Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Confidence trick from wikipedia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

An alert from OPSEC.

A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group by gaining their confidence. A confidence artist is an individual operating alone or in concert with others who exploits characteristics of the human psyche such as dishonesty and honesty, vanity, compassion, credulity, irresponsibility, naivety and greed.
Contents

A confidence trick is also known as a con game, con, scam, grift, hustle, bunko, bunco, swindle, flimflam, gaffle, or bamboozle. The intended victims are known as marks. The perpetrator of a confidence trick is often referred to as a confidence man or woman, con man or woman, con artist or grifter. When accomplices are employed, they are known as shills.
In David Mamet's film House of Games, the main con artist gives a slightly different description of the "confidence game". He explains that, in a typical swindle, the con man gives the mark his own confidence, encouraging the mark to in turn trust him. The con artist thus poses as a trustworthy person seeking another trustworthy person.

History.

The first known usage of the term "confidence man" in English was in 1849. It was used by American press during the United States trial of William Thompson. Thompson chatted with strangers until he asked if they had the confidence to lend him their watches, whereupon he would walk off with the watch. He was captured when a victim recognized him on the street.

Vulnerability to confidence tricks.

Confidence tricks exploit typical human characteristics such as greed, dishonesty, vanity, honesty, compassion, credulity, irresponsibility, desperation and naïveté. As such, there is no consistent profile of a confidence trick victim, the common factor is simply that the victim relies on the good faith of the con artist. Victims of investment scams tend to show an incautious level of greed and gullibility, and many con artists target the elderly, but even alert and educated people may be taken in by other forms of confidence trick.[2]
Shills, also known as accomplices, help manipulate the mark into accepting the con man's plan. In a traditional confidence trick, the mark is led to believe that he will be able to win money or some other prize by doing some task. The accomplices may pretend to be strangers who have benefited from performing the task in the past.

A greedy or dishonest mark may attempt to out-cheat the con artist, only to discover that he or she has been manipulated into losing from the very beginning.


RE: From Bank Of African Dear Customer, /Our Contact Code:601..

BANK OF AFRICA .
4TH FLOOR, PATERNOSTER HOUSE,
65 STREET PAUL'S ISLAND ,
MARYLAND IKOYI, LAGOS , BP02.2341.
Official e-mail-(bank_of.africannn@yahoo.com.cn)
Location: 127.0.0.1
Posts No: 6,675
Our Contact Code:601.
DEAR BENEFICIARY,
FIRST OF ALL, I WILL LIKE TO INTRODUCE MYSELF TO YOU, I AM SERG ZABO BY NAME ,THE NEW BANK MANAGER OF BANK OF AFRICA IN SECTION 007777777 FILE RECORD 2012 NEW PROJECT , MY DEAR, I WANT TO USE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO NOTIFY YOU THAT I AM NOW THE NEW BANK MANAGER OF THIS BANK OF AFRICA AND IT HAVEN'T BEEN A MONTH NOW, I REVIEWED THE FILES OF THIS HONORABLE BANK AND I SAW YOUR NAME ON IT, MEANWHILE, YOUR FUND VALUE AT $6.2MILLION DOLLARS WAS LAY IN HERE AS A DOMINATE FUNDS FOR PAST 1 YEAR AND SIX MONTHS NOW .
SO IT AMAZE ME SO MUCH AND THEN I WENT TO THE OFFICE OF IMF NIGERIAN AND REPORTED THIS TO THEM TO KNOW WHAT IS THEIR AIM AND THEY TOLD ME THAT THE BANK FORMER MANGER MR.DELBERT CHRISTIAN WAS THE ONE THAT CURSE ALL THIS AS HE COLLECTED MONEY FROM ALL THE CUSTOMERS AND THEN REFUSE TO WIRE THEIR FUNDS. SO MY DEAR THE LORD I SERVE WILL NOT ALLOW SUCH TO HAPPEN AGAIN HERE IN MY PRESENT IN THIS OFFICE THIS NEW YEAR. SO YOU ARE HEREBY ADVISED TO FILL YOUR BANKING DETAILS AND SUBMIT BACK TO THIS BANK FOR IMMEDIATE COMMENCE ON YOUR FUNDS TRANSFER OF HUGE $6.2M OF FUNDS INTO YOUR BANK ACCOUNT WITHOUT FURTHER DELAY, DO YOU UNDERSTAND?..
I DON'T LIKE BETRAYING PEOPLE AND NO ONE WILL DO SUCH TO ME. FILL THE BANKING INFORMATIONS AS FOLLOWS TO ENABLE THE BANK TRANSFER CENTER TO START THE TRANSFER OF YOUR FUNDS. CONTACT US BACK WITH THIS E-MAIL ADDRESS;.( bank_of.africannn@yahoo.com.cn)
(1) NAME OF BANK;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
(3) ACCOUNT NUMBER;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
(4) ROUTING NUMBER;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
(5) ACCOUNT NAME;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
(6) HOME ADDRESS;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
(7) COPY OF ID;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
(8) CURRENT PHONE NUMBER;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
(9) COUNTRY/ STATE;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
10 ) OCCUPATION;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
I WANT TO REASSURE YOU OF OUR WILLINGNESS TO TRANSFER THE $6.2M OF FUNDS INTO YOUR BANK ACCOUNT AS SOON AS YOU RE-CONFIRM YOUR BANKING DETAILS.
THANK YOU FOR BANKING WITH US.
SINCERELY,
MR. SERG ZABO.
CHIEF AUDITOR.
BANK OF AFRICA

