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Blessed Ben Appeal For Help. It is my pleasure to write you after going through your profile considering that I have not seen you face to face but it made me believe that you can help me solve our problem. I am Mr blessed ben from SIERRA LEONE. I am writing from Rep of Cote d'Ivoire where we have been taking refuge after the brutal war and murder of my perants by the rebels during the renewed fighting in our country. Because of the war my late Father sold his shipping company and took me to a nearby country Cote d'Ivoire to make a deposit of a METALLIC TRUNK BOX which contains the sum of US $ 14.3 million and the deposit was made on our name as his only son Due to the courrent political sutuation in Ivory Coast I am seeking for your assistance to transfer this found and also relocate to your country to further my studies and I am willing to offer you 15% of the total sum for your help. i await anxiously to hear from you so that we will discuss the modalities of this transaction and please treat this matter with confidentcial because of the safety of my life and the money Please contact me on my e-mail addresse blessed.ben@laposte.net for more details. Best Regards blessed ben So I opened an email account, called myself Alex Wale, and wrote to the man. Alex Wale To Ben 24 th Feb Dear Blessed, I was sorry to hear of your plight, you certainly seem to be having a hard time. If you think I can help, please send me some details of what I'll have to do Yours Alex I kept checking for a week or so, then forgot about it for a while, and then the next time I looked, there was a reply..... Blessed Ben March 13th Dear Alex Wale, First, i must thank you for appreciating my plight and for your willingnes to assist me retrieve the only sustainable legacy i can say was left for me by my late father. I am however sorry about the slight delay in replying to your mail.Reason is simply that i have been holding series of meetings with the Director of the Security company where the deosit was made ,in order to ascertain all that is required of us by the comlpany before they can release the consignment to me. Meanwhile, i have been able to gather a list of all the requisite documents that will empower you to come into the transaction as a bonafide business associate of my late father and my appointed TRUSTEE. This is because my father stated in the Depsit Agreement Certificate that untill i am of age, i.e after i have rounded up my Master's/doctorate degree programms or i am able to present a capable and reliable trustee who will help to ensure that the fund is used to establish a viable manufacturing enterprise under the strict guidance of the said trustee,would the fund be released into the account of the trustee to enable you oversee the account so it won't be used for mundane pursuite, as he put it. The documents are:(a) A NOTARISED MEMORANDUM OF UNDERTANDING stating categorically, the relationship between you and i as regards this deposit. (b)A SWORN AFFIDAVIT TO BE REGISTERED(notarised) at the PUBLIC NOTARY'S OFFICE OF THE SUPREME COURT OF COUNTRY OF ORIGIN OF THE FUND. (c) DATAPAGE OF YOUR INTERNATIONAL PASSPORT,4 passport photograph of yours and thumprint,address and phone numbers to enable them conduct a preliminary investigation of your person within 72 hours before they can release the consignment to us. The director gave me every word of assurance that as soon as we are able to present those documents,the consignment will be released to me in less than 48 hours after we offset the small accumulated demurrage fee which the deposit has incured since last year when i paid the last fee with the hope of withdrawing the deposit before the director showed me the TRUSTEE clause attached to the consignment as a condition of release. This is the major reason why i had to stop every other move to retrieve it untill i got your highly impressive profile which gave me confidence to contact you in the first place,hoping that you will not take advantage of my naivity in international transactions of this nature, to betray this rare trust i am about to confide on you. Please do not hesitate to contact me on +22508431118 so i can verbally explain any part of this message that you do not understand. Hoping to hear from you as soo as it suits your convenience. Best Regards, From Blessed Ben. This was here for about