Shani and the Lottery Winnings

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Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2016 12:04 pm

In Six Parts:

Part 1: Western Union - and two attachments
Part 2: Western Union - and three MTCNs
Part 3: More attachments - and no money
Part 4: The Yellow Tag
Part 5: Off to Shetland
Part 6: The Emma Problem

Part 1: Western Union - and two attachments

I took an email from Surplus.

Quote:

Final Notice of Your Package

In view of your inability to receive your package with registration # VG3590FD from National UK Lottery London united kingdom,originally scheduled to be delivered to you by an agency city express delivery (c.e.d).This package in a golden metal box valued $5,316,000 USD (five million three hundred and sixteen thousand dollars) arrived at Republic International Airport terminal 5 via British airways flight no.BA297 from Heath-row airport London sometime ago,The package with registration no,# VG3590FD has been cleared by the Agency and is 100% legitimate, also has been deposited with Front-point Security company,Due to incorrect address,The delivery agent assigned to delivered your package to your home address has return back to UK London for his order's delivery assignment that is why he deposited your package with Front-point Security company to enable you retrieve your package from Front-point Security company here in States with out any stress.you are advice to reconfirm these information's to us

1. Your Full Name; ................................
2. Your current address; ..........................
3. Your phone number; .............................
4. Nearest airport to your location ...............
5. Your Occupation; ...............................

Therefore, writing to inform you that the days of grace has elapsed and we shall begin to charge the daily storage fee of $25usd.Please call Roy Finley at Extension 21 terminal 5 or contact Email address:( [email protected] ) to release of your package directly to you. Note that this notice serves as our last recovery notice to you as our department will be compelled to shortlist your package as an unclaimed consignment and maybe forfeited. Note: Delivery of your package from the Front-point Security company to you residential address free.view the registration # VG3590FD of your package.
Best regards,
Sandra Marie Allen
STORAGE OFFICER Terminal
5 Extension 11

And so, my character wrote to Roy Finley.

She wrote:

Hello,

Well, this is very nice, I guess that one of my friends or relatives bought the lottery ticket in my name! I'm sorry that there has a been a muddle about my address; I have now moved to the Netherlands, and so my new address is here:

<invented address>
De Himrik
Opsterland

My nearest airport is Schiphol (Amsterdam).

Yours, Shani J. Lewis

We then went round in circles for a week or two, because Shani noticed that the registration number given by email was different to the registration number on the fake certificates she was sent. Eventually, the lad changed the certificates for her, making them look even worse than they did in the first place. But Shani was happy, and so the lad moved on to the payment of the $855 Storage Fee.

I've changed the names of the lad's receivers throughout the emails.

Roy Finley wrote:

Dear; Shani June Lewis

Your are advice to send us your direct telephone number because
our delivery officer will call you before he move ..and this number is
not going through +31 <my baiting phone number> .

the bank information were you transfer the fee to our receive agent
for the storage fee today. also here is certificates with your
registration number VG3590FD .

Name of the Bank : Toronto-Dominion Bank
Name : Simone Sharpe
account number ---
Routing number ---
Swift code: Nrthus33xxx

forward me the payment receipt immediately you done the online
transfer , please don't hesitate to call me if you have any question
regarding your package with registration #VG3590FD that will
dispatch tomorrow .

Best regards,

Mr Roy Finley

Shani doesn't have a driving licence, therefore she is dependent upon her groom/housekeeper, Betje, to drive her anywhere she wishes to go.

Shani wrote:

Hello Mr Finley,

Yes, this is my correct number: +31 <number>. I don't keep my phone switched on at all times, but if it is switched off, it goes to Voicemail, and the delivery officer can leave a message.

I will speak to my housekeeper about going to the bank to make the payment this afternoon.

Yours, Shani.

Roy Finley wrote:

OK forward us the payment receipt immediately you done the transfer
and put on your phone because we need to speak with you before
any-other thing.

Shani wrote:

OK, Mr Finley, I'll put on my phone right now, but please don't call immediately, because one of my dogs is currently endlessly yapping because he wanted to go out with Betje, my housekeeper.

We'll be going to the bank later.

Roy Finley wrote:

OK i will call you immediately you send us the payment receipt.

Shani wrote:

Hello Mr Finley,

I'm just back from the bank. The man I saw tried to make the transfer for me, but apparently in order to send to this bank from here, it has to go through a Correspondent Bank. He tried to find the relevant Correspondent Bank for me, but his system just returned an error on that SWIFT alone, so he said that I should ask you for the name and SWIFT of the Correspondent Bank.

Yours, Shani.

Roy Finley wrote:

I received your mail,be adived not to make things Difficult for
yourself we told you to send the fee via western union/money gram
you are talking about transfer that is the reason why we are directing
you to western union, please you are advice to go western union office
now and send the fee before them close, and put on your phone now we
need talk .

Please make use of this information via western union/

Receiver name: Simone Sharpe.
Address: Brooklyn New York 11210 USA
Amount: $855
MTCN #:............

forward me the payment receipt immediately you done the online
transfer , please don't hesitate to call me if you have any question
regarding your package with registration #VG3590FD that will
dispatch tomorrow .

Best regards,

Mr Roy Finley

The lad called, and he wanted to call back again later. Nope. Time to introduce the Jealous Husband. Unbeknown to the lad at this point, Shani believes that the lottery ticket was purchased for her by Ibrahim, her ex-lover, and father of her babies. Jealous Husband must NOT know about this!

Shani wrote:

It was nice to talk with you on the phone, even though the connection was bad, and in the end we got cut off.

I always switch my phone off in the evenings, because then my husband is home, and he doesn't like me getting phone calls. We have been married less than a year, and before I married him, I had lots of other boyfriends, and sometimes they call me, and he gets very upset about that, so it is best that I switch off my phone when my husband is at home.

Now about the western union office, what is that? And if I find one, what do I have to do?

Roy Finley wrote:

Thank you for your urgent respond in this very important matter, this
is what you should do, find the western union office agent location
around you,pickup a form fill it up, they will direct you on what to
do and make sure you cash the money i mean the 850 Euro before you go
to western union office because they only collect cash. You send it to
Name ( Simone Sharpe) , ( Address: Brooklyn Street
city New York 11210 USA) , don't forget to collect the receipt and
forward to me. however just put on your phone so i can explain more.

Shani wrote:

No, I can't put on my phone right now coz my husband is at home, and he doesn't like me receiving calls, he is uncomfortable with all the people (especially men) I knew in the past - and my father and brothers never call me, because they live on Shetland (an island far north of mainland Scotland), and they don't have a mobile phone mast there, so they only ever write emails to me.

My husband is busy with some paperwork at the moment (he has his own big shop), but he's in the same room, and I'm just looking at the internet up the corner, he thinks.

Anyway, how do I find a western union office, and what do I do if I find one?

There was a little more scene-setting for the future dropped in there. Shani's family are living on Shetland, and they don't have mobile phone connections. That's now in place, should Shani wish to go and visit them.

Roy Finley wrote:

Dear; Shani June Lewis

Ok, this are some of the western union address where you can go in
the morning to send off the fee, see the address below ..

< Shop 1 >
Drachten, Friesland

< Shop 2 >
Drachten, Friesland
.
< Shop 3 >
Heerenveen, Friesland

You can visit any one of the above address and tell them that you want
to send money to USA so they will direct you on what to do by giving
you a form to fill with the name i send to you which is ( Simone
Sharpe) , ( Address: Brooklyn Street
city New York 11210 USA). don't forget to collect the receipt and
forward to me.

Receiver name: Simone Sharpe.
Address: : Brooklyn Street city New York 11210 USA)
Amount: 855
MTCN #:............

Best regards,

Mr Roy Finley

Shani wrote:

Thank you Mr Finley,

Betje (my housekeeper) and I can certainly go to Drachten, I think we'll go to Shop 2 there. It can't be this morning, though, because we've got the blacksmith coming. We have lots of horses here.

The lad phoned several times, and I decided that Shani could go to WU today, after all. Her father-in-law, Bauke, conveniently appeared, and agreed to attend to the blacksmith.

Roy Finley wrote:

OK remember to cash the money before you go to Shop 2.Drachten, Friesland to send the money
, when you get there just tell them that you are sending the money
to USA so they will direct you on what to do by giving you a form to
fill with this name ( Simone Sharpe) , ( Address:
Brooklyn Street city New York 11210 USA). don't forget to collect the
receipt and
forward to me.

Shani wrote:

Hi Mr Finley,

Thank you for reminding me to take cash money, because I'd forgotten about that. I'll have to go to the bank first, but that's not a problem, I'll go to the main branch in Drachten, on the way.

Yours, Shani

Roy Finley wrote:

Ok go are ahead and send €855 go to Shop
2. Drachten, Friesland to send the money
, when you get there just tell them that you are sending the money
to USA so they will direct you on what to do by giving you a form to
fill with this name ( Simone Sharpe) , ( Address:
Brooklyn Street city New York 11210 USA). don't forget to collect the
receipt and
forward to me.

And so Shani and Betje went to Drachten. Shani discovered that she couldn't withdraw the full amount of the fee from the ATM, but decided to send what she could for now.

However, she didn't take any ID with her. So now she needs to go back to WU with her passport. The lad phoned her, and she told him this, and she agreed to return again to Drachten immediately.

An hour later, she wrote to the lad again. He would be thinking that she had returned to the WU, and he would therefore be expecting her next email to include an attachment - a scan of the WU receipt.

OK, so he can have an attachment. He'll be excited when he sees the paperclip. It won't be the attachment he is expecting though.

Shani wrote:

Hello Mr Finley,

I've just been out talking to Betje, and it looks like Bauke, my father-in-law, has put all the horses in the wrong fields, so we're busy swapping them around and putting them back where they should be. I'll go and help her again in a minute, but I just come in to let you know that we won't have time to go back to Drachten today, sorry - my husband will be home in about an hour, I think.

I thought you might be interested to see a photo of my own two horses, Bill and Ben. I ride them and drive them, though it's Bauke driving them on the photo.

Roy Finley wrote:

What is going on ? are you sending the money today ?

Dear lad: don't ignore Shani's photos.

Shani wrote:

I feel upset right now, coz you didn't even mention the lovely photo that I sent to you. My horses, Bill and Ben, are really important to me, as well as my dogs, Fido and Scruff. I just thought you'd like to see a photo of a couple of the horses I'd been talking about.....

No, I told you, me and Betje, we had to move the other horses around (there's another 20 of them here), so we couldn't go back to Drachten at all - and I also had my husband home for a while, before he went back to his shop (it's late night opening here tonight). I do actually have some very good news about sending the money tomorrow, but I don't feel like talking about that right now.

