Help ID Potential SCAM - from Ghana (pics)

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Hello I'm New here! Joined: 25 May 2009 Posts: 5

Hello Everyone,
my good friend got to know a man over the internet from Ghana - they chatted over the phone (with video) and email. Now she is distraught because as he was traveling from city to city he was in a bad car accident. She was sent pictures of him injured from a local hospital so she could ID him (from a free email account yahoo! mail). And the 'Doctor' asked in broken English for her to send money for his treatment.

Apparently he was carrying a large amount of money (cash) with him but it was stolen in the aftermath of the accident.

She is beside herself with grief and shock. She believes it and has been trying desperately to contact his family. But she and the hospital have been unable to for the moment.

I need to know if this is a scam or real. I'm not even sure how to break it to her if it is a scam because she may not even believe me or be so broken-hearted. But I know the truth is ultimately the best policy.

I have further details to share - the actual emails from him and the pictures. Can someone tell if they are photoshopped?

Appreciate all your help.

Two emails (no editing was done, all the spelling/grammatical errors left untouched):

From: Goodhope Medics <[email protected]>

Dear Madamn,
Thank you for your response.. we are battling to save the last victiom from experiencing traumatic depression ,
omaha is the only one talking and with lesser injuries.
we are still taking ultrasound scanning and other areas to ascertain the level of damages.. we are planning to send him to korle-bu hospital in Accra. he .lost a considerable amount of blood. we have undergone several stitctes on his lower elbow ,head and the leg ,i found out the leg needs .pop for the time being ,we would need few detrose 5% in water ,to continue to help him ,before it turns out to be a serious complications..
pls madam ,is there anyway we could get money from his relatives or anyone around to continue the medications..
we are contemplating making a transfer to accra..
pls do let us know ,he needs to spend more time here and get all medications fasten up
pls we are asking in the range of 350 gh cedi or 350 000 cfa fench money to get all facilities for him. we are just border clinics we do not have enough facilities to get him in proper health .
wer appreciate for any efforst towardss te family
thanks
yours raji shuaeeb
mgt

to whom it ay concern. GOOD HOPE MEDICA=
L CENTRE HO BORDER TOWN DEA SIRS WE FOUND DETAILS DIARY ,AND TRAVE=
LLING BAG WHICH THE VILLAGES BROUGT TO TE HOSPITAL AFTER A FATAL ACCIDENT I=
NVOLVING A COMMERCIAL TRANSIT VIEHICLE ,COMING FORM IVORY COAST CARRYING 4 =
PASSENGERS ,THE DRIVE WAS FOUND DEAT AND THE OTHE PASENGE ,HENRY LAMPTTEY G=
AVE THE GHOAST EALY THIS MORNING WE FOIUND OMAHA WITH UNCOSCIOUS AS THEY=
HAD TO MAKE SURE HE RESPONDS TO TREATMENT EARLY THIS MORNING. THE PHOTO=
GRAPHS WEE RELEASEDBY THE ROAD SAFETY . PLS IF OMAHA IS A RELATION ,PLS =
INDICATE BY EPLYING TO US OR GET HIS RELATIVES OR FAMILY TO TRY AND LET US =
KNOW AS HE NEEDS URGENT MEDICAL CARE THANKS DR PATRICK ABU

Posted: Mon May 25, 2009 8:11 pm

Beverly.

It is 100% scam.

We have a sister site http://www.scamwarners.com/ they will help in any way possible to prove the scam and offer the victim support.

Quote:

A common scenario begins with the victim chatting online with a citizen living/working /travelling in Africa. Communication suddenly stops until contact is made by a “doctor” saying their friend has been in a car crash and needs money to pay for urgent surgery. The victim wishing to help their friend commences sending money to via a money transfer facility such as Western Union and as each sum of money is forwarded, a further request for more funds is made.

