I got a scammer, what should I do?

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Hello I'm New here! Joined: 12 Dec 2009 Posts: 9

Hello,

Recently, I have received an e-mail from someone asking to buy real estates in my country (Brazil). Since I'm used to work with foreigners, I took this as a real case (the incoming mail was also from a site that looked legit) and sent him my phone numbers. Hope he can't hurt me with those.

Altough it looked pretty real, the guy said that he would send 10.5 millions (USD) to me to buy proprieties that he had seen in my real estate website. Strange thing.

He said his name was Capt. Allan Davis and that he was from UK in a military mission in Iraq. What a rich soldier.

We exchanged a few e-mails wich I will post for you all to see and all of them had typos and language errors. That's another strange thing.

I looked up the web and found that some Nigerians were doing scams all over the net and I found I was their latest victim. What the hell, I never met a Nigerian before. The only thing I know about Africa is that I should stay away from it. My friends who went to South Africa for tourism said that they had to be driven in a armored bus an that women could not walk alone in their cities.

Now I'm starting to hate those guys because of the hope that the deal was legit.

Anyways, I'd like to hunt this guy out and hope you all can teach me how to do it. I just read a few stories (like caress) and found them very creative and funny. Please educate me - I want to help!

Those are the e-mails we exchanged:

1. First e-mail:

Quote:

by mx.XXXXXXXX (Postfix) with ESMTP id DC9A61CA8198
for <XXXXXX>; Tue, 8 Dec 2009 18:00:32 -0200 (BRST)
Received: from [217.117.2.135] by mail.rapidpat.com via HTTP;
Tue, 8 Dec 2009 14:55:16 -0500
From: "[email protected]" <[email protected]>
Subject: I Need Your Assistance
Date: Tue, 8 Dec 2009 14:55:16 -0500
Reply-To: [email protected]
Message-ID: <1eb4b5f6$4d526742$1e58bf1$@com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain;
charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
X-Originating-IP: [217.117.2.135]

Hello,

I am Capt. Allan Davis and I would like to buy a Property in your country.

Can you be of any assistance to me?

You can write me on my Email address: [email protected]

Waiting for your response ASAP.

Best Regards
Capt. Allan Davis.

---

*** Notice that rapidpat.com is a working website. Must be fake.

2. I replied to the gmail adress he pointed:

Quote:

Hello Capt. Allan Davis,

I'm sorry about the delay of my reply!

I can help you buy any kind of proprieties in any place in Brazil, especially Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo (major cities).

What kind of propriety and location do you have in mind?

You can also contact me thru skype: XXXX
Or we can talk over regular phone:

XXXXXXXXX

Hope to hear from you soon!

Best regards,

- John xxxx

3. He replies:

Quote:

Hello John,
Thank you very much for your reply.
I am looking for luxurious house with a private garden swimming pool( Not Necessary) terraces and magnificent view, 3 to 4 bedroom.In the major cities.My budget is from $800,000,00 to $1,5000,000,00. (Between Eight Hundred Thousand to One Million Two Hundred United Sates Dollars.) I will need to see the prices of the houses you have and the design. The proximity to shopping malls, schools and other amenities are important in my decision making. Please note that the area in which the houses you have for me is something I have to but into a bigger consideration as it will also help in appreciating the value of the house in nearer feature. Get back to me with your full information for houses that you have so that I can make a choice.
Best Regards
Capt. Allan Davis.

4. I figure: This looks like a good customer and then I reply:

Quote:

Hello Capt. Allan,

With your description, I believe the best city to find your Estate would be Rio de Janeiro as you will have everything you described plus your investment will fit better in Rio as it will be the host for World Cup and Olympic Games.

***Comercial text I will not post as its long***

I forgot to ask: are you investing or planning to live/use the estate soon? That will help me check for houses either ready or still being built. I need that info to start filtering what I select for you. I am already working with your budget ($800,000,00 to 1.200,000,00 in USD).

I will try not to send you a lot of information at once. I will send you more options if you decline the ones above. Let's start with newly built estates.

***More commercial text***

All these results are based on your current budget.

Are you planning to come to Brazil soon? I would like to show you all these estates personally. We can also help you with legal, financial and such. No need to say, english spoken.

Best regards,

- John xxxx

5. He then replies:

Quote:

Thank you for your reply and for the property. I think i love this house, XXXXXX Its beautiful.
What is the best price for these property? Please get back to me as soon as you can, this will enable me inform you on when i shall be coming for the inspection and how to transfer the money for payment.
Brgds

Capt Davis

6. I reply with more commercial texts:

Quote:

XXX would be my personal choice as there is nothing that compares to it in Brazil.

