Disturbing Email from Hubber

1. 88

   Daughter Of Maatposted 12 years ago

   I received an email from someone on hubpages that said the following:
   
   Attn Maat
   
   I am Barrister Mack coben, the attorney at law to Late Micheal A maat a national of your country, who used to work as the Director of Produits pétroliers (TOTAL BÉNIN) in Benin Republic West Africa Here in after shall be Referred to as my client. On the 27th of May 2003, my client, His wife and their two Children were involved in a car accident Along Sagbama express-road. All occupants of the vehicle unfortunately lost their lives. Since then I have made several enquiries to your embassy to locate any of my clients extended relatives this has also proved Unsuccessful.
   
   After these several unsuccessful attempts, I decided to track His last name over the Internet, to locate any member of his Family hence I contacted you. I have contacted you with faith to assist in Repatriating the money and property left behind by my client before they get confiscated or declared unserviceable by the bank here. These huge deposits were lodged particularly, with the " BANQUE ATLANTIQUE BENIN" An affiliate of Commercial Bank of Africa where the Deceased had an account valued at about $12.5 million dollars.
   
   The Bank has issued me a notice to provide the next of kin or have the account confiscated. Since I have been unsuccessful in Locating the relatives for over six years now I seek your consent To present you as the next of kin of the deceased since you have The same last name so that the proceeds of this account valued at twelve point Five Hundred millions Dollers ($12.5 million dollars) can be paid to you and then you and me can Share the money.50% to me and 50% to you I will procure all Necessary legal documents that can be used to back up any claim we may make,all I require is your honest cooperation to enable us seeing this Deal through.
   
   I guarantee that this will be executed under a legitimate arrangement that will protect you from any breach of the law. And the way we are going to achieve this is I will need the following information from you.
   
   
   I reported it as spam, but I wanted to post it to see if anyone else had gotten something similar and to warn others.

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   1. 0

      paxwillposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      That's precisely why I disabled the feature that allows people to contact me.  It never hurts to string them along with fake information and follow up questions.  Somebody did this over the course of 15 email exchanges until the scammer gave up in frustration.

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   2. 81

      SimeyCposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I lost about 12 Nigerian Uncles in the last year or two - I think someone needs to investigate because there are literally thousands of Nigerian Uncles dying every year - someone may be murdering them all hoping to get their money!

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         gabgirl12posted 12 years agoin reply to this

         lol...for a minute I thought you were serious.

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         Beachlifeposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         lol

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      3. 81

         Patkayposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         You have made my day

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         jjamaraposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Love your humor totally made my night!

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   3. 59

      gabgirl12posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      If that was from a Hubber, I'd hope this was reported. Thanks for posting. I've never gotten any of these yet through hubpages, but plenty through e-mail.

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      1. 88

         Daughter Of Maatposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Yes I absolutely did report it before I posted the email in the forum.

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   4. 0

      lovedoctor926posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Hi Daughter of Maat,
      
      No, I haven't received anything like this, but thanks for the heads up!

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   5. 68

      ashish04joshiposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I'm glad you didn't fall for it. It's all over the news since long...about this kinda scams but people don't seem to learn enough from others' mistakes.
      Good that you reported it. Wisest thing to do.

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   6. 92

      Cardisaposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      This is one of the oldest scams on the internet. I have never received any through Hubpages but I have received through my email address. I think Yahoo is doing better now at filtering so they go straight to the spam box now.

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      1. 88

         Daughter Of Maatposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         It goes to my junk mail now, I don't know how it got through hotmail's filters, the first time! lol

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   7. 95

      thoughtholeposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Looks like I picked up on this thread a little late, and it looks like most have commented similarly to what I intend to say here.
      
      I have received many e-mail like this especially when I set up a new e-mail account. Nigerian e-mail scam...
      
      How ever have they now infiltrated Hubpages though?

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   8. 82

      tmbridgelandposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I actually got a telephone call at work from one of these guys! It was obviously an international call, too. I strung him along for about 15 minutes, just kept him talking. I wonder what his bill was for that call.

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   9. 70

      Etherealenigmaposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      That definitely sounds like a scam. I never received that letter but I've received a similar scam in my email.