Roy Finley wrote:

Hello Mrs Shani,

Oh please pardon me, their are actually beautiful and lovely. I did
not mention it because i have a lot of things going on in the office
and i want your package to be delivered this weekend, i didn't mean
to make you feel bad but i will be very glad to see you receive your
package this weekend to enable you have more lovely horses .

Also try your best and go to Drachten first thing in morning and send
off the fee , put on your phone immediately your husband leaves
because i will need to communicate with you and withdraw the remaining
€355 to complete it €850 OK.

Let's tell him about Ibrahim.

Shani wrote:

Oh, I don't think I want any more horses! As well as my two horses, we have here 17 horses belonging to Bauke, my father-in-law, and three belonging to my husband, so 22 in all, which is quite enough! We also have two dogs, chickens, and goodness knows how many barn cats (who are often in the house, too). So lots of animals!

I suspect that the lottery ticket was bought in my name by my ex-boyfriend, Ibrahim, which was nice of him - but that means that I've got to keep it secret from my husband, who feels very uncomfortable about Ibrahim, because I had Ibrahim's babies. They were twins, born premature, so sadly died: Thomas died the same day he was born, and Kevin died when he was 10 days old. That was 4 years ago, but my husband still gets a bit jealous about it, especially as we don't have any children ourselves, and probably won't do so.

Anyway, I probably won't keep the money I've won. I don't need any more money, because I have plenty of it, anyway, and my father is quite rich too, so I can have whatever I want in life. I'm thinking of giving some of it to a friend who lives in Moldova, and the rest can go to Refugee Charities, I think.

Betje has the weekend off work from today, but I have possible good news. Yesterday, we went to pick up some things from this small shop in the next village, and I noticed that they have a money gram sign there. And an ATM too. This is really close to where I live, and it won't take me many minutes to cycle there on my bike. I'm guessing this is the same sort of thing as western union, is it? I just fill in a form, show my passport as ID, pay a little fee, and then send the money? They don't speak English at that shop, but I know what to do now, anyway, so that doesn't matter.

Then a few hours later, Shani wrote:

I've been waiting and waiting to hear back from you whether that was a good idea, coz I don't really know. But I need to do other things now.

Roy Finley wrote:

Am sorry about your loss i believe God know the best, so concerning
the money gram you mention yes they are the same all you need to do is
pickup a form and fill it up as i directed you

You have all the information with you to send the fee right? you are
advice to go this morning and send it off , also forward me the
reference number .

Shani wrote:

OK, Mr Finley,

I've only just got home and I need a shower and to change my clothes, but I can cycle to Lippenhuizen this afternoon. I'll take my passport, and my bank card to withdraw the rest of the money out of the ATM there, and I need some money for the fee too, I expect, if it's the same as western union, so I'll withdraw another €500, then I'll have plenty enough to cover it all.

Does the money gram also have a number you need? And will it be on the receipt?

Roy Finley wrote:

Yes there is a reference number on the money gram slip, after you
send the fee.

they will circle the reference number for you , then that number you
will send to me

A bit later, Shani wrote:

Hi, I've just got back, need to clear up some mess but just wanted to tell you I'm back and I'll email later.

Roy Finley wrote:

OK,have you send it ? so if you have done it email the info i mean the
reference number and sender name

am waiting

Shani wrote:

My husband, Jelle, is home, I'll write later, Shani

Roy Finley wrote:

But have you done it ?

Then he wrote:

We are still waiting, if you have send it do forward us the info..

Shani wrote:

be patient, i should be able to write to you within the next hour, ok.

Again, the lad is hoping for an attached receipt - so I sent him an attachment once more.

Shani wrote:

Hi again,

I've been having a wonderful evening, it's been so hot here, so Jelle (my husband) thought we should drink a big load of cold beers, and play cool 60s and early 70s music on You Tube. I know a lot of that, because my parents had a lot from when they were young, and Jelle knows a lot too, because they played lots of British and American oldies on the radio here.

So we've been singing along and drinking the cold beer and having a really nice time. We didn't even have a proper meal, we've just been eating sushi and some other snacks.

Anyway, at the shop the man gave me a money gram form to fill in, and I did that well, and then he gave me another thing which I had to sign, but he wouldn't let me sign it, because (I think! I didn't really know what he was saying!), I couldn't read it (it was all in Dutch language). I think it was something to do with a security thing or something like that, but anyway, when he knew I couldn't read it, I do know he said something like 'Ask your husband' (he knows I'm married to Jelle, coz usually we got to the shop together, though sometimes I go with Betje). But of course I can't ask Jelle about it, so I'll have to wait to ask Betje, then I can sign it and everything will be alright.

Sorry I couldn't write earlier, I really can't tell Jelle that Ibrahim is still trying to be nice to me. Right now, he thinks I'm writing to my dad, which actually I'm now going to do. My dad is a wonderful man, Jelle likes him very much, as do most people. I'll show you a photo of him in the Scottish snow, trying to dig out one of his cars!

Yours, Shani.

Remember to mention the photo, lad!

Roy Finley wrote:

Wow! Your dad is looking so young and strong and I know he is good
looking too. well Mrs. Shani , I just want to know how soon you can
get through with everything because our delivery agent just got back
from delivering a package to someone and your package is the next in
line. So please try your best to go there with your house keeper today
and get this fee done with so that our receiver agent can pick up the
money and as soon as it is cleared our delivery agent will be on his
way with your package.

I think this is a good time to introduce Dad-on-Shetland-with-no-mobile-phone-connection's upcoming birthday. Just in case Shani wants to attend his birthday party.

Shani wrote:

Oh, Betje always has the weekend off work, and this weekend she has gone away to visit someone, so she won't be back until tomorrow, sorry.

Jelle and I have been out all morning with the horses, and we've planned a cycle ride through the forests this afternoon.

My dad will be 54 next month, but yes, he's very healthy, he's always active, and he has a positive attitude too. He breeds Shetland ponies (for showing, riding, and driving) and sheep (for meat). I've got two brothers, Freddie and Mark, who both live on Shetland too, though Mark also has an apartment on the mainland of Scotland. I love Shetland, but I never wanted to live there all my life, so I've lived in lots of other places too, in Scotland, and England, and now in the Netherlands.

Do you have a family? I expect you are older than me. I'm 24.

The lad doesn't want to chat about families.

Instead, he wrote:

Hello Mrs Shani, please make sure you solve this issue tomorrow
morning because time is not longer on our side , you know your package
is suppose to have been delivered since last week but due your
situation of not wanting to involve your husband which have cost us a
lot of delay, so try your best to ensure that everything is done
tomorrow morning to enable us proceed on this delivery immediately.

Thanks .

waiting for the payment information.

Shani sulks because the lad ignores her friendliness.

She wrote:

Well, there's no way I can do it this morning, I told you that Betje won't be back until today.

I'm getting a bit fed up with your pushiness. I also told you before that I didn't need this lottery money, I just thought I could send it to charities and to the Moldovan friend I support. But if it's going to be too much trouble and pressure, then fuck it. I don't need anything from Ibrahim anyway, he's old news.

Roy Finley wrote:

OK, as soon as Betje is back you go with her and solve this issue, Do
put your phone on i will call you today.

Thanks .

waiting for the payment information.

Shani calms down a little.

She wrote:

Hi Mr Finley,

I guess you didn't want to tell me about whether you had a family. Sorry, I thought Americans liked to be open and chatty. Where I come from (Shetland) we're always friendly and conversational to everyone, so I'm kind of used to being sociable.

Anyway, Betje is not back yet; I've got no idea what time she'll be back, it's her free day (she works Tuesday to Saturday morning) so really she can do what she likes.

Yours, Shani.

PS I've told you loads of times that I always switch off my phone when my husband is at home. And I'm pretty sure that I told you that he doesn't open his shop on Mondays. It's traditional here for shops to be closed on Sundays and Mondays, though nowadays some shops open, but he sticks to tradition and stays closed.

Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2016 12:05 pm

Part 2: Western Union - and three MTCNs

The next day, Roy Finley wrote:

Hello Mrs Shani , I hope everything will take place today right ?

we are waiting for the payment information.

The lad then phoned many many times, and Shani eventually agreed to return to WU with Betje.

Later, Shani wrote:

Hi, I'm now back home. I just need to get a drink of water, then I'll write properly.

The lad couldn't wait that long, so he phoned. Yes, Shani had sent the money, and she gave him the MTCN: 4878106206. He asked her to confirm it by email.

So Shani wrote:

Ok, I sent to the name that you sent me: Simone Sharpe, Address: Brooklyn Street, New York, USA

And from me: Shani J. Lewis, Address: <invented> De Himrik, Opsterland.

855 euros. The number to give is 4873105206.

Roy Finley wrote:

Hello Mrs Shani, i got the information you sent to , please confirm
this MTCN number you gave us, i collect this from email 4873105206
and this from phone 4878106206 confirm the
correct one to us .

The lad phoned again, and Shani helpfully gave him a third variation of the MTCN.

The lad wanted to see the WU receipt. Shani's husband had both the scanner and the digital camera at his shop, so Shani cycled to her father-in-law's house to borrow his camera, so she could photograph the receipt.

Then she wrote:

I'm attaching the receipt - you can see what I mean about the printing not being totally clear.

I've got to take the camera and the attachment thing straight back to Bauke now - he didn't like it when I kept them here for days last time!

Roy Finley wrote:

Hello Mrs Shani, the payment receipt i mean the slip is not clear scan
it again and resend to me again .

Shani wrote:

Hi Mr Finley,

I've just got back from taking the camera and thingy back to Bauke. It wasn't a scan, that I sent, it was a photo. I've got a graphics programme on this computer, though, so I can try to make it sharper and clearer. I'll do that now, and resend.

Yours, Shani.

Then she wrote:

Is this better?

The lad phoned and said he needed a better picture.

So Shani wrote:

I did actually take several photos, to see which one was best. I cropped and enlarged the one I sent, and I don't have time to do this to the rest (my husband Jelle is due home), but I'll send them to you. If you download them, then open them up in a picture viewer, and zoom in a lot, maybe one of them will be a clearer shot.

And she sent four very large photographs, showing a lot of table with a small receipt in the middle.

Roy Finley wrote:

Hello Mrs Shani, please you have to go western union office where you
send off the fee with receipt them gave to you and confirm MTCN number
which the receiver will use to pick it up
because all number we have here is incorrect , go there and confirm it for us.

we are waiting..

Shani wrote:

OK, Mr Finley, I understand what you are saying, but I can't go back to Drachten tomorrow, because I've got some deliveries coming.

