I strongly believe this is a scam! Do you agree?

Be Smart! - The Nigerian chain letter or email scam appears regularly throughout the State in various forms using slightly different names and different con stories.

Regardless of what name is used, position they say they have, or what story is spun, these offers of quick wealth are fraudulent and will only result in lost time and money and the awful feeling of knowing you've been played for a fool if you take part.
Philippines
March 29, 2008 9:49pm CST
Here's the email sent to me just this morning and may i know what to do think of it? ------------------------------------------------------------------ Subject:URGENT MESSAGE RESPOND IMMEDIATELY [i] ATTENTION: PLEASE PARDON ME IF I HAVE OFFENDED YOU BY CONTACTING YOU FOR SUCH A BIG TRANSACTION THROUGH AN ORDINARY LETTER WHICH MAKES IT SUSPICIOUS CONSIDERING THE TYPE OF THINGS HAPPENING AROUND THE WORLD TODAY. HOWEVER, I WAS ADVISED TO EXPLAIN THIS TRANSACTION TO YOU ON A FACE TO FACE MEETING. I COULD NOT DO THIS BECAUSE OF THE SITUATION IN THE WORLD TODAY NOT BEING SURE OF YOUR REACTION. I AM MR. DEWAN SHOHAYEL, A CONSULTANT AND BROKER FROM BANGLADESH. I WAS HIRED BY A JAPANESE BUSINESSMAN TO BROKER AN INVESTMENT DEAL BETWEEN HIM AND OIL COMPANY IN VENEZUELA. THIS DEAL WAS EXECUTED IN JANUARY, 2003 AND MATURED FOR TERMINATION IN JANUARY 2005. ON MATURITY, THE JAPANESE BUSINESSMAN AND THE OIL FIRM DECIDED TO TERMINATE THE INVESTMENT IN CASH TO AVOID PAYMENT OF INVESTMENT TAX WHICH AMOUNTED TO SEVERAL TENS OF MILLIONS OF US DOLLARS TO THE AMERICAN INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE (IRS). A SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT WAS MADE BETWEEN A TOP JAPANESE BANKER WORKING WITH JAPANESE BANK IN NEW YORK, THE OIL COMPANY AND THE BUSINESSMAN TO TERMINATE THE INVESTMENT IN CASH PAYMENT UNDER A FICTITIOUS NAME, WITH AN ARRANGEMENT TO CHANGE IT LATER WITH A POWER OF ATTORNEY WHICH THEY PREPARED AND HANDED OVER TO THE BANKER. I WAS DIRECTLY INVOLVED, WELL PAID AND MANDATED TO ORGANIZED AND CARRY OUT THE DEAL. ALL THE CASH WAS WITHDRAWN IN JUNE 2005 AND TRANSPORTED TO EUROPE BY DIRECT BANK VAULT DELIVERY TO A FINANCE COMPANY FOR SAFEKEEPING PENDING THE COLLECTION. THE REAL CONTENT OF THE BOXES WAS NOT DECLARED TO THE STORAGE AS IT WAS DELIVERED AS PERSONAL FAMILY TREASURE WORTH US$25M.THE CERTIFICATES FOR THE STORAGE, SECRET CODES FOR THE OPENING OF THE BOXES AND ITS KEYS WERE ALL HANDED OVER TO ME. MR. TAKASHI THE FLORIDA BUSINESSMAN WAS PLANNING TO GO TO EUROPE BY AUGUST 2005 WITH ME FOR THE COLLECTION WHEN THE UNEXPECTED HAPPENED IN HURRICANE KATRINA MISHAP, A NATURAL DISASTER WHICH CLAIMED HIS LIFE AND THAT OF THE TOP BANKER. THIS LEFT ME DEVASTATED AND CONFUSED AS I HAVE NOT YET HANDED OVER THE DEPOSIT DETAILS TO THE OWNER AND THE POWER OF ATTORNEY PREPARED FOR THE CHANGE WHICH WAS SIGNED WAS STILL WITH THE BANKER IN HIS OFFICE WHICH WAS LOST. SINCE LAST DECEMBER THE DIPLOMATIC STORAGE MANAGER HAS BEEN CALLING ME TO BRING OR TELL THE OWNER TO COME OVER FOR COLLECTION. SINCE THEN, I HAVE BEEN FINDING ANY RELIABLE PERSON TO COLLECT THESE CONSIGNMENTS UNDER SPECIAL AND WELL NEGOTIATED ARRANGEMENT UNTIL I CAME ACROSS YOUR DETAILS. BE REST ASSURED THAT THIS TRANSACTION HAS BEEN WELL ORGANIZED, [b]100% SAFE, LEGAL, AND SHOULD BE KEPT VERY CONFIDENTIAL. [/b] SIGNIFY YOUR INTEREST BY GETTING BACK TO ME VIA MY EMAIL AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. REGARDS, MR. DEWAN SHOHAYEL.[/i]
8 people like this
34 responses
@tjades (3591)
• Jamaica
30 Mar 08
There's a sort of far out jjoke about a man who was just about to step in some poo. He was able to correct his step and avoid the poo but decided to stop and see if it was really poo. He put his ear close and listened to it, nodded his head saying that it did infact sound like poo. He then proceeded to feel it and decided it did feel like poo. He smelt it and it felt like poo. Still he wanted to do one more test to ensure it was really poo. He decided to taste it. He did so then said with much conviction: Iy sounded like it, it felt like it, it smelt like it and it taste like it , so it most be it. The man then neatly side stepped the poo and went on his merry way. Moral: Dont waste precious time trying to prove what is already a fact. This letter sounds like it, it feels like it (thats the felling one gets from reading it), and it definately smells like it. I really hope you will not engage yourself in the other step which is to taste it. If I was in your shoes I would neatly side step it and go on my merry way. (lol) Scam and poo are in my opinion very much alike. You dont have to try very hard to figure out what they are. Many times they tell on themselves and many sadly realise that the signs were all right there for them to see before they got sucked into it. Do be careful. (lol)
2 people like this
@tjades (3591)
• Jamaica
7 Apr 08
Thanks for the BR Jeanniemay. (lol)
@mbs730 (2147)
• Canada
30 Mar 08
OOhhhh its a scam!! Sadly some people fall for them and I am finding those messages in my box more and more. All I do is when I find those messages, throw them into the trash.
