My Scam Experience- Long Story

My husband and I ran into some financial difficulties with him losing his job and medical bills and also various household bills. We were looking for a long-term loan of $5K so that we could just pay off these debts and have some room to breathe. We placed an ad on Craigslist's financial services board basically saying that we couldn't pay up-front fees. We just needed a long-term loan with no hidden costs.

Well, we got a lot of offers but they all required collateral of some sort and we were literally at the point where we had NO money left in our account. After about two weeks, a guy named Derek Niegemann from [email protected] e-mailed and said that he could loan us the money. We worked out an interest rate and everything seemed legit. His English was very good unlike many of the others who offered to loan us money. He said:

"YOU ARE SUPPOSE TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE TRANSFER CHARGES BUT
DUE TO THE UPFRONT CHARGES SCAM WE WILL FIND A WAY TO ASSIST YOU PAY
THEM ."

He also talked about making sure that we weren't going to use the money for terrorism. I thought that was legit since he wasn't asking us for any money.

Well, my husband gave him our account info so that he could send the "upfront charges" to the account. Today at about 1:30pm, he called and said that the money had been put in our account and that he sent an e-mail with directions. The directions were to take this money, (over $1,000), out of our account and send a Money Gram to their "financial secretary" who is on a business trip to Nigeria. At no time did he state that he was Nigerian. I actually thought he was from the UK or France because all of the other "offers" we had received were based from those countries. He insisted that this be done quickly even though I told him that I'd rather let my husband handle it when he got back home. I went and did it anyway because I had additional errands to run.

I was leery but still was thinking that we were okay because they hadn't taken any money from us. When I got to the bank, the teller said that an e-commerce fraud hold was on my account. She couldn't explain any further. That way, not only could I not get out the money Derek the scammer sent but I couldn't even get out my own money that I already had in there (only like $4).

When I got home, I IM'd Derek the scammer and told him what the bank said. The bank said that if he called and verified that he had sent it, it would be okay. I gave him the number to do so, but he said that he was "out of calling cards" but could still send us the loan money through Western Union so that it would not cause trouble. He also said that he had the loan documents ready. My husband said that we should work out the bank problem first.

After speaking with about 5 different people at Bank of America, I found out that Derek the scammer, transfered money from someone else's account into our account without their permission. It made it look like my husband and I were taking the money. I filed a complaint with the bank and the police department. Tomorrow I have to go to the bank and straighten stuff out and after that's done, we have to close our account and re-open another one.

I guess the good thing is that we aren't out any money and I feel bad for the person who was scammed on that end. Hopefully, this will all be settled soon enough and we can get back to a normal life. We are both embarrassed because we are normally forward-thinking, smart individuals and we can't believe someone scammed us like this.

I just thought I'd add this because I don't exactly what kind of scam this is since no money was taken from us but I do want everyone to be aware of it.

Thanks

Hi Chris

Welcome to Scamwarners.

I dont have time for a detailed post as to why this is a scam but yes, it certainly is.

The money that has been put into your account will be from another victims bank account, soon enough the bank will realise that the money does not belong to you and they will want it bank and you will be responsible for any money you have drawn from those funds.

Your best course of action is to contact you bank immediately, explain to them what has happened and ask them to change your bank details to prevent the scammers from accessing any funds you have in the account.

In the meantime do not touch that money, the bank should be able to work out fairly easily who is the rightful owner of the money and reverse the transaction.

If you have any more details please post them here including emails that were sent to you or any contact details

Lastly, thank you for posting, please feel free to ask if you have any questions

Welcome to Scamwarners.
The idea of the scam is that you send $1000 via Moneygram, with no chance of seeing it again. It's like sending cash but without knowing the name and address of whoever receives it. It's meant for sending money to those you know and trust. No legitimate business expects to be paid that way. Or use free email accounts such as Gmail or Yahoo.
If it had worked out as the scammer intended, you would now have a $1000 overdraft. Or probably a larger one as the scammer would have made further demands for Moneygram payments.
The money put in your account probably came from a phished bank account, but luckily for everyone but the scammer, the account holder spotted it before you unknowingly laundered it.
You've probably already thought of it, but print out the emails and show them to the bank and police.

