If you are in the dog business READ THIS POST !!!! Here is a new Nigerian scam. It's a well know fact that NIGERIA is a country without law and known for the ultimate scam. We have all got those emails about the poor daughter of the dead Nigerian King finding $20,000,000.00 in a box under her bed and she needs your help getting it out of the country.

Well here is a new scenario to be aware of. You get emails from a Nigerian scumbag who wants to buy a dog from you. Most will want to send forged cashiers checks or pay with a stolen credit card (do you ever wonder where the stolen personal information goes? Try Nigeria) Anyway I digress - this dirt bag piece of dog shit does not go down that road. In fact he does not even bring it up. Instead he wants to wire the money into your bank account and asks if this will be OK. You think - WOW this must be the 1 honest Nigerian in a country of 20,000,000 thieving scumbags. WRONG !!!!

To get money wired into your account you have to send the person wiring you money two tings. Your banks "routing ID number - (otherwise known as a ABA number) and your bank account number. Once our new Nigerian brother has these two numbers he simply prints his own checks and writes them on your account.

You find out he has done this when you check your bank balance at the end of the month. Odds are you will get your money back. But imagine the hassle.

So my advice to anyone who does business with money wires is to go to their bank and open a new bank account. Keep as little money in this account as possible. We only keep $50.00 in the account we use for money wires. When money is wired into this account its taken out on the day it gets there and is transferred to a second secure account that does not allow unauthorized withdrawals.

In this way when we give out the ABA numbers and bank account numbers - a criminal will find an empty bank account. Just think of all those starving Nigerian children who will now go without food.

If you are inclined to screw with these people you can go along with them and scam them right back by playing their game and telling them how you would love to have them as a customer and then send them fake numbers. Then they go out and spend money printing checks and get nothing for it.

Ed, I've received those requests. Had one even go so far as to do an operator assisted internet call to my house. Same scam. Extra money to be sent back, cousin, father, whoever will pick up, you know the drill. But they have started to call as well.

The "relay call" is becoming more and more popular, since they've learned it's a free way of calling long distance. Unfortunately, even if the AT&T operators are aware that a scam is going on, they are prevented from saying anything to the recipient of the call.

There's another scheme that's making the rounds. In this one they send you a money order for some amount over what you charge for whatever you sell.

They ask you to send them a check for the difference between what they bought and what they sent. Sometimes there's even an offer for you to keep $100 extra for your trouble!

The money order crashes and you're out the amount you sent in the check and the merchandise.

Here is a new one I just received. This one was bold enough to ask for my personal information up front. Must be in a impatient.

FROM: BARRISTER ROBERT MARTINS
FB. OMOH CHAMBERS,
COTONOU REPUBLIC OF BENIN.


Dear Sir,
URGENT INVESTMENT REQUEST/ FUND
TRANSFER.

I wish to bestow this mutual trust on you, which I
believe you will not ignore or betray. I also
apologize in advance for any inconvenience this letter
may cause you.

I am Barrister Robert Martins the Personal Attorney to
late Mr Arthur M.Barnett, who was Importer of Textiles
and Automobiles here in Benin Republic for past 19yrs.
But unfortunately my client and his family died in the
ill-fated plane crash involving a Boeing 727 UTA
chartered flight that took off from Cotonou, Republic
of Benin and crashed into the Atlantic ocean on
Thursday, 25 December 2003. And about 111 passengers
were killed For details of the plane crash, please
visit:
http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/africa/12/26/benin.crash/index.html.

As a matter of fact, my client has made a fixed
deposit amount valued at (USD$8.5M) with one of the
COMMERCIAL BANKS here in Benin Republic, and upon the
duration time of their agreement, this bank started
contacting him but no response. Consequently, the bank
issued me a notice as his personal attorney to provide
the next of kin to the deceased or have his account
confiscated after two years, as it is in the law of
their banking policy. Since then, I have made several
contacts to His Country's Embassy in order to locate
any of my clients extended relatives, but no success
was made.

So since I made no success in locating the relatives
for over a period of months now, I seek your consent
to present you as the next of kin of the deceased
since none of his relatives were no way to be found so
that the account value of US$8.5m could be transferred
into your own bank account, thereafter, both of will
share it in percentage ratio of 20% commission for
your assistance on this mutual transaction, While I
will invest my own part into a lucrative investment
project and you will be my trusty manager.
Therefore if you welcomes this request please forward
the following:

1) Your full name.
2) Your contact address.
3) Your phone and fax numbers.
And once I received this information I will give you
the application letter of claim which you have to fill
and forward it to the concerned bank here for
immediate approval and subsequent transfer of the
money to your bank account.
Finally, be informed that no risk is involved in this
transfer because I have made a solid arrangement at
the bank on how to transfer out the money. Therefore
get in touch with me as quick as possible through the
telephone number and E-mail above so that I can give
you my telephone, to enable us discuss more on how to
move forward to complete this business transcation
successfully.