So I'm thinking, why don't you print out the receipt that I sent you, and give it to Ms. Simone, and tell her to take that to your Western Union place there. They seem very professional and helpful at Western Union, and I'm sure that they will help her with the number.

Roy Finley wrote:

Hello Mrs Shani, you have to go to western union office tomorrow or
next and confirm the slip they gave to you because the MTCN# is not
very clear, also Ms.Simone has already gone to western union and
they told her there is no money on that number on slip. so you have to
go there again and reconfirm the number to us .

Then he wrote:

Hello Mrs Shani, but if you can not go there tomorrow, you can go to the
library and scan the slip and resend it us or you can use your phone
and snap it very well and forward to us.

Then he wrote:

MRS SHANI. THIS IS WHAT YOU GET FOR US TRACKING NUMBER (MTCN) NO DE
CONTROL. SO, THAT IS WHAT WE NEED TO RECEIVE THE MONEY FROM WESTERN
UNION .

The next day, Shani wrote:

Good morning Mr Finley,

I don't have a wire to download photos from my camera, so I don't know how to send a photo from it. It's got internet, but it is really difficult to use (it's quite an old camera now), that's why I borrowed Bauke's digital camera.

I don't really know where there's a library round here, because I've never wanted one, it'd just be full of Dutch and Frisian books that I couldn't read anyway. I don't even know if they do scanning.

Jelle has got a scanner in the office at his shop, though. I'd just need to think of an excuse why I need to borrow it, and then Betje could go and collect it for me. I'll try and think about what reason I could say.

Roy Finley wrote:

GOOD MORNING MRS SHANI.PLEASE YOU HAVE TO GO THERE AND CONFIRM THE
TRACKING NUMBER (MTCN) FOR US BECAUSE SIMONE CAN NOT PICKED IT UP
WITHOUT THE TRACKING NUMBER (MTCN), JUST TAKE YOUR TIME GO THERE AND
CONFIRM IT FOR US .

Shani wrote:

I've told you, I can't go there today, there are deliveries coming.

Roy Finley wrote:

OK

Shani wrote:

So did you want me to scan the receipt or not? You're not being very helpful at the moment.

Roy Finley wrote:

YES . SCAN IT VERY WELL AND SEND IT TO ONCE AGAIN

Shani wrote:

OK, I'll do that. I sent Betje to get the scanner this morning; she told Jelle that I wanted to scan some printed photos that I'd brought with me from Shetland, so I could have them on the computer for safekeeping. I suppose I'll have to scan photos too, just to appear believable!

And then later, she wrote:

Hi again,

I've done the scan and will attach it.

The western union lady said the number just above the line was the number that was needed, but now I'm looking again at that receipt, and down the bottom, above the date it says Transaction #, and then 10 digits. Do you think the lady was wrong, and that number is really the number you need?

Roy Finley wrote:

Hello Mrs Shani , Simone when to western union pick up the money the
agent told she there no money on the above transaction number you are
talking about, please you are advice to go there tomorrow and confirm
it by yourself, maybe i think them didn't post the money to receiver

Shani wrote:

OK, Mr Finley, if that's the best thing to do, we can go tomorrow. There was supposed to be a dog cart delivered tomorrow but, surprisingly, it came today. So Betje and I have been out in the barn, making a space for it - we hadn't even prepared anywhere yet, and it looks like it might rain.

There was loads of machinery and stuff to move, and I'm exhausted! And filthy. I'm now going to take a shower.

There's still the chicken feed to come, but Betje is in the house, so she can see to that.

The next day, Roy Finley wrote:

Hello Mrs Shani, please don't forget when you reach there i mean the
western union office where you send the money, that i told you that
Simone went to western union to pick up the money the agent told her
there is no money on the above transaction number,

You have to tell them to confirm it for you and collect the Tracking
Number (Mtcn) from them.

Shani wrote:

I still think it might be the Transaction # at the bottom of the receipt, and not that other number that the western union lady said. But I'll find out for sure.

The delivery of chicken feed didn't arrive yesterday, so we'll need to wait for that to come first, then can go to Drachten.

Roy Finley wrote:

Hello Mrs Shani, Simone took the Transaction # to western union the
agent confirm her
there is no money on the above transaction number, so you have to go
there correct it by yourself OK.

You have to tell them to confirm it for you and collect the Tracking
Number (Mtcn) from them.

The chicken feed still hadn't arrived, so Shani decided to send Betje alone back to the Drachten WU to sort out the MTCN problem.

And later, Shani wrote:

Betje is just now back from the Western Union place. She took the receipt and asked for clarification of the number, but they refused to give her any information. Apparently I myself have to go there, and take my ID (my passport) with me. I'm not happy about that, I didn't know they would be so awkward, I thought they would just tell her. Security reasons, they said.

Roy Finley wrote:

Hello Mrs Shani, i know that them will not give her the information
because she is not the sender, maybe you will go there by yourself
right tomorrow morning OK.

You have to tell them to confirm it for you and collect the Tracking
Number (Mtcn) from them.

The next day, Shani wrote:

Yes, of course I'll go back myself, and take my passport for ID, so I can collect the right number.

It can't be today, though, because today my dog Fido is going to the vet's for an operation. He has an upper eyelid entropion. I don't like the idea of him going under anaesthetic, so I'm hoping he'll be OK. He's four and a half years old and I've had since he was a little puppy, and he's been everywhere with me.

Roy Finley wrote:

Good Morning Mrs Shani,today is Friday please try your best and go
there this morning before your dog will start Fido, please want
this issue to be solve today , so that you will be happy

Just checkout how many days you send off this fee we are not able to
receive it .

My dear Shani i want the best for you try and go there this morning
and solve this issue by yourself ..

Shani wrote:

Fido had to be left with the vet at 08:30 this morning. Before that, I had to take Scruff (my other dog) out for a walk, and since then I've been out with my horses.

I'm waiting for a call from my vet to see what time I can collect Fido.

Roy Finley wrote:

Hello Mrs Shani, please try best and go there anytime you have chance
today OK

You have to tell them to confirm it for you and collect the Tracking
Number (Mtcn) from them.

Shani wrote:

I can't go today. I've already told you that Fido has had an operation. I collect him at 13:30.

Roy Finley wrote:

OK Mrs Shani, tomorrow is Saturday are you going be there tomorrow?..
please pick your calls am the one calling you .

Shani wrote:

The only calls that I am answering today are from the vet and from my husband. I don't want to delay or miss a call from either of them, sorry.

Roy Finley wrote:

But are you going be there tomorrow been Saturday

Shani wrote:

I shouldn't think so. I will have to keep an eye on Fido, he'll have stitches in his eyelid, and he mustn't rub them or anything.

Roy Finley wrote:

Mrs Shani tomorrow is Saturday, You are going there right ?

Shani wrote:

For goodness sake, you do go on. I'm the one who SHOULD be bothered about the hold up of my lottery win; it means absolutely nothing to YOU, you just happen to be an employee who is paid to do a certain job, it is just your work, no big deal. So just relax, and stop bugging me every few hours.

The next day, Roy Finley wrote:

Good Day Mrs Shani, i know that today is Saturday and you don't like
go out because of your husband, anyway i just want to know if theirs
any update from you . ?

Would you like another attachment, lad?

Sunday morning, Shani wrote:

Hello Mr Finley,

Well, the good news is that Fido is doing OK. I had a very disrupted night on Friday night, and only got about three hours sleep. Last night was better, though. I woke a couple of times when he moved, and then got up at 4 o'clock, but at least I did sleep sufficient hours in-between and feel more or less like a human today!

Betje is working all this weekend, to take care of the horses. I'll give her extra time off next week to make up for it.

And while I'm stuck here, supervising Fido and his stitches, I have indeed been scanning some printed photos which I brought with me from Shetland. So I thought you might like to see one of me. It's from a couple of years ago, mind you. Me outside my house on the Isle of Lewis, off the west of Scotland.

Yours, Shani.

Roy Finley wrote:

Mrs Shani,am just checking out your lovely picture you are so pretty
and i know you have a beautiful heart, no wonder your husband is so
jealous, please try your best and go there tomorrow Morning OK and
get this done , just think of people you want to help when you receive
your package .

Then he wrote:

Mrs Shani, i just want you to be happy always OK

Shani wrote:

Thank you Mr Finley for all your nice words. Smile

You know I told you before that my husband keeps his shop closed on Mondays? Well, he is at home today (and it is pouring with rain, so he won't be going out anywhere), so I can't really go anywhere either, sorry.

Roy Finley wrote:

OK Mrs Shani am understand your husband don't go out today ,but i
want us to get this done this week because of people you want to help
out when you receive your package,and also want you to be happy too,
just in view of your picture you are seemly
an angel .

Shani wrote:

Yes, I'm a bit concerned about what exactly has happened to the money I sent to Ms Simone, so I must go and sort this out as soon as I am able.

On Tuesday, Roy Finley wrote:

OK Mrs Shani please try your best and go there today and sort it out
by yourself .am waiting the good news from you .

Shani wrote:

You know that Betje stayed here all weekend, to totally take care of all the horses for me, while I was busy looking after Fido? Well, in exchange I've given her the rest of the week off, and she's now left to go and stay with her boyfriend.

Actually, the weather is awful again this morning, absolutely pouring with rain, and I rather wish that I had kept her here one more day, especially as I'm still having to keep Scruff and Fido separate. Oh well, I'll manage. I have to!!!

Anyway, Betje has taken her car, of course, so I'm a bit stuck here, except for using my bike. Don't worry about it though; there's no great rush. I have made a preliminary list of where I want to send the money to (as well as to my friend in Moldova, and maybe some to Refugees in West Africa): <List of Charities> - but it's not definite yet; I may add others. I just haven't really had the time lately to research other refugee and migrant charities!

Roy Finley wrote:

Mrs Shani Greetings once again regards to your family ,Am in receipt
of your mail and content well understood, It is my pleasure to
intimate you that all arrangement has been perfected very well to
deliver your package this week , also i understand that you are a good
person by helping people i know that God will continue to blessing you
and your family .
Mrs Shani please as a matter of fact i want you try your best and go
there today salvo this issue because this money have been long there.
and do pick you calls am calling you now .

On the phone, the lad tried to persuade Shani to cycle to Drachten.

Shani then wrote:

I've Googled the cycle route to Drachten, and it's a bit complicated; I'm also worried about the disclaimer: 'Use caution - may involve errors or sections not suited for bicycling'. It says it takes 33 minutes, which seems a bit optimistic to me.

But I'll have some lunch and study it better.

Roy Finley wrote:

OK am waiting the confirmation of the western union i mean the MTCN#
please forward it to us as soon as you are back..