Altough it's not a house but an apartment, you feel like living in a house. It's even better than a house actually as it has a lot of features a house would not have. Also, Mr. Donald Trump has visited the property and shared it's the best he ever met in Brazil.

It's prices are based on the size of the apartment. For instance, we could get a 288m2 apartment in the 6th floor (2 apartaments per floor) for $1.315,000,00 USD. (starting price)

As there are 5 buildings, the sizes may change from 288m2 to 555m2.

We can work on its price too. The condominium is ready for you to visit it - it's a great experience. I really advise watching its youtube video: XXXX

It would be a pleasure to visit XXX with you and/or family/associates. Also, I can show you the city landmarks and tourist spots along with the facilities you have requested to be around.

Let me know your thoughts.

Regards,

- John xxxx

7. Now that's where it looked like someone else was typing and I started tracing IPs. Since GMail won't let me trace anything, I traced the first e-mail wich pointed to a Nigerian ISP.

Quote:

Dear John,

Thank you very much for your response. I am a British Soldier in a
Military mission in Iraq. I am planning to transfer the sum of
USD$10.5Million to your Country under your care prior to my
travel...as I will like to invest in properties other than the house I
will like to live in.

But before we proceed,I think i love the house, its beautiful.please
get back to me as soon as
you can as this will enable me inform you on the arrangements of the
transfer.

Brgds
Capt. Davis

NB. Please include your personal telephone number as I will like to discuss
further issues with you on telephone.

8. I replied to him with my phone numbers again in hope he would call me and I would set things straight with this lad - thats's where I started playing:

Quote:

Dear Capt. Davis,

We are very used to execute foreign deals. It will be a pleasure to help you in any kind of aspects you may need: from obtaining Brazilian documents, transfering money in foreign currency and, finding you a perfect home and also helping with other real estate investments.

Shall I start the documents proccess or do you have a local lawyer to help you with? Do you have any Brazilian documents or shall I prepare to get those for you?

What banks do you currently work with so that I can arrange a bank account here in Rio?

I will need some personal info as I will be doing it all by myself.

You may call me anytime at:

XXXXX

Always at your disposal!

Best regards,

- John xxxx

9. That's where he answers but with no personal info. I found that very frustrating as he kept repeating himself:

Quote:

Dear John,

Thank you very much for your response.

I read through your message and I like your suggestions. Please bear in mind that this transaction is under your care so I will appreciate your advice and guidelines throughout the process of buying the properties.

I am coming over to Brazil with the sum of USD$10.5Million with the intention of buying a house for myself and other properties for business.

Looking forward to your response and listings...

Regards,

Capt. Allan Davis

10. This time I even offered to give him a ride in the airport. If I got that guy here, it would be a trip to jail in no time.

Quote:

Dear Capt. Allan,

I will take care of all your needs personally to make sure everything goes as planned. From money transfering, real estate consulting and even have a car pick you up in the airport if needed. Anything you need.

About your home, I believe living in XXX is the best experience you can find in newly built estates. Buying a Estate that was built a few years ago is also a good deal but their prices goes up because of the market tides.

The best investiment for your home is XXXX as you will live among green enviroment, high technology, a luxurious ambient, high security along with all services provides to you by "YYYY" company.

***Commercial text***

Of course I have many other options, do you like the idea of buying already leased estates? Shall I beging picking up commercial listings?

Do you plan coming to Brazil before christmas? I will have to work on your personal documents as I believe our embassy in Iraq was destroyed by a bomb attack 2 days ago.

Best regards,

- John xxxx

In my country, we arrest these guys and they rot in jail. I really don't know Nigeria but they should really do something about it. This is worse than receiving viagra pills spam. Is there anything I can do report this guy? If he flies over (wich I doubt) I'm sure our police will love it. Those guys are caught here all the time dealing drugs. What a waste.

Any suggestions on what I should do with this guy?

Thanks! Smile

xxxx'd out name - JC

Posted: Sat Dec 12, 2009 2:18 am

Unfortunately he has your real email and personal details. You should not try to bait him under those circumstances. Just stop responding to his emails and forget about him.

He has no intention of actually going to Brazil. The whole story is just a way to gain your confidence so he can start asking you to pay various "fees" that will come up when he tries to send his non-existent money. It's a very standard scam.

Aside from the fact that it would be pretty much impossible to ever track him down since he's working out of an Internet cafe and using a fake name, the Nigerian authorities have little interest in prosecuting these scammers. There's really nothing you can do to get him arrested.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 12 Dec 2009 Posts: 9

Well in this case, I will drop it. Thanks for the information!

Altough it really pissed me off that someone took me out of my regular duties to make a real estate research and wasted my time.

Well, what he dosen't know is that I will now help hunt these guys. We should try and get as many as possible arrested.

