The Just last week we received this simple request for 1,170 MT (metric tonnes) of “unmarked” gold - a transaction of approximately, say, ten billion dollars worth of gold.

Attn. Mrs. Cathy Hamler,Director of Customer Service, OnlyGold.com

Dear Mrs. Hamler,

We are general merchants trading internationally. Mrs. Hamler, I have a very anxious buyer in immediate need of over 1,170 MT. of Gold Bullion. She is looking for Un-marked Gold or Gold Bullion in Concentrates or in Bars. My Buyer will examine your best Full Corporate Offer and if interested will issue their LOI's and the transaction can begin.

If you can supply us with the above items, please give your best Corporate Price, terms of payment and delivery and an agent agreement by email or fax. We look forward to your soonest reply.

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Here’s a smaller request, very flexible – either country is OK!

PLEASE CALL ME RE. GOLD BARS.I WANT TO BUY UP TO 250TON IN ENGLAND OR SWITZERLAND


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Here’s another e-mail we received at Onlygold.com with “tremendous market credibility.” Note the casual use of the folksy phrase “to the tune of “ when mentioning 400 to 800 metric tonnes of Gold:

Dear Sir / Madam

We would like to take this opportunity to introduce ourselves to you…. Our client is a globally known bullion purchaser and generally purchases to the tune of 400 to 800 MT of Gold, in various forms, as well as large quantities of Silver, annually…

The client generally purchases these quantities priced on a London spot fix along with a competitive CI premium, and secures from its current sellers three days of credit for all consignments consigned to itself, based upon its tremendous market credibility.

We are today in a position to be able to secure for you, a large portion of this business. We would be keen to explore a synergistic business relationship that would be mutually beneficial. I would be most grateful for your reply.


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Our next e-mail of questionable lineage is a variation on the time-honored Nigerian civil servant scam, one that’s familiar to any U.S. business with a published fax number. These scam proposals always involve large dollar figures, the insistence on secrecy, and the thrilling promise of ill-gotten gains to be shared with you, the lucky recipient:

Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Central Business District, Herbert Macaulay Way, Abuja, Nigeria.

Dear Sir, The President/CEO:

REQUEST FOR ASSISTANCE-STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL;


I am Dr. ------ -----, a top management staff in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and I head a seven-man tender's board in charge of Contract Awards and Payments Approvals. I came to know of you in my search for a reliable and reputable person to handle a very confidential transaction that involves the transfer of a huge sum of money to a foreign account. There were series of contracts executed by a consortium Multinationals in the oil industry in favour of NNPC….

…The original value of these contracts were deliberately over invoiced in the sum of USD FORTY ONE MILLION, FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS (41.5M) which has now been approved and is now ready to be transferred being that the Companies that actually executed these contracts have been paid and the projects officially commissioned. Consequently, my colleagues and I are willing to transfer the total amount to your account for subsequent disbursement, since we as civil servants are prohibited by the Code of Conduct Bureau (Civil Service Laws) from opening and/ or operating foreign accounts in our names.

Needless to say, the trust reposed on you at this juncture is enormous. In return, we have agreed to offer you 20% of the transferred sum, while 10% shall be set aside for incidental expenses (internal and external) between the parties in the course of the transaction. You will be mandated to remit the balance 70% to other accounts in due course. You must however NOTE that this transaction is subject to the following terms and conditions:

- Our conviction of your transparent honesty and diligence.

- That you would treat this transaction with utmost secrecy and confidentiality.

- That as a foreign partner, you will follow our instructions to the letter.

- Provide the account required, and competent to assist us on profitable investment areas in your Country in an advisory capacity.

- Furthermore, Modalities have been worked out at the highest levels of the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of Nigeria for the immediate transfer of the funds within 10 working days subject to your satisfaction of the above stated terms. Our assurance is that your role is risk free. To accord this transaction the legality it deserves and for mutual security of the fund, the whole approval procedures will be officially and legally processed with your name of any Company you may nominate as the Bonafide beneficiary. Once more, I want you to understand that having put in over 26 years in the service of my country, I am averse to having my image and career dented. This matter should therefore be treated with utmost secrecy and urgency. Kindly expedite action….blah blah blah, etc.



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I like the brassy gall of this next one – it implies that only yesterday we missed a sale the size of the gold reserves of England, Germany, France and Switzerland combined:

I am contacting you on behalf of a Buyer's Mandate I am directly connected with. His buyers are looking for large quantities - as an example, I made him a recent offer of 5000 MT (which was unfortunately closed yesterday). Could you please let me know if you can follow up on this sort of request? Anticipated thks and regards,

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Here’s an exotic one, supposedly from Casablanca in Morocco! Check out all the official-looking code numbers. Consider the potential pay-out in this deal - over 200 metric tons of gold, with a 1% commission payable to each side of the transaction! If you could be the middleman, you’d make 2 metric tons of gold as your commission! Sounds like it might be worth a phone call, just to see if it’s legit…

Greetings, We have 206 mt AU Bullion and Deposit in U.B.S. Swizerland

- Doc. Certificate of ownership from UBS No. CLN 9785 - UBS legalized 7630039799799 L.M.S. 00897997999945 - Trade Mark: International Hallmark - The Conditions: 10 Tollas, 3.000 g and 2.500 g - Production: Credit Suisse - Value Analys: 999,9 - Identic Code: CR045 - Code : BK505INDONESIA04:9 - The Certificate issued for substituting the Original Certificate with No. CLN 9785 Deposit Code 9786B.S.998 International Code 7736406997997 Ft.BKG757733.L.S342119978688 International Product.