I am waiting your urgent reply.
Thanks and god bless you,
BARR. ROBERT MARTINS, OMOH CHAMBERS.
LEGAL ATTORNEY & SOLICITOR
PLEASE DO REPLY TO omohchambers@surimail.com

The Link is bogus and goes nowhere.

I got hit with this same crap over an ad for my amazon babies. The origin of this one was South Africa. A "veterinarian" saying his clients wished to purchase my babies and what wonderful people they were, what loving homes they would give them, etc. Offering me three times what I was asking for them for my "trouble", blah, blah. As if I would risk shipping parrots that far even if they were legit. Never mind quarantine laws and on and on.

I have been hit with this rubbish twice a day for the last 3 months .... some one should tell the nigerians us aussies arent all brawn!

There are many scams out there it is true. Most are email related but some newer ones are more brazen. Like people calling you claiming to be from ebay or amazon or your bank or what not. Also some email phishing scams now simply look like ebay or amazon with a message to call them at such and such number to resolve a transaction problem. They then try to get your information.

I use Cardcops.com myself for ID protection. You can call them and ask them about some of the things they have seen. They have seen a lot believe me. Here is their list of things you can do to better protect yourself:

Behavior modifications / best practices:

A. Report lost or stolen credit cards immediately.

B. If purchasing a product or service from a company you have never done business with before, only pay with a credit card. Avoid paying by check or debit card.

C. Avoid shopping or using a credit card at establishments that generate receipts that do not "x" out your credit card number, leaving just the last few digits for identification purposes.

D. Do not provide personal information to telemarketers, especially not credit card numbers, PIN #'s, social security number, or mother's maiden name.

E. Do not submit personal information in response to an email you have received, especially credit card numbers, PIN #'s, social security number, passwords, or mother's maiden name.

F. Only use a credit card that provides access to an online statement and is updated daily. Every couple of days, check your bank and credit card statements and make sure that every transaction is accounted for.

G. For online shopping, use a dedicated credit card with online statement access and a low limit. For extra protection, “rotate” your credit card every 6 months by asking your bank for a new card/account number.

H. Never use your bankcard (debit card) as a credit card & never use it online. Fraudulent transactions utilizing this card can drain all cash in the associated bank account.

I. Only provide your credit card number on a secured web page. A secured page should have a little lock (that is locked) displayed in the lower right corner of your browser.

J. Never send any of your financial information via email or instant message. E-commerce is very safe using sites that utilize encryption protection (i.e. web address starting with https://...), but email and IM is not generally encrypted.

K. Be wary when an online service asks you to verify your billing information and submit it via an online form. This is likely a front for an ID thief to steal your credit card and personal information. Even if you're sure the request is legitimate, just call the company on the phone.

L. Be stingy about giving out your social security number or mother's maiden name. Many entities ask for this information simply to use as an identification method, and therefore, you should ask them to utilize some other method to identify you. Never give out this information online or over phone if you did not initiate the call.

M. Do not keep your Social Security card in your wallet or purse.

N. Check Social Security earnings and benefits statement each year for fraud. Call 800-772-1213 for more information.

O. Beef up your passwords & change them often. Passwords should be at least 8 characters long and include letters (usually just numbers for ATM PIN #'s) and numbers. For extra security, also utilize upper case, lower case, and characters when possible. Change your passwords / PINs every 4 to 6 months.

P. Protect your passwords – do not store them in a file on your harddrive. A sheet of paper in a locked safe or password program like KeePass on a removable USB drive works best for storing your passwords for reference when they're needed.

Q. Do not use the same password for more than one entity that has your personal information.

R. Register your phone number with the FTC to block telemarketers

S. Check your credit report often. Although finding an unauthorized account on your credit report merely confirms that your identity has been stolen, at least you'll know (see below for information about daily credit monitors). You can obtain a free credit report once a year from annualcreditreport.com . If that option isn't available to you, you can obtain a free credit report from ConsumerInfo.com when you agree to a 30 day trial of their service. If unauthorized accounts appear on your credit report, follow our recommended procedures on ID Theft Tips .

T. If you throw something away containing anything personal, even just your address, first shred it in a 'cross-cut' shredder.

That's a whole lot of protection right there and I hope everyone follows their good advice. Thank you for letting me share this with everyone.

Several years ago I would send these emails to a US Secret Service contact. As my contact explained then, the USSS would keep a list of such emails and persons (when identified), file charges and then once a year do a "sweep" to pick up the scammers. I do not know if this is still ongoing, but may be something to consider reporting should you be so inclined.

http://firstgovsearch.gov/search?affilia...y=nigerian+scam


If you have been victimized by one of these schemes, please forward appropriate written documentation to the United States Secret Service, Financial Crimes Division, 950 H Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20001, or telephone (202) 406-5850, or contact by e-mail.

If you have received a letter, but have not lost any monies to this scheme, please fax a copy of that letter to (202) 406-5031.