fact,fiction, or fraud

[CBumpkin]

Barrister Adeyemo Olanrewaju of Adeyemo and Okeke chambers, representing the late Mr Boluwatife Lawson, a former nobalman of Niger. Who's wife is from London, Mrs Aduke Solafemi Lawson. I am currently communicating with one of her daughters, while they live in Sagamu, ai ogun state, niger.
Yes you guessed it they have asked for personal information and Money to secure the eldest daughters inheritance. There is, as they say 2450 dollars for the processing the renewal and tip some top civil servants, the final being about 450 dollars for my airfare to and for the Federal capital city Abuja and hotel accommodation for about four to five working days. There has been no indication of the amount of the inheritance, only that I would administer the funds for the Lawson family, and of course that upon our marriage become part of the inheritance.
I would like to sate that this is not the first such opportunity that has come my way it is that it is the first to have taken as long as it has for the request. In many ways I am hoping this is not a fairy tale. But as they say an once of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
So what is next?

[Daneel]

Well, sorry, but, of course it is a scam :)

What usually happens when these scammers trick someone into travelling to wherever they are located is not pretty. If you're lucky, they'll simply take whatever money you brought with you and leave you to find your own way home. You could also be subjected to a wash-wash (http://www.fraudwatchers.org/forums/showthread.php?t=730) scam. Sometimes people are kidnapped, tortured and held for ransom, and sometimes they simply disappear. There are many known cases of this. So I wouldn't recommend trying it out "just in case it might be real" :) It is hardly worth risking your life for. And any money sent to them will most likely be gone forever.

I couldn't find anything definite on the names you provided to prove they are scammers. Which doesn't mean much as these criminals use thousands of different identities and change them frequently. If you could post some of their emails with full headers (http://www.fraudwatchers.org/forums/showthread.php?t=585) and their phone numbers, we should be able to find something.

[FW Admin]

I would certainly reiterate what Daneel has said. In these situations, it is good to scrutinise the obvious first, for instance, are they using a free email address (such as yahoo.com, hotmail.com, or any of the other freely available and anonymous webmail services)? Virtually all professional bodies, firms and/or companies have an internet profile by acquiring a domain name for a website, and, just as importantly, for email use. Free email addresses are simply not used.

Secondly, in any situation regarding an inheritance or movement of funds internationally, the legal aspects have to be considered. Law provides that it is illegal to move cash over a certain limit outside national boundaries. It is also very unusual for fees to be paid to a legal professional "up front" in such cases, since the retainers and legal fees would be paid upon completion of the matter to everyone's satsfaction, and upon production of a pro-forma invoice.

Therefore, any such requests or demands fall within the scope of fraud - commonly known as "Advance Fee Fraud". The way this works is that once these alleged fees are paid, then there are more fees, and more costs incurred that have to be paid, and so on, thus sucking the target individual deeper and deeper into the mire of the scam, and making it more difficult to get out.

As Daneel rightly pointed out, any meeting with these criminals is extremely dangerous, and there have unfortunately been many instances of bodily harm and even murder that have resulted from such contact. A "wash-wash" fraud involves showing a large amount of what looks like discoloured currency notes, and the target individual then has to pay for a "special chemical" to remove the stains. Of course, there is just plain coloured paper, and the fraudsters have got away with the victim's money for what is usually no more than some cut paper and cheap washing solution, costing them pennies.

I hope this information has helped in some way to settle your doubts; there are of course, many avenues of personal investigation that can be taken by you. If you have any further questions, we shall be only too happy to answer them for you.