Is The EFCC Real?

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Hello I'm New here! Joined: 15 Apr 2007 Posts: 19

My brother has been scammed (in Australia) out of $80,000 Australian Dollars. He transferred the money via Western Union apparently to bring someone from South Africa to Australia.

Stupid, I know. He's never done anything like this before. He's going through a rough divorce, child custody battle and other stuff right now. He was vulnerable and unfortunately has been taken for a major ride.

A man saying he is Mr Ribadu has been in contact and says he wants to help him. This man has also phoned me and my other brother looking for his details.

He's given my brother a Yahoo email address, saying it is the email address of his wife. My brother has asked me to email this Yahoo address and tell Mr Ribadu that he's in hospital and is sorry. I don't know whether to do this or not. Mr Ribadu has also told my brother that he has managed to get one person arrested in Nigeria regarding this matter.

I'm so suspicious of all this. To make matters worse, my brother tried to kill himself yesterday. He's in hospital and in a bad way.

What advice can you all give me?

Deb

Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2007 7:33 am

I am very sorry that your brother has been scammed when he's so vulnerable and hope that he makes a speedy recovery. It just proves how ruthless and heartless these scammers are.

The man who contacted you to help 'recover the money' is also a scammer - even the same one using a different email address. So having scammed your brother once, they plan to do it again. They really can and do sink that low. You are quite right to be very suspicious and my suggestion is to ignore any further attempts to contact you regarding any aspect of this matter. It's likely that the scammer(s) has your brother's personal information and it's better to just drop them and, if you can, explain to your brother that the money has been stolen and there is very little chance of getting it back, even via legitimate channels.

However, I'm sure there are plenty of baiters here who'd just love to make this scammer's life as hellish as possible so please can you post his email addresses, including the one from the "EFCC", and we will take care of him. Meanwhile, please take care of your brother and if you need any more help or advice then feel free to post again. Good luck, and again, a speedy recovery to your brother.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 15 Apr 2007 Posts: 19

Thanks for your reply and those that emailed privately.

The email address I was given for the "so called" Mr Ribadu is [email protected]. As I said, it's apparently his wife's email address. What a load of bollocks.

I also have the address for the woman my brother was apparently supposed to be meeting but I'll hold onto that one for now. I'm going to set up a new email address for myself and contact her to see what she has to say for herself..... or himself.

I'll keep you posted.

Deb

Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2007 8:14 am

Deb, Gnasher's advice is sound, so I'll just add please be careful how you go about approaching the scammer yourself. I wish your brother a speedy recovery, and best wishes to you and your family.

Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2007 11:19 am

If you don't want to post the scammer's email address can you PM it to me? I'd love to have a go at the bastard.

Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2007 2:55 pm

Hi Deb,

Further to my PMs the Yahoo address you gave me for this scumbag is bouncing.

Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2007 6:29 pm

Hopefully Wayne or Tommo will look into this and find that the scammer is actually in SA...

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 15 Apr 2007 Posts: 19

I've tried the email address too and yes, it is bouncing.

I'll be talking with my brother in hospital again today so I'll verify the address he gave me.

I'll repost this evening when I get home from work if the address is not as I posted. Otherwise, it appears he may have simply closed the email address....... and opened another one!

Stay tuned.

Debbie.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 15 Apr 2007 Posts: 19

I've emailed the "woman" my brother was apparently trying to get to Australia. This is the email that she sent back:

Hello Debbie

Am really worried about this sad news you just told me now and infact am not getting myself anymore,I do talk to My Love on friday and we are both hoping to be together very soon as we really care alot about eachother, xxxx, is my Love and i wont like anything bad to happen to him.
I understand all that had been happening to him and i have stand by him through all his trying time,we have really had alot of plans together,all our dreams are meant to come to reality soonest but i do not understand the fact that he is now in the hospital,I want you to tell me what is going on with him,his condition right now and i want you to let me know when am going to talk to My Love.
My Mom also is crying now that i told her about this,i need you to explain to me,what is happening to my Love,i want to know right now.He is all i have for now and i wont like to see him hurt in any which way,i want you to tell me who hurt him,or does he have any accident?these are what i need to know.
Please,Debbie i want you to mail me back as soon as possible cos i need to know what is happening to My Love.He is all i have for now and i will always Love him the way he Love me.
xxxx xxxx.