Shani wrote:

I haven't said that I'm going yet. It's a complicated journey, and I don't know if I like the idea of cycling through the city, I've never done that before.

I said I'd think about it, and I'm still thinking.

Roy Finley wrote:

OK think very well and remember that want the best for you, am
advising you try your best and go there today before your husband we
be back ,..

Shani wrote:

Yeah, I think I'll give it a go. Jelle will be home about half past 4 today, I think, so I've got 3 hours, which will be plenty of time.

Was it you who rang just now? My phone is upstairs, on charge, and I didn't get there in time.

Roy Finley wrote:

OK AM STILL WAITING ...

Time for an attachment.

So after a suitable amount of time, Shani wrote:

Hi, I'm just back. It started raining almost as soon as I left, but I wasn't too bothered because I had my rain gear on. But then it absolutely poured, like torrential rain. It still wasn't too bad, because I was cycling through the forests, but I had to end up coming out of the forest and going along open roads, and there was no way to cycle in the open with such rain coming down.

So I took shelter under some good trees, and waited, and waited, and waited for the rain to stop. Goodness knows how long I waited, it was like nearly an hour, maybe, and still that rain was coming down like it was the days of Noah. It was hopeless, so all I could do was turn round and cycle back home through the forests.

I'm now going to check the weather forecast for tomorrow, to see if it will be any better. If it's fine, I'll go then.

Yours, Shani.

PS. It looks like heavy rain until Saturday, when it's lighter rain. See attachment.

And she attached a screenshot of the local weather forecast.

Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2016 12:07 pm

Part 3: More attachments - and no money

Roy Finley wrote:

Mrs Shani, please go there in the morning immediately your husband
left before rain will start .

I like attachments.

The next morning, Shani wrote:

Hi Mr Finley,

I really don't know. It looks fine weather at the moment, but I've had a look at the weather forecast, and there is thunder and lightning forecast. Once I'm out of the forests, I would have to cycle across the open land to get to Drachten, and I'd be like a target for lightning. I'll show you what I mean with a screenshot from Google Street View. I'd be cycling along that same cycle path which the lady is cycling on; it's very open to lightning.

Yours, Shani.

Roy Finley wrote:

Mrs Shani, the weather will be OK today please go this morning before
weather will change again

A couple of hours later, Shani sent an email with, yes, an attachment. Could it possibly be a new receipt? Of course not.

She wrote:

Yeah, I decided to take a risk on it, and go. And the weather was OK, it only started thundering by the time I got back to the forest. I'll attach you a photo of the forest path I was on, which I got when I was on Google Street View this morning.

Now going to get something to eat coz I'm starving, and I'll write properly to you after that.

Roy Finley wrote:

MRS SHANI AM WAITING THE INFO.

Eventually, Shani wrote:

Hi, sorry, I couldn't get back earlier, because I had a friend here.

I haven't got the info yet coz they wanted to see the customer's copy (carbon copy) of the transfer form, with my signature on it, and I didn't have that, coz all I had was that receipt.

The next day, Roy Finley wrote:

GOOD MORNING MRS SHANI, PLEASE I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT IS HAPPENING
LAST TIME YOU TOLD ME BETJE WENT THERE TO CONFIRM THE MTCN # THEY
REFUSE TO GIVE HER THE INFO BECAUSE OF ONE THING OR THE OTHER, NOW
YOU WENT THERE YESTERDAY THEY WANT THE CUSTOMERS CARBON COPY , WHAT
HAPPEN TO THE COPY THEY GAVE TO YOU

MRS SHANI I DON'T REALLY UNDERSTAND WHAT IS GOING ON I THINK YOU WILL
RESEND THE FEE OR YOU GET THE CUSTOMERS CARBON COPY THEY GAVE TO YOU .

Shani wrote:

Don't get all snotty with me, I didn't invent their stupid security rules.

Roy Finley wrote:

OK Mrs Shani i hope you are getting the customer's carbon copy to they
right? and if you have it scan it and forward to you let view the copy
before you will go and give to them.

Shani wrote:

I don't have it. I looked everywhere for it last night, but it must have got thrown out.

Roy Finley wrote:

OK since you don't have the customer's carbon copy you will go and
resend the fee today to enable us dispatch your packager this weekend

Shani wrote:

You think I'm going to use that transfer system again? It's crap with all its unclear numbers and its security rules. I don't want to use that again!

Roy Finley wrote:

OK now which system do you want to use to resend the fee?

Shani wrote:

Well, a bank transfer is straightforward.

Roy Finley wrote:

OK i will forward you the United States of America account where you
transfer the fee now please make user you go this morning and do the
transfer ...

This is the account number that you will use to transfer the fee,

For Foreign Currency transfers being sent to TD Bank you need to
include the additional information as follows: Correspondent Bank
SWIFT Code: TDOMCATTTOR Correspondent Bank.

Name of the Bank : TD Bank
Beneficiary Name : Simone Sharpe
account number : ---
Routing number : ---
Swift code: : NRTHUS33XXX

OK forward me the payment slip immediately you done the transfer .

Oh. He's discovered the Correspondent Bank. Well, I don't think we'll go with that. Let's return to WU.

Shani wrote:

I've found the customer's copy of the western union transfer. My friend is here so we're driving straight away now to Drachten.

Roy Finley wrote:

OK am waiting from you ..

Enjoy the wait. I see no reason to hurry.

Eventually, Shani wrote:

I'm only just back because we stopped for lunch on the way.

But it looks like Simone worked out the number in the end (it was quite simple really, one of the zeros was really an 8 .... or the other way round, I can't remember now), because the man doing the western union today said the money had now been collected.

So all's well that end's well!

What happens next?

The lad telephoned Shani. What was the correct number? he asked. Shani told him.

Then he wrote:

Mrs Shani this MTCN # you gave me there's no money on the number
4873185206 check it by yourself, so forward me the carbon copy they
gave to you .

Shani wrote:

Of course there's no money on it! It's been collected!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Then she wrote:

Oh, and I'll send you the customer's copy, like you asked.

Via the postal service, naturally.

The lad went silent for a day.

So Shani wrote:

I don't understand. Has Simone got the money?

Then Roy Finley wrote:

Mrs Shani, Simone didn't receive any money, but anyway we have
forward your information to our delivery officer is ready proceeds
with your package tomorrow morning, however name of our delivery
officer is Mr.Mark John Lopez he will write you before he moving
tomorrow morning ,

It is our wish to serve you better!!

Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2016 12:09 pm

Part 4: The Yellow Tag

So, enter Mr Mark John Lopez:

He wrote:

Attention :Shani June Lewis

My name is Mr.Mark John Lopez,the delivery officer of your package,I am 51 yrs old. I was instructed by (Roy Finley) to deliver this package with registration no,#VG3590FD,to you, Right now am at the Airport at departure hall and ready to leave to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport

also it is a pleasure to inform you that we have confirmed your mailing address and your Golden Metal Box will be delivered to your address at <invented> De Himrik, Opsterland, Netherlands .your golden metal box with reg no,#VG3590FD,will be delivered to you tomorrow 17th June 2016.by 4 : 30pm.

However Mrs Shani June Lewis the USA Airport Authority demands for(USA YELLOW TAG) covering your package for Non-inspection be made available for their view. if you have the US YELLOW TAG kindly forward it immediately or if you don’t have it then it will cost you 5500Erou only to obtain the (US YELLOW TAG) in states, Note that the Airport Authority will not allow your Box to leave without showing them the (US YELLOW TAG), please act urgently to forward the (US YELLOW TAG) to enable me deliver on time tomorrow

Your Box is now ready and confirm to leave to your address by 4.30pm ,the only set back that will delay this delivery is the (US YELLOW TAG). therefore, kindly move to any western union only to send the sum of 5500 Erou to our agent account number for urgent obtaining of the (US YELLOW TAG) on your name. Please make use you transfer the money first thing tomorrow morning, with our agent account information below ..Please view attachment below working identification and Box. i don't have any time to rest because i have a lot package delivery this weekend

Name of the Bank : TD Bank
Beneficiary Name : Simone Sharpe
account number : ---
Routing number : ---
Swift code: : NRTHUS33XXX

forward me the payment slip immediately you done the transfer,

Your urgent response and actions needed.

Regard
Mark JOHN LOPEZ
Mobile Diplomatic Agent.

Send more money to Simone Sharpe? Shani didn't like that idea, and so she wrote to Roy Finley.

She wrote:

What do you mean, Simone didn't receive the money?!!!! IT WAS COLLECTED!!!!

I got an email from that Mr Lopey, but he wants me to send MORE money to Simone. Well, if she is pissing around, and pretending she never collected the money when she bloody well did, I certainly don't want to send her any more money to spend on herself, which is obviously what she did with the last payment.

It is true that I give lots of money to people in NEED, but I don't give money to working people just so they can buy more luxury items for themselves!

Let's deal with an independent delivery man, or something, so I can send this yellow tag payment to someone who is not the lying Simone.

Roy Finley wrote:

OK Mrs Shani you are right, So, i will advice you contact our delivery
officer being Mark John Lopez to give you an account number in Europe
so it will be very easy for you .

Shani wrote:

OK, I'll do that. Cheers.

And to Mark Lopez, she wrote:

Hi Mr Lopey,

I have no idea what a yellow tag is, so please will you explain!

Mr Finley suggests that I send the money within Europe, so that it is easier for me. He seems to think that you have a connection for that, so I will appreciate it if you send me the details.

Many thanks.

Yours, Shani.

Mark Lopez wrote:

Attention :Shani June Lewis

Thanks you for your urgent respond in this very important matter, i want to inform you that your Golden Metal Box valued $5,316,000 USD which i am to deliver to you tomorrow being 17th of June 2016 at 4:30:pm GMT. In other to facilitate your delivery tomorrow by 4:30pm,You are required to send the sum of 5500 Euro for (US YELLOW TAG) covering your package for Non-inspection of your Golden Metal Box at any checking point,

Also since Mr Finley suggests you send the fee to Europe, is better because we have a receiver agent over there in Belgium so am forwarding you the details now , please make sure you transfer the fee first thing tomorrow morning to enable us obtain the (US YELLOW TAG) in states before i move

here is the bank details

NAME OF BANK: ING BANK, BELGIUM
<etc>

Do forward me the payment slip immediately you done the transfer, if they ask Reason for the transfer say investment.for security reason .

Regard
Mark JOHN LOPEZ
Mobile Diplomatic Agent.

And Roy Finley wrote:

Mrs Shani update me immediately you send him the fee tomorrow.

Shani wrote:

Hi Mr Finley,

I'm not really sure how to put this, but is this Mr Lopey of average mental intelligence? He writes in a very strange way; he didn't answer my one simple question; and he doesn't seem to realise how bank transfers are made!