a week before I saw it, hope it's not too late. Alex Wale To Ben March 21st Dear Ben, Sorry I've not replied sooner, I've not been near my email as I was away last week and busy yesterday catching up with the business. I own and run a small shop, which hires "Fancy Dress" for people who wish to dress up for parties and suchlike. Business is good, but I don't make enough to provide me with a decent pension for when I'll have to finally retire, which is why I taken with your original e-mail. It sounds from your last message that you were in quite a hurry, all the timescales were in hours. Is it too late to progress now? Yours Alex Blessed Ben 22 March Dear Alex, I received your last mail and wish to correct certain impression my hourly time scale might have created in you. The 72 and 48 hours i mentioned in my last mail takes effect from the moment we provide the requisite documents and the small demurrage incured by the deposit at the security company. Therefore i do not think that it is too late for us to make progress in this transaction because ,having opened up my secrets concerning my inheritance to you,it will be fool- hardy on my side to hastily contact another person for the same transaction when i have not heard from you. Besides i have already informed the operations director of the security company that i have been able to find a trustworthy person among my late father's team of associates who will act as my trustee and that very soon we will be getting in touch with them to withdraw the deposit. So there is no way i could have gone ahead to present a different person woth a different name when he,the director already has your name. Meanwhile, let me know when you will be coming down to Abidjan so we can jointly seek for an attorney who will procure those documents that will convince the director that you and i are in union in this transaction and that i have been able to fulfill the condition of release which my late father stated in the deposit agreement certificate before they can release the consignment to us. You must at this point remember that the security company has no idea whatsoever, that the consignment contains physical cash;but a mere artefacts and family treasure ,for obvious security reasons. So all we have to do now that i have heard from you at last,is to send me the data page of your International passport, your telephone number,home/business addresses and your passport photograph so that i will have more confidence in you to release the photocopy of the Deposit Agreement Certificate to you so you can take this transaction with the seriousness it truely deserves,before i forward them to the security company. We may need to invest the fund into large-scale importation of the FANCY DRESSES for distribution into other African Countries,if you gave me a strong word of convictiuon that you are making maginal annual profit from merely hiring it out.That means that if we should go into direct importation we will make even more pofit. Above all, i want to be sure that you are trustworthy as i believe you are, because why i am reposing all this confidence in you, is simply to make sure that when this consignment is withdrawn,you will not betray all that confidence so that our union will extend to our unborn children. Again there is every need to hasten up because of the crisis in this country, Ivory Coast so that you can have enough time to prepare a letter of invitation that will faciltate my immigrant visa application at your local embassy here in Africa,before the next general elections here. Please call me today- today on ,+22508431118 so that we can rub minds together and plan our strategies. Best regards and remain blessed and prayerful in the Lord.. Blessed Ben Alex Wale Dear Ben, (23rd March) Thankyou for your last reply. I've just looked in my atlas and found Abijan, it looks a long way! I've never been out of the country before except when I went to France once on a school day trip to Calais. We were on a ferry and I was sick all over Micheal Aspel, but he had it coming, he'd stolen my comic. That trip was on a 'school passport', and I've never had one of my own. I've had a look at the passport website, and it's going to take a few weeks to get one. Besides that, I don't think I really want to travel to Sierre Leone, and I can't leave the business at the moment. The "Rocky Horror Picture Show" is doing a season