Has Nigerian letter fraud reached Gujarat?

TNN / Jul 18, 2005, 22:04 IST

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AHMEDABAD: The police suspect, this could be a part of the Nigerian letter frauds in which the CBI caught Nigerian nationals.

Has Nigerian letter fraud reached Gujarat?

AHMEDABAD: If you receive an email from a "tragedy-struck" heiress from an African country, who suggests that she could transfer all that money if you mailed her an account number, beware. Mails like these are reaching unsuspecting people in Gujarat and that some may have fallen for the bait.
Similar to the 'Black Dollar scam' busted by the CBI last Thursday in Mumbai, from where two Nigerians were arrested, this could be yet another racket to lure the gullible into parting with their bank account numbers to a swindler.
The first e-mail is claimed to be written by a 22-year old girl who identifies herself as Joy Coulibalythe, from Abidjan in West Africa.
The story that follows claims that she is an orphan who inherited $ 10 million, at the end of which it requests that a bank account be disclosed where the money could be transferred — broad hints of an embezzlement there! But, it will done provided the recipient becomes her guardian and arranges for her to come to the country, in this case, India, for further studies.

And the recipient gets 10 per cent of the total sum, as "compensation for the efforts."
The second letter...
...is attributed to Emmanuel Enyinna who claims to be a banker in a commercial bank in Nigeria. The name of the bank is, however, not mentioned.
Enyinna tells you about one Morgan Hanson and his wife who died childless, in an accident on August 24, 2002, leaving behind a property worth $12,755,889 which needs an heir.

Enyinna offers to make the recipient of the letter the kin after which the former has to forward the full name, address and phone numbers to him. At the end of it, he demands a cut from the total amount.
The police suspect, this could be a part of the Nigerian letter frauds in which the CBI caught Nigerian nationals, Vincent Nicholas Ikumalo and Oluwadamilare Disu alias Andre from Mumbai.
These mails were forwarded to several people in Gujarat, including users in Ahmedabad. "I had got the two mails around July 6. Initially, I was surprised how someone I did not know could attempt such a deal.
I did not respond, suspecting something fishy," said Pranav Jani, a recipient.
Said joint commissioner (crime) PP Pandey, "We have not come across any instance of cheating through such e-mails."
"We can trace the source of such e-mails if a complaint is registered," said Ashish Bhatia, additional commissioner of police (Sector 2).

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