Re-Scamming Nigerian internet scammers- The Prank Call

From:Evangelist Lindy Mike(Widow).

From:Evangelist Lindy Mike(Widow).

Calvary greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, I am Evangelist Lindy Mike. I am 38years, my mother is From England, while my father is from weste africa, i was married to Late John Mike from England, i am now a new christian convert, suffering from long time cancer problem.

From all indications, my condition is serious and according to my late husband doctor, it is quite obvious that i may not survive the sickness, as a christian, i beleived God and i know that i will not die, i will leave to declare the glory of God, My late Husband John Mike is From England, he and my only son was killed by his family members, because he does not agree with them, i am presently leaving alone, our Lord Jesus Christ is my comforter.

Before the death of my husband, he told me on his sick bed that he deposited some money with the United Bank for Africa plc(UBA) in Nigeria, the sum of Fifteen Million Five Hundred Thousand Dollars (Usd$15.5M). After disclosing this secret to me, he gave me the Documents he used in Depositing the funds called Certificate of Deposit, he never wanted to tell me about it until the present moment that he was about to die, he told me that his reason for telling me about this funds secretly is because after his death that he knows his family will not allow me to inherit any of his wealth or property.

He told me that Nigerian Government will not allow me to make this claim since i am a citizen of Nigeria, my husband told me that i can only get the funds claimed through the help of a foreigner like you, and that was exactly what happened, i made up my mind to travel abroad to leave the rest of my life and continue to do the work of God as a missionary, i called my late husband lawyer to find out if the funds is still in contact in that bank, to enable me raise some money to continue my mission, to my greatest surprise it was still in contact.

Presently, all the Documents concerning the funds are with me, now that my sickness has gone to this stage, i am scared and i want the funds to be used for the work of God all over the world, i have prayed and told God to direct me to an honest christian who will receive this funds and utilise it together with me and for things that will glorify the name of God, after my prayers, i decided to contact you alone my beloved in Christ.

Please i will appreciate that you send the following information to enable my late Husband Lawyer commence with the procuring of the necessary document that will back you up as next of kin to my late Husband for immediate arrangement with the UNITED BANK FOR AFRICA UBA Plc on how the Fifteen Million Five Hundred Thousand Dollars (Usd$15.5M) will be claimed by you on my Late Husbands Behalf as his Next of Kin and New Beneficiary.

1. your full name.
2. Your contact address.
3. Your telephone/fax numbers for prompt communication.

I await to here your urgent reply.

Thanks and God bless you.

Evangelist Lindy Mike(Widow).

GET BACK TO ME NOW

FIRST BANK OF NIGERIA PLC
HEAD OFFICE SAMUEL ASABIA HOUSE
35 MARINA LAGOS NIGERIA
TEL:+234-8121829886.

Attention: Beneficiary.

NOTIFICATION FOR RELEASE OF $10.5M

This letter is written to you in order to change your life from today. I
am Rev.Dr.David Chukwu,the new director, international remittance
department of this Bank.My boss Mr Jacob M Ajekigbe, the MD/ CEO of this
Bank is now on compulsory leave and all power has been vested on me to
make all international payment. Furthermore due to allegations of corrupt
practices against other Nigeria Banks, the Federal Government of Nigeria
has appointed this Bank to effect all foreign overdue payment.

Be informed that the Federal Government have Approved the release of
$10.5M which has been in this Bank for many years UNCLAIMED. My boss in
collaboration with the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) have
refuse to tell you the truth on how to claim your fund.This is because
they have been using the interest accumulated from your fund every year to
enrich themselves without your knowledge. I want to help you PULL OUT this
fund to your Bank account today using the easiest and quickest method
which has not been known to you before. By this method a Domiciliary
Account will be opened for you in our Bank.