in the nearby city of Nottingham, and this means there's going to be a run on the costumes. Speaking of costumes, do you really think that I could hire fancy dress to people in Africa? I wouldn't think that there could be much profit in it, the carriage both ways would be prohibitive surely? I don't actually make the costumes, I just buy them in and hire them out, so export as an option is unlikely. Do you like Fancy Dress by the way? By coincidence I have a regular customer called Mr. Ben, he often comes in to try things on. He never takes them out of the shop though, just goes in the backroom with his costume. Nice chap, but I wish he'd actually hire something once in a while. Anyway, enough of this chit-chat. You've asked me to telephone, and thats going to be a problem. You see, I've no use for a telephone and don't have one as I'm completely deaf. I'm what they used to call "deaf and dumb", which is not a term I like to use, because I'm not dumb at all, quite smart actually if I say so myself. Though I can "speak", I prefer not to, having been told it sounds like Chewbacca with a cold (Chewbacca is "Wookie", as in the Star Wars films).My whole contact with the outside world is via the internet, and what a godsend it is, it allows me to communicate with other people directly on equal terms and the fact I can't hear isn't a problem. You've asked me for a photo, I'll see if I can get to the library in the town to use their scanner and send you a copy of my driving license. Yours Alex Scammers always want you to phone them because there are quite a few people who like to bait them these days, hence the feigned deafness. Alex Wale Dear Ben, (29th March) I'm so sorry this has taken so long, but here is a copy of my driving license. I've had a lot of trouble trying to get it scanned. First I went to the local library, hoping to use their scanner and Internet connection, but they had a problem with a virus and had closed the IT section. Then I thought, "It's about time I had a scanner", and so went and bought one. I put this onto my PC and then all hell broke loose, I did something wrong and my PC hung up. I think I must have loaded a corupt driver or something, and I had to take it to be fix at a local shop. I managed to get it back on Tuesday, and then I've had problems trying to re-establish my Internet connection. You've no idea how difficult it is to get repair shops to sort out things like computers when you can only communicate by writing everything down! Anyway, sorry again for the delay. So, what's next? You said you wanted some sort of letter to send to the Embassy, what do you want in this letter? I've never had any experience of these sorts of things, perhaps it would be better if you sent me something I could sign or copy. Yours truly, Alex Attached a fake driving license. Blessed Ben DEAR ALEX, (29th March) I just finished reading your mail and feel i must write you immediately to correct what i feel you did not understand very well from my last mail concerning the documents, i.e MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING AND THE AFFIDAVIT which the Security Company requested from you that will enable them know OFFICIALLY that you and i have reached an understanding and that you are willing to be my TRUSTEE as was stated in the Deposit Agreement Certificate and my late father's WILL, as a condition of release, so that you as the trustee, would help to ensure that the money in the consignment is used to establish a viable investment in your country ,and not to be misused by me alone in frivolous spending in school. The AFFIDAVIT is a legal document which should state that you and i are about to enter into a serious business relationship and the percentage of the total money you shall receive from the total amount in the consignment when released from the security company.It will also bind the two of us to respect the terms of co-operation agreed upon by both parties becfore it becomes LEGAL FINANCIAL DOCUMENT TENABLE AT ANY LAW COURT IN THE WORLD IN CASE EITHER OF THE TWO PARTIES DISHONOURS THE TERMS ALREADY AGREED UPON AND SIGNED AS WELL AS REGISTERED. Another area i feel you did not understand very well is that the documents to be procured has nothing to do with your EMBASSY,but rather it is a LAWYER who will draft and register the AFFIDAVIT & MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING(AGREEMENT