I'm sending copies of these to our Federal Police so that if anything new occurs they are well aware of it.

What about that website, rapidpat.com ? Can't we at least report it?

Posted: Sat Dec 12, 2009 2:39 am

rapidpat.com is a legit website. The lads (scammers) either spoofed an email from there or phished an email account and are using it to spam their formats. If you'll notice, the "reply to" address is gmail.

Quote:

Registrar: REGISTER.COM, INC.
Status: clientTransferProhibited
Dates: Created 05-feb-2001 Updated 09-feb-2009 Expires 05-feb-2011
DNS Servers: DNS044.A.REGISTER.COM DNS199.B.REGISTER.COM DNS225.C.REGISTER.COM DNS249.D.REGISTER.COM

If you want to bait these particular lads, you can set up a completely anonymous email address with fake details and send them a message along the lines of...

Quote:

Hello, I am David Smith, Mr. Watson is currently out of town on business. I am handling all of his clients until he returns. I understand that you are interested in purchasing some real estate here in Puerto Rico, blah blah blah

The lads have more than likely spammed dozens if not hundreds of real estate agents with the same message and will probably not care who you are, where you are located etc. As long as they think they have a real victim, they will reply and you can start from scratch.

And welcome here! Very Happy

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 12 Dec 2009 Posts: 9

Thanks a lot for the information!!!

I shall do that now Twisted Evil

Also, you guys could also play this guy if you wish.

I will contact rapidpat and inform them of this evilness.

And thanks for the welcome! Smile

Hope I can help!

Posted: Sat Dec 12, 2009 2:54 am

John, I sent you a PM (private message), at the top of the page, you will see a tab "Messages" it should have a "(New)" beside it. Click on that and then you can read it and reply to me via PM. Smile

Posted: Sat Dec 12, 2009 7:33 am

Hi, John Bosco and welcome to the forum.
I read your story with an all too familiar indignation.
There's nothing quite like a personal 'interest' to motivate scam-baiting, is there.

I know that if you read and follow the excellent advise more experienced posters will give, you'll be able to enjoy making scammers suffer and maybe even bring some to book, who knows.
If this becomes a mass-bait I want in.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 12 Dec 2009 Posts: 9

Hello psychicbait!

Well this morning this guy sent me another e-mail and pointed me to his attorney.

I have contacted Rapidpat.com and they informed me that they mail server was hacked and I should disregard mails coming from them. Figured.

Alotugh Capt. Allan Davis now gave me new contacts and sked me to contact their attorneys in UK. I traced the website he provided me and points to UK with a valid telephone number.

I belive you guys can now jump in, saying that I'm out of town and that you took my place. This guy seems very professional. No more english mistakes.

He sent me 3 times the same e-mail as follows:

Quote:

Dear John,

Thank you very much for your response.I received the whole listings
and I think I love all but the most important thing is to convey the
funds to your Country for the purpose of investment. I will able to
come to Brazil immediately after you confirm receipt of the fund. I
will also call you tommorrow morning as I was very busy today with
Military duties. I appreciate your willingness to assist me in
receiving the funds in Brazil.

As you already know, I am a captain with the United Nations troop in
Iraq, on war against terrorism. I will need a house for myself and
that is why I contacted you.

On the other hand, note that I have in my possession the sum of 10.5
million USD which I got from crude oil deal here in Iraq. I deposited
this money with a Red Cross agent informing him that we are making
contact for the real owner of the money. It is under my power to
approve whoever comes forth for this money.

I want to invest the money in your country as soon as I am deployed
into your country for a good business, anyway you will advice me on
that since I am not a business person. I cannot move this money to
United Kingdom because I will be in your country for about 4 to
5years, so I need someone I could trust. If you accept, I will
transfer the money to Brazil through Diplomatic Courier Means where
you will be the beneficiary because I am a uniformed person and I
cannot be parading such an amount so I need to present someone as the
beneficiary.

I am a UK Citizen and an intelligence officer for that I have a 100%
authentic means of transferring the money through diplomatic courier
service. I just need your acceptance and all is done..

Please contact the Attorney in London below with the following informations :-

YOUR FULL NAME.........
YOUR FULL ADDRESS....................
YOUR DIRECT TELEPHONE NUMBER.........

He will be in position to process the Courier Cargo to your address in
Brazil. Please keep me posted in all your correspondence with the
Attorney and other Red Cross Diplomatic Corps.

I look forward to your response.

My sincere regards,

Capt. Allan Davis

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 12 Dec 2009 Posts: 9

He forgot to send me the attorney adress and sent me a second e-mail, as follows:

Quote:

Mr. James Ellis
Principal Attorney,
James Ellis & Co.
www.james-ellis.com
[email protected]
[email protected]

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