- Price: based on L.M.E - Discount: Gross 6% Net to the buyer 4% - Commisions: 2% split 50/50 between seller side/buyer side - Structure: 1% Seller side closed - 1% Buyer side - group 1: 1/2 from 1% on B. side - group 2: 1/2 from 1% on B. side

Documents under my hands. if your buyer interest please send us Proper LOI on letterhead, signed and sealed. We have 24 Hours to receive your proper LOI. Best Regards,

Abdelhalim --------------, Trade and Investment Consultant. Rue Roger Hartman, Riviera, Casablanca, Morocco.

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Here’s a touching plea that we are running unedited, with original spellings intact:

I came across your name through a trade journal. I am Mr Eric NKPAH the first son to late General Felix Bakare-NKPAH of Sierra-Leone. Since the death of my father during a millitary coup, which led to the outbreak of civil war in my country. The goverment officials wanted to use every fomulated force by them to take away the wealth my father left for us , before his sudden death.

In fact their intention is to make us become poor, but I am trying my possible best to make sure we survive. To this end I sumggled out of the country the sum of US$ 48 million together with gold which I defaced to beat security operatives at the border and I deposited the consignment in a security company in Lomé-TOGO. However, I did not disclose the actual content of the consignment to the security company rather I told them it is computer parts.

However, I am saddled with getting somebody to come down to Lomé-TOGO, to help me carry this money and invest it judiously in a trade overseas. This consignment has been with security company for the past two years. I shall entitle you 20% in your choice to help me and my family.

Thanks, Eric NKPAH.

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We recently received an inscrutable e-mail containing pages of unintelligible technical gibberish, which we will spare you. The heading states 3,000 Metric tonnes - that's more gold than is mined on this planet in a year’s time:

GREETINGS,

Reference: 3000MT AU BULLION 999.5/1000 AT 12/7% DISCOUNT 2ND FIXING LME, FULL CORPORATE OFFER, IRREVOCABLE CONDITION:

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The following is a classic in scam literature, with just enough of a human touch to be enticing:


Dear Sir,


I am Col.-------, a senior assistant leader of revolutionary united front of sierra Leoneknow as (R.U.F), with me is also Sergent-----. Few weeks ago, we decided and made away with large quantity of (diamond) 2.98kg which have been saved and deposited in a high security company before boarding for Dakar Senegal, where we have decided to stay temporarily and decide on what to do with those great resources which is our hope of life.

We got your contact from the internet and decided to contact you as an honest and trustworthy able businessman whom we can trust and transact business with. As a trusted and honest businessman like you, we would like you to secure our great ressource (diamonds) in your care as we have decided to order a command to the security Company to transfer our resourses to you depending on your urgent reply to our request.

Note that this transaction demands the highest trust security and confidentiality between us. Moreover it is risk free (-there’s that phrase again!-) in the sense that i have taken proper care of all formalities regarding this transaction. For your assistance and co-operation I have decided to give you 15% of the total money generated from it's sales and 5% maped out for miscellaneous expenses that we may occure during the process of transferring the ressource to your country.

As soon as the ressources mentioned above is successfully transferred in to your position . We intend to use our own share in acquiring estates and landed properties in your country. On commencement, I wish this transaction will take 14 working days to accomplish. On request a certificate of deposit bond of the security company, together with the lab test result certificate of the diamond will be sent to you as soon as i hear from you. Feel free to contact me through my phone #-------- For my own interest please treat confidential. Thanks yours sincerely.

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And finally, we offer the following missive, origin unknown, without comment:

Your Esteemed Self-

Through the wonder of the magical internet we are able to make available to you much needed opportunity and relief from our former country of Sierra Leone which we and our associates have now stolen with lock stock and the barrel. This former country, now a large tract of dirt, has other valuable things in the dirt other than dirt and the bodies of our hated enemies, colonial exploiters!, like diamonds and gold and tungsten and rhodium which the colonial exploiter digs up and washes off and we steal and put into our insides through unusual uses of body orifices to the extent of 3,56 kilograms and this is not done with out much personal discomfort and occasionally sharp pains which originate in the personal nether regions.

I am contacting you because you are that rare thing, a random individual, whom we wish to assist by divesting you of your ill gotten post colonial gains, colonial exploiter! Reparations so to speak, if you will to the people of Africa for leaving us behind when you took those lucky ones to America. This reparation payment can be accomplished by your forwarding your bank account information so that we may all share in its contents, in exchange I will share with you the rich contents of my aforesaid bowels.

However, if you are the adventuresome sort, you may wish to travel to our former country to voluntarily remain here until your family and friends can come up with a large gratuity in the nature of a bride price which allow you to return to your homeland!

Col. Musthafa Aquarium, Esquire