I cannot stand that she used my brother's surname at the end of her own when she signed her email!!! The gaul of this person.

Does this look to be an email from a scammer to you guys? I'm off to work now but will try and sign in during the day to see replys.

Debbie.

[mod edit - names removed - KD]

Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2007 9:45 pm

Can you please post the headers of that email so we can trace the IP address? It looks like standard love scammer script but the clincher is the fact you've been contacted by a stranger who (a) knows about the money and (b) is offering to help 'recover' it. The advice stands, just cease any further communication, no matter how convincing, and we will do our best to find out what we can about this toe-rag and deal with him (and yes, it's almost certainly a 'him').

You have a PM

Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2007 9:58 pm

Actually, can you post up "her" headers and "Mr Ribadu's" as well so we can compare them.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 15 Apr 2007 Posts: 19

Thanks for your help guys. I appreciate it so very much.

This is the header from the email this woman sent me.

Am also worried like you do,just i dont know what prompted him in doing thatCompact Header|Hide Pane diana fox <[email protected]>

This is the latest email that she sent me today also:

Hello Debbie,

Am really getting nervous and worried,so far so good,i have not done anything to hurt your brother and he knows i Love him so much and he does too that is why he is really sorry about me now because he knows i will not be happy to hear this News from you,but i will tell you Debbie that he is in the best position to tell you what he has been going through,i guess maybe its Divorce that he needs to pay up some money to his EX because he often complain of this to me each time am talking with him online,what really matters most to me now is to let me know of his health condition,i just pray and hope he is okay and do let me know when he will be home back,i have missed him so much,he is all i have and i ever lived for so i will never want to see him hurt,he knows this and he can tell you about my Love for him,please i will like you to extend my Greetings to him as i have no chance to talk with him now and let him know i have forgiven him and still love and care about him so much,Debbie in your next email to me,i will like you to get back to me when he will be back home as i cant wait to talk to him online and phone,
I have missed him so much and please ensure he is well taken care of,i do hope to meet you in person real soon.
Hope to read back from you today,please do not put me in suspence.

Diana

I'll be talking to my brother tonight and will clarify the email address for the so called Mr Ribadu. Stay tuned for that one.

Debbie

Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2007 8:24 am

Can you re-post the full header please? Copy/paste the whole lot - we specifically need the IP numbers. For your privacy, XXX out your and/or your brother's email addy but leave everything else. Thanks.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 15 Apr 2007 Posts: 19

Sorry guys, I didn't know how to get the full header. Now I've been told how to do it, here it is. Hopefully it gives you the information you need.

From diana fox Mon Apr 16 01:25:04 2007
Return-Path: <[email protected]>
Authentication-Results: mta473.mail.mud.yahoo.com from=yahoo.com; domainkeys=pass (ok)
Received: from 209.191.68.182 (HELO web34903.mail.mud.yahoo.com) (209.191.68.182)
by mta473.mail.mud.yahoo.com with SMTP; Mon, 16 Apr 2007 01:25:05 -0700
Received: (qmail 59186 invoked by uid 60001); 16 Apr 2007 08:25:04 -0000

Received: from [82.128.10.180] by web34903.mail.mud.yahoo.com via HTTP; Mon, 16 Apr 2007 01:25:04 PDT
Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2007 01:25:04 -0700 (PDT)
From: diana fox <[email protected]>
Subject: Am praying for his quick recovery
To:Mod Edit - personal email address deleted [BB]
In-Reply-To: <[email protected]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="0-1833318424-1176711904=:55480"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
Content-Length: 865

Mod edit - blowout fixed - Mr Fishe

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 15 Apr 2007 Posts: 19

I've just spoken with my brother in hospital and gotten some more information.