Even more than this, he seems to believe that a delivery from the United States to the Netherlands will only take a few hours! What does he intend to travel by? Rocket?????

I'm still very shocked about the lying Simone, and I really don't want to get involved with someone who isn't quite up to the job. It is very nice to find work for people with limited understanding, and very rewarding for them too, I assume. But I'm not sure that their dealing with things like this is really appropriate.

Yours, Shani.

Roy Finley wrote:

Good Morning Mrs Shani .

Your mail was received, i want to say thank you for the
understanding, anyway Mr.Mark John Lopez is our delivery officer and
he have been in this job for over 8years i believe he knows what he is
doing, according to him,he said he will leave States by 4:30pm and
arrive in Netherlands next day but he doesn't want to disclose the
information to you for security reasons because of what he is
carrying, you may discuss it to your friends and you don't know who is
who, that is why delivery agents doesn't disclose their exact time of
arrival until they get there because of what happened to one of them
sometime ago in Italy where the beneficiary was so exited and
disclosed the information to all his friends after which they ganged
up and attacked the delivery agent and made away with the package.

please bear with him, he knows what he is doing just follow his
instruction and i will also be guarding you till you receive your
package. so i will advice you go ahead and transfer the fee this
morning with the information he send to you to enable him proceed on
time, please put on your phone so i will reach you.

Shani wrote:

Hi Mr Finley,

Well, if Mr Lopey is OK, mentally, then I'll write to him again with my question.

My phone is on, but I'm now going out with the horses before my hairdresser comes. Here is a video of what I do with the horses, I drive them, like the man in the driving seat is driving his Friesian horses (mine are Friesians too) in this video:

<link>

Have a look at it and I think you will see why I can't answer my phone at these times! If something is important, then people leave Voicemail messages.

Roy Finley wrote:

OK Mrs Shani .i have pass the information to him, he will write you
please do comply with him to enable him facilitate on your delivery
this weekend .

Then Mark Lopez wrote:

Hello Shani June Lewis, Mr Finley just called me, from what he said it seems you didn't understand what the US YELLOW TAG ,it is for Non-inspection of your Golden Metal Box at any checking point,
that is your package will not be inspected or stopped at any Airport .

Also since Mr Finley suggests you send the fee to Europe, is better because we have a receiver agent over there in Belgium so am forwarding you the details now , please make sure you transfer the fee first thing tomorrow morning to enable us obtain the (US YELLOW TAG) in states before i move

Do forward me the payment slip immediately you done the transfer, if they ask Reason for the transfer say investment.for security reason .

Regard
Mark JOHN LOPEZ
Mobile Diplomatic Agent.

Shani wrote:

Hi Mr Lopey,

OK, I understand now. I don't need one of those, though. The money is just a lottery win, so totally legal, and I absolutely intend to pay any custom charges and all taxes on the money, so of course it can be inspected at any and every checking point.

Thanks anyway.

Yours, Shani.

The lad then called several times, and eventually an irate Shani answered the phone, told him to stop bugging her, and hung up.

Roy Finley wrote:

Shani, What happened you hang phone on me, what is going on ?

Shani wrote:

For fuck's sake, I'm with my hairdresser right now, and I can't talk. We're listening to You Tube music and she's cutting my hair.

If you've got something to say: email it.

I'd bloody well turn my phone off if it wasn't that I'm expecting an important text message.

I don't think the lad got the message. He made another 48 phone calls! Not one of them was answered by Shani.

The next day, Roy Finley wrote:

Mrs Shani, Our delivery officer being Mr.Mark John Lopez is not
happy for you , why do you keep him waiting since yesterday ?

Shani wrote:

I wrote to him yesterday. Maybe he missed my email. I'll send it to him again.

Roy Finley wrote:

Mrs Shani, Did you transfer the fee to him ? what did you send to
him? he was not happy because we keep him waiting .....

Shani wrote:

I didn't keep him waiting. I wrote to him yesterday morning. He was just obviously unobservant.

Then Mark Lopez wrote:

Attention :Shani June Lewis

Mrs Shani ,What is going on with you and Roy Finley, why you guys keep me stranded here,do you think that it is only your package that i have to dispatch this weekend i have only but Monday to dispatch this package to you and it's because Mr Roy Finley has been telling me to exercise more patience that made me miss my flight to your destination and there's no any other flight coming over there until 4;45pm Monday, if i wait on Monday Morning the fee is not paid then i will have no option but to leave your package here and go to Mexico from there to Canada for urgent delivery .Do make use of this information below and transfer the fee first thing Monday morning

Please Mrs Shani and Mr Finley don't keep me stranded anymore i have a lot of delivery at hand please
.
Do forward me the payment slip immediately you done the transfer, if they ask Reason for the transfer say investment.for security reason .

Regard
Mark JOHN LOPEZ
Mobile Diplomatic Agent.

Shani wrote:

Mr Lopey,

I told you in my emails: I do not need the yellow tag. Please commence the delivery without it.

At this, the lad went silent. I guess he didn't know what to do next. Can he be prompted into writing again?

A couple of days later, Shani wrote:

Hello Mr Finley,

I hope you had a good weekend.

Please will you confirm when Mr Lopey has left, so that I know to expect the box of money tomorrow. If he is hiring a car, it should only take about 2 hours to drive up here, so maybe I should expect him in the morning?

And the next day, she wrote:

Hello Mr Finley,

What's the news about the delivery, please?

And to Mark Lopez, she wrote:

Hello Mr Lopey,

Please could you let me know the status of the delivery.

Thank you.

Oh yes, here he is back again:

Mark Lopez wrote:

Mrs Shani, it seems to me that you are not serious, how do you want me to move without the (US YELLOW TAG) .iI hope you know you cant teach me my Job, i have been in this Job for many years now ,so you are not the only person i have delivered their package to.as i am writing you now,i am in Mexico for delivery but i will be back today ,you can ask Mr. Roy he tell you.Mrs Shani if you want me to deliver yours as soon as possible do go ahead and transfer the fee to the account information send you and i will proceed immediately

And Roy Finley wrote:

Good morning Mrs Shani,
MR LOPEZ went to Mexico last week for a delivery since you couldn't
make the transfer for the US YELLOW TAG, i just want you to be aware
that there is no way our delivery officer can make any move without
obtaining the US YELLOW TAG on the package,because the package is
going out of State and he does not want to lose his License, You are
just like a sister to me and i will not deceive you or lie to you God
bear me witness, so i will advice you go ahead and make the transfer
this morning with the account details he gave you.

Shani wrote:

I don't understand, Mr Finley. Mr Lopey told me that the Yellow Tag prevented the box from being inspected at the borders. But I WANT it to be inspected at the border, so that I get the correct customs bill. So the last thing I need is one of these Yellow Tags.

I get deliveries from the United States all the time (I order a lot of DVDs and clothes and things from there), and I've never had any problems. I simply pay the customs charges.

I don't like Mr Lopey. He's very rude and therefore so very unprofessional.

Roy Finley wrote:

Mrs Shani,i told you there is no way our delivery officer can make a
move without
obtaining the US YELLOW TAG on name and your package,because the package is
going out of State,and you are not the only one, as am writing you now
he is in Mexico for anther delivery of someone and the person pay for
the US YELLOW TAG, please Shani am seeing you as a sister to me and i
will not deceive you or lie to you God bear me witness, i advice you
go ahead and make the transfer this morning with the account details
he gave you.

Also call me on this number number now + 1 <etc> or answer
your calls because i have been calls since morning you are not picking
your calls, you may not heard from me again on this your picking
because i will soon be transferred. am waiting for your call now is
very urgent .

Shani wrote:

I haven't got my phone - Betje has it, and she is under instruction not to answer any call unless it is Jelle or Bauke. She's out with the horses, so she needs a phone in case of emergency, and her phone isn't working, so I gave her mine.

I'll get back to the rest of your mail in a while. I'm only just back from walking the dogs.

Then later, she wrote:

OK, Mr Finley, so what do I do about customs? I NEED customs to inspect the box when it arrives in the country, so I get my correct customs bill. And Mr Lopey says that the Yellow Tag will STOP it being inspected. This is very worrying.

Roy Finley wrote:

Mrs Shani,I am sorry for my late response to your email,you know i
told you i am being transferred soon so i am trying to backup some
files , concerning your package ,its not cloths, DVD or one of those
items you mention the content is money so it has to be protected,any
package that contains money doesn't need to expected for security
reasons please beer this in mind.

However Mr. Lopez is not rude or unprofessional ,he writes you based
on the nature of his job he had to be smart at all times, i believe
when you finally meet him you will know he is actually not what you
think.

I think you should just make the transfer as soon as possible to
enable him do all he needs to do and deliver your package to you. I
really want to make sure you receive this package before i leave.
please do put on your phone so i can call you first thing tomorrow
morning before you go to the bank for the transfer.

Shani wrote:

Mr Finley, please, you are not answering my question! Please understand:

- I am living in a foreign country. And if I do anything wrong here, I will be expelled from the country. My life is here: my husband, my home, my horses, my dogs. If I am expelled from the country, then I will lose so much. So I can't risk doing anything wrong.

- I MUST have the box inspected at customs, when it comes into the country. I MUST receive the correct bill for this.

- Mr Lopey tells me that the Yellow Tag will STOP this happening. So, therefore, if I do what he wants:

1. Customs officers do not inspect the box.
2. Therefore I do not pay the customs fee.
3. Therefore I break the law.
4. Therefore I am expelled from the country, breaking up my marriage, and causing me to lose my house and my horses.

Look, I was going to use this money to help people in need (refugees, etc). But if I do what Mr Lopey says, *I* will end up being the person in need - I'll be homeless, separated from my husband, and dumped back in Scotland with nothing except my rucksack.

This must not happen!

So I'm asking you for an alternative. What can I do, please?

- Shani.

Roy Finley wrote:

Good morning Mrs Shani,
MR LOPEZ went to Mexico last week for a delivery since you couldn't
make the transfer for the US YELLOW TAG, i just want you to be aware
that there is no way our delivery officer can make any move without
obtaining the US YELLOW TAG on the package,because the package is
going out of State and he does not want to lose his License, You are
just like a sister to me and i will not deceive you or lie to you God
bear me witness, so i will advice you go ahead and make the transfer
this morning with the account details he gave you.

Shani wrote:

If the box MUST have this Yellow Tag, and CANNOT be inspected by customs, then I don't want it.

I am NOT losing my home, my horses, and possibly my marriage over some stupid bit of money won from a lottery ticket that I didn't even buy. Yes, I hoped to use the money to help refugees, but I'm not making myself homeless in order to do that.

