Law firm out $2.1 million in African fraud (this you gotta read)

Detroit Free Press ^ | September 21, 2002 | DAVID ASHENFELTER

[Liz]

He said he was an official with the Ministry of Mining in Pretoria, South Africa.

And he offered to pay a $4.5-million fee to a 59-year-old Rochester Hills woman if she would help him transfer $18 million from South Africa to a bank account in the United States.

[Liz]

Can you believe people atr still falling for the Nigerian-type scam? This woman cleaned out the law firm's client accounts and nobody noticed? The bank approved wire transfers to foreign accounts though she was not authorized to make such transfers? Just unbelievable how gullible these people were.

[Joe Bonforte]

Can you believe people atr still falling for the Nigerian-type scam?

Well, somebody is falling for it, or the Nigerians would stop sending the faxes and emails. I get one every two or three months, and I've heard of folks who get several a week.

[gcruse]

I think it is inexcusably arrogant to refer to people as sheeple, but this woman...

[FR_addict]

When I got one of these letters, I tried to get the post office to do something about it, but they wouldn't follow up.

It seems to me like they could set up a sting operation on these guys.

Anyway I hope this story gets some publicity. There are probably a few gullible people out there that are using their own money in hopes of striking it rich.

[July 4th]

He said a manager at a Southfield branch, whom Poet befriended, approved all of the wire transfers even though Poet was not authorized at the bank to make such transfers.

Hmmm...it sounds like the law firm might not be out $2.1 million for too long...

[Glenn]

Can you believe people atr still falling for the Nigerian-type scam?

If we truly had a government that worked, we'd have invaded Nigeria a long time ago. They have more scams going than the sky has stars.

To amuse myself these days, I go shopping for big ticket items on eBay. There are hundreds upon hundreds of Western Union frauds going on over there. Easy to spot. No feedback. Low price. Shoot an email and they tell you all about how protected you are by Western Union.

It would be child's play for the FBI to stop this stuff in its tracks but they aren't going to do a thing. Pissing off foreign governments by cutting off a supply of fool's money isn't acceptable, apparently. Oh, well. Better the government concentrate on more important issues like pretending to look for illegal aliens and busting dope smokers.

[Liz]

I got an email few months ago from one of the Nigerian scammers. Figured nobody in law enforcement was likely to do anything about it.

[Liz]

Oh, well. Better the government concentrate on more important issues like pretending to look for illegal aliens and busting dope smokers.

......and trying to find out what happened pre-9/11.

[Liz]

Law firm's already confirmed they would sue Bank One.

[PackerBoy]

Prediction (write this down): The Bank will settle (confidentially) with the Law Firm. Bank One has a lot of money, and a lot more exposure.

I had a case like this a few years ago and, after some kicking and screaming, the Bank coughed up lots of money. Banks usually dislike bad PR about their lack of good judgment in managing corporate accounts. And just about every business knows that some form of embezzlement is always possible, if only their bank looks the other way or is asleep at the switch.

[Liz]

The scammers are very clever.....and know human weakness. Dangling $4M in front of people makes them do odd things. The woman probably saw it as her ship finally coming in. She certainly wasn't a serial thief.

[Cicero]

I love those names. Ann Marie Poet and Mary Kay Bean.

[Liz]

I attribute it to the failure of the educational system. We need to develop critical thinking skills instead of brainwashing students with liberal socially engineered pap now rampant in public schools K-12, and higher ed.

[tjg]

What is a western union fraud?

[Glenn]

What is a western union fraud?

The most popular one is to have you send money via Western Union to yourself at their address. You give them the control number you receive from WU so they can check to see if the money has been posted and send your package out. After you have received your package, you call WU and change the wire to their name. They assure you they cannot access the funds until you do. Your package will never arrive, of course. They've used the control number to fetch your money the moment you sent it to them. WU takes no responsiblity, by the way. Search for "western union fraud" on google.com. Fun reading when you have nothing better to do.

[txzman]

Anyone wanna bet she's a registered.........Democrat? LOL!

[Old Professer]

What is a western union fraud?

The Hollywood Actors Guild?

[DoctorMichael]

Go here:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/752202/posts

[gcruse]

If we truly had a government that worked, we'd have invaded Nigeria a long time ago.

Heh.  Is this what pre-emptive couch-potato soldiering leads to?

[gcruse]

She certainly wasn't a serial thief.

Yet she was the first one to rat out
fellow employees, bless her heart.