The email address he gave me for the supposed Mr Ribadu doesn't seem to be working. He's not really sure off the top of his head what it is, but he said it was either:

sharon40493
sharonw40439
sharonw40493

I've tried them all, even searched through the Yahoo Member Directory and can't find anyone with that email address.

The thing I find really interesting is that the header from the "Diana Fox" person is from "web34903". The numbers 34903 are the same numbers used in the email addresses above, just in a different configuration........

I'm going to keep searching and see if I can find any members that it might be.

Thanks again for any help you can offer.

Debbie.

Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2007 12:37 pm

The IP resolves to Nigeria, not South Africa. Nuff said.
I think the best thing you can do is focus on getting your brother back on his feet again and don't put too much pressure on him to remember specifics. He's suffered enough already. Now we have 'Diana's' email addy we can get to work on her. It could well be that Mr Ribadu is the same scammer anyway.
The important thing now is to take care of your brother and make sure he doesn't feel too bad about being scammed. These people are VERY convincing, especially to people who are at a vulnerable time in their lives. Unfortunately the money is gone but at least he won't be sending any more and, more important, he's alive. Take care of him and let us take care of the scammer(s).

Do please check in here and we'll post or PM any updates.

Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2007 1:16 pm

Can I ask that people not all rush to message "her" at once. A sudden influx of people contacting the scammer can make him nervous and we don't want that.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 15 Apr 2007 Posts: 19

Thank you for the latest updates.

This lady has been emailing asking about my brother's welfare. I'm simply not replying but she keeps trying.

My brother told me that she was in England, so now we know it's Nigeria that gives me some comfort. At least we know she is not a real person and can treat her as such.

I've told my brother that "she" was a scammer and he now agrees.

My main efforts are now on my brother to get him well. Once he's out of hospital he's going to give me all the documentation he has and I'll take it from there. Until then, we're putting this aside and just focussing on being a family.

Thanks to you all. You've restored my faith that there are good people in the world.

Hugs

Debbie.

Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2007 3:22 pm

Put in the tcp/ip number you are searching for:

Response from whois.ripe.net:
% This is the RIPE Whois query server #1.
% The objects are in RPSL format.
%
% Rights restricted by copyright.
% See http://www.ripe.net/db/copyright.html

% Note: This output has been filtered.
% To receive output for a database update, use the "-B" flag.

% Information related to '82.128.0.0 - 82.128.127.255'

inetnum: 82.128.0.0 - 82.128.127.255
org: ORG-AFNC1-RIPE
netname: AFRINIC-NET-TRANSFERRED-20050223
descr: This network has been transferred to AFRINIC
remarks: These IP addresses are assigned in the AFRINIC region.
remarks: Authoritative registration information for this network
remarks: is available for query and modification in
remarks: the AFRINIC whois database: whois.afrinic.net or
remarks: web site: http://www.afrinic.net
remarks: The routing registry information (route(6) objects)
remarks: may be published in any Routing Registry, including
remarks: RIPE Whois Database
country: EU # country is really somewhere in African Region
admin-c: AFRI-RIPE
tech-c: AFRI-RIPE
status: ALLOCATED PA
mnt-by: RIPE-NCC-HM-MNT
mnt-routes: RIPE-NCC-RPSL-MNT Very Happy

source: RIPE # Filtered

Very Happy

Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2007 7:54 pm

Quote:

% This is the AfriNIC Whois server.

% Information related to '82.128.0.0 - 82.128.31.255'

inetnum: 82.128.0.0 - 82.128.31.255
netname: INET-MLTL
descr: Multi-Links Telecommunications Limited
country: NG
admin-c: DG26
tech-c: RIA27
status: ASSIGNED PA
notify: [email protected]
mnt-by: MLTL-INT-MNT
changed: [email protected] 20040416
changed: [email protected] 20050205
remarks: data has been transferred from RIPE Whois Database 20050221
source: AFRINIC
parent: 82.128.0.0 - 82.128.127.255

person: Dwaipayan Ghosh
address: 231, Adeola Odeku Street
Victoria Island
Lagos, Nigeria
phone: +23417751039
e-mail: [email protected]
nic-hdl: DG26
notify: [email protected]
changed: [email protected] 20030507
changed: [email protected] 20050205
remarks: data has been transferred from RIPE Whois Database 20050221
source: AFRINIC

person: IP Admin-RIPE
address: Multilinks Telecommunications Limited
address: 231 Adeola Odeku Str.
address: Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria
e-mail: [email protected]
remarks: complaints/spam report : [email protected]
phone: +2341774000
nic-hdl: RIA27
changed: [email protected] 20040331
changed: [email protected] 20050205
remarks: data has been transferred from RIPE Whois Database 20050221
source: AFRINIC

seems more likely to me...

Any news from either the bastard or any of you?

Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2007 8:15 pm

It's a toughie but I'm working it. TBH I'm not sure how successful I'll be with "her"

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 15 Apr 2007 Posts: 19

Ok. A little progress now. I'm in contact with the girl who scammed my brother. I've been playing along with her and here is the transcript of my conversation.

I'm playing the part of the caring sister Smile

Jen James: Hello Debbie

[ ZoneAlarm Security alert: Session not encrypted because jenny_james1984 is not protected by IM Security ]
Jen James: am Jenny
Debbie : hi Jenny
Debbie : nice to meet you
Jen James: all my pleasure here too
Debbie you are very pretty!
Jen James: oh thanks
Jen James: can i see a pic of you?
Debbie : hahahaha i'll see if i can find one. hang on
Jen James: ok
Debbie : there you go
Debbie : not as pretty as you though
Jen James: you are cute
Debbie : thanks......
Jen James: i really would love to meet you someday
Debbie : that would be nice
Debbie : are you coming here?
Jen James: i really want to
Jen James: but i have been having problems here
Debbie : i'm sorry
Jen James: and i just need a little help right now
Jen James: so that i can get out here
Debbie : can i help you with anything?
Jen James: i wish am out of here right now
Jen James: yes i will be so glad
Debbie : what do you need help with
Jen James: i just need some money to pay for my flight
Debbie : how much money do you need
Debbie : i know it would mean a lot to Greg for you to be here
Debbie : maybe i can arrange something to make it happen
Debbie : he means a lot to me so i'll do what i can
Jen James: i need close to $1,800 here but just let me know how much you can help me with as i have some other people willing to help me here
Debbie : you are in Nigeria, correct? do you have a passport?
Jen James: yes i do
Debbie: what kind of passport do you have?
Jen James: i have Australian passport
Debbie : so you have been here before then! cool.
Jen James: yes
Debbie : it's a lovely country isn't it. i love living here. where have you been in Australia?
Jen James: i lived in Melbourne
Jen James: i have never been out of Melbourne since i came in there many years back
Jen James: lol
Debbie: it's a really big city! loads and loads of people. which suburb did you live in? i've lived in Heidelberg and Doncaster.
Jen James: i lived in Thornsbury
Debbie : oh geez. i don't know that one. is that north or south of the city? is such a big city i used to get lost constantly hahahaha
Jen James: north
Debbie: ok. i might have driven through it and not known
Debbie : when are you able to fly out? so we can try and arrange it for you.
Jen James: i can fly out by this weekend
Jen James: but i will need tobook my flight as soon as possible before i can do that
Debbie : ok. i can organise a ticket for you and have it left at the Australian Embassy for you to collect.
Jen James: i will have to book the flight myself here just because there has been high rate of plane crash here lately
Jen James: and i need to be sure about alot of things before i can book the flight
Debbie : i can get the Australian Embassy to help you out. we can get you here no problems. i will make certain of that.
Jen James: ok thanks
Debbie : can you get to the Australian Embassy with your passport?
Debbie : I can get in contact with them and tell them to expect you
Jen James: am not sure i can make it there
Jen James: am so broke now and apart from that,i dont have much strenght and stamina to dothat now
Jen James: you can just get the money down here and Mr Bolade can help me take care of everything
Debbie : who is Mr Bolade?
Jen James: he is a Lawyer here and he has really helped me
Jen James: he paid up for all my medications and treatment here
Debbie : oh dear, have you been sick?
Jen James: over $2,000
Jen James: yes i had an accident
Debbie : you poor thing! i'm so sorry to hear that
Jen James: and he has promised to help me with anything more
Debbie : are you ok now
Jen James: am a little bit better
Debbie : thank goodness for that
Debbie : it's great that you have someone there looking out for you
Jen James: yes am so glad at least
Debbie : when did you have the accident, can I ask?
Jen James: some few weeks back
Jen James: it was a very serious accident
Debbie : oh dear
Jen James: and my friend Sara died ofit
Debbie : WOW! I'm so sorry to hear that. You must be so sad
Debbie : Were you in hospital for long?
Jen James: yes
Debbie : were you badly injured?
Jen James: yes i think so
Jen James: and now,i cant even remember a lot of things,but with the help of the Doctor and Mr Bolade,i got a little better
Debbie : excellent
Debbie : do you have anyone to look after you?
Jen James: you mean here?
Debbie : yes. are you out of hospital yet?
Jen James: no am still there
Jen James: i have nowhere to go
Debbie : i'm so sorry to hear that.
Debbie : which hospital are you in. i'd really like to send you some flowers to cheer you up
Jen James: Mercyland Hospital
Debbie : OK. Which city is that in? I really have no idea about Nigeria sorry
Jen James: oh ok
Jen James: its in Abekuta,
Debbie : Ok. Do you have the address or should i look it up on the internet?
Jen James: hold and just let me ask here
Jen James: 43 okelewo road,Ake
Jen James: Abeokuta,Ogun state
Jen James: postal code is 110001
Debbie : great thanks.
Debbie : Can i have the phone number if you have it?
Jen James: i dont have that herenow
Debbie : Can you ask them for me? It would be nice to confirm with them that the flowers have arrived, and maybe even talk to you that would be really nice.
Jen James: if you can hold on i can get the Doctors phone number for you
Debbie : just the number for the hospital would be fine. just reception.
Jen James: ok hold and let me get that
Debbie : ok'
Jen James: +234-39-771-445
Debbie : thank you.
Debbie : If you don't mind, how about i get someone from the Australian Embassy to come by and visit you and help you to organise your ticket here. That way we know that you'll be looked after by them and be sure to get you here as quickly as possible.
Jen James: they have really not been there for me when i needed them so i have decided to have anything to do with them
Debbie: I can change that.
Jen James: please
Jen James: ibeg you
Jen James: i dont want to goback to that ok
Debbie : It would be a pleasure to help you. It really would
Jen James: i would so glad
Debbie : OK. I'll contact them in the morning and see what I can organise.
Debbie do you have any family or friends here in Australia that I can contact for you
Jen James: contact who?
Debbie : the Australian Embassy. I'll get someone to come to the hospital and help you get here.
Debbie : it will be ok. they'll help you. i'll make sure of it ok. don't worry
Jen James: alright
Jen James: i just dont feelcomfortable with that'
Debbie : Trust me Jen.
Debbie Please
Jen James: the doctor went to them when i need to do an urgent operation but they never helped
Jen James: thats why i feel its better i take care of things myself
Debbie : I will help you. I promise. You mean a lot to Greg and that's why I will help you.
Debbie : I will contact the Embassy for you and MAKE SURE they help you. I will fight and fight until they do. Don't worry. We'll sort this out for you and everything will be ok.
Jen James: ok
Debbie : I need you to trust me so I can help you.
Debbie: Jen are you still there?
Debbie : Are you ok?
Jen James: yes am here
Jen James: just that am a bit down now
Debbie: It will all be ok
Jen James: i hope so
Jen James: can you do me a favour?
Debbie: sure
Jen James: Mr Boloade James was at the Travelling agency yesterday and he has been trying all his best to get me out of here
Jen James: i dont want him to feel annoyed in anyway
Jen James: can you just contact him and am sure he will take care of everything
Debbie : what is his contact number
Jen James: i dont have his contact number here now but i can get that later but i have his email address
Debbie : give me that but also please get me his number and i'll call him too
Jen James: ok
Jen James: [email protected]
Debbie : ok
Debbie : ok
Jen James: how soon are you going to contact him?
Debbie : I will have to do it tomorrow as it's getting late here and i have to go to work soon.
Jen James: oh ok
Jen James: i understand
BUZZ!!!
Jen James: yes am here
Debbie : sorry
Debbie : i was just reading an email
Jen James: oh k
Debbie: sorry. it will all be ok
Debbie : this has been really hard on Greg. do you know he's been in hospital too
Jen James: yes am so sorry about everything
Debbie : he's a mess. this has really messed him up big time
Debbie : i'm so worried about him
Debbie : and now about you
Debbie do you have your passport there? do you have the passport number? this will be helpful in getting you a ticket as you need that with all international flight bookings
Jen James: i have it with Mr James
Jen James: it is safe with him
Debbie : ok. i need you to get me the number please. a copy would be great too but the number at the very least.
Jen James: ok
Debbie : thanks
Debbie : please email me the number, or even email it to Greg and he can give it to me.
Debbie : he can't help you at the moment because he's so messed up.
Debbie : He's going to lose his house now. that's enough to mess anyone up
Jen James: ohhh
Jen James: am so sorry about everything
Debbie : yeah me too
Debbie: he's worked so hard for 20 years and now he's lost everything
Jen James: am so sorry for everything
Debbie : he doesn't deserve this.
Jen James: [ ZoneAlarm Security alert: Session not encrypted because jenny_james1984 is not protected by IM Security ]
Debbie : he's had it so hard and now he feels that life is not worth living
Debbie : he's the sweetest person on the planet and deserves to be happy
Debbie : he needs something in his life that will make him smile again
Jen James: yes i know
Debbie now he has nothing left to give to his daughter
Debbie : she deserves the world and this is just so sad for her
Debbie : are you there
Jen James: yes just that i have tears all over my eyes right now
Jen James: wish am dead right now
Debbie : that's how Greg feels
Jen James: thats the next thing am thinking of right now
Debbie : that's why he did what he did
Debbie : he's got nothing left and is so desperate
Debbie : i can't handle him being this way, but it is as it is.
Jen James: yes i understand
[ ZoneAlarm Security alert: Session not encrypted because jenny_james1984 is not protected by IM Security ]
Debbie : i will have to go now.
Debbie : it's late and i need to get ready for work
Debbie : i will see what i can organise for you tomorrow.
Jen James: ok
Jen James: thanks so much
Jen James: i appreciate
Debbie : goodnight Jen
Jen James: good night

Any advice please?
Debbie

Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2007 12:19 pm

Do you know where he met "her"? Being able to talk to the lad through the site first would make a rebait a lot easier.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 15 Apr 2007 Posts: 19

Yes, he met her on totallyfreedating.com

Debbie

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 15 Apr 2007 Posts: 19

I need some help from any of you guys that are willing to look at some documents for me.

I have the police report and a letter from the EFCC that my brother was sent in relation to this matter. I want your opinions on them.

I also have 2 pages of contact details that he has for this whole scam. Anyone who can help with this please message me.

Thanks for your support everyone.

Debbie.