Nigeria - it's a wild and crazy place!

[Gozu_Tashoya]

Geez, and I thought LA was a seething cesspool of crime and corruption. I mean, not that it’s not, but, dude, Nigeria’s really messed up.

Seriously, how the heck can people live like this? How can their government let them?

[monster]

When I worked for a parking company in Chicago, one of the guys who worked in the garage was Nigerian. He was one of the sweetest guys I have ever known. He liked me a lot (I worked in the main office, and he felt I somehow helped him to get hired) When he discovered I was pregnant, he wrote to his family back in Nigeria and asked them to send him a baby outfit. After I had Blake, he gave the outfit to me as a gift. It was bright green and gold, with the hat that looks kind of like an upside-down pizza pan. Oh, I loved that outfit and dressed Blake up in it like a little Nigerian king.

Just thought I’d let you know my interaction with Nigeria. (If you can even call it that)

[Podkayne]

Just got this email. A snail-mail version has been delivered to our department a few times, as well.

          OFFICE OF THE CO-ORDINATOR,
             CONTRACT REVIEW PANEL

MR. ENDURANCE JOWOH (MNIM), DIRECT FAX; 234 1 7590371,
LAGOS, NIGERIA.

ATTN:[my name]

REQUEST FOR ASSISTANCE-STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL

I AM MR. ENDURANCE JOWOH (MNIM),THE CO-ORDINATOR OF
THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OF NIGERIA CONTRACT REVIEW
PANEL OF THE NIGERIAN NATIONAL
PETROLEUMCORPORATION(NNPC).SOMETIME AGO, A CONTRACT
WAS AWARDED TO A CONGLOMERATE OF FOREIGN COMPANIES BY
MY COMMITTEE ON BEHALF OF (NNPC),THE CONTRACT WAS OVER
INVOICED TO THE TUNE OF US$24.5 MILLION. THIS WAS DONE
DELIBERATELY, THE OVER INVOICING WAS A DEAL BY MEMBERS
OF MY COMMITTEE TO BENEFIT FROM THE PROJECT, WE NOW
DESIRE TO TRANSFER THIS MONEY WHICH IS PRESENTLY IN A
SUSPENSE ACCOUNT OF THE NNPC IN THE CENTRAL BANK OF
NIGERIA (CBN) INTO AN OVERSEAS ACCOUNT WHICH WE EXPECT
YOU TO PROVIDE FORUS.

BENEFITS:
FOR PROVIDING THE ACCOUNT WHERE WE SHALL REMIT THE
MONEY, YOU WILL BE ENTITLED TO 25% OF THE MONEY, 70%
WILL BE FOR ME AND MY PARTNERS, WHILE 5% HAS BEEN
MAPPED OUT FROM THE TOTAL SUM TO COVER ANY EXPENSES
THAT MAY BE INCURRED BY US DURING THE COURSE OF THIS
TRANSACTION, BOTH LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL EXPENSES.I
WOULD REQUIRE:
A. NAME AND ADDRESS OF COMPANY/BENEFICIARY
B. YOUR BANK ACCOUNT NUMBER, BANK ADDRESS AND
INFORMATION (THAT YOU HAVE 100% CONTROL OVER).
THE ABOVE INFORMATION WOULD BE USED TO MAKE FORMAL
APPLICATIONS AS A MATTER OF PROCEDURE FOR THE RELEASE
OF THE MONEY FOR ONWARD TRANSFER TO YOUR ACCOUNT. IT
DOES NOT MATTER WHETHER OR NOT YOUR COMPANY OR YOU
PERFORMED CONTRACT PROJECTS OF THE NATURE DESCRIBED
HERE, THE ASSUMPTION IS THAT YOU WON A MAJOR CONTRACT
AND SUB-CONTRACTED OUT TO OTHER COMPANIES. MORE OFTEN
THAN NOT, BIG TRADING COMPANIES OR INDIVIDUALS OF
UNRELATED FIELD WIN MAJOR CONTRACTS AND SUB-CONTRACTS
IT OUT TO MORE SPECIALISED FIRMS FOR EXECUTION OF SUCH
CONTRACTS.WE HAVE STRONG AND RELIABLE CONNECTIONS AND
CONTACTS AT THE CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA (CBN) AND THE
FEDERAL MINISTRY OF FINANCE (FMF) AND WE HAVE NO
DOUBTS THAT ALL THIS MONEY WILL BE RELEASED AND
TRANSFERED IF WE GET THE NECESSARY FOREIGN PARTNER IN
THIS DEAL.THEREFORE, WHEN THE BUSINESS IS SUCCESSFULLY
CONCLUDED, WE SHALL THROUGH OUR SAME CONNECTIONS
WITHDRAW ALL DOCUMENTS USED FROM ALL THE CONCERNED
GOVERNMENT MINISTRIES FOR 100% SECURITY.
WE WANT THIS MONEY TO BE TRANSFERED TO THE OVERSEAS
ACCOUNT WHICH YOU ARE GOING TO PROVIDE FOR SAFE
KEEPING PENDING WHEN WE WILL DETERMINE HOW WE WANT OUR
PORTION OF THE MONEY, ALL EXPENSES REGARDING THE
ACCOUNT OPENING IF NOT ALREADY IN EXISTENCE SHALL BE
BORNE BY YOU, ALL EXPENSES ARE HOWEVER REIMBURSEABLE
AS ALREADY STATED ABOVE ON CONCLUSION OF BUSINESS.
PLEASE, CONTACT ME IMMEDIATELY THROUGH FAX OR EMAIL
WHETHER OR NOT YOU ARE INTERESTED IN THIS DEAL, SO
THAT IF YOU ARE NOT, IT WILL ENABLE ME SCOUT FOR
ANOTHER FOREIGN PARTNER TO CARRY OUT THIS DEAL.
FORTUNATELY, IF YOU ARE INTERESTED, SEND THE REQUIRED
INFORMATION MENTIONED THROUGH MY DIRECT FAX NUMBER:
234 1 7590371 AT ANY TIME OF THE DAY OR THROUGH EMAIL.
FOR MORE DETAILS ON THIS BUSINESS, SEND ME A FAX OR
EMAIL.
I AWAIT IN ANTICIPATION FOR YOUR COOPERATION.

YOURS FAITHFULLY,

MR. ENDURANCE JOWOH (MNIM).

Who the hell would read this and think it doesn’t stink to high heaven? And tscha, right, like I’m going to fax this guy to tell him I’m not interested.

But, hey, if any of you guys are, be my guest. . .

[mrblue92]

I’ve seen that scam on Snopes, but lack the energy to go look it up right now. Apparently it’s been around for quite awhile.

[Podkayne]

Indeed, mrblue . . . http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/scams/nigeria.htm

I checked some of the snail mail (one of the profs has them tacked up on his bulletin board) and they were each different–different countries, different origins of the large sums of money. The other two were Sierra Leone and the Ivory Coast.