BETWEEN YOU AND I) not your embassy. Your embassy will only come in after i have witrhdrawn the consignment and money from the security company and only then will i need a kind of LETTER OF INVITATION from you to facilitate my visa application at your local embassy here. It is the LAWYER also who needs the £1.800 .00 as his CONSULTATION/SERVICE CHARGE for Procuring and Notarising the two documents at the NOTARY'S PUBLIC OFFICE OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE COUNTRY OF ORIGIN OF THE FUND, i.e IVORY COAST, SO THAT YOU WILL NOT HAVE ANY PROBLEM EXPLAINING THE SOURCE OF THE FUND TO YOUR LOCAL AUTHORITIES WHEN REMITTED INTO YOUR ACCOUNT OVER THERE AFTER WITHDRAWAL,i.e;before the security company can be convinced that i have truely found a TRUSTEE with whom i will team up to run the investment in your country. This is the condition my father stated in his will and agreement certificate as a condition of release to me because of my minor status, i pray you understand this aspect very well because it is for this condition that i contacted you for assistance in the first place. Meanwhile i have seen the Driving Licence you sent,but did not see your physical home/business addresses that will enable the LAWYER to draft the AGREEMENT BETWEEN US AND THE AFFIDAVIT THAT WILL LEGITIMIZE THE TRANSACTION AND EMPOWER THE SECURITY COMPANY TO RELEASE THE CONSIGNMENT TO ME BEFORE I TRANSFER THE MONEY IN THE BOX INTO YOUR ACCOUNT WHICH YOU WILL SEND TO ME AS SOON AS I WITHDRAW THE CONSIGNMENT FROM THE COMPANY. Therefore it will be in our best of interest if you could send me the £1.800.00 POUNDS STERLING BEFORE THE END OF THIS WEEK SO THAT I WILL GIVE IT TO THE LAWYER TO START PROCURING THE DOCUMENTS NEEDED AND TO REGISTER THEM AT THE APPROPRIATE QUARTERS WITHIN FIVE WORKING DAYS WHICH HE TOLD ME IT WILL TAKE BEFORE THEY ARE READY. IF THEY ARE NOT REGISTERED OR NOTARIZED, the Security Company may not honour my application to withdraw and remit the money into your account for the proposed joint -venture business between you and I. I shall send you a copy of the AGREEMENT(memorandum of understanding b/w us) to sign and return to me for onward submition to the security company,as they requested,as soon as the ATTORNEY FINISHES DRAFTING IT. You must remember that it is not a mere LETTER to be simply written by either you or I as you put it in your last mail,but a strong worded FINANCIAL INSTRUMENT that requires the attention of a qualified LEGAL PRACTITIONER before it can be authenticated and honoured at the security company. So let me know how soon you can send the money because time is no longer on our side,remember:::::A STITCH IN TIME SAVES NINE. TEXT ME ON +225084531118 AS SOON AS YOU SEND IT SO I CAN TAKE IT IMMEDIATELY TO THE LAWYER WHO WILL PREPARE AND REGISTER THE DOCUMENTS. I HOPE TO HEAR FROM YUO LATER IN THE DAY. REMAIN BLESSED AND MORE PRAYERFUL IN THE LORD,FOR PRAYER IS THE MASTER KEY THAT UNLOCKS THE GATE OF HEAVEN TO THOSE WHO BELIEVE. FROM BLESSED BENARD. Alex Wale Dear Ben, (March 29th ) My, this is all very complicated. I must say that you seem a clever chap, still at school and yet au fait with a tremendous amount of legal complexities, are you studying law by any chance? Now, talking of 'The Law', are you sure that you're not being ripped off here (or 'there' I should say). £1800 is lot of money for a lawyer to write a couple of letters. I know that you are very with it in some respects, but you must understand that these lawyers do this all the time. All they have to do is fill in a few blank spaces on a previously prepared letter, and while I realise that you pay for their expertise, I don't think that you should be personally paying their mortgage for about an hours work. I know a very good lawyer here who could whip up these documents in no time and probably only charge me about £80! As you say, the documents have to legally recognisable anywhere in the world, so why can't they be drawn up in the UK? Also, I don't know how I'm supposed to get that sort of money from readily. I only have what is saved up in my account to pay this years VAT bill of £2015 which is due shortly. By the way, you said that you don't have my address. It's true that my business address does not appear on my drivers license, but my home address is there. Yours Alex Blessed Ben Dear Alex, (March 30th ) Even though LAW is not my major in the