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   10. 83

       Efficient Adminposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       I get spam messages like this in my email (but not from Hubpages) and I just hit the DELETE key. It does not sound like a legitimate email.  I think reporting it to Hubpages is a good idea.

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2. 72

   Cagsilposted 12 years ago

   Nope. Not as of yet.

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3. 71

   WriteAngledposted 12 years ago

   Oh no, the Nigerian scammers (or Benin scammer in this case) have reached HP. Wonderful!

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4. 60

   Ron Montgomeryposted 12 years ago

   Sounds legit to me.  Make sure to double check your account information and social security number before submitting your response....

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      Daughter Of Maatposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      ha ha ha.... lmao

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5. 91

   MizBejabbersposted 12 years ago

   Wonderful! As if we don't get enough of these in our emails and on Facebook.

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6. 75

   Shanna11posted 12 years ago

   I don't want to live on this planet anymore....
   
   I don't understand how these scammers actually think this crap will work, and then I remember it must work sometimes, or they wouldn't keep at it.

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      paradigmsearchposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      

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   2. 96

      UnnamedHaraldposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      These spams are deliberately written in this manner (broken English, poor grammar, with obviously spam content). It's a weeding out process. Anyone who reads it and isn't suspicious is the fish. It takes nothing to email thousands of these and all they expect is one or two per ten thousand to take the bait. Unfortunately, it works.

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      TIMETRAVELER2posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      The same could be said of all those scummy telemarketers who keep calling.

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7. 88

   Daughter Of Maatposted 12 years ago

   I know right? Do these people really think sending me an email like this is really going to work? Especially offering an obscene amount of money???
   
   This is actually the second one I've received, and so I thought I should let everyone know!

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      Healthy Pursuitsposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I think that for the obscene amount of money they can get if they find a sucker, they think it's worth their time. I'd love to see how many accounts they send these to at one time. It must be automated in some way.

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      fpherj48posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      DOM.....I don't believe it!!   These bold idiots have no shame whatsoever!   I get at least 2 a week in my SPAM folder.....but so far, never here on HP!!    This annoys me to no end!
      Hey! btw...CONGRATULATIONS ON THE 100 SCORE!!!   You deserve it!

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8. 71

   Reality Bytesposted 12 years ago

   Another version of the 419 Nigerian fraud scam.

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9. 88

   Daughter Of Maatposted 12 years ago

   I've never heard of the 419 Nigerian fraud scam. But I've gotten this twice, so it must be pretty prevalent.

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      Reality Bytesposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I have written on the subject.  I knew of the scam but did not know what it was called until I started researching different fraud scams.

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         Daughter Of Maatposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         I'll have to check your hub out. I'm intrigued now.

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      quicksandposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      This one's new. It's version 5.5!
      

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   3. 0

      Sophia Angeliqueposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      The correct response is either ignore to scambait.
      
      This is all about scambaiting. Some of them are absolutely hilarious.
      
      http://www.419eater.com/

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10. 78

    LuisEGonzalezposted 12 years ago

    funny, I received the exact same message today....they must think that we are just dumb...However my reply to the email must really have ticked them off. Can't post it here due to the language which by the way was very colorful

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    1. 71

       Reality Bytesposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       By replying to the email, did they not get your email address?  Have you received more spam then usual since you messaged them?

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11. 94

    habeeposted 12 years ago

    I got the exact same email! Only it said "abee" instead of "maat." Wanna split the dough?

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12. 88

    Daughter Of Maatposted 12 years ago

    lmao!!! You'd think these peolpe would come up with something new or at least switch to Nigerian grandmothers!
    
    habee... yup I'll split it with ya! lmao You go and get it k? (Just kiddin, I'll go too...)

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13. 96

    Bedbugabscondposted 12 years ago

    I had an email like that. Then I had another strang email from a huber who had a similar story but wanted to share my hubpages account and co write... yea right.

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    1. 88

       Daughter Of Maatposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       Really? They asked to share your hubber account? Ok that's just stupid! What will these people think of next?