2 people like this
• Nigeria
31 Mar 08
i support what you say. this a scam. any email that does not have ur email addy in the TO section is a scam and also if the addy u are to reply to is a public one, then trash it very fast. with love from Nigeria
1 person likes this
@winterose (39887)
• Canada
30 Mar 08
of course it is a scam, that person that was advised to talk to you, why you, of all the people in the world why you, and he doesn't even know your name I didnt have to read past the first line to know it was a scam
2 people like this
@kbourgerie (8780)
• United States
30 Mar 08
Yes, I definitely believe it to be a scam. I must get similar emails at least twice a day, sometimes more. They all read very much the same as this one. Delete it and don't respond to any that you get that are like this.
2 people like this
• Canada
30 Mar 08
from reading the other postings, i guess you know by now that this is a scam. i just wanted to add that on a news program here, they were talking about how people are taken for scams such as this one, and one gentleman, unfortunately was taken for well over $1OO,000 with the promise that he would end up with millions. of course he never did. please don't let this happen to you. a good rule of thumb, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is...
2 people like this
@jc00771 (155)
• China
30 Mar 08
yeah i think it is a scam. as i myself have received several emails similar to these one and all the time i deleted them at once.:)
2 people like this
@lilaclady (28207)
• Australia
30 Mar 08
yes I would say so I had one yesterday very similar, I guess they get some people believing their little scams as they have been doing this sort of thing for years....
• United States
30 Mar 08
Yeah, these are all scam. One has to ask oneself why this person would be contacting them in the first place. And, the stuff about avoiding taxes sounds really fishy. Reading just a little bit of this letter gives me a headache and makes me wonder how anyone can read enough of it to actually care what it's about.
2 people like this
@howard96h (11640)
• New York, New York
30 Mar 08
It is a scam and you should ignore it and not respond. There are many different signs in this email showing that it is a scam. It is a fake for sure.
2 people like this
• United States
30 Mar 08
I personally think this email is a scam. Iim like 100 postive. 99.9 percent of emails similar to this are scams. But one of the main reason why i think this is a scam is because at the end of the email it says in bold typing "100% safe, legal, and shouuld be kept very CONFIDENTIAL. Why does it need to be confidential?? and if it its suppose to be VERY CONFIDENTIAL why the hell did he send u this damn email in the first place? I would just delete the damn email. Best of luck! CYA!
2 people like this
@Hatley (163781)
• Garden Grove, California
30 Mar 08
This is a very blantant scam and should not be answered just delete the the thing. if you respond and get caught up in this youwill then be asked for a certain amount of money in order to get the money they say they will give you then you will not hear another word from them ever again.this is just away to get money from people illegally.
• India
7 Apr 08
All I can say is look at the digital signature he has used "Be Scam Smart".. May be some one is fooling around on web. Forget it.. Its a scam!!
1 person likes this
• Philippines
7 Apr 08
I was the one who put that signature.. Cheers! Thanks for dropping by Vishal..
• India
7 Apr 08
Dear all I can say is look at the digital signature(pic) he has used "BE SCAM SMART".. Forget it!!! Its a scam..
1 person likes this
@acewings (30)
• United States
1 Apr 08
Thats definetly a scam ANYONE that types a whole email in CAPITAL letters is up to something.
1 person likes this
@MH4444 (2161)
• United States
31 Mar 08
Urgent=scam LOL Yes, this is a scam I am sure of it. Do not even open these letters unless you know the sender. I have a biz, and do not email people unless they request something. Any unsolicited email is a scam.
1 person likes this
@beekay (421)
• India
31 Mar 08
It's not a new thing now a days. THese type of mails flooded in my spam folder almost every day or next. I think this is one of the way to spam other inboxes. I can't say it's benifit, but it's keep on happening. But one thing is sure. These are SCAMS.
1 person likes this
• China
31 Mar 08
WOW! it is exactly scame!!
1 person likes this
• United States
1 Apr 08
Super common scam!!!!
1 person likes this
@nice030481 (1109)
• Philippines
31 Mar 08
yes, i think it is also a scam. i recived almost the same of this email many times. but its is to good to be true. i think it could not be happen in real life.
1 person likes this
@MichaelJay (1100)
31 Mar 08
Of course it's a scam. Does anybody ever really believe this sort of nonsense? Anyone with the intelligence toi find themselvs in front of a pc monitor, keyboard at the ready, must surely realise that this sort of thisng just does not happen. Don't they? Please tell me they don't....
1 person likes this