University,but as a student of International Relations which is,i know a few rudiments of legal norms and ethics at least in this part of the world. I have no iota of doubt in my mind or reason to believe that iam being ripped off by the Lawyer i consulted to draft the documents. You seem not to appreciate the weight of those documents and understand that they are not a mere "couple of letters"as you put it,but financial instrument that is meant to cement our business relationship as well as legitimise the transaction by registering them at the appropriate quarters. If it were a mere letter, there wont be any need to register them in the first place,for i myself could have written it and forwarded to you to sign and send back to me without involving any Lawyer in the first instance. Besides,in my mails to you i told you already that such a financial document can not be honored both by the Security Company and the judiciary(in case either of the two parties to it falters)without being registered in the Public Notary's Office of the Supreme Court of the COUNTRY OF ORIGIN OF THE FUND. This is the only clause that makes it unacceptable for us to have your friend in the U.K to draft the documents because he may not be able to come down here to register them at the Supreme Court, because if he is a bonafide member of the U.K BAR ASSOCIATION and is recognised over there as such,the same can not be said of him in the BAR ASSOCIATION OF THIS COUNTRY and so may not understand the intricacies of this country's legal system considering the fact that this even a FRENCH country with a pattern that is perhaps, a far-cry from what he is used to as the norms and obtainable in the UK. What i think might have influenced the bill(£1.800.00) the LAWYER qouted is; perhaps due to the fact that you said you can not make it to Africa at this time, added to the bulk of service your absence is going to make him render to us ,as he has to ,like i told you in my mail,HOLD FORTE FOR YOU at the SecurIty Company;in other words, he must be seen physically by the DIRECTOR as standing for his client, i.e you as my TRUSTEE because of the condition of release given to the security company by my late father. The presence of the Trustee would convince the director that ,with my TRUSTEE, my chances of putting this money to frivolous use will be so drastically reduced that any cheque i want to draw from the account when released to you must be approved by YOU the said TRUSTEE before it can be honoured . Another area i think must have influenced that "high" bill is the implication of being pysically present at the SECURITY COMPANY next week, when we have scheduled the withdrawal of the consignment ,and that the small DEMURRAGE which the consignment has incured so far will as well be settled by the ATTORNEY on your behalf and from that same BILL(£1.800.00).So if you deduct the cost of REGISTERING or NOTARISING the documents and what he has to pay as DEMURRAGE to the company to effect the release,as well as conducting the OATH- SWEARING EXCERCISE AT THE SUPREME COURT on my behalf stating that you are my appointed TRUSTEE(not counting his ETHICALLY MANDATORY CONSULTATION FEES) you will then agree with me that he might have charged much less than the £80.00 you said it could cost overthere to simply DRAFT THE DOCUMENTS.Listen carefully my good friend, I am a very careful and articulate young man when it comes to anything money and so did extensive arithmetics on my own before i accepted to pay so much for all that services. I DO NOT THINK HE IS REAPING US OFF IN ANY MANNER. It is only as a result of your inability to come down that created room for the Attorney if not it wil not have cost us nothing more than the small demurrage incured before we withdraw the consignment. for your presence alone is what the securty company director needs to see to be empowered to release the consignment to me, as was stated in the condition of release , because of fear i might not be able to control(as a minor i am) the huge amount he concealed in the consignment at the time of deposit. REMEMBER THAT THE SECURTY COMPANY SO FAR, HAS NO IDEA WHATSOEVER THAT THE CONSIGNMENT CONTAINS PHYSICAL CASH AMONG THE "VALUABLES" as was declared by my late father. ONLY YOU AND I KNOW ALL THAT. SO YOU MUST PROMISE ME OF UTMOST SECRECY IN THIS ASPECT, UNTILL WE WITHDRAW IT NEXT WEEK AND I START REMITTING IT INSTALMENTALLY