Posted: Mon May 25, 2009 8:28 pm

Scam, no question. You're right to have questioned it, you have probably saved your friend a load of cash and a broken heart...

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 25 May 2009 Posts: 5

Thank you for your replies. Is there anything you can add that would help me and her to be sure this is a scam? You've obviously seen a lot of these stories. Here are the basic facts as I remember from my friend:

He is a single father (one daughter)
His wife died a few years ago
He has a sister and parents.
He works or used to work at an orphanage.
He is a *member of religion* same as my friend
He had a sum of money saved and had to get it transferred from the bank but decided to physically get it instead - the reason for the trip.
He was badly injured and needs medical attention.
The money he had with him was taken.

If there's anything else we should watch out for, please let me know and I'll see if I can ask my friend. I just want to be 110% sure before I tell her.

Thanks again.

Posted: Mon May 25, 2009 8:56 pm

None of the above is true, scammers lie and are callous heartbreakers.

The biggest giveaway in my opinion is usually the scammers preference for money paid to them by untracable Western Union or Moneygram transfer.

Basic advice;

Quote:

Cease all communications with the scammer immediately. Delete any emails unopened and hang up if the scammer calls you.

Report the scam to your local police. There is not much chance that the scammer will be caught, as he is probably overseas and certainly using false details. However, the more scams are reported, the more the authorities can tell how widespread it is, and the greater the effort that goes into stopping it.

If you have given the scammer your bank account, credit card or other financial details, tell your bank, card company or other provider immediately, and ask them to change your accounts and card numbers.

Do not accept any deliveries that are from the scammer or that you are not expecting. If you receive a check or something similar (such as a money order) take it to your bank or local police and tell them you think it is fake.

Do not panic. Whilst scammers are criminals and some of them are dangerous, the risks are negligible if you simply stop communicating with them. If you are in any doubt about your safety, report your concerns to your local police, who will be able to advise you.

Don't expect to get your money back. I am afraid there is very little prospect of that happening, and anyone who tells you they can get your money back for a fee is a scammer.

Spread the word. We know it's very uncomfortable to feel that you got conned, or nearly got conned, but if you fell for it, so will others. Talking about it may be hard, but the more you help educate everyone about scams, the less opportunities there are for scammers to defraud others.

Ask for help and advice at Scamwarners.com. See link in previous post.

Posted: Mon May 25, 2009 8:58 pm

Beverly,

Everything has been a flat-out, blatant lie. Absolutely nothing he said can be trusted as even being partially true. (Other than living in Africa).

Since he has engaged in video chat, the pictures are likely just him with bandages, and no injuries at all. He has probably sent them to dozens of victims.

I would highly suggest you take the atvice from Cathartic Kate and go over to the www.scamwarners.com forums and post this there, they are more suited to help you convince your friend it is a scam. The 419eater.com forums specialize in 'baiting' these scammers and wasting their time, and not as much helping victims.

Posted: Mon May 25, 2009 9:18 pm

A suggestion you will probably also get at Scamwarners:

Google his name, his email addy, and/or unique-sounding phrases from his early emails.

Be sure your friend knows not to send money by Western Union or Moneygram. If this man is claiming to be Ghanian, he appears in the pics to be capable of telling the doctors how to contact his family. If he is claiming to be a foreign national, his Embassy will help. (If he's a scammer, he will fall all over himself with excuses why the Embassy won't or can't help.)

All the "facts" you quoted above are earmarks of a scammer, though.

Posted: Mon May 25, 2009 9:25 pm

Beverly, I will also add to the chorus of voices and say it is 100% a scam. As already recommended, visiting ScamWarners is a good place for confirmation. It's great you stopped your friend before she sent any money to the lying bastard.

Every scammer I've baited has suffered some type of medical emergency during the course of our relationship. One healed from a broken leg in less than 2 weeks. Either they needed money or was an excuse to get out of doing something. Everytime I offered to directly contact the hospital and pay the bill, the scammer would thrash about trying to come up with lame reasons why it was not possible or a bad idea.

