Cheeky Fredrick Mumbengegwi

[darmstadt]

Sitting in the front of the tele in my hotel eating a pot noodle (Nissin Tom Yum flavour) when the telephone rang with the following number: 002347039500340 and after answering it, the conversation with a gentleman of possible West African extraction went:

- Mr Darmstadt
_ Yes
- I have sent you e-mail. When you get it please naswer back immediately
- Uh, okay

Although nothing too strange so far as I get calls from customers all over the world but this one got the alarm bells ringing. Anyway, power up the lappie, connect and check the area code for 00234...Ah hah, Nigeria.

Phone rings again about 10 minutes later but with caller ID withheld this time and the gentleman now getting a bit frustrated as to why I haven't replied, possibly because I want to see the mail first which is the following:

I AM PATIENTLY WAITING FOR YOUR REPLY

Sir,

I am writing this message with deep fear and loss of confidence; I do not know if I am doing the right thing, I do not have any other option than to try reaching you this way. My case requires urgent attention and if nothing is done as quickly as possible I might be in great danger.

My name is Fredrick Mumbengegwi Jr, I am from Zimbabwe, but currently I am residing in another African country which will be revealed to you as soon as I am convinced that you are willing to work with me. This is for security reasons, and I will do anything to keep secret my current location to avoid future attacks from my enemies.

My late Father Fredrick Mumbengegwi, a rich farmer and my entire family are one of the families victimized by the head of state, Republic of Zimbabwe, President Robert Mugabe. A tyrant who has failed my country in so many ways and has a total disregard for true democracy and rule of law.

The truth is that my Father was killed because of his support for the opposition party MDC in Zimbabwe. But this is not why I am contacting you today; there is an inheritance in my name, deposited in a Bank in London by my late Father, now I need that money. I can only be grateful to my dad for his foresight, because this deposit is my only hope of survival at the moment.

I do not have the resources to pursue the transfer of this money to me and secondly it is my wish to migrate to any other continent apart from Africa. I want to go as far as I can and settle there for the rest of my life, since I do not have any family or close relative alive.

I need you to assist me do this, I have planned to release all the documents covering this fund deposit to you, so you can contact the bank directly on my behalf as my business partner and move the fund to your account. After that you will assist me get a visa to your country so I can invest there. There will be a reward for your efforts; I will let you know the exact amount deposited and how much you will be paid as soon as I receive your response.

Please I need your urgent response; click on the links below, you will understand the situation better:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/725643.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/818766.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/918781.stm,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/715001.stm,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/1063785.stm,

Friendly,
Fredrick Mumbengegwi

He's just tried ringing again but this seems to be a new tactic plus he has my mobile phone number and one of my proper e-mail addresses (which I never use except on my website.) Could be worrying but I think I'll just ignore him or reply from a freebie e-mail account

[expat]

1. Get a throwaway email address and give that out; forward it to your own email but always reply from the throwaway. Only go to a "real" address when you know you want to contact them again. Only go to a real address that you plan to keep for a long time if they are friends or family.

1a. Instead of e.g. Hotmail, use a specific address at one of your domains, that you can explicitly block after it starts to get abused.

2. Do the same for the phone: e.g. Skype Out, or YAC or whatever. It costs a few quid per month. Forward that to your mobile. Be ready to drop it too if need be.


I shouldn't lecture, I have not stuck to this. And of course even people you would think you would trust, and agents, will sometimes give out your details. But it does help.

[mailric]

BUT PLEASE SIR I AM STILL PATIENTLY WAITING FOR YOUR REPLY

Love,
Fred

[minestrone]

It was probably your current bank looking for another revenue stream.

[Scotchpie]

Why not simply give him your answer... ?

[d000hg]

Play him and submit to 419eater.com

[Incognito]

Play him and submit to 419eater.com

First I've ever heard about that site. I've just read through the first letter and I was in stitches.

http://www.419eater.com/html/booked.htm

Really good read

[d000hg]

First I've ever heard about that site. I've just read through the first letter and I was in stitches.

http://www.419eater.com/html/booked.htm

Really good read

They get better, I find it hard to believe some are real. When you get to the Monty Python one, do let us know, if you are able to type...

[EternalOptimist]

Have you considered that it might be genuine, and you are losing out big style ? jeez, you guys are such cynics

[NotAllThere]

First I've ever heard about that site. I've just read through the first letter and I was in stitches.

http://www.419eater.com/html/booked.htm

Really good read

"To call this particular scammer as dumb as a brick would be an insult to bricks everywhere."