Please tell me what I have to do in order to release the money back to the lottery people in the UK.

Thank you.

Roy Finley wrote:

Mrs Shani,
Now i understand your question ,the YELLOW TAG doesn't mean that the
Customs will not inspect it when he arrive in your country . its means
the package belong to you and not Mr. Lopez in that way he will be
able to cross from the US customs boarder showing that the package is
going to another country,please note that we are not doing anything
illegal here ,we try our possible best to follow legal process .

I think you should just make the transfer as soon as possible to
enable him do all he needs to do and deliver your package to you. I
really want to make sure you receive this package before i leave.
please do put on your phone so i can call you first thing tomorrow
morning before you go to the bank for the transfer.

Shani wrote:

OK, you wrote:

the YELLOW TAG doesn't mean that the
Customs will not inspect it when he arrive in your country

But Mr Lopey wrote:

the US YELLOW TAG ,it is for Non-inspection of your Golden Metal Box at any checking point,
that is your package will not be inspected or stopped at any Airport .

And Mr Lopey insists that he is always right. So you must be wrong.

Look, I'm not risking it. Please tell me how to cancel all this.

Thanks.

Roy Finley wrote:

Mrs Shani,

Call me now or answer your calls i will you what to do .

I think you should just make the transfer as soon as possible to
enable him do all he needs to do and deliver your package to you. I
really want to make sure you receive this package before i leave.
please do put on your phone so i can call you first thing tomorrow
morning before you go to the bank for the transfer.

Shani wrote:

Hi, I don't have the phone here, I told you yesterday, Betje has it because her own isn't working. She's been out with the horses since early; there's not really anything for her to do in the house today.

I've told you, I want to cancel the delivery; I'm not risking everything just for a bit of money that I don't need anyway. Just tell me if there is anything I should do, or if there's a form to fill in, regarding the cancellation of it. The money can return to the UK lottery people.

Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2016 12:10 pm

Part 5: Off to Shetland

A couple of days silence followed, then the lad had a new idea:

He called Shani and suggested converting the lottery money into an ATM card, which would not need a Yellow Tag .. but would need a fee to be paid!

So Shani wrote:

Hi Mr Finley,

It was nice to talk to you on the phone this morning, but now I've been checking my mail all day, waiting for your email with the full details. It's too late now, to go and pay today.

Please can you find time to write soon?

Roy Finley wrote:

Mrs Shani
,
Based on our telephone conversation this morning ,i am happy that we
are able to programme your winning prize to ATM card which you will
use to withdraw all the money at any part of the world,so the
conclusion will take place tomorrow but you have to pay 585 Euro for
the delivery and endorsement of the ATM card.

you will make the payment to the Western Union but please do not go
to that office you went the last time.

Name: Stephaney Scarle
Address: Brooklyn NEW YORK 11212 USA
Amount 585 Euro

First payment was to Simone Sharpe, and now it is to Stephaney Scarle, both of Brooklyn. I've changed the names here, but the resemblance remains: identical initials, and both could be shortened into male names.

Ho-hum. Let's go to Shetland.

Shani wrote:

OK Mr Finley, thank you. I'll get that paid, but unfortunately, I can't do it today, because today Betje and I are sorting out my flight to Shetland - I'm going to visit my dad for his birthday.

And a couple of days later, she wrote:

Hello Mr Finley,

This is just to let you know that I'm currently in Utrecht, which is more convenient for Schiphol tomorrow. Betje has promised to pick up my post and hold it for me, so she will be able to receive the ATM card when it arrives.

Yours, Shani.

Roy Finley wrote:

I got your email and when are you making the payment today or
tomorrow,so that you will be given a tracking number to track your
package online till it gets to to your address.

you will make the payment to the Western Union but please do not go
to that office you went the last time.

And the next day, he wrote:

Good Day Mrs Shani, we are still waiting for the payment information,
please do keep me update ..

The following day, Shani wrote:

Hello Mr Finley,

I hope you are well.

I told you that I was travelling, didn't I?

Well, I arrived in Shetland earlier this morning, and I'm now at Play-Doh Farm. I'm actually staying at my brother Mark's apartment in Lerwick, and we dropped off my stuff there this morning. It'll be easier for everyone if I have Scruff there in the early mornings, he's not reliable around sheep. I've got him on the lead here right now, though Fido is outside with dad!

I'll need to pay the money in pounds here, coz the UK never had the euro. Do you know what it is in pounds?

Yours, Shani.

Roy Finley wrote:

Good Day Mrs Shani,i was surprise what is with holding you from
replying my email
any way how is your journey i hope every thing went successful, after
checking the rate what you are sending now is 500 pounds i hope there
is a western union or money gram outlet around you course i will not
like you to make mistake again when you are sending the fee so i
advice you to send the fee today or tomorrow morning to enable us
dispatch you ATM card and also send me your telephone number to reach
you so i can forward you the tracking number immediately we dispatch
the card.

Name: Stephaney Scarle
Address: Brooklyn NEW YORK 11212 USA
Amount 500 pounds

Best regards,
Mr Roy Finley

Shani wrote:

OK, thank you, I'll have a look online to see where I need to go here. I hadn't done it yet, coz the only thing I've done this morning so far is to take the dogs for a walk, and I'm only just back. I'm going to get some breakfast now.

I'm using the same phone here, so same phone number, but I won't be taking it with me to my dad's place, coz there's no signal there. I'll just leave it here where I'm staying in Lerwick, but I'll leave it switched on, so if you need to call, you can just leave a message.

Oh, and I DIDN'T make any mistake with the last money I sent. That Simone picked it up in the end.

Shani went to the ATM to get the £500 for payment, but discovered that her Dutch bank card wasn't working in Lerwick. The lad phoned her, and she told him that she needed to collect one of her Scottish bank cards from her parents' house.

The lad is awaiting a payment, so time for another attachment. And we'll introduce Shani's friend Emma.

Shani wrote:

Subject: Moneygram Money

Hi Mr Finley,

I got my other bank cards from my parents' house OK; Emma picked me up, and we went there for lunch. Emma has been my best friend forever, we were at Primary and Junior High together. She's lovely; I'm using her computer right now, and I'll send you a photo she's got of me and her together - she's on the left, and I'm on the right. Smile

Yours, Shani

Roy Finley wrote:

Good Day Mrs Shani,wow you have a lovely friend and she is beautiful
as you are anyway writing to know your position if you are sending the
money today and when you are sending it don't make any mistake to
avoid you passing through stress to rectify it and make use of money
gram as you said and forward me the reference number and sender name
with address

Name: Stephaney Scarle
Address: Brooklyn NEW YORK 11212 USA
Amount 500 pounds

Shani wrote:

Hi Mr Finley,

I'm only now just back at the apartment in Lerwick, Emma has come with me and we're going out on the town tonight - going drinking round the pubs and clubs. I'm not telling Jelle that when he phones me, though! He'd be thinking that I was also going flirting with the men here ... which I will be, but he doesn't need to know that!

I'll get the money from one of my other bank accounts tomorrow, and send it then. I won't make any mistakes!

Hope you have a nice evening too!

The next morning, Roy Finley wrote:

Good Day Mrs Shani,how was your grove last night i hope you did fine,
I'm really waiting for the payment information and you try and send
the fee this morning

Waiting for the payment information? Cue another attachment!

Shani wrote:

Hi Mr Finley, and Good Morning!

Yes thank you, Emma and I had a fun time last night. Especially me, I guess, coz I can't have fun like that in Friesland, Jelle is too uptight, and Betje is just boring!

Anyway, my plans for today are to go and send that money, then I'm going with Emma as she drives home, and she's going to drop me off at my brother Freddie's house for lunch. Then after lunch I'm going to Play-Doh Farm, and going to take out some of my Shetland Ponies. I don't think I've told you before, but as well as all the Friesian horses I've got at my Netherlands home, I've also got 8 breeding ponies here, who my dad looks after now, of course. Don't know if you have Shetland Ponies in the USA, but they're really cool, very small but very strong. I'm light enough to ride them (though I have to hold up my legs so they don't hit the ground!), but usually I drive them. I'll send you a photo of a Shetland being driven. It's not me, it's just something off the Net, but it shows their size!

Now, do you want the receipt again? Coz Freddie has got a scanner at his house (there isn't one here) so I could get it scanned there and send to you.

Oh. Emma has just come into the room (she was in the bedroom), and she says my phone (which I left in there) has been ringing. Was that you? It could have been Freddie, I guess, I'll go and check in a minute.

Yours, Shani

Later that day she wrote:

It wasn't good at the MoneyGram in Lerwick, they've got all this security against scams in place, but Emma has taken the money for me back to Walls, where she lives, coz she says there is MoneyGram in the post office there - she's used it, mostly to receive money, but also to send it, she says, and the lady who runs the post office has known Emma all her life, so she won't create any fuss like they do in Lerwick. So she'll send it to Stephaney from there.

As you know, I'm going to be out with my ponies this afternoon, so I've given your email address to Emma, and she will write you all the details as soon as she's got them. She's only just dropped me off here at Freddie's house, so she'll probably be about 20 or 30 minutes before she writes, I guess.

Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2016 12:14 pm

Part 6: The Emma Problem

And then Emma wrote to Roy.

She wrote:

Good day, Roy Finley,

I believe that you are expecting an email from me.

I have upon my desk £500 which Shani Lewis has handed to me; I promised her that I would send it to one Stephaney Scarle in Brooklyn, New York.

However, I know full well that this is a scam. So what shall I do?

Shall I tell Shani the facts?

Or shall we pretend that I have sent the money and you/Stephaney/whoever has picked it? And then you can invent another higher fee for silly Shani to pay, and I will take it from her, and send you the majority of it. Just a little handling fee for myself taken out, of course.

Please don't bother to deny anything. I've worked in this business too long. I pick MG transfers for various friends in Nigeria.

Roy wrote to Shani.

He wrote:

hello Shani, i received an email from your friend but i don't
understand what she is saying, you should tell her to send the fee
course you are wasting time and is not good and why did you give her
the money and what did you tell her because we don't need to involve
third part on this issue.

And to Emma, Roy Finley wrote:

Hello Ms Emma George,i don't understand what you are saying and if
Shani asked you to do some thing for her do it as she instructed you
to .

Emma wrote:

I'm not playing games. You know what I said. I gave you the opportunity to work with me. If you don't understand that then you are too small to work with anyway.

Oda bo.