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14. 64

    SandyMcCollumposted 12 years ago

    I've gotten these kinds of emails before too. When I wrote back and said that I have no relative by that name, anywhere in the world. They wrote back again and said they hadn't received my bank information yet, and they assured me that they'd investigated it and I am the true heir the this 'fortune.' I again wrote and said but I have investigated and found I have no relative by that name, and again they wrote and said we haven't received your banking info yet.... too funny. Everyone on Earth knows about these scams now, I doubt if they get anyone to bite after being on the news.

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       Aficionadaposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       
       Oh, we can surely hope!!
       
       I love the idea of stringing them along for so long that they eventually give up.  I wish everyone on earth would try that!  But I have actually known of someone who was very trusting and naive who went along with and got taken in by some sob-story-scam. Not the inheritance scam, but one of the older ones back in the early days of internet/e-mail scams.

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15. 88

    Daughter Of Maatposted 12 years ago

    You know you would think since so many people know about these scams that they'd actually stop trying. But obviously the scam still works on someone because they keep trying. That's scary!

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       Reality Bytesposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       They prey on the uneducated and desperate people.

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    purplmamaposted 12 years ago

    HAHAHAHAHA!! Oh, these things crack me up! So, the Embassy couldn't find you, but an internet search did?? I just love the punctuation and grammar of this letter, written by a "Barrister!"
    
    Thanks for sharing this!

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    1. 76

       Aficionadaposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       INDEED!!
       
       I love this part:
       
       
       I wonder who gets the other 49.50%?       Maybe "you and me" (!!) can share it.  HaHaHaHa!
       
       Ooops - they also mentioned "twelve point Five Hundred millions Dollers" - that should be $12,500,000,000 - shouldn't it?  They've already stolen most of DOM's money, and she hasn't even replied yet.  I'm calling the Embassy!

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       1. 88

          Daughter Of Maatposted 12 years agoin reply to this

          lmao .... too funny. Love the spelling errors too!! Dollers...

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17. 0

    klarawieckposted 12 years ago

    SHOW ME THE MONEY!!!!!!

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18. 61

    LaThingposted 12 years ago

    Hahahaha..... THEY ARE BAAACCKK!!
    I recieved these years ago. Thought they were done with this scam, and moved on to the new ones. I guess not! They might be running out of new ideas, lol!

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19. 94

    habeeposted 12 years ago

    Go here: http://www.ebolamonkeyman.com/
    
    This guy scams the scammers. Hilarious!!

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       Daughter Of Maatposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       hahahaha that's funny So awesome!

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20. 0

    Arlene V. Pomaposted 12 years ago

    What's wrong with this picture?  They've completely ignored me for about 2 years!

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21. 66

    awareposted 12 years ago

    hmmm .i guess you need a hub score of over 90 to find this  thread interesting .how disturbing .
    ray

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22. 71

    sjwigglywooposted 12 years ago

    I probably get between 20 to 50 of these emails every week! I just delete them. And I can't for the life of me see how people actually fall for it, as some actually do!

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       Daughter Of Maatposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       Wow, that's a lot of scam emails! I really don't see how people fall for these either, but I guess it's the dream of getting all that money.

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          Bedbugabscondposted 12 years agoin reply to this

          The scam industry is worth billions. I wish every one was taught about scam emails somehow. Maybe then they would not make those billions.

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             Daughter Of Maatposted 12 years agoin reply to this

             Indeed, those billions might be able to go to someone who really needs it! It's such a shame that money inspires so much greed. I wish we lived in an egalitarian society.

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23. 94

    habeeposted 12 years ago

    I don't think all the scammers are greedy. I think some are just desperate because they're so poor, and they think all Americans are rich.

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       Daughter Of Maatposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       I wish we were all rich! Many of the scams probably do originate in poor countries. More proof that money perpetuates avarice.

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          quicksandposted 12 years agoin reply to this

          This kinda thing is not targeted at all. It's just that they pay e-mail marketing companies to "mail their ads to thousands each day."
          
          There are dozens and dozens of people who actually fall for it. Every single day thousands of newbies board the Internet and register an e-mail account and they, not having heard of these scams are more conducive to getting trapped.
          