INTO YOUR ACCOUNT. Concerning the VAT BILL you mentioned in your last mail,if it will not be too late to pay it next month,then what i think what we should do now is simply use that sum already in your account to offset the LAWYER'S BILL FIRST SO THAT BY NEXT WEEK WHEN WE WITHDRAW THE CONSIGNMENT, the first money i will send to you will be enough to even buy a home for me in advance and have enough to put back into your account for your VAT BILL. You may find this a little difficult to believe because you are not here with me and you do not see what i see ,but if only you can make it down here next week,both of us will visit the security company : only then can you see things clearly with your own eyes and not from my spectacle ,as is the case right now. At one point before i contacted you ,i was almost tempted to reach a compromise with the lawyer to assist me procure all the documents and pay the demurrage after withdrawal i pay him with 100%interest on the original bill which i am sure he would have jumped at,but after deep consideration of the impact of going contrary to my late father's advice while on his sick bed, that for no reason whatsoever should i reveal to any one that the consignment contains cash except my trustee, because of fear that my life and securty might be seriously compromised or jeopardised. So i reasoned that if iam forced by circumstances to enter such an agreement with him or any one around here, the person may insist on seeing the contents of the consignment when released. So my friend, if you really want to help me and help yourself this is the only time or way you can do that because you know iam not a citizen of this country and as such had paid my hotel bill up till next weekend when i had scheduled to round up this withdrawal process and have access to my inheritance. I can not afford to stay in this hotel if by next weekend iam yet to withdraw that consignment from the security company.Please do anything possible to see that you send the money today so i can forward it to the LAWYER to enable him procure all the requisite documents and REGISTER them ,before presenting them to the DIRECTOR. IF YOU CONSIDER HOW MUCH OF YOUR TIME AND MONEY IT WOULD HAVE COST YOU TO COME DOWN HERE YOU WILL ALSO AGREE WITH ME THAT IT IS SAFER AND MORE CONVENIENT FOR US TO SIMPLY PAY THE LAWYER AT ONCE TO DO EVERYTHING ON YOUR BEHALF. PLS. DO REMEMBER TO SEND YOUR BUSINESS ADDRESS ALONGSIDE THE MONEY BECAUSE IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO PREPARE THE DOCUMENTS. YOU CAN SEND THE MONEY BY western union AND DIRECTLY IN THE NAME OF THE LAWYER: ANTOINE G. KONAN AND TEXT ME THE CONTROL NUMBER ON THE MOBILE PHONE NO. I GAVE YOU YESTERDAY:+22508431118 . I HOPE TO HEAR FROM YOU LATER IN THE DAY. REMAIN BLESSED AND MORE PRAYERFUL IN THE LORD BLESSED BEN Alex Wale Dear Ben, (March 30th ) Very well, it seems from your reply that we can't use a lawyer in the UK, which is a shame as it would have saved me a lot of money. I'm really worried about the VAT bill that I'll have to pay soon, are you sure that this money will be around in time? It would be a shame to loose my business that I've worked so hard to build up over the years. I know that the returns are huge, but I like my little shop, and even if I no longer needed it's income, I'd be sad to see it go. I have a regular customer base, the girls from next door often come in to borrow things and of course your namesake Mr Ben pops in twice a week usually. He was in today as a matter of fact, he tried on the pirate costume. He was in the changing room for about an hour, god knows what he does in there, but he came out later smiling and gave me the costume back, put on his bowler hat and left. One of these days I'll have to ask him to pay, or at least find out what he does, but he's such a nice friendly chap that I haven't the heart. So, how am I supposed to get this money to you? I suppose it will have to be a cheque? Which brings to mind something that's been bothering me slightly, well, quite a lot actually; I know nothing much about you apart from your name. Call me old fashioned, but I won't be sending any money to what amounts to a complete stranger in a foreign country. I'll need to know a few details about you first, where you live, where you study that sort of thing, ok? You've also asked me to 'text' you. I thought at first you meant email, but then