Roy Finley wrote:

Hello Ms Emma George,i don't understand what you talking are about ,
you should do what Shani ask you to do or you call me on phone my
number is there

Emma wrote:

Don't be a fool. If you didn't want to work with me then a simple No would suffice. I'm keeping the 500. You could have turned it into more. Shani is a bottomless pit regarding money. But I guess you don't like to earn more money by my suggestions.

I'm not begging you! I have enough work anyway. I just always like to help any one who has the capacity for success.

Have a nice life.

Roy Finley wrote:

Call me now because i don't know you , am waiting for your call

Emma wrote:

Give me a moment, I am dogsitting Shani's dogs while she is at the farm. I need to put Scruff on a lead.

And so Emma called him (using Skype). He had no idea that he was speaking to exactly the same person (me!) that he spoke to when he spoke to Shani.

He made two suggestions to Emma:

1. That she kept £200, and sent him £300; or
2. That she met him next week in London.

While talking with the lad, I'd left my baiting phone switched on beside me, and then another lad called it while I was on phone to this Roy Finley lad. Emma lives in the same district as Shani's parents, and mobile phones are not supposed to work there! Fortunately, I don't have an obvious 'telephone' ring tone on my phone, so Emma said it was her doorbell ringing, and ended the call so she could answer the door.....

Roy Finley wrote:

Call me back or give me a number to reach you now am waiting ..

Emma wrote:

I had to depart quickly because my doorbell was ringing. I thought it might be Shani; but not yet.

I will consider your suggestions.

My phone number is +44<invented and too long>, but it does not connect here at my home, so is a waste of your time to call it - you will merely get the Not Available tone. I have to travel to civilisation in order to receive a connection.

Then, a bit later, she wrote:

I think I will drive to Play-Doh Farm because I am bored of looking after these dogs.

Tell me more about your proposed trip to London and ideas for a meeting. I can fly down if I think it is worthwhile.

Roy Finley wrote to Shani.

He wrote:

Good Day Mrs Shani, please just ask your friend if she have send off
the fee and let me know..

Shani wrote:

Hi Mr Finley,

I'm now back in Lerwick after a lovely afternoon. Yes, I saw Emma, she came to Play-Doh Farm to bring my dogs back to me, coz she'd been looking after them while I was with the Shetland Ponies, and she said she missed the post office - it only opens in the mornings there, and she was just a little bit too late. So no, she hasn't sent it yet, she'll go tomorrow morning, I suppose.

I left her having tea and chats with my mum, they know each other well. My dad dropped me off here back at my brother Mark's apartment, and he's gone to pick Mark up from the airport, he's coming here for the weekend (he works on the mainland). So I'll be having a nice evening with him. Smile

Yours, Shani.

To Emma, Roy Finley wrote:

Go and send what i told you to send and call me more info..

Then he wrote:

Hello Emma what is going on ? am still waiting to hear from you .

Emma wrote:

My oh my, you are a little bit dominating, are you not?

Sorry, but I don't accept domination.

It is Friday evening, so naturally I have a date, and tonight we are going to a fine restaurant, and I am certainly not sitting at home, calling dominating strangers.

You may come down from your high horse and tell me about London. And then I may speak further to you tomorrow.

Toodle pip.

To Shani, Roy Finley wrote:

Good Day Mrs Shani, send me your friend number let me reach her on phone now ..

And to Emma, he wrote:

Hello Emma , why did you keep me keep waiting, send the number to
reach you and you refuse .

The next day, Emma wrote:

I sent you my phone number. But you need to understand the situation of the Shetland Isles. Here, in the countryside, we do not have the phone masts to relay telephone signals. Here, we cannot receive calls; we have to go to civilisation (eg the city of Lerwick) to pick up a phone signal. This is why I use Skype for calls.

But mostly I email.

Roy Finley wrote:

Hello Emma , i want to know if you are not sending the money Shani
ask you to send today which i ask you to send 300 and hold the 200 i
don't understand what is happening if you want to take all the money ?

Emma wrote:

I suggested you talked to me. I said Tell me about London. I said, After that, I will communicate with you.

You told me nothing.

Shani believes I sent the money. Tomorrow I will see her (Sunday Dinner at Play-Doh Farm), and I will show her the MG payment slip. With all the correct details.

Did I send it? Or didn't I? Time will tell.

Roy Finley wrote:

Hello Emma , i coming to London by next week weekend is a deal and
have not being confirmed about the business if you really want to work
with me if i confirm the day i will invite you over and we will meet
one on one,today is going are you not sending the money today again
time is going

Emma wrote:

You can talk to Shani about the money.

How did you get a visa for the UK?

Roy Finley wrote:

Hello Emma ,what do you mean by how did i get a visa to u.k

Emma wrote:

Visas to the UK are not easy to get. Ask Shani about the man she wanted to marry and how he failed on getting a visa.

So I wondered how you got one. I don't meet your UK-based acquaintance, you know.

I wasn't born yesterday.

What's your Facebook?

I thought I'd mention Shani's ex-fiancé (who couldn't get a visa) just in case that somehow comes in useful later.

Roy Finley wrote:

Hello Emma i live in USA and i have a USA international passport so i
can get any visa to any country if i want.

Emma wrote:

Bullshit!

1. USA do not get automatic visas to the UK.

2. You are Nigerian. You have a Nigerian accent. I talk to Nigerians all the time, and I know the accent.

Don't talk crap to me, because I don't co-operate with people who talk crap.

Oda bo ... Kashi fo nu .... San juma

Later that day, Shani wrote to Roy.

She wrote:

Hello Mr Finley,

I did get an email from Emma today, but it was short, because she said her electricity had failed, and her generator was low on fuel - but she has sent the money, and she will give me the customer's copy tomorrow when she comes to our Sunday lunch with my parents. I will then forward it to you.

I do have her telephone number, but she lives in the same region as my parents, so of course there is no signal there. She uses an internet thing called skype if she wants to phone someone, but usually we just email or go onto Google Chat. She has her computer on a lot, because she runs her businesses that way, she does web programming.

I've had a lovely day with my brother Mark. He is actually my favourite brother, because he is so laid-back and so much fun. Today we had a pub lunch, then we went to look round the shops together (and he bought me the cutest key chain tiger!). I'm going to have the nicest Guinness evening with him now. We're going to play music on You Tube.

Yours, Shani

The next day, after Sunday lunch with her parents, and Emma, Shani wrote again to Roy.

She wrote:

Hello Mr Finley,

Emma gave me the customer's copy of the MoneyGram transfer, and I'm now at Freddie's house, and I've scanned it to send to you. The number you need is on the right, and it's nice and clear!

Freddie is now going to drive me and Mark and the dogs back to Lerwick.

Yours, Shani

To Shani, Roy Finley wrote:

Good Day Mrs Shani, for your information you friend did not send any
money, your friend took the money and gave you fake receipt how do you
know Emma? she is not a good friend to confirm you should track the
money online by (track money gram.com) the fake receipt and the
reference #61816586 ) and also give me number to reach you course i
have an important information to pass to you.

And to Emma, he wrote:

why did you gave your friend fake receipt ?

you are not a good friend .

Emma wrote:

It was not totally fake. I did send the money to Stephaney, but then I suddenly changed my mind, and cancelled it a few seconds later. I needed to send £500 to my acquaintance in South Africa, anyway, and dear old Margaret in the post office believed I'd stupidly made a mistake, and changed the transfer to him, and gave me a new Reference Number.

I am a good friend, but Shani is so local, sometimes it is hard to resist using this fact.

Roy Finley wrote:

and why did you give your friend fake receipt and told her that you
sent the money to Stephen ?

Oh, so Stephaney is really Stephen? Or was that just a mistake?

Emma wrote:

Because then she will pay more, if you want.

You are not very sharp, are you?

Shani arrived back in Lerwick, and read Roy's last email to her.

She wrote:

What are you saying? That's the customer's copy that Emma gave me, and I don't think it's fake, because it looks a bit like the one I got when I went to the Western Union in Drachten, only that was Western Union of course, so laid out a bit differently. But it's similar.

I've known Emma ever since we were at Primary School together, and she's always been my best friend, she's lovely, so smart and clever, and so full of clever jokes as well. We've always had lovely times together, this afternoon she even hung on to the rather badly behaved Scruff for some time, while I went out with the Shetland ponies.

You know my phone number, you've phoned me loads of times. I left my phone behind today, coz there's no point in taking it to Play-Doh Farm, and it's switched off at the moment, but I can put it on if you like, though bear in mind that I'm here with my brother Mark, so I don't want to say too much. Maybe it's best if you email me the important information?

Roy Finley wrote:

Good Day Mrs Shani, your friend you know before is not whom you think
she is right now she have change and that is why i ask you to on your
phone so i can pass information to you, look at the email she sent to
me after i cautioned her for given you a fake receipt .
-----------------------------------------------------------
this email from Emma George

It was not totally fake. I did send the money to Stephaney, but
then I suddenly changed my mind, and cancelled it a few seconds later.
I needed to send £500 to my acquaintance in South Africa, anyway, and
dear old Margaret in the post office believed I'd stupidly made a
mistake, and changed the transfer to him, and gave me a new Reference
Number.

I am a good friend, but Shani is so local, sometimes it is hard to
resist using this fact.

Emma wrote to Roy.

She wrote:

Silly.

I have Shani's passwords and therefore access to her Gmail.

I have therefore double deleted the last email you sent to her.

Don't forward my mails. She will never see them.

Meanwhile, to Roy, Shani wrote:

Well, I put my phone on but you didn't call. And no email either, so I guess the important thing isn't that important after all.

Hope you are having a nice Sunday, coz I'm having another lovely time with Mark. I'll be sad when he goes back to Edinburgh tomorrow, though he'll be here next weekend for Dad's birthday, and with his partner Shaw too!

Then the lad called Shani. I had some deafeningly loud You Tube music ready for his call (actually by the singer whose photos are used for Shani!), and the vampire played the part of Happy Drunken Brother Mark in the background.

The lad terminated the call very quickly.

So Shani wrote:

I just had a really funny phone call where the caller wouldn't hold on long enough for my brother to turn down the music so I could hear them. There are several people who it could have been, but I'm just wondering, was it you? If so, why did you stop the call? All Mark needed to do was turn the music down.

The lad called again, and tried to talk about Emma. The call was interupted a lot by Happy Drunken Mark, however, and the lad got fed up and hung up.

Shani wrote:

Why did you stop the call? What are you saying about Emma? I really don't understand.