Okay here are some e-mails that he sent...

From: "Derek Niegemann" <[email protected]>

-----Inline Attachment Follows-----

Good Morning,
I just got a notification mail from the financier that
a sum of $1,000 has been transfered into your Bank of America Account
for the payment of the upfront charges(Insurance,Transfer and
Anti-Terrorist fees)for the purchase of the required documents to back
up the loan. so i want you to access your Account online and see that
the funds are there.


I need you to go straight to your bank immediately or use
your bank Atm card to get the funds out of the account and send to our
company financial secretary who are presently on a business trip to
Africa ,they will be paying the funds on your behalf has stated
earlier on,so send the funds to them via western union with the
Information sent to you,so they can pick the funds up and pay for the
required documents to back up the loan.They await the Money Gram
details as they will be paying the fees off right away so we demand
all honesty from you and you need to act faster.


Once funds are picked up and the fees are paid off today,first thing
Tomorrow morning by 9AM the loan will be deposited into your account
,so we need you to act to the following instruction as I and the Board
of Directors and Head Board of Trustees awaits your update and the
Money Gram information soon Here is the details you need to send the
funds for the payment of the upfront charges to our company financial
secretary through Money Grams



Amount: $1,000
Receivers Name: Ifeanyi Obunike
Location: Lagos State, 23401
Country: Nigeria
Text Question: Colour
Answer: Blue




send me the Senders Name and Address along with the Money Gram
reference number for us (I and the Board of Directors and Head Board
of Trustees) to verify before sending it to our company financial
secretary and Lawyer. We await your swift response soonest


Thank you and God Bless

Here is the initial e-mail:

Dearest Borrower

Getting a legitimate loan have always been a huge problem To clients who have financial needs. The issue of credit and collateral are something that clients are always worried about when seeking a loan from a legitimate lender But Derek Lending Firm have made that
difference in the lending industry. Derek Lending Firm have been accredited by the lender's council to give out loans to local and international clients. We have been given the privilege to meet your financial needs. The issue of credit shouldn't stop you from getting the loan that you need. Contact us today and get your loan in less than 2 days without Upfront Charges or Credit Check. If you are interested in getting a loan at 0.5% interest rate,then send us an email with your full name, address and contact phone number. We await your swift response.


Regards
Derek Niegemann

And another one...

ATTN:
The required charges are (Insurance Charges, Lawyer Charges,
Anti-Terrorist Charges, Loan Agreement and Transfer Charges). Due to
the advance charges scam happening around we don't allow our clients
to be responsible for the payment of the required charges. We normally
assist them by getting them a financier who will be sending them the
money to use for the payment of the charges. The financier will be
sending you the money to use for the payment of the charges and he
said anyone he is sending the money to must have an account with Bank
of America or Wellsfargo so he can easily send them the money since he
already has an account with both banks. Do you have an account with
either of the banks? Get back soonest.

Regards

What sux is that this guy still logs onto yahoo messenger and I have to use serious restraint to keep from verbally tearing into him without remorse.

Thank you for posting those details, rest assured that by posting them here you have caused him much more harm then you could by accusing him.

Stick and stones will break their bones but posting their scripts and details will reduce their likelyhood of stealing well I am sure it went something like that

There are ways that you can get back at him on a more personnal level, visit our sister site and learn how to bait him www.419eater.com the members there will be happy to help you get started, most of the warners here are also members over there although we will often use different names here to protect our real identities

I know this man and was scammed out of $1,000 just last week. I had known him 3 or 4 years ago and our family had not seen him in between that time. He emailed us and said he was having some real trouble and that no one else could help him and wanted us to send him some money so that his phone wouldnt be turned off and that he would not be kicked out of his house. He said he had a $22,000 check that had been sent to him and would clear within the week but needed help until then and would pay us back double when the check cleared. We scraped the money together and sent it to him because we were worried that he would be on the streets and had no reason to believe he was scamming us. My husban spoke with him on the phone several times and he assured us that he would pay us back. Of course he didn't and kept telling us it would be in the next day or so and that day was supposed to be today. We called him and of course he has had his phone turned off... Needless to say we will never help another friend. He must be really demented to be doing this sort of thing.

