Finally! An answer.

[George A. H. Luck]

THIS SHOULD FINALLY ANSWER THE QUESTION;
"WHAT KIND OF G-D IDOT WOULD FALL FOR THIS SCAM?"
SADLY HE IS A CANADIAN.



An emotional John Rempel tells his story of how he has lost $150,000 of the family's money to a Nigerian scam.

Photograph by: Nick Brancaccio, The Windsor Star




A Leamington man has fallen prey to international scam artists who strung him along for more than a year with the promise of millions in cash, but ultimately bilked him and his family of $150,000.
John Rempel said he quit his truck driving job, lost friends, borrowed money and crossed the globe in pursuit of a non-existent inheritance, after he was contacted by e-mail in what is known as a Nigerian 419 scam.
Rempel said he borrowed $55,000 from an uncle in Mexico and his parents gave him $60,000 on credit to cover fees for transferring $12.8 million into his name.
“They’re in it now because of me,” said Rempel, 22, breaking into sobs. “If it wasn’t for me, nobody would be in this mess. You think things will work out, but it doesn’t. It’s a very bad feeling. I had lots of friends.
“I never get calls anymore from my friends. You know, a bad reputation.”
His troubles began in July 2007. He said he got an e-mail from someone claiming to be a lawyer with a client named David Rempel who died in a 2005 bomb attack in London, England, and left behind $12.8 million.
“They used to come in the mail,” said Leamington police Const. Kevin O’Neil. “Now the majority of these are sent through e-mail. Keeping up with the times, using all the wonderful technology that’s available to them.”
“I was told once that they send out 30,000 e-mails a day, around the world, and they hope for just one or two responses. Once you return a phone call or return an e-mail, these people now have their hooks into you.”
The lawyer said his client had no family but wanted to leave the money to a Rempel. It was his lucky day.
“It sounded all good so I called him,” said Rempel. “He sounded very happy and said God bless you.”
The man then told him he had to pay $2,500 to transfer the money into his name. Then there were several more documents. Some cost $5,000.
He was told to open an account at a bank in London. That required a $5,000 minimum deposit. The crooks later sent him an e-mail with a link to what he was told were details of his new account. Some money had been transferred there for “safe keeping.”
“Everything was good,” said Rempel.
Then he got an e-mail from a government department — he’s not sure which country — saying he owed $250,000 on tax on his inheritance. Rempel spoke to his contact, who told him they negotiated the fee down to $25,000.
Rempel went to Mexico where his uncle owns a farm. His uncle gave him $10,000 cash and money for a plane ticket. He was going to London to make sure it was legitimate.
“I had $10,000 in cash in my pocket and my uncle sent another $25,000 when I was over there.”
In London, Rempel met some people and handed over the $10,000.
They met Rempel the next day with a suitcase. They said it had $10.6 million in shrink-wrapped U.S. bills. Rempel wanted more proof. His new friends pulled out one bill and “cleansed” it with a liquid “formula,” which washed off some kind of stamp. Rempel was told that process made the money “legal tender.”
“I was like holy crap, is that mine?” he said. “They said ‘yes sir, it’s yours.’ It all sounded legit.”
Rempel returned to his hotel room clutching the formula and waited for the others so they could cleanse all his money. They never showed, and later told him they got held up. In the meantime, Rempel dropped the formula. The bottle broke. He called his contact who said he’d get more. Rempel returned to Leamington and waited.
A few weeks later Rempel got a call. They found more formula. It would cost $120,000.
“I thought, ‘let’s work on it, nothing is impossible,’” said Rempel.
His contacts were willing to meet associates in different countries to get cash for the formula. It would require several plane tickets, worth $6,000 each.
Rempel was told they collected $100,000, but still needed $20,000. There was a guy in Nigeria who had it, but another plane ticket was required. The contact later told him he could only get $15,000 and “begged” Rempel for the last $5,000.
Rempel borrowed money. He stopped making Visa and car payments.
They called a week later and said the money was ready to go. They just needed $6,900 for travel costs and to rent trunks to ship the money.
Later, the men called to say they were at the airport in New York. Security stopped them and they needed $12,500 for a bribe. Finally, Rempel had enough.
“I said, ‘no way I’m cleaned out.’”
Rempel, his parents and 10-year-old brother Ike drove to New York. They spent a day searching the airport for the men, with no luck. They returned home and called police.
“I really thought in my heart this was true,” said Rempel.
— with files from Dalson Chen
© Copyright (c) The Windsor Star

[rmaday]

Can't believe no one that lent/gave him $$ for this ever stopped to say - "huh?"

[John McKenna]

I started forwarding all the free money I get in my spam email to my bill collectors
and got entirely out of debt in just one day.