The lad forwarded the email from Emma again:

Quote:

Good Day Mrs Shani, your friend you know before is not whom you think
she is right now she have change and that is why i ask you to on your
phone so i can pass information to you, look at the email she sent to
me after i cautioned her for given you a fake receipt .
-----------------------------------------------------------
this email from Emma George

It was not totally fake. I did send the money to Stephaney, but
then I suddenly changed my mind, and cancelled it a few seconds later.
I needed to send £500 to my acquaintance in South Africa, anyway, and
dear old Margaret in the post office believed I'd stupidly made a
mistake, and changed the transfer to him, and gave me a new Reference
Number.

I am a good friend, but Shani is so local, sometimes it is hard to
resist using this fact.

Emma wrote to him.

She wrote:

As I write this, I have Shani standing in the hallway, talking to me on the phone, via Skype.

Which gives me ample opportunity to double delete your last (and repeated) mail to her.

The next morning, to Roy, Shani wrote:

I feel really confused this morning. The first time I sent payment, you said that it hadn't been collected, even though Western Union confirmed that it had been picked up. And now you are saying that my last payment can't be collected either. Are you just messing around with me for some reason? I don't get it.

No reply. Had I pushed it too far with the combination of Interfering Emma and Drunken Mark?

Later, Shani wrote:

Are you just stealing my money? Are you intercepting it, so it don't go to the right people, and that's why they say they haven't got it? What IS going on????

You say you thought of me like a sister, so please act like a brother and just tell me straight.

Still no reply. I guess the situation has got too difficult (or unbelievable?) for him. I'll just try once more:

Shani wrote:

You haven't written back, so I'm thinking more and more that it must be true what I said. But WHY? Ibrahim bought the lottery ticket in good faith for me, and it's not fair that you should stop me getting the winnings. I'd write to Mr Lopey, but I don't trust him, and never have.

I just don't understand why. Do you need the money or something? It wasn't even much money, just a few hundred. If you had problems in your life, I probably would have given you enough to help out, anyway, coz you were nice to me. Or was it all an act? I just don't understand.

He's back!

The lad phoned. Over a 10 minute phone call, he explained to Shani that Emma was tricking her, and stealing her money. He persuaded Shani to open a new email account, with a new password that Emma did not know, and said that once she had done that, he would forward Emma's emails to her.

Naturally, it took Shani longer that one would expect to open a new email account.

And then it took the lad far longer that I would expect to forward the emails. Once they arrived, though, I understood why. They were very heavily edited, and ended with a fake Emma email saying:

Quote:

but if you can change the winnings to me i will appreciate that, then
we work and get more money from her course she is a bottomless pit
regarding money and i want to fool her course she doesn't want to help
me

The lad then phoned again, this time for 15 minutes. He was cheerful, and flirting with Shani, and she, of course, liked it, and agreed to send £500 by bank transfer.

The lad sent the bank details:

Roy Finley wrote:

Td bank
Name : Stephaney Scarle
Routine number : ---
Account number ; ---
Swift code nrthus33xxx

So Stephaney Scarle, as well as bearing a name resemblance to the previous recipient Simone Sharpe, now shares a bank with her too!

However, Shani is still believing the best about Emma.

So the next day, she wrote:

Good morning Mr Finley,

I think I know what was going on with Emma. I'm trusting now that you really are a friend, and you'll keep what I'm going to tell you to yourself, and not tell anyone else, and so I can tell you.

I think it started when Emma came with me to the post office in Lerwick. I told you that they had too much security, and that's why I gave Emma the money to go to the post office near her house instead. The thing is, at that MoneyGram, I had to read a security notice, and sign to say I'd read and understood it, and it warned about scams, and it mentioned Lottery Scams. Emma was reading over my shoulder, and when she got to that bit, she said really loudly, 'But you ARE sending money for a Lottery!' And then the MoneyGram people got all concerned and said I should go home and google about Lottery Scams.

Well, actually, I know what Lottery Scams are, that's when someone writes to you and says your email has won a lottery, and it's all rubbish coz you can't win lotteries that way. But that's nothing to do with Ibrahim buying a ticket in my name, which is what we are dealing with.

But, after that, I think Emma got it into her head that you were one of those Lottery Scammers, and this is where the secret part comes in. I hope you don't judge me for my friends, or anything, but Emma has this little secret. She is a web programmer, you see, and she legitimately creates amazing internet sites and applications - but she also makes these fake websites, and she works with friends in Nigeria and South Africa (and somewhere else, Benin, I think) to make money out of them. It's all a scam, you see, but very cleverly done, and she's protected herself well.

She likes making new contacts, and what I think is that when she got it into her head that you were a Lottery Scammer, she thought that maybe she could draw you into her scheme, and that's why she wrote to you about 'working together'.

Then, what I think happened is that she realised that you weren't a scammer at all, and she was afraid that she'd said too much, and so she tried to cover it up by pretending to be a common thief, and wanting to get her hands on my winnings.

I don't think she would really intend to take my winnings, I think she was just trying to cover up all what she'd said before. Just because she'd made a mistake about you.

That's what I think, and I do know a bit about how she operates, coz sometimes she uses my Facebook to chat with some of her African friends. She hasn't got a Facebook of her own, coz she doesn't want any real online presence, she says, so that's why I let her use mine, which is set up in my other name anyway, the one that my ex-fiance gave to me years ago.

But anyway, I was shocked yesterday about Emma, but now having thought well about it, I think she just made a mistake about you, and then tried to cover it up. She didn't really mean it about taking my winnings, she was just embarrassed, I think. And I don't mind about her calling me 'local' or anything, she's always teasing me like that, she thinks she's worldly coz she used to live in Manchester for a time, and she always took flights to all sorts of places long before I'd ever flown alone.

I'll probably see her this week anyway, and we can clear it up. And she'll be at my dad's birthday parties next weekend. She's kind of like part of my family, her own parents are dead, and my parents kind of took her as a second daughter.

Yours, Shani.

The lad ignored all that.

Instead, he wrote:

Good Morning shani i was calling this morning to know your position
and you refuse to pick my calls , also to confirm if you have made
the payment

Shani wrote:

I'm not refusing to answer your calls, I simply don't have my phone with me. I'm currently at my parents' house, because my uncle from the Isle of Lewis is here.

You didn't say anything about my earlier email, about what I thought regarding Emma. Sometimes it's like you have 2 personalities.

Roy Finley wrote:

Mrs shani i don;t like repeating my world when i told you about Emma
i was serious about it and concerning the lottery i have given you
every proof and you know how the lottery was won and i have given
you my working identification and the lottery certificate for you to
see the reason why i kept quiet concerning your last email,i don't
like discussing issue with people course people are bad towards
matter like this so i advice you to keep it to your self till the
package gets to you and stop telling people about the lottery winnings
some will try to discourage you because they don't want you to be
better than them and some people don't want your progress, stay close
to your phone I'm gonna call you right now

Shani wrote:

Don't you read my emails? I TOLD you that I was at Play-Doh Farm, and that I'd left my phone behind at Lerwick.

My father had emailed Emma, inviting her for lunch so she could be with Uncle Iain too. The first thing she did when she walked in the room was to throw me a bundle of notes - my £500 returned. She never sent it to South Africa.

Later, when we were alone, she said that she'd never intended to take that money or any other money from me - she had been testing YOU, to see if you were smart enough to work with, she said.

I asked her about saying she wanted my lottery winnings, and she said that she never wrote that. So then we went to my dad's office, and she opened up her email account, and showed me the emails she'd written - and when I said that they were DIFFERENT from the ones you'd forwarded to me, she said that obviously you'd edited them.

Are you Nigerian? You can tell me, you know, coz Ibrahim, who bought me the winning lottery ticket, is Nigerian, and so is the man who I was going to marry before I met Jelle. It was him who gave me my other name, the Nigerian one, that I have on my Facebook.

I had arranged to come back from Play-Doh Farm early, coz I was planning to go to the bank this afternoon. I don't know now, though, coz I don't understand why you made up things about Emma and edited her emails.

It's stopped raining at last, so I'm going to take Fido and Scruff for a little walk. And no, I'm not taking my phone. You can email me.

Roy Finley wrote:

Mrs shani, base on your email which i read and i understand that Emma
works with Nigerians people that claim to be who they are not that is
why i stay clear away from her, we are not in Nigeria we are in state
and you know how you won this lottery so i'm not suppose to explain it
all the time while you know how you won the lottery, all i want is for
you to follow my instruction and do as i say so that your winnings can
get to you soon enough,i want you to stop disclosing this to everybody
course I'm really tired of all this so i'm waiting for the payment
information since you have the money so go to the bank and do the
transfer

Shani wrote:

For goodness sake, I KNOW that you are in the States! But there's plenty of Nigerian people in the States too! I didn't have to go to Nigeria to get pregnant by a Nigerian, I did it right here in the UK! In England, to be precise.

And Ibrahim, the Nigerian who bought my lottery ticket, was in England at that time too, obviously. And, no he didn't take a flight specially, I'm sure.

Good grief, do you have any brains? I simply asked if you were FROM Nigeria, or of Nigerian DESCENT.

And I don't 'keep disclosing this to everybody' - one single person is not 'everybody'.

And why didn't you address what I said? WHY did you edit Emma's emails when you forwarded them? WHY did you pretend she was after my winnings?

I wish I was dealing with someone else. You say you are 'tired of all this' - well, I'm getting tired of YOU.

The lad phoned. Shani said she was 'fed up with it all' and didn't want to speak to him.

The next day, she wrote:

Just cancel it all, ok? Send the money back to the UK Lottery people.

It's all too much stress to bother with.

I thought, well, I guess that's the end of that. He's in a corner that he can't get out of, and Shani is not happy with the whole situation anyway.

So, rather than push it, I simply opened up another email account, and started all over again:

Larry wrote:

Subject: Package # VG3590FD
Mr Roy Finley, Sir, I respond from an email of sunday, from Sandra Marie Allen.
There is a package for my address?

The lad wrote back.

Very Happy

Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2016 5:34 pm

Masterful work!

Posted: Fri Jul 08, 2016 11:11 pm

One excuse after another after another... lovely, just lovely!

Elite Baiter Joined: 28 Mar 2015 Posts: 1916

@Branwen - just love your Shani/Shona character, with her in-depth back story. She always gets the better of lads in a most entertaining way.

Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2016 8:14 pm

^

Having played her now for, I think, six years, and maintained notes on everything she has ever done, she is my most-rounded character, and her life story just accumulates. But she suffers the most dreadful amnesia about Western Union and MoneyGram and always thinks it is the first time she has ever used such a service.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 10 Jul 2016 Posts: 1

very good man.
The attachments of photos is the best.
I have laught a lot.

cheers

Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2016 3:27 am

Great work, very enjoyable read. And a teaching moment for me, thanks.

Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2016 1:59 pm

That was a baiting masterclass I just read - some great ideas on how to keep your lad dangling on that string for just a bit longer.....

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