Nigerian Scam Targets Magicians

[Diamond Jim Tyler]

I received this email yesterday:

GREETING,
I'M LARRY; MY WEDDING WILL BE COMING UP NEXT YEAR ON THE .29TH OF JANUARY
2006 , AT THE ADDRESS BELOW. I WILL LIKE YOU TO BE THE MAGICIANS FOR MY
WEDDIING RECEPTIONS,I LOOK FORWARD TO A VERY BIG,SOCIAL AND COLOURFULL
WEDDING,SO I WANT THE BEST OF PROFESIONLA JOB. YOU WILL BE WORKING FOR 4 HRS
RECEPTIONS ONLY, LET ME KNOW IF YOU WILL BE AVAILABLE ON THE DAYS,ALSO I
WILL LIKE YOU TO SEND YOUR TOTAL COST PLUS YOUR AIR TICKET FEES,MY PLANNER
WILL BOOK THE HOTEL FOR YOUR COMING IF NEEDED. MY ASSOCIATE IN THE STATE
WILL TAKE CARE OF THE CHARGES MODE OF PAYMENT VIA MONEY ORDER OR CHECK. I
LOOK FORWARD IN HEARING FROM YOU SOONEST.

HERE IS THE RECEPTION ADDRESS SO AS TO CALCULATE THE TOTAL COSTING:-

Central Church of Christ
6755 San Joaquin Street,
Sacramento, CA 95820-2135

I LOOK FORWARD IN READ FROM YOU SOON.

BEST REGARDS


The first tip-off that it was a con was the obvious hotmail address it came from. I did a little detective work and called the church to see if a wedding was booked under that name on the given date. They said "No". The church also said that they had received calls from DJ's, photographers, etc. I wondered how they could scam me if they were sending me a deposit check. Well here's the rub:

Say I quoted them $1000. They would in turn send me a counterfeit cashier's check for $1500. My bank, as most, would deposit it into my account, and most checks clear in 5 days at the latest. I would then be contacted again by Larry Mith who says mistakenly I was sent someone else's check- so I should send him a refund for $500. I might even wait an extra week to make sure his check was good before sending him back $500. Here's the deviously ingenious part: THE COUNTERFEIT NIEGERIAN CASHIER'S CHECK ACTUALLY TAKES 4 TO 5 WEEKS TO DETERMINE THAT IT IS WORTHLESS. So the bad guys get your money and your a little bit wiser. I wonder just how many people have fallen for this scam??

I actually wrote this Mith character back to firm up some details and to ask more questions to see just how far he would push this ruse. He surprisingly wrote me back- this time from a yahoo email address. I guess hotmail has banned him. Apparently this con is happening with EBAY auctions as well. If someone overpays you on EBAY with a funny-looking cashier's check and then wants a refund back, then you are most likely their next target.

BE WARNED!

All good things,
Diamond Jim Tyler

[Guest]

For some fun reading on having these scammers get scammed in return, may I direct you to..

419 Eater

Read in particular The Tale of the Painted Breast, this one is hilarious.

[David Alexander]

Being listed on various Internet sites, I get several of these a week. I copy the headers, attach them to the main body of the letter and send them to "abuse" at whatever the email service is. That usually stops them. It just takes a few seconds and you've done what you can to stop them.

[Pete Biro]

I had some idiot actully depositing money in my checking account...

Whe he did was to go into a bank with a check for $500, deposit it to my account, less $250 cash, walk out with the cash, then later the checks would bounce...

I caught it early and the bank kept an eye out for the jerk and had the dope arrested.

[Ted Leon]

It took me an hour and a half to get through it, but that "Red Breast" thing was FUNNY :)
Ted (Leondo)

[Danny Archer]

I got an e-mail from a guy in Nigeria wanted to buy some of my effects wholesale for a magic shop ... he gave me a credit card number, a shipping address and an a nice sized order ... I called my credit card company and they told me that Nigeria was the #1 country in the World for CC Fraud ... needless to say I did not ship the order and my e-mails went unanswered ...

it's a big bad world out there ... be careful ...

[Countelmsley]

I enjoyed listening to the audio files of a guy named Mikmik. In the audio files in the forum. Pretty bad language... And pretty funny! :p

[John Carey]

PLEEEESE SEND ME SOME DOLLARS FOR MAGIC DVDS
TOO MANY DVDS AND NOT ENOUGH DOUGH!!!!

REV SAMBONGA
LAGOS :D :D :D