          Before the Internet became common, these cats used the regular mailing system (snail mail) to reach thousands of businessmen whose businesses were registered in directories.
          
          

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          teddi6posted 12 years agoin reply to this

          I wonder why it's Nigeria, more than any other country that does this scam - a poor country, if not THE poorest. 
          
          If you just mention the scenario just about anyone with an email address knows the rest of the deal.
          
          I've never gotten a letter from Wales or Scandanavia, or Japan - only Nigeria

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24. 61

    teddi6posted 12 years ago

    I got one, too, with subtle differences. It was the same cash amount with the same stipulation that I may keep half, if I pay him - the Barrister (attorney) the other half. What a legit guy!
    
    In my story the daughter survived the "horrendous accident" and had "endured many operations to help her to walk and restore her vision". Unfortunately, nothing had worked so, with no family she was sent to a boarding school in Switzerland.
    
    The email meanders from one crisis to another - all in great detail. It took about three emails before he actually asked for the 12.5 mil.  When he saw that I would not budge in opening up the old wallet he decided to let me in on the "insurance". He kept saying how simple it was to do and since the insurance forms were written in english it was meant to be handled by an American bank transfer.
    
    By the third email this man was losing his patience and wanted to make sure he had his worm secure on the hook - which I pretended to be, but was nowhere close to being. I'm smarter than the average bear, and no one's mark.  It was fun playing the game, though. I could imagine him trying to stay cool, when I knew he was mad as hell.
    
    How and why people fall for these Nigerian thieves is beyond me, they're so obviously opportunistic. They'd sell their mothers for a saltine. The only way to stop them is to delete the email when they come, ignore their attempts to separate you from your cash and turn them in.

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       Daughter Of Maatposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       Can you actually turn them into somebody though? Is that something INTERPOL would handle? I'd love to turn them in!!

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          teddi6posted 12 years agoin reply to this

          The line of violation the Nigerians walk is a fine one.  I think it all amounts to American laws not being complex enough to cover changing Internet boundaries. Heck, they can't even keep the illegal Nigerians out the country, of course, they can't stop a few email.
          
          There was a sting on 60 minutes involving The Nigerian Money Grab and even though they busted these guys on tape, nothing was done. In Nigeria its a non-chargable offense.

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25. 0

    Chris Hughposted 12 years ago

    I can't tell you how many billions of "dollaires" I have inherited over the past few years. I now live in a cloud castle and there's a male model feeding me grapes even as I write this.
    
    Seriously, are there really people who fall for this? I would have thought the success rate would be right around zero. I mean, if someone is smart enough to read *and* have something to steal, surely he's smart enough to see through this. I figured maybe it's some kind of scam going on in Nigeria, or wherever, where people are paying money to send email to try to scam us. That is, the would-be scammers are the ones being scammed. If that makes any sense.

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    1. 88

       Daughter Of Maatposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       I know I couldn't believe it either. And you know someone has to fall for it because they're still doing it.

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26. 68

    freetowriteposted 12 years ago

    Hey, I got one of these too! I actually followed through on it and after getting my identity stolen and everything taken from me, I received a check for 12 million dollars! After taxes and getting my identity back, I now have 2 dollars. I better start writing hubs again!

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       teddi6posted 12 years agoin reply to this

       too funny!!

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27. 60

    JBrumettposted 12 years ago

    I bet they crashed while reading one of his spam emails.

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28. 84

    daisydayzposted 12 years ago

    It's just one of those scams, ignore it! I get these all the time through my blog, luckily my spam filter now detects most of them so I never see them till I empty my spam!

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    recommend1posted 12 years ago

    I wonder if there really were an attorney in Nigeria who actually was charged with really finding someone who really had 50 million dollars coming to them - how the hell would they ever get to do it

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30. 67

    Cheeky Girlposted 12 years ago

    It will almost always be someone who will be the victim of this cheat and utter scam. The best cure to this is to spread the word, and make everyone aware of it.
    
    Between people leaving spam on the comments sections - to this...wow. This takes the cake! Some scammers are quite desperate, and will go to enormous lengths to make a crooked buck!