Stacy

Welcome to Scamwarners. I am saddened you have been scammed in such a manner. You acted in good faith and genuinely tried to help someone whom you thought was in difficult circumstances.

If you need any questions answered or have any concerns an adviser will soon be here to deal with them.

Stacy: welcome here. I am sorry to hear what has happened.
I am curious about what you mean by you "know" this man. Are you saying that you have met him in person or do you know him through email? The name the scammer is using, Derek, isn't his real name. Is your friend named Derek? Please do give us a bit more information. Feel free to send it through private message to myself, an advisor/warner/general counsel member if you don't wish to post it here.

I have met him in person. If this isnt his real name then it must not be the same person. The fact that this name is very unique and involved in the same type of scam within the same few weeks is strange to me though. I own a theatre company (We do Broadway type musicals) and met him about 8 years ago but had not seen him in three to four years. He went into business with us (although he never put his own money into the theatre) and we soon got upset with him and he left town but we still felt sorry for him because he had a ton of problems and it seemed like bad luck was following him. We didn't think much about it when he emailed us and had this strange story. I have to tell you that we are very nice people and kind of have a rep for being way too trusting. I do have two phone numbers for him but they have been disconnected as of today. I'm going to attach his first email to us so you can see what was written. Here it is.......

Hey, Guys,
Derek, here! You probably thought I forgot all about you. I hope this reaches you. It is the only email I could find. Plus, I think I found a phone number. I lost a lot of my contact info for people, that combined with the year from hell has me in a very dire, desperate situation. Right now I am fighting to keep my power and phone from being shut off, and from being evicted. But, hopefully, things should stablize in a couple weeks.

If you can wade through this, here is the last year:

About a year ago it was discovered that my accounts were victim of identity theft to the tune of $56,000 over an 18 month period. Long story short - My father and his girlfriend in Reno, NV had been draining my accounts. All the debt was paid off by a debt consolidation loan that my father is responsible to pay off. So, my finances were restored, but not without my credit rating going in the toilet.

Next I was laid off from work. I was working as a Family Advocate for Kitsap County. Within WA State you have a set amount of hours you have to have worked in any given year to qualify for unemployment. I didn't have enough hours, But, I had money in the bank and the occasional theatre job I'd get paid for things. So, I thought I was okay for awhile, but "awhile" got very l-o-n-g with my paying money out and very little coming in. Then the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) hit.

Richard and I always filed separately with the IRS. In 2006, when he past, I had to file my return and his, posthumously. There was some of Richard’s inheritance that was not taxable, but much of the stuff I got from the Government was. And, because it was under his SSN, it was filed on his return. I April this year I got notification from the IRS that I owed close to $12,000 in back taxes from 2006 on my return. And all of what they were claiming had been paid on Richard's return. I have been fighting this since April until the IRS stepped in and froze my account, and ultimately drained them for the money they claimed I owed. So this put me unemployed and without funds. For the period that my accounts were frozen I had no a money access. I even tried to several places to get an emergency loan. With my credit rating from the identity theft, and with my accounts frozen, no one would touch me. I got my drained accounts back but my bank closed my account for overdrafts and lack of minimum balance. IRS is still being fought. And this still isn't where the nightmare ends.

A few months ago in the middle of the IRS thing I hurt my arm badly. I banged the elbow and had it swelled to the size of a grapefruit in less than a minute. Again, a long story short, I developed blood clots in the arm, one move to my lung and one to my brain. Most of them have been dealt with through chemical reduction and no surgery has been necessary. But, even through Veteran Administration (as a US Army Veteran I have health coverage to a point) which paid for some of this, this further drained me financially. My hospital bills were over $110,000.