A domiciliary account is a secure account which we will open for you in
our Bank and Credit your payment of $10.5M for further credit into your
account.The essence of this Domiciliary account is to secure and protect
your payment from being diverted by fraudulent people or making payment to
a foreign account which do not belong to you.The greatest advantage is
that you can instruct us to credit your nominated account bit by bit with
small amount thereby saving yourself from the trouble of Financial
Authority in your country who monitor large transfer due to current trend
of terrorism. Another beauty of the domiciliary account is that you can
retain the balance left in your account in our Bank and can also instruct
us to pay out money to any Bank of your choice in the world,or issue you
an ATM Card which you can use in any part of the world when on a business
trip.

I hope you now understand the advantages of a Domiciliary account and why
you need this account to receive your payment of $10.5M now in our
Bank..... You are advice to forward as a matter of urgency your full
banking coordinate, direct telephone and Fax number and your contact
address as we have started the process of the account for you. Call me on
234-8121829886 so that I will issue you a payment release code which must
be given to you personally on telephone strictly for security reason. This
code is very important and it is what you will use to confirm your
payment.

Yours faithfully,
Rev.Dr.David Chukwu.

--
This message has been scanned for viruses and
dangerous content by MailScanner, and is
believed to be clean.

OUR FUND HAS BEEN RELEASED BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OF NIGERIA.

Attention : Sir,

Due to the Oil probe at the Nigeria National Co-operation (NNPC) and the
Federal Ministry of Finance, by the Federal Government of Nigeria, and the
United Nations Intelligent/Policy and Advocacy Departments (UNIPAD) has
been mandated to investigate and clear the claims by some foreign and
local contractors whose contracts payments where stopped for Improper
documentations and Non completion of their assigned contractors.

Furtherance to this probe and investigation by the federal government of
Nigeria and the United Nations Intelligent/Policy and Advocacy Departments
(UNIPAD) 140 companies where cleared and have their payment approved,
after going through their contractor files, by the Accountant General of
the Federation (AGF) and their directors were invited by the Minister of
Finance, out of the number cleared 75 companies and their directors
reported and made their selves available for their payment documentations,
while some companies could not be traced or located since many of them
have relocated to other countries due to the restiveness in the oil rich
region of Nigeria Delta, to continue their operations.

Sequel to this development, the federal government of Nigeria has ordered
the immediate payment approval and remittance of $15.5M USD, as part
payment, to the affected beneficiaries, whose files has been cleared by
the probe committee, headed by Mr. Mohammed A. Waleed, and the Accountant
General of the Federation , to sign the release of the funds to the
beneficiary, the required information's from the beneficiary contractors
are : (A) All Documents related to the executed contracts (b) Your full
names , address and company's name and telephone number (c) Contract Sum.

SECTION: (B) For those contractors who could not find or trace their
contracts documents, we will assist through the committee appointed
Attorney/lawyer, to act on their behalf and obtain all the required
documents upon the presentation of their full personal data, as mentioned
above.

Meanwhile, the following conditions must be adhered to because those
involved in this DEAL are top government officials and not ready to risk
their positions and job, in course of assisting you for the claim of your
funds.

(1) We will obtain an Affidavit of Trust and Claim from federal high court
of justice in Nigeria, in your favor as one of the cleared beneficiary.

(2) We will present a written Power of Attorney on your behalf that you
have authorized Barrister (Mrs.) Veronica Alice Magodo, as your business
associates.

(3) Barrister (Mrs.) Veronica Alice Magodo, will appear on your behalf
before the Accountant general of the federation to defend your payment and
also collect the approved Certified Bank Draft of $15.5M USD.
(4) We will set aside 2% of the total approved amount which is $15.5M USD,
for all the expenses that we will incur in cause of this transaction.

(5) Upon completion and release of the fund to you, as the beneficiary,
you will have 30% as your share, while myself and other members involved
in this transaction will share 70%.

FINALLY : Note, that this deal must be treated with utmost secrecy and
confidential, because of the our positions, and also bear in mind that
this transaction has been well perfected and risk free to assist you,
since you will not appear in person for personal reasons.

PLEASE NOTE BELOW: If you are not interested do not bother yourself to
respond.

forward your reply to Dr Okwedi .G Williams, Email: odwilliams@9.cn

I wait your urgent reply.
Mr Gold Frederick Martins.
Member probe committee
Oil subsidy /Finance Ministry.