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31. 61

    Druid Dudeposted 12 years ago

    Last year I got a lot of these. It all was connected to hubpages. Someone had been reading my profile. Some wonder why I use an avatar. They think I'm hiding...and they are correct.

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       Daughter Of Maatposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       Hey, I don't blame you one bit for that. I myself use a picture that is actually quite old and really doesn't look a lot like me. The internet is a dangerous place!

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32. 72

    Cagsilposted 12 years ago

    And this thread still has legs?

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    1. 88

       Daughter Of Maatposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       I know lmao, I thought that too!

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33. 73

    Kangaroo_Jaseposted 12 years ago

    I get at least one of these a month. You'd think half of Nigeria is related to me by now, as Australia is a high target area for these scammers.The scams are becoming vastly different and heres one that is doing the rounds over the last 2 months that makes me laugh.
    
    from 'Florine'
    
    Hey there, so I was bored at school as usual casually surfing on ABC's city career section on sunday & read about a new work from anywhere job where active duty soldiers earn up to $2000 /week+ of course they did not know if i should believe some of it at the beginning but I had to try anyways & I'm so glad I did since I earned myself $334.00 my very second day actually trying. It is seriously simple Ive already gotten paid with direct deposit! it's definently the greatest thing that's hapened to me in my life,
    
    Heres the site - CBS Researches 2012's Hottest Work At Home Careers jm3 I really think pretty much everyone thats got access to the internet will be able to attempt the thing which is why Im informing all our friends and family. I want you to join and earn lots of income your self. you can also share this link with everybody you know who needs to make more cash so we can all defeat the economic recession...
    
    
    Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android
    
    Here is another version from 'Luconda'
    
    Hey, I was at work and started browsing on PBSs city self-employed section early last thursday and was infatuated with a brand new work from home career where deployed soldiers continue to earn around $1800 per week or more and they did not believe some of it for a while but for some reason I had to give it a shot & Im glad I did since I've earned $316.74 my very second day actually trying. It is surprisingly easy I've already been paid straight into my checking account! it is definently the most amazing oppurtunity that has happend to me in years,
    
    Here's the article: MSNBC Fact Checks 10 New Self Employed Positions st1 I really think just about everyone that has internet can do the work which is why I'm informing all my new friends and family. I want you to signup and make lots of income your self.. also send this e-mail with everybody you know that needs extra income so that we can all get out of the deep recession...
    
    
    Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android
    
    All of these are simple really, unless it is an email from someone you trust and know in real life and have spoken to a person about that email, these spam mails are always suspect, HIT THE DELETE BUTTON!!!

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    jeccykaposted 12 years ago

    yes, i did receive something like.

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35. 83

    Rosie writesposted 12 years ago

    I have received a similar email before.  This was a couple of years and it wasn't on hubpages.  There were news reports at the time about people being scammed, giving their bank account info. to the senders of the email.

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       galleryofgraceposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       I delete 20 -30 a day of these dumb emails. i do remember reading somewhere that most of them actually come from China.

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36. 83

    gmwilliamsposted 12 years ago

    I receive them left and right.  I just ignore and delete.   Those scammers think that the public is totally gullible!  Well, not!

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    Daughter Of Maatposted 12 years ago

    I truly can't believe how gullible they think we really are! I do feel bad for those who do fall for it though. I assume someone has to fall for it, otherwise they'd give up eventually!

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       gmwilliamsposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       That is so true.   These scammers are criminals and amass huge amounts of monies on the gullibility of many people, especially the elderly.    Sometimes they use the friendly approach i.e. "dear friend", other times they impersonate the FBI, using their logo.   Beware of that!    These people are dangerous.

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          Daughter Of Maatposted 12 years agoin reply to this

          Indeed!! It drives me insane that they deliberately go after the elderly and people who are down on their luck. How many elderly people have been cheated out of their life savings? Too many. I haven't run into the ones that impersonate the FBI but I would think that would be a felony... assuming they got caught.

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    dawnella66posted 12 years ago

    The best advice I can give you is if you didn't enter it, you didn't win it, if it's too good to be true it probably is, and if someone you don't know says you are getting money  via email its a scam. Whenever we are the recipients of any monetary award from anyone you are notified by certified mail and you are contacted by phone.

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