This is my life, and welcome to it. Within the past few months I have had the power, phone and gas turned off at different times. I had been selling thing off in the house to pay this bill or that bill, or to get utilities turned back on. I have nothing left to sell. I have even checked into some less then reputable loans that turned out to be scams. Now, I had coordinated a "Holiday Trades Fair" recently that nabbed be a large check, $22.000. (see the attached scanned copy) I though I was saved, because it is big enough to put me back on track. But, because of the check size drawn on a bank from out of state, I have to wait 3-4 weeks for it to clear. It will be mid February before I have access to those funds. Because of all this my credit is such that I can't get a loan of any kind, and every one I have approached can't help me.

"But other than that, how was the play, Mrs. Lincoln?"



I need $4000 ASAP. Do you, know where I can find any part of this? I will GLADLY pay anyone back "double" the amount borrowed. Yes. I mean that. Beyond the Trades Fair check I have other funds due in, but not for a couple of weeks. That is from an inheritence from a friend in Germany.



This is very hard for me and very humiliating having to you to beg for help. And, as I said please feel free to tell me to go F--- myself for asking you. This is a very big thing to ask.



Enough about me. Please, call me ASAP, Id' love to talk to you guys - (360)-874-1656. I'd love to hear what all is happening with you. And, not related to my problems, I promise to make a significant donation to "Center Stage" when I am back on my feet, regardless of wether you can help me. You can expect that once my funds come in. Please send me all your current contact info. Thanks



Hugs and kisses

Mr. Gloom & Doom

Derek



6398 Grandridge Dr. SE

Port Orchard, WA 98367

(360) 874-1656

Hi Stacy,

It is possible that you do indeed have a friend with that name and he has had his email account hijacked by scammers.

It isn't near as common as other types of scams but it does happen where a scammer gets hold of a persons email address and then begins emailing the contacts telling them of desperate times and asking for money.

I cant say for sure if that is the case but it is a possibility.

I must confess that I skimmed quickly through your post as I only have a few moments so forgive me if you already said this but, going back to the phone call, you mentioned your husband spoke to him, did the accent sound right and what was the phone number of this person.

Another piece of information that will be handy is the IP address, I dont know how much you know about headers but the IP can be extracted from the header and the header can be extracted from the emails you directly received (not from forwarded emails) if you could post or PM the header we can extract the IP for you, especially if you post the header, make sure you remove your own email address, we dont need to know that.

For general instructions on IP addresses you could follow this link http://spamcop.net/fom-serve/cache/19.html if you do have any trouble, let us know which email providor you use and we can give you step by step instructions

Oh No, he didn't get his email jacked... We both spoke with him a few times and it was him. It was his voice and I looked into it today and he must be in some kind of trouble because there are a few of us that have been hit. There were a bunch of emails that went back and fourth as well as calls even asking for more money and the last one says his daughter died the other day and he needed help. I know his voice very well and I am 100% sure as is my husband that it was him. He is a very smart man with a master's and now I don't put any of this past him. He came into $500,000 not too long ago and has already gone through it. If you google his picture the black and white one with short black hair and glasses is him. The only way that I even came across this site is that I googled him attempting to find out another way to get a hold of him and came across this. Thank you so much for your help and I hope he doesn't strike anyone else.

Stacy

I am only a registered member, but I have checked out some information and have passed that on to the advisers. It seems the address and phone numbers and names are indeed genuine. They are checking further leads to discover the truth at this moment in time. Again I am sorry you have been taken advantage of. This world is sadly made up not only of decent people but also nasty and heartless people too. I am sure the advisers will get to the bottom of this and get back to you ASAP.

I can only offer hugs and wish you well and please know this. You are a genuine and kind soul and I admire your great heart and desire to help others.

deleted this post to protect poster

Stacey, please dont post your phone number, regrdless of how tempting it may be.

Email contact from disposable accounts from both of you would be a much safer alternative, you could each sign up to a gmail account in minutes and it does include a good chat feature that is quite easy to use.

If it makes either of you feel any safer to include me on the emails feel free to do so.

Thank you so much.. I will be very careful.. I took off the last post for that reason... I'm sorry..It never even crosses my mind that I have to be so careful. I really need to wise up and come to the understanding that not all people are good.
Stacy