I realised you were talking about a mobile phone. Now it is you that doesn't read emails properly! What would a deaf person do with a mobile phone? I told you before, I don't own one and have no intention of ever doing so. I can't hear it, nor would I be able to even hear it ring. I thought at first you were making fun of me but I realise now that it must have been a mistake so I forgive you. Must go now, its time to shut the shop. Yours Alex Blessed Ben Dear Alex, (March 31st ) I am really sorry if you misunderstood me as making fun of your physical challenges. I know that you are quite human enough to have forgiven me even before hearing from me,but i feel every moral onligation to still pray you do truely forgive me with all your heart. I never meant to make fun of you ,far from it. Of course, we can not use a UK lawyer for the obvious reasons i had communicated to you already and i believe that you quite understood the key points made to that effect. I however feel deeply touched by the temporary inconvenience that could cause you concerning the VAT you must pay to keep your business running till i gain access to my inheritance and only then be in a position to wire ,first and foremost ,that basic sum you are going to send for those two documents and so on. I understand how uncertain it could appear to your as regards how soon i am going to be through with the Security company to be able to send you this sum immediately its withdrawn. All i have to tell you as regards that is (1) IF I AM NOT COCK-SURE OF RAISING THAT MONEY FROM THE CONSIGNMENT AND SEND SOME OF IT TO YOU FIRST I CAN NOT GO AHEAD TO ENCOURAGE YOU TO PUT IN WHAT LITTLE MONEY YOU HAD MANAGED TO SAVE UP TO BE ABLE TO PAY YOUR VAT.(2)IF I SHOULD GO AHEAD AND ENCOURAGE YOU TO DO THAT WHEN I AM MAKING PLANS TO EXPAND AND CONTINUE WITH THAT YOUR SAME LINE OF BUSINESS,WHAT DO I STAND TO GAIN IF AT THE END YOU HAVE LOST THE SHOP (DUE TO YOUR INABILITY TO PAY YOUR VAT) FROM WHERE I HOPE WE COULD START FROM ,THE MOMENT I COME OVER; WHAT BENEFIT THEN WOULD I HAVE IN ALL THAT.(3) I HAD A HARD TIME STRUGLING WITH MY CONSCIENCE FOR MAKIING YOU PART WITH THAT SUM ,EVEN WHEN I AM CONVINCED THAT AS SOON AS WE GET THE DOCUMENTS,THEY WILL RELEASE MY MONEY TO ME, WHAT ON EARTH WILL THEN MAKE ME NOT TO SEND YOU IMMEDIATELY WHAT MONEY I KNOW IS NECESSARY TO KEEP YOUR SHOP GOING UNTILL I ARRIVE WITH THE WHOLE FUND AND SOME OF THE OTHER VALUABLES IN THE CONSIGNMENT WHICH FOR NOW,I KNOW YOU DO NOT KNOW HAS GEM STONES IN IT.THIS ALONE,IF SENT TO YOU FIRST OF ALL,BY DHL BULK COURIER SERVICE WOULD GIVE YOU MORE THAN YOU NEED TO PAY THE VAT. I BLAME ONLY MY FATHER FOR ATTACHING ALL THAT RELEASE COPNDITION TO THE ONLY SUSTAINABLE LEGACY I CAN SAY HE LEFT BEHIND FOR ME (4) IN AS MUCH AS I UNDERSTAND HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT SENDING MONEY TO SOME ONE YOU NEVER KNEW FROM ADAMS,I AM NOT HAPPY THAT YOU STILL CONSIDER ME A STRANGER AFTER ALL I HAVE REVEALED ABOUT MY FAMILY SECRETS TO YOU WHOM I TOO COULD HAVE WITHHELD SUCH INFORMATION FROM . I THOUGHT WE ARE TOGETHER AS PARTNERS WHO ARE YET TO MEET,BUT HAVE MAXIMUM TRUST IN EACH OTHER. I WAS SO TOUCHED BY THAT ASPECT OF YOUR MAIL,THAT IF I HAD A CHOICE WOULD HAVE TAKEN IT INSTEAD OF DEPENDING ON ANY ONE AT ALL TO HELP ME PAY SO LITTLE AND MORTGAGE MY CONTROL OVER MY INHERITANCE FOR AS LONG IT TAKES TO ROUND UP MY DEGREE PROGRAMMES IN THE UK. I BELIEVE THAT I AM THE ONE WHO HAS MORE AT STAKE IN INVESTING MY TRUST IN YOU. I QUITE APPRECIATE YOUR FRANKNESS IN SHARING YOUR THOUGHT LINE WITH ME , BUT STILL I THINK IT WOULD HAVE MORE SUBTLE IF YOU HAD SIMPLY ASKED FOR ALL THAT DATA WITHOUT REMINDING ME THAT I AM ENTRUSTING SO MUCH TO A STRANGER. IN A NUTSHELL, THE LAWYER SAYS IT TAKES MAXIMUM OF FIVE WORKING DAYS TO GO THROUGH THE REGISTERATION PROCESS AT THE SUPREME COURT,THAT MEANS THAT IF BY TOMORROW I AM ABLE TO RECEIVE THAT AMOUNT,BY MONDAY UPPER WEEK THE DOCUMENTS ARE ALREADY IN MY WITHDRAWAL APPLICATION FILE AT THE SECURITY COMPANY;BEFORE THE END OF THAT UPPER WEEK I WOULD HAVE DEFINITELY WITHDRAWN THE CONSIGNMENT AND THEN BE ABLE TO WIRE YOU THE MONEY FOR YOUR VAT AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, TO ENROL IN ANY UNIVERSITY ON MY BEHALF,AS IAM MADE TO UNDERSTAND THAT ENROLLING FIRST AND PAYING THE PRELIMINARY TUITIONS WILL MAJKE IT VERY DIFFICULT FOR YOUR EMBASSY TO REFUSE ME ENTRY VISA TO UK. AFTER I