Posted: Mon May 25, 2009 10:19 pm

I'll just add one more voice to the "scam" chorus. It also sounds as though your friend may be hooked ("hooked" is when a scammer has a victim believing his story). All of your "key points" are standard scammer elements.

Since scammers often use scripts in their early emails, the early emails would really help to locate possible matches on their scripts. You can post those at scamwarners (remove any information that would identify your friend) or you can PM them to me or someone over at scamwarners (I am Dotti over there, but any scam adviser or warner should be able to help you), and we would be happy to help point you in the right direction. We can also help in providing a personal warning to your friend by email or phone if needed.

One thing you can do pretty easily is pin down the location of the hospital the scammer is supposedly in (the scammer will give either a fake hospital name, or he will tell you the name of a real hospital. If he claims a real hospital, he will most likely provide fake contact info for that hospital--email and/or phone number that goes to himself or another scammer. In that case, you can use google to help find the real hospital and real contact info. Of course the real hospital won't have a record of him as a car wreck patient.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 25 May 2009 Posts: 5

Thank you everyone. I'm going to put some more pictures so that if someone else runs into this person, they will know the truth.

I'm sure he is not using a stock photo because my friend has talked to him on many occasions and can vouch it really is him.

[mod edit - Changed large images to links to avoid forum blowout - NN]

http://imgur.com/yEXLQ.jpg

http://imgur.com/Yr3YR.jpg

http://imgur.com/1tMVT.jpg

http://imgur.com/gnQrh.jpg

http://imgur.com/DjNvD.jpg

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 25 May 2009 Posts: 5

name used is Omaha Daniel

Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 2:20 am

Nice one Bev, Good collection of photo's

I can't think why there waring frocks and holding hands, Are you baiting as a man, Question

There's a mile of material [sic] in that one photo alone, should be able to keep them occupied for months Confused

Flashes my one good eye.. and attempts a wink.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 25 May 2009 Posts: 5

This wasn't a bait it was a near miss (for more details see topmost message)

Posted: Sat May 30, 2009 9:53 pm

The hospital bills , medical help is always a favorite of scammers . They prey upon peoples good nature . Twisted Evil

Posted: Sun May 31, 2009 5:53 am

Actually, Borg, it's pretty common for African male friends to hold hands (Arabic men, too). It doesn't have the same meaning there as it has in the Western world.

By the way, Beverly, can I trouble you to post his e-mail address? I'd like to try to get a Ghanaian scammer to send me a can of Shitto sauce. Despite its unfortunate name, it looks pretty tasty.

Besides, if some of us here can get replies from him similar to what your friend has received, it might help to convince her he's a scammer.

Edit: I found a couple of other sources for Shitto sauce that... might be more trustworthy. Check out the thread "Unfortunate Product Names" in our General Chat forum if you'd like to know more about it.
Still, the other reason for posting his address, that we might help convince your friend this guy's a scammer, holds true.

Posted: Mon Jun 01, 2009 1:48 am

My 6 year romance scammer has/had a daughter, he has brothers, a sister and his parents are still alive, his wife died shortly before we started chatting, he works for an orphanage and claims to be a Pentecostal pastor. And yes, he too had an 'accident' on his way somewhere. We chatted on web cam (or at least HE chatted on web cam - mine was packed away *cough*), and he has sent me many pictures, including sending me some a few months ago.

Your friend's story screams of scam.

I find it interesting that all of these jerks claim to be widowers. And how many of them have daughters named Precious?

Posted: Mon Jun 01, 2009 2:23 am

I would go to this web sight they are better equip to help then me. http://www.scamwarners.com

This phone number is off of google. Go to scamwarners first and ask before any doing anything.

Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital:

Source Unchecked
http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/health/hospitals.php
www.korlebu.com
Tel: 021-665-401

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