US Navy Officer falls for 419 scam..

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Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2007 8:56 pm

Lt. who robbed ship fell for e-mail scam

By Gidget Fuentes - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Jul 6, 2007 6:30:14 EDT

SAN DIEGO � A Navy supply corps officer on the frigate McClusky who pleaded guilty to stealing money from his ship�s safe will be confined in the brig and could be dismissed from the service.

Lt. Milton T. Guy, who was the ship�s disbursing officer, received a 28-month sentence and a $14,000 fine after he pleaded guilty June 26 to wrongful appropriation, dereliction of duty and making a false statement, according to an article in the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Guy pleaded guilty and was sentenced after a general court-martial, said Walter T. Ham IV, a Navy Region Southwest spokesman.

The Union-Tribune, citing court documents, said Guy took the money to use as payments to collect a $260,000 inheritance he believed was owed to him. The purported inheritance, however, was part of an Internet scam pitched by a man named Barnabus, who in e-mails and telephone calls to Guy contended that he represented the Nigerian government and claimed he was handling the disposal of a $2.6 million estate belonging to a Mark Guy.

According to documents, Guy stole small sums of money, in total around $120,000 to $140,000, out of the McClusky�s funds from October 2004 to July 2005, and he sent most of the money to Barnabus although he used several thousand dollars to buy a laptop computer and to put a down payment on a car and a deposit on an apartment, according to the newspaper.

A May 2006 audit by the U.S. Pacific Fleet found that money was missing from the McClusky�s accounts.

Cmdr. Jane Campbell, a spokeswoman for Naval Surface Forces in Coronado, Calif., said that the Navy uses routine audits to help keep ship�s funds secure. �It is the checks and balances that we have throughout the fleet that precludes people from being able to get away with this,� Campbell said.

With the new Navy Cash financial system, the Navy�s ships are moving away from keeping large sums of cash aboard in favor of an electronic, cashless system.

�Navy Cash is a great new program that is being implemented across the fleet,� she said. �It�s the way now that we are keeping much less cash in the ships in general.�

Internet scams such as the so-called �Nigerian letter� are well-known schemes that have exploded with the rise of spam e-mails. Such e-mails claim that the recipient is owed large sums of money that require a transferring of funds before the full amount can be collected, and other scams include seemingly dire requests for financial help.

�It is incumbent upon everybody to be too cautious,� Campbell said. �If it�s too good to be true, it probably is.�

http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2007/07/military_sailor_thief_070705w/

Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2007 9:46 pm

Hahaha - I bet NCIS got involved Smile

Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2007 9:49 pm

Quote:

�Navy Cash is a great new program that is being implemented across the fleet,� she said. �It�s the way now that we are keeping much less cash in the ships in general.�

GI Joe somewhere between Iraq, Iran and a hard place.:"Where the * are we?
Terrorist demand : "The ransom is US$10M, and you call that a boat?"
GI Joe : "American Express?"
Terrorist : "That will do nicely".

Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2007 10:08 pm

Quote:

According to documents, Guy stole small sums of money, in total around $120,000 to $140,000, out of the McClusky�s funds from October 2004 to July 2005, and he sent most of the money to Barnabus although he used several thousand dollars to buy a laptop computer and to put a down payment on a car and a deposit on an apartment, according to the newspaper.

reads more like swindler deceived

Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2007 10:22 pm

laptop computer ... car ... a deposit on an apartment

He is a thief, that got himself swindled.

justjay, prior USN enlisted service

Not quite a Newb Joined: 14 Jul 2005 Posts: 41

A large majority of internet scams require at least some amount of illegality on the part of the victims, the Next-of-Kin scam being one of the most obvious.

Lads will often use this fact against them when the victim tries to back out of the deal by threatening to contact the authorities and revealing the victims part in the scam.

Just as a note of interest- a Lieutenant in the Navy is the equivalent of a Captain in the Army, Air Force or Marines. A Finance Officer would be required to have a Top Secret security clearance which is only granted after an extensive background check. At some point, not only was this guy deemed to be capable of holding a position of great trust and responsibility, but he was also good enough, and had the experience, to be promoted.

Anyone can fall victim to these scams.

Posted: Sat Jul 07, 2007 12:33 am

His 'inheritance' was only $260,000?? And he stole almost half that to send the lad (after skimming a bit off for his laptop, car and apartment)? I can't feel too much sympathy for a thief who gets scammed. Karma's a bitch.

Posted: Sat Jul 07, 2007 1:23 am

shuntbuzz wrote:

Hahaha - I bet NCIS got involved Smile

It would have been down to McGee and (perhaps) Abby to investigate this one - can't see Tony or Zeeva gettiing too involved (except for some smartass banter). Gibbs and Duckie would provide commentary on the limits of human folly.

Posted: Sat Jul 07, 2007 6:58 am

^^^

Whether you sympathise with the soon-to-be-ex-Lt's position or not, the bottom line is that another scumbag lad got paid, and that is not good. Evil or Very Mad

Baiting Guru Joined: 17 Sep 2006 Posts: 5905

It is quite worrying when you realise just how persuasive these lads can be. As already pointed out by Gnasher this guy stole over half of the money promised to him to release just $260,000 which is about �130,000. Don't get me wrong I wouldn't turn my nose up at $260,000/130,000 but I can't believe he thought it was worth risking his position for. As TSnerd pointed out this man had a high rank in the Navy, and as such I'm assuming would be on a very good wage?

Posted: Sat Jul 07, 2007 8:52 am

It is amazing how those 2 people came together - The Scammer and the Sucker. Who'd have thunk it ?

Posted: Sat Jul 07, 2007 9:00 am

I think someone forgot a zero in the first mention of the amount of the "inheritance". See here:

Quote:

he was handling the disposal of a $2.6 million estate belonging to a Mark Guy.

Not that it makes any difference what amount of fake money the vic was chasing. As many do, he got caught up in the chase and betrayed people who trusted him. As TSnerd said; once that first step is taken, the victim is often in a trap of their own making, whether real or imagined. I can't in any way condone or forgive the things he did, but I can understand how this probably happened and why.

Posted: Sat Jul 07, 2007 11:25 am

4X1X9 wrote:

As TSnerd pointed out this man had a high rank in the Navy, and as such I'm assuming would be on a very good wage?

This is from 2005, but a LT is an 0-3

http://usmilitary.about.com/library/milinfo/pay/bl05officersalary.htm

So low end he is making about $60K a year. Plus he may have base housing and other benefits.

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