HAVE MY RECEIPT OF THE TUITIONS TO SHOW THEM. LIKE I TOLD YOU IN MY MAIL IAM A SIERRA LEONIAN .I AM CURRENTLY IN UNIVERSITY OF COCODY IN ABIDJAN. YOU NEVER MENTIONED SEEING MY PHOTOGRAPH OR SOMETHING, IF NOT I WOULD HAVE LONG SENT IT TO YOU. YOU CAN SEND THE MONEY DIRECTLY TO THE LAWYER AND SEND ME THE CONTROL NUMBERS AND QUESTIONS AND ANSWER (THROUGH western union) ON MY E MAIL ADDRESS SINCE YOU STILL CONSIDER ME A STARNGER BECAUSE AT LEAST YOU CAN VERIFY THE PARTICULARS OR PROFILE OF THE LAWYER BY CLICKING TO WWW. COTE D'IVOIRE BAR ASSOCIATION ON GOOGLE .COM HIS NAME IS ANTOINE G. KONAN BEFORE SENDING THE MONEY. IF ONLY YOU SEE OR KNOW WHAT I DO HERE, YOU WILL ONLY THEN AGREE WITH ME THAT YOU HAVE ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT MY POSSIBILITY OF SENDING YOU THE MONEY BACK IN TWO WEEKS TIME FROM TODAY.TAKE MY WORD FOR IT YOU MAY NOT KNOW THE REASON I CHOSE TO TRUST YOU WITH THIS TRANSACTION HAD TO DO WITH YOUR FRANKNESS IN REVEALING YOUR PHYSICAL CHANGES TO ME WHEN YOU COULD AFFORD TO SHIELD IT FROM ME FOR AS LONG AS IT TAKES FOR ME TO JOIN YOU.GOD COULD TURN A SEEMING DISADVANTAGE LIKE YOURS INTO BLESSING OF SOME SORT.EVEN THE DOCUMENTS IN QUESTION WHICH I MUST FAX YOU COPIES OF CONTAIN ALL THE DETAILS ABOUT MY FAMILY BACKGROUND AND THE FACT THAT IT IS REGISTERED AT THE SUPREME COURT MAKES IT A LOT EASIER FOR YOU TO REACH ME HERE PHYSICALLY HERE IN IVORY COAST IF AM FOUND WANTING AT THE END OF THE DAY. HOPING TO HEAR FROM YOU REMAIN BLESSED AND EVEN MORE PRAYERFUL IN THE LORD. FROM BLESSED BEN Alex Wale Dear Ben, (31st March ) Thank you for your long letter and for setting my mind somewhat at rest. By the way, in your letter you seem to have your 'caps lock' key stuck. Now we've already established that I'm deaf as a post, but I can assure you that my vision is sound and that I am fully capable of reading ordinary sized text. In the UK, typing in capital letters like that is considered as 'shouting' and is thought to be the action of either the ignorant or a cretin, as we know that you are neither, I urge you to stop doing it. I'm afraid I have yet another question. What is a 'Moneygram' ? I never heard of that before, as I've also never heard of western union, it sounds like something off a cowboy film! I'm guessing that it must be a way to transfer money, and if that is so, it sounds a very old fashioned way of doing it. Why can't you just give me your bank account details, and I can put the money in that way. I'd like a picture of you by the way, so I can visualise you in Africa. Most of what I know of that continent comes from watching wildlife documentaries on the television. A lot of them are done by a man called Attenborough (or 'Dickie' to his friends). Have you ever met him? it wouldn't surprise me if you had, he spends a lot of time there. I watch the television at night with my cat, "Sook". But I don't let her see the bits with the lions in. Cats, I've found are only one chromosome off feral most of the time, let her see things like that and she might start getting strange ideas and before you know it you've got a Wildebeest stuck in the cat-flap. Do you have lions near you?, I reckon I would be allergic to them, being eaten by one certainly. I've been looking into the passport business again. It appears that in certain circumstances, a person can get a 'business travel passport', that is available from the local post office, and lasts only for a week. These are available on request, as long as you can prove that you are travelling for business purposes, and provide full details of the other parties involved and the nature of the transaction. I don't know whether you would want to give these details out to the UK authorities just yet, so that might be a stumbling block to me getting one. Let me know. I've been using my scanner again and you should have attached a copy of one of my 'Flyers', a sort of promotional thing we stick through doors to advertise. Yours Alex Attached a 'flyer'. The background was a picture of the Village People. The original file was as 'from the scanner', about 1.7 Mb, shame he wasn't on dial-up. I thought that he'd never fall for this, but.. Blessed Ben Dear Alex, (April 1st) Once again i must start by apologising for having apparently shouted at you in my last message and do thank you for acknowledging that iam neither ignorant nor a cretin. Promise i will never repeat that mