Looks like I'm about to get my first safari - or may not...

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Posted: Sat Aug 10, 2013 12:47 am

Originally I was just aiming for a basic straight-bait, but my lad (from Cote d'Ivoire) opened up with the option of me coming to see him, and I decided to take him up on that offer instead of him acting as a "power of attorney" on my behalf. I expected him to squirm a bit, and encourage me to let him handle the finances, but he jumped right on board with it, and has even agreed to pick me up in Ghana!

Quote:

--From Bait (Francisca Couilibally) to Rev. Balsaq - 2013-Jul-29 1202

My Dear Beloved in Christ,

Greetings to you and your family I am Mrs Francisca Couilibally" A widow to
late Mr Michael Couilibally of Ivory Coast I am 58 years old, my late Husband was a
Director with the Construction Company here before his Sudden Death in this
Country's present political Crisis 2010.

but before his death, he Deposited the Sum of $5,Million US dollars
with one of the Bank here in Ivory Coast with my name and i am suffering
from pancreatic cancer My condition is really bad and it is quite obvious that I
won?t live more than two months according to my doctor and i have no Child who
is going to take care of this Huge amount of Money I am willing to donate the
sum of $5,Million US dollars for you to help widows and the less privileged
ones in the rural and urban areas and to carry out charity works in your
Country and around the World on my Behalf.

Waiting for your Urgent Responds.

Remain blessed in the name of the Lord.

Yours in Christ.

Mrs Francisca Couilibally.

- Original email, gathered from the "Surplus 419 Scam Letters" forum
- IP address shows it is from Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire

Quote:

--From me (Rev. Balsaq) to Bait (Mrs. Couilibally) - 2013-Aug-05 0009

Greetings Mrs. Couilibally

Let me begin by saying how sad I am to hear of your illness, my congregation and I will certainly pray for you. I can not begin to say how much your donation of $5 Million will benefit our church. This church (The Church of the Persecuted Righteous) is dedicated to helping AIDs victims across the continent of Africa. Your donation will help to buy medications for the unfortunate sick, to build additional clinics and churches across Africa, and to help feed and house their children and families.

A donation of this magnitude is the answer to all our prayers for funding. God bless you Mrs Couilibally, you are as an angel sent from God!

Your brother in God,
Rev. Ilick Balsaq
Treasurer
Church of the Persecuted Righteous

- I've always liked this modality. Nothing shows how despicable these scammers are by making it clear that they will be taking away from those who are trying to help the most unfortunate people on their own continent, and in their own countries. I also figured it would help create a good excuse for my character to travel to Africa and possibly get a safari out of it, seems it worked out perfectly this time Very Happy

Quote:

--From Bait (Francisca Couilibally) to Rev. Balsaq - 2013-Aug-05 0439

My Dearest in Christ,

Calvary greetings to you in the name of our LORD Jesus Christ. I received your letter with gratitude to God, and I am impressed with your reply. I will want you to reassure me that this fund will be used according to the desire of my late husband as soon as it is transferred to you.

My dear, I know that you were surprise when you received this letter. In fact, it was through the divine direction of the holy spirit of God that i choose you to handle this fund after a week fasting and praying which i underwent for the holy spirit of God to direct me to the right person who can handle this fund with the fear of God, although i saw a lot of names and after praying over these names, i was finally lead to your contact through the divine inspiration of the holy spirit of God which i cannot disobey . With God all things are possible.

I want you to understand that this benevolence is in fulfillment of the desire and decision of my late husband which I am persuaded to actualize. This fund is designated for humanitarian and Charity services with special emphasis.This must be disbursed with every appropriation, accountability and prudence to the glory of God.

I will want you to handle this on your own,since my health can not allow me as I have been placed on medical dialysis check-up periodically. Even I am writing this letter with the assistance of a sister who use to help me. I will want you to send me your full name and address so that I can swear to an affidavit on oath that will officially and legally approved you as the next of kin to this fund,so that even if I am no more, your claim to the fund will not be in doubt. I will be sending you the affidavit of oath and certificate of deposit of this fund including the contact address of the bank where this fund was deposited by my late husband, immediately after the affidavit is ready.

I want you to understand that none of my husband's relatives knows about this because they are muslim and refused to accept Jesus Christ in there lift, and my late husband warned that they should not know any thing about this money. This is why I don't want to donate this to any nearby church or person here because I can not disobey my late beloved husband, not even in death.

Ensure you reply this letter and the needed information immediately so that I will take my final decision.

Thanks and may God bless you all.
Mrs. Francisca Couilibally.

Quote:

--From me (Rev. Balsaq) to Bait (Mrs. Couilibally) - 2013-Aug-05 1226

Dear Mrs. Couilibally,

Truly blessed art thou, you have truly been guided by God to the best place to will your money too. It is sad that your family does not except the Lord Jesus Christ as saviour, but through our work healing AIDS victims across Africa, we also spread the word of God, and hopefully the work of our church and our brothers will one day reach your family, and their souls may still be saved. Here is my address:

Reverend Ilick Balsaq, Treasurer
Church of the Persecuted Righteous
2844 Walker Ave
Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia
B4C 8S3
Canada

- Fake address of course. Walker Ave does exist, but it is all industrial buildings, it also doesn't go up to that number. The postal code, while similar to the area, is totally bogus. I used a real town in this one, but from what I've seen others do, I think I'll use an obviously fake one from now on, just in case they decide to use it themselves.

Quote:

--From Bait (Francisca Couilibally) to Rev. Balsaq - 2013-Aug-06 1821
--"in the huspital.JPG" attached - 3.41KB

Dear llick Balsaq,
I appreciate your sincere mail. I am glad for your response and also your understanding towards my request for your noble assistant.I have gone to the bank and they confirmed that the money is intact but the bank advised me to get a lawyer that will help me in the transfer of the money to your account.I have agreed to your proposal and it is good for me.

I have told my late husband lawyer who will help us in the transfer and i have told him about you as my appointed guardian and he is waiting to hear from you.I will appreciate if you will contact the lawyer who will assist us in getting this money transferred to your account.
Below is the contact of the lawyer; Name: Alexander Diya (Esq)Alex Diya and Associates Abidjan, Ivory Coast Telephone: +225 45 83 67 08 Email: [email protected].

As a matter of fact, the lawyer will direct you accurately on the procedures for the successful transfer to your account. I have attached a copy of the Deposit document issued to my late mother when he deposited this money in the bank. I have also attached my International Passport and Picture for your view.

Go ahead and contact the lawyer to discuss with him on how to get the money transferred to your account. I will be waiting to hear from you to let me know of your progress with the lawyer.

Sincerely,
Mrs Francisca

- I love the "huspital" pic, lol. It's a classic one, and I know the exact same image has been used in other scams.

Quote:

--From me (Rev. Balsaq) to Bait (Mrs. Couilibally) - 2013-Aug-07 0930

Dear Mrs. Couilibally,

I received the picture of you, and I will pray for your good health, but I'm afraid I did not recieve your passport or your the deposit document you sent, would you be able to resend those? I'll also contact the lawyer right away.

I'm just curious, how did you hear about our Church, was it from our mission in Accra in Ghana? It is good to see that word of our work has been spreading throughout Africa.

Your brother in God,
Rev. Ilick Balsaq

- I never did get her or the "lawyer" to send the deposit document or her passport. I was going to insist on it, but getting him to so easily agree for me to meet him in Accra later on, I probably won't worry about it.

Quote:

--From me (Rev. Balsaq) to Bait (Mr. Alexander Diya) - 2013-Aug-07 0939

Dear Mr. Diya,

I have been instructed by Mrs. Francisca Couilibally that you are the individual responsible for the transfer of a donation of a certain sum from Mrs. Couilibally to our church. Can you confirm that this is the correct email, and the sum of money involved?

Thank you,
Rev. Ilick Balsaq
Treasurer
Church of the Persecuted Righteous

Quote:

--From Bait (Mr. Alexander Diya) to Rev. Balsaq - 2013-Aug-07 1437

Hello Rev. Ilick Balsaq,

I have taken note of your email request dated 07/08/2013. As you were told, I am Alexander Diya, the family lawyer of Mrs. Francisca Couilibally. I can confirm that the purpose of your email is in regards to the donation of $5 Million which Mrs. Francisca Couilibally has decided to donate to your church. She intends to make this donation to you because of her deteriorated health condition. She is currently placed under a chemotherapy treatment as she is suffering of Pancreatic Cancer, and would be subjected to surgery soon according to the hospital source.

Sequel to your request, I wish to confirm that you contacted the correct email and the sum of money involed is correct.

You are advise therefore to confirm the nature of service you want my office to take part in this transaction.

Regards

Alexander Diya.

- The part that sucks about this email, is that I can't get an IP address off of it, all I get is a server in the states, so I have no way to confirm that he truly is in Abidjan.

Quote:

--From me (Rev. Balsaq) to Bait (Mr. Alexander Diya) - 2013-Aug-07 1132

Dear Mr. Diya,

I don't understand, what exactly do you wish for me to confirm? We already both established that this is to facilitate the transfer of funds from Mrs. Couilibally to this church.

For all donations to the church, we generally just send our bank account information, and then issue a receipt. Now this is by far the largest single donation we've ever received, was there something special you had in mind?

Rev. Ilick Balsaq
Treasurer
Church of the Persecuted Righteous

Quote:

--From Bait (Mr. Alexander Diya) to Rev. Balsaq - 2013-Aug-07 1521

Hello Rev. Ilick Balsaq,

It is important to let you know that a donation of this kind doesn't require you sending only your bank account information. Your presence might be neededas the beneficiary of the funds, to personally or appoint a legal representative (Power of Attorney) for handling the normal administrative procedures of the bank to execute transferring of the funds to your custody. This is why i asked you to confirm the exact service you want from my chamber concerning this transaction. So, it is up to you to make a choice of either coming here in person to deal with the bank's procedures or appoint me under a power of attoney to be your personal representative towards this subject.

As the family lawyer of the Couilibally's, I have approached the bank where the fund in question is being deposited, and from my findings, the actual account holding the funds has been in dormant status since 4 years and will require official activation which will need some fee paid into the account to return the same into active status. Once the account is activated, the bank will subscribed a non-domiciliary account under your name, where the $5 Million will be lodged for onward remittance to your nominated account.

Also, there are some legal documents which this transfer will required in accordance with the regulation of this country to officially declare that the purpose of transferring the funds to you, is purely for charity. A fund of this kind cannot just leave the shore of Africa without being backed with legal documentations. This also requires your presence to handle it or your appointed legal representative will handle the same on your behalf.

Mrs. Couilibally left today for neighbouring country for chemotherapy treatment over her pancreatic cancer. She will be on this therapy for 18 days followed with a surgery after 48 hours upon completion of the chemotherapy. Our thought is always with her as she battles for life there in the hospital.

I wait for your further directive to proceed.

Regards

Alexander Diya.

- Oh there's a fee! lol. I like that he's saying my presence might be needed. I figured that's just part of the script to encourage people to assign him as "power of attoney" kinda like being offered a choice between a "mystery box" and a free boat, but f**k it! I'm going for the mystery box!

Quote:

--From me (Rev. Balsaq) to Bait (Mr. Alexander Diya) - 2013-Aug-08 2044

Dear Mr. Diya,

If my presence is needed, that definitely is possible. As it happens, I'm going to Africa to visit a couple of our missions there, first to South Africa and Botswana, where we do most of our work, and then up to our mission in Accra in Ghana. That would definitely be my preferred option. We can also handle all the documentation there, it's probably better with me in person anyways so there's no doubt that it is going to a charity. We also have a bank account already in Africa, in Botswana, so that should make things a lot easier. I'm sure you know as well as I do, that it is far easier to keep business within Africa then it is to move money from continent to continent.

What kind of fee are we talking about here? As a church and a charity we only have a limited budget as it is, so I hope it isn't anything dramatic.

Which country is Mrs. Couilibally in? If she's in Ghana I would love to go meet her. It definitely would be a pleasure to thank her in person while I'm there. That's of course assuming she's up to it.

Rev. Ilick Balsaq
Treasurer
Church of the Persecuted Righteous

Quote:

--From Bait (Mr. Alexander Diya) to Rev. Balsaq - 2013-Aug-07 0511

Hello Rev. Ilick Balsaq,

Since you are visiting Africa, I presume you will be able to make it to come in person to this country to handle the procedures for transferring the funds yourself. In every movement of funds from one country to the other, there is always their respective regulations procedures to do so as well as from one continient to another.

The fee we are talking about, is just an official activation fee. As you know, a dormant account can't be accessible until activated, so the fee is just to get the account telegraphically activated.

Once the account is active, every other financial requirement will be taken from the account, then the balance will be wired into any account which you will nominate.

Mrs. Couilibally is located in Nigeria where she is currently undergoing a chemotherapy treatment. She left yesterday.

You have to confirm the date of your arriving to this country to meet the bank, so that the bank will send you the official customer's transfer application form which you will fill in all the information reqquired such as banking details to receive the funds and your personal information. The form also will indicate the sum to pay for the account activation. This form has be filled, signed and returned by you to the bank ahead of your arrival with the fees, so that the bank will activate the account and endorse your banking details for onward accreditation and validation in their databank.

Regards

Alexander Diya.

- As I said before, I'm actually quite surprised that he's so willing to do have me come in person. I really expected him to encourage me to just send him the funds, and let him handle it. Now he is saying that he wants the forms and the fee before my arrival, but I'm basically going to just ignore that until it comes up again, and if he does actually send them, I'll have some "scanner issues."

Quote:

--From me (Rev. Balsaq) to Bait (Mr. Alexander Diya) - 2013-Aug-09 1546

Dear Mr. Diya,

Be aware that I will be very busy with services on Sunday, so if there is any forms to fill out before I arrive, we should do that quickly.

I'll be leaving for Johannesburg at 11:45am (Nova Scotian time) from Halifax airport on the 12th of this month, and arriving in Johannesburg at 9:35am local time on the 13th. After that, I'll head up to Botswana, and then I'll be departing for Accra on the 16th, and arriving at Kotoka International Airport that afternoon at 3:15pm. After that, I still need to make arrangements to travel from Accra to Cote d'Ivoire. I of course need to know where in Cote d'Ivoire to go. In that regard, I have a favour to ask of you. Could you come and pick me up from the airport in Accra and drive me into Cote d'Ivoire and to the bank? While I know Ghana fairly well, I know nothing of Cote d'Ivoire, and I speak virtually no French, so I would feel much better having a local that I know and trust guiding me. I have learned from past experiences in Africa to always have somebody who knows the area whenever you go into a new country/place. The church will gladly cover your expense for coming into Ghana and all expenses occurred therein. I am very eager to meet you in person.

I also have been authorized by the church to bring both you and Mrs. Couilibally gifts, as a thank you for all the two of you have done for this church, and for victims of AIDS across Africa. A friend of mine recommended bringing you a suit, and I know a tailor in town who makes the most magnificent hand-crafted suits you have ever seen. What are your dimensions so I can ensure I get one that fits perfectly? And what colour would you like?

Do you have any recommendations on a gift for Mrs. Couilibally? I know she does not have long for this world, and we continue to pray for her, but I feel I must do something to thank her for her generous gift.

Rev. Ilick Balsaq
Treasurer
Church of the Persecuted Righteous

- If there's one thing I do know about doing work in Africa, is that bribes help, bribes ALWAYS help. Just of course, don't call them bribes, never call them bribes, they are "gifts." With that said, I was still figuring he would say no to picking me up, and just give me directions to meeting him. In which case, my character would be kidnapped at the border to Cote d'Ivoire and held for a ransom of a million dollars, and then go from there. I may still go that route, we'll have to see.

Quote:

--From Bait (Mr. Alexander Diya) to Rev. Balsaq - 2013-Aug-07 1744

Hello Rev. Ilick Balsaq,

I will go to the bank tomorrow morning to get the application form which you will have to fill, sign and return the same with the the activation fee which the bank will indicate on the form.

Of course, I will like to come and pick you at the airport in Ghana and then drive you to Coted'Ivoire through the border. All you need do is to stay in touch on phone upon your arrival in South Africa till Ghana.

It is really kind of you to think of bringing gifts to Mrs. Couilibally and I. As she is hospitalized in far away Nigeria, whatever gift you bring in her name, will be kept for her. I appreciate your kindness to offer me suit as gift, thanks, but i will preffer a laptop instead if it's possible. But if not, I will kindly accept whatever you offer to me.

I will go to the bank and pick up the form and send to you tomorrow morning before the bank closes by mid-day, so that you will fill and return it with the fees same day. The bank will have the account activated by Monday and then they will wait for your arrival to complete other procedures pending.

Regards

Alexander Diya.

- Wow, it feels like I didn't even have to try. I honestly didn't think he'd go for it, at least not on the first attempt. I figured if anything I'd have to do some more convincing, tell him I would rent a car so he just has to make his way there by any means, but wow, he went right for it!

Now, here comes hard part for me. How do I confirm that he has travelled from Abidjan to Accra with his email not showing his IP address? Does the k7.net service allow you to see where they are calling from if they leave a message? I have zero interest in actually talking to the guy, it just isn't my style, but I don't mind having a voice mail for him to leave messages on.

Posted: Sat Aug 10, 2013 8:55 am

Lad wrote:

I will go to the bank and pick up the form and send to you tomorrow morning before the bank closes by mid-day, so that you will fill and return it with the fees same day. The bank will have the account activated by Monday and then they will wait for your arrival to complete other procedures pending.

If a scammer agrees to readily to go on a safari the reason is almost always that he have no intention of going at all. Sometimes they outsource the job to a local but in your case it looks like your lad want some cash before he goes.
When you take that away from him his readiness to go and pick you up will likely evaporate rather quickly.

Posted: Sat Aug 10, 2013 10:00 pm

Ya, I'm thinking the same thing now, especially with his latest email. Oh well, at least he's offering to do a bank to bank transfer, so who knows, maybe at least I'll get a piggy out of it.

Quote:

--From Bait (Mr. Alexander Diya) to Rev. Balsaq - 2013-Aug-09 0515

Hello Ilick Balsaq,

You will find attached, the transfer application form which you have to fill, sign and return the same with the sum of $6,450. This fee is the sum which must be deposited into the actual account (DORMANT)holding the sum of $5 Million to return the same into activate status.

You may wish to send the funds via Money Gram or Western through the name of my secretary:

Receiver's name: Agu Clifford
City: Abidjan
Country: Coted'Ivoire

If also you wish to send the fee via bank to bank wire transfer, then confirm, so that i shall provide you a bank account information to do so. You must send the funds today or on Monday. The account must be activated ahead of your arrival.

Alexander Diya.

- Again, asking for the funds before my arrival. I'm highly doubting now he really intends to meet my at the airport. But who knows, if he does leave me hanging, there's always somebody else who can pick me up at the airport Twisted Evil

Quote:

--From me (Rev. Balsaq) to Bait (Mr. Alexander Diya) - 2013-Aug-10 1758

Dear Mr. Diya,

I think you may have made a mistake converting from CFA francs to dollars, according to the amount you stated, that would come to more then 3 million CFA francs, that seems rather high. Please check your conversion rate and re-confirm with me the fee.

As for transferring the fee, we can not do Money Gram or Western Union. Sorry, but we have a policy in our church of avoid using those services while doing business in Africa. It will have to be a bank to bank transfer. Also, why does the account have to be activated before my arrival? If you are worried about time being a factor, while I will be in South Africa and Botswana only a couple of days, I will be in Ghana for several weeks. I assure you we will have plenty of time once I am there.

Speaking of arriving in Accra, I will gladly make your gift a laptop, that is no problem. As for Mrs. Coulibally, many of the sisters in the church have suggested jewellery, and a brother from our mission in Botswana has purchased a beautiful gold necklace that I think she will adore. For when I meet you at the airport, just hold up a sign with my full name it so I can recognize you. In fact, it would be even better if you could send a picture of yourself, with the sign, so I know exactly who I'm looking out for.

And lastly, will I need to rent a car for the two of us to take back to Abidjan? Or will you bring your own car? Renting a car is no problem for us, I've done it before when visiting Ghana, and I already know they will allow us to take it across the border. As I said before, you just need to meet me at the airport, the church will cover all expenses you incur picking me up.

Rev. Ilick Balsaq
Treasurer
Church of the Persecuted Righteous

There's a pretty blatant attempt at a trophy in there, in the past that has backfired on me and the guy dropped off the face of the Earth, we'll see what this guy does.

I was also pretty liberal with offering incentives in this one to encourage him to actually meet me. Hopefully it's not so much he becomes suspicious.

Posted: Sun Aug 11, 2013 2:05 am

Please do not substitute numbers for letters. It is hard on the eyes. Use identical-looking non-Latin letters instead. It is unnoticed by the eyes, but does mess up search engines.

It's better to mangle your character's name and address, and leave those of the lad alone, than vice versa. Someone googling the lad's name may find the thread and realize it's a scam. The only person googling your name is the lad, and if he finds this thread he'll twig.

If this were in Hints and Tips, you wouldn't need to mangle anything.

ETA: I posted the script in Scamwarners, so no need to keep this visible to the public. If you like, you can post further emails and pictures (fakemarked of course) on http://www.scamwarners.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=64112 in case any victims search for them.

Posted: Sun Aug 11, 2013 6:57 am

VX's suggestions re obfuscating your characters name are good. Better that than leeting. Also your bait can be moved behind a log-in in Hints and Tips so that it won't be found by search engines.

Just ask if you want the thread to be moved.

Posted: Sun Aug 11, 2013 3:04 pm

Fair enough, I just got rid of the changes all together, and you're right, the leeting is kinda hard on the eyes.

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