5 Apr 2008
It is my hope that as we continue to expose these deeds, people will be sensitized so that we can rescue the future of African e-commerce from the hands of crooks.
The Internet that is supposed to make life easier for everybody is being exploited by some criminally minded people to inflict misery and frustration on some cyber visitors. I will again publish the personal experience of a US citizen in the hands of an online ‘feyman’ in Cameroon. Below is the content of an email (slightly edited for clarity) sent to me by Nicole (I prefer to use her first name only) after she read my earlier article on this topic (see link to previous article http://www.njeitimah-outlook.com/articles/article/2076046/93406.htm).
Nicole was enticed by a supposedly God-fearing man that convinced her with the help fake documents (shown below) to part ways with her scarce dollars. It is interesting to note that amongst the fake documents is a “Fight Against Scam” certificate allegedly issued to the fraudster by the Minister of Livestock, Fisheries and Animal Husbandry. The standard of English employed by the fraudster betrays his level of education. In as much as some highly educated people get involved in online crime, the first thing to observe in a suspicious mail is the quality of the language. Here is the mail sent to me by Nicole followed by the correspondence she received and copies of the fake documents employed to trick her (at bottom of the page).
Hi Njei,
I was scammed by a man named Nina Joyce. He was supposedly an AKC English Bull dog breeder in Douala, Cameroon. He would contact me via phone and email trying to get me to send him money. We had an agreement of $210 that included the shipping and documents of the puppy. I kind of knew that it was too good to be true due to the fact that English bull dog puppies are sold for no less than $1000 here in the United States. But, being that this man claimed to be a man of God, I put my trust in him and sent him the money through Western Union. Then everything was good until I got an email from a France Airpost (which I found later does not even exist). They were saying that they needed $850 refundable insurance fee for the puppy, and another $130 non-refundable vaccination fee, and if I didn’t pay the money in 4 hours they were going to throw my puppy into the zoo with wild animals and I would be charged for negligence by the Ministry of Animal Husbandry. I visited the US Embassy’s Cameroon website and I read the scam warning about how a lot of people would scam foreigners for money in exchange for puppies, artifacts, and other exotic animals. I then came across your website and your article on scamming during a routine search about the topic in Cameroon. I was so glad to come across your article. I am going to attach the fake documents sent to me as well as the emails sent to me from the fake France Airpost. God bless you Njei, and I am really thankful for people like you who are honest and trying to help people like me out.
Mail sent to Nicole by fraudster
DEAR CLIENT,
ACCEPT GREETINGS FROM FRANCE AIR POST (FRPOST) SIR WE ARE VERY SORRY TO INFORM YOU ABOUT THE SHIPMENT OF YOUR PUPPY, HE WAS TO BE ON THE FLIGHT THAT IS ABOUT TAKING OFF SAY IN AN HOUR FROM NOW, BUT DUE TO THE FACT THAT THERE ARE SOME CHANGES IN THE SHIPMENT OF PETS THAT MUST BE TAKING CARE OF, YOUR PUPPY NEED A DEPOSIT OF A REFUNDABLE INSURANCE AND ALSO YOU NEED TO PAY FOR THE INTERNATIONAL VACCINATION THAT THEY HAVE GIVING THE PUPPY, ALSO YOUR PUPPY NIKI WAS BROUGHT TO US WITH THE FOLLOWING DOCUMENTS.
- ANIMAL EXPORTATION HEALTH LICENSE
- CITIES PERMIT
- ADOPTION CERTIFICATE
- SHOT/VET CHECK PAPER
- 1 YEAR HEALTH GUARANTEE. ETC.
SO ALL THAT YOUR PUPPY NEEDS NOW SO HE CAN BE
ON THE NEXT FLIGHT TO THE YOUR LOCATION ARE AS FOLLOWS:
1)-A REFUNDABLE INSURANCE OF==$850
2)-INTERNATIONAL VACCINATION==$130
SO SIR,THE TOTAL AMOUNT THAT YOU WILL NEED TO PAY FOR YOUR
PUPPY TO BE SHIP TO YOU IS= $980.00 NOTE: PART OF THIS MONEY WILL BE REFUNDED BACK TO YOU AT THE AIRPORT THERE WHEN PICKING UP YOUR PUPPY. THAT IS TO SAY THE $850 FOR THE INSURANCE DEPOSITE, WILL BE REFUNDED BACK TO YOU AT THE HONOLULU INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT TOGETHER WITH YOUR PUPPY.AS FOR THE $130 FOR
THE INTERNATIONAL VACCINATION IS NON REFUNDABLE. THE PUPPY IN QUESTIONS IS CALLED NIKI A ALL WHITE MALE ENGLISH BULLDOG OF 13 WEEKS OF AGE. YOU WILL NEED TO GET THIS MONEY SEND TO US AS SOON AS POSSIBLE SO AS TO ENABLE US HAVE YOUR PUPPY SHIP TO YOU ON TIME. AND PLEASE SIR YOU HAVE TO TRIED THIS AS A MATTER OF EXTREME URGENCY FOR THE TIME GIVING IS LIMITED AND IF AFTER THE GIVING TIME EXITED AND YOU DO NOT COME UP WITH THIS MONEY YOUR PUPPY WILL BE THROWNED IN TO THE ZOO WITH OTHER WILD ANIMALS AND YOU WILL BE FOLLOWED UP BY THE MINISTRY OF ANIMAL HUSBANDRY.FOR NEGLIGENCE. HERE IS OUR ADDRESS AND YOU WILL NEED TO GET THIS MONEY SEND TO US THROUGH WESTERN UNION TO THE FOLLOWING ADDRESS.THAT IS THE CASHIER OF THE AIRPORT
IN CHARGE OF ALL FINANCE.
NAME===================A. RAPHAEL
QUESTION===============WHAT COLOR IS THE SKY?
ANSWER=================BLUE
COUNTRY================CAMEROON
CITY=================== DOUALA
PROVINCE================CENTER PROVINCE
PHONE===================+237-9616-7485
MADAM AS SOON AS YOU SEND THE MONEY ENDEAVOR TO GET BACK TO US WITH THE :MTCN AND THE SENDER NAME.DO TRY TO GET BACK TO US AS SOON AS POSSIBLE WITH THE MONEY TRANSFER INFORMATION SO WE CAN HAVE IT PICK SO AS TO HAVE YOUR PUPPIES SHIP TO YOU. WITHIN THE NEXT FLIGHT THAT
IS DUE IN FEW HOURS FROM NOW.
REGARDS
BILL
FRANCE AIRPOST @FASTER MAIL
PET TRANSPORT SERVICE
ZONE II
DOUALA-CAMEROON
TEL:(00237) 9616-7485
FAX:(00237) 336 2457
Amongst the documents sent to Nicole was a fake driver’s license bearing the photograph of a white man with an obvious fictitious name Nina Joyce. The same photo and name appears on the ‘Fight against Scam’ document. I am sure the guy whose image is on these documents is unaware of what is happening with his photo.
Fake animal health certificate (above)
Fake breeder permit (above)
Fake anti-scam document to prove their authenticity as breeders.
Fake 'France post' document
Njei Moses Timah
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