon as you fill and send the application form to the bank then write and alert me for more and better advice on what to do next.

I will be telling you what to say and answer the bank until this fund will arrive into your bank account soon.

I will pause here and wait for your further letter of understanding as soon as you read this letter and receive the application form .

THIS IS THE APPLICATION FORM I GOT...


CONTINENTAL BANK PLC
FOREIGN REMITTANCE DEPARTMENT,
13 RUE DE JANVIER BOULEVARD ,
TEL +228-991-36-65 / FAX +228-220-44-35
E-mail : [email protected]
LOME-REPUBLIC OF TOGO.

APPLICATION FORM FOR INHERITANCE CLAIM.

Your Name :_________________________________

Your Address:________________________________

Marrital Status/Age:___________________________

Country :____________________________________

Occupation:__________________________________

Position In Office :_____________________________

Mobile Telephone:_____________________________

Your Fax Num:_______________________________

Email :_____________________________________

TO: MR WILLIAMS MICHEAL .(SEC )
Dear Management Board,

APPLICATION FOR THE TRANSFER OF US$10.5 MILLION FROM ACCOUNT NUMBER: BGT/100144986-00:Please be informed that I wish to transfer the sum of US$10.5 Million from account number: BGT/100144986-00,belonging to my late relation , LATE MR ROBERT SANDEEP, to my Bank Account as is detailed below:

MY BANK IS:__________________________________________

MY BANK ADDRESS IS: ________________________________

MY ACCOUNT NUMBER IS :_____________________________

BANK TELEPHONE:____________________________________

BANK FAX:____________________________________________
This is the money left behind in your bank by my deceased Late relation ,LATE MR ROBERT SANDEEP,who died some years ago with his wife and only daughter. But resided in Lome-Togo and owned:
SANDEEP IMPORT & EXPORT COMPANY. ( LOME-TOGO)


I wish as his Heir apparent to claim and instruct that the above-mentioned amount be transferred into my nominated bank account as shown above.

I hope my Application will receive a favorable consideration from your good office.
Thanks for your good cooperation.

Yours faithfully,

Sign:__________________

Date :_________________

Name:__________________


YESTERDAY EVENING I GOT A CALL FROM A PERSON CLAIMING TO BE MR. MICHEL JAMES.. HE TOLD ME TO FILL THE FORM WHICH I HAVE BEEN SENT(I DID NOT SEE MY MAIL TILL I GOT A CALL FROM HIM ).

HE WANTED ME TO CALL THE BANK HE NAMED AFTER FILLING UP THE FORM AND MAIL IT TO BANK....
IS THIS REAL ???????? I WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THIS... PLZ HELP ME... I KNOW NO PERSON IN THIS WORLD CAN BE CLAIMING SUCH MONEY JUST BASED ON THE SAME LAST NAME.....

At first glance (& sorry, I don't have time right now to research further) it is a scam.

There is a real CONTINENTAL BANK PLC , with a website:http://www.thecontinentalbank.com

They are apparently purely USA based, they have a 'Contact Us' page so you could maybe contact them & ask for clarification of the "FOREIGN REMITTANCE DEPARTMENT" in Lome, Togo.

The email address in your post (ctb_bank01940 @ consultant.com) is a free webmail address (from 'mail.com) - REAL Banks fo not use webmail for their contacts (especially if they have their own website).

I am unable to find anything on the phone & fax numbers - only that they are in Togo. There are no Google hits for "Sandeep Import Export Company" - & no legitimate bank official, lawyer etc would contact you via email with so much detail about such a large sum of money.

Even without further research, it is a scam.

By the way, welcome & we will look deeper into it if you require further proof.

Hi and welcome Sandy

As Crispy has pointed out it is a scam, I recall seeing an almost identical email myself very recently, it may have been to me for all I remember.

After a quick check it wasn't to me but either way a search on some of the text gives me the proof if you need it, just Click Here to see other examples of the same email

Hi Sandy.

Yes that is a scam. It is a very common format. The names and place of death may change. but the scam is still the same.

For Example

Same wording, different name used.

Best thing to do is to cease contact with him. Do this politely but firmly.

Try not to antagonise him, after all he has your real life details.
If you can then change your phone number, but that is not always easy.
If you have given out any Bank or Credit Card details then please contact them for advice.

Hi Sandy.

Further to what Ted has said:

If he phones you again, simply say "I know that this is a scam. Please do not call me again". Then put the phone down on him.

This works in the vast majority of cases and the scammer will simply move on. Once the word "Scam" is mentioned, he'll realise that you're too much trouble to be worth pursuing and look for other willing victims. Phoning you is going to cost him money, so he's only going to want to spend his cash on a sure thing and not waste it on someone who seems to have switched on.

Personally, I wouldn't bother changing your number unless you're inundated with scam phone calls. The truth is, any scammer can go to any phone website and drag up your phone number anyway unless you're ex-directory/unlisted.

As for his emails? Simply block his address from your in-box.

"DR SALAMI HASSAN" <[email protected]>
Date:20-05-2010.

How are you and your family. I am Dr Salami Hassan, The Director in charge of Auditing and Accounting Section of Continental Bank Plc in Lome with due respect and regards.

I have decided to contact you on a business transaction that will be very beneficial to both of us at the end of the transaction. During my investigation and audting in the bank department , I came across a very huge sum of money belonging to a deceased ( late )person, a foriegner who died on november 1999 in a plane crash and the fund has been dormant in his account with the bank without any claim of the fund in our custody either from his family or relation till now because there is no where to locate his family since he is a stranger when he was in this country .

Although personally, I kept this information secret within myself to
enable the whole plans and idea be profitable and successful during the
time of execution.

The amount involved is USD$20.5 Million united states dollars. As it may intrest you to know, I got your impressive information through an international business equiry on internet. I beleive you will be viable and capable to receive this magnitude Fund into your bank account without betraying me .

Meanwhile all the whole arrangement is to put claim over this fund as the bonafide NEXT OF KIN to the late fund owner, Because you are bearing the same last name and this will enable you get the required approval and transfer this money to your account then i will come over to meet you in your country and share and invest the fund in your country .

All other necessary information will be sent to you immediately I hear
from you .I suggest you get back to me as soon as possible stating your
wish in this deal and send me your full names and direct telephone number for better communication on phone to move this fund into your bank account over there in your country because the bank will send you all the original certificates of this fund through Dhl Currier service company to enable you have the original copies of the certificates at hand before the fund will arrive .

Reply quickly and you will only contact me and reach me with this my
private email , [email protected] then send me your information below.

NAME_______
ADDRESS____
OCCUPATION____
AGE_____
TELEPHONE NUMBER___

Yours faithfully,
Dr Salami Hassan
Call +228-991-36-65

Added quote tags for clarity -Jillian

Welcome Dekays, thank you for posting. That is a definite scam. Please let us know if you have questions.