[Dominic J. Maricic]

Sigh, I wouldn't have believed it!
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/...mail-scam.html
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/01...an_419_victim/

[Doug Edwards]

Unfortunate for this guy but one observation I ve had with all of these scam emails. Right within the body of the email there is evidence that what they are doing may be illegal or at the very least unethical. A person who reads these honestly would have to see the elements of dishonesty that permeates the emails and if they are honest would not touch any of them with a ten foot pole. That along with the obvious scent of a scam should repel a thinking person like a skunk.

[Mario A. Kyriacou, CHI]

It's because of suckers like him that we/I get dozens of these e-mails per week. These criminals work on the Law of Averages and prey on stupid people like him. Do I feel sorry for his loss...NO, it's only money and that can be replaced.

[Allen Cavdek]

Hmmmm???
Well he seems like he is an easy sell??
So if anyone needs some extra cash $$$ we know who to contact
But seriously.... see what greed and the love of money can do to some people??

[dcook1]

We all hate to sound heartless, but.....
Recently in New York FBI went to the husband, his wife had recently sent over $150,000 to these crooks. Over her last few years she had sent over $450,000! Look up STUPID in the dictionary, that will be her picture!

I one time got the idea from http://www.419eater.com/ and had one guy look for a wife for me for about 5 weeks before he dropped me. It was fun baiting him.

[Yuri Olhovsky]

This is what NACHI message board is now for.


A message has been sent to you via NACHI's "Featured Inspectors" page.


Message:


Dear Olhovsky

I am Mr. Samuel Sarpong; I am the manager in the department of accounts division of, Ghana Commercial Bank .On February 27th 2006, one of our high profile patrons Mr. Richard Olhovsky made a numbered time (fixed) deposit, for twelve calendar months in my bank branch. Upon maturity, we sent a routine notification to his forwarding address but got no reply. after a month, we sent a reminder and finally we discovered from his contract employers that, On The 22nd Of August 2006, It Was Reported To Us, That Our client, While Returning From Vacation With His Family From Russia, All Died In The Tupolev-154 Crash Leaving From Black Sea Holiday Resort Of Anapa To St.Petersburg.Our Client And His Entire Family Unfortunately Lost Their Lives In The Crash. See the below link for read more news about the air
crash:http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/5274958.stm

After further inquest, it was discovered that he died without making a will and all attempts to trace his next of kin proved futile. On further inquisition, it was discovered that late Mr. Richard did not declare any next of kin or relations in all his official documents, including his bank deposit paperwork here at the bank. The total sum is US$9.5m still in my bank and the interest is being rolled over with the principal sum at the end of each year. No one will ever come forward to claim it. In accord with the federal banking laws and constitution, the money will revert to the ownership of the government if nobody applies as the next of kin to claim the funds. Consequently, I shall present you as a foreigner to stand in, as the next of kin to this gentleman, since you have same last name with the deceased, so that the proceeds of this account can be paid to you, for us to share. Upon acceptance of this proposal, i shall give you detailed information on how this deal would be carried out. We shall employ the services of an advocate for the drafting of the letter of probate in your favor, and to obtain all other relevant papers in your name for the necessary documentation for payment endorsement in my bank.

The money will be shared in the ratio: fifty percent for me, forty five percent for you and five percent for any arising contingencies or expenses during the course of this transaction. I guarantee you that this will be executed under a legitimate arrangement that will protect you from any breach of the law or any legal plight, as i will use my position in the bank to secure approvals and guarantee the successful execution of this transaction. Please be informed that your extreme discretion is required. If this interests you, please reply me directly by email and indicate your full name, address date of birth, your contact telephone and fax numbers respectively. Upon receipt of your response, I will prepare a text of application you will send to my bank headquarters for payment approval in your favor. I await your urgent reply on my private
e-mail:samuelsapong@live.com

Best regards,
Mr.Samuel Sarpong.

[David P. Valley]

You mean to tell me that all that money I had sent to Nigeria is a scam. I talked to that guy several times and he sounded so official.

Ohhh-my-God.

Now I'm pissed.

What do I do now guys? That was my life savings....

[Yuri Olhovsky]

David, the funny thing is that this was the first "request" I received via NACHI message board since I joined this association in 2004.

[John McKenna]

Originally Posted by dvalley

You mean to tell me that all that money I had sent to Nigeria is a scam. I talked to that guy several times and he sounded so official.

Ohhh-my-God.

Now I'm pissed.

What do I do now guys? That was my life savings....

Send me $1000 and I will tell you...

[George A. H. Luck]

DON'T LISTEN TO THAT MCKENNA GUY!!! HE IS A RIP OFF ARTIST!!

Send me $999.oo for the same information and a full colour 'How - to' manual.

[David P. Valley]

Originally Posted by gluck

DON'T LISTEN TO THAT MCKENNA GUY!!! HE IS A RIP OFF ARTIST!!

Send me $999.oo for the same information and a full colour 'How - to' manual.

OK George,

You won the bid. Your check is in the mail.....

[Blaine Wiley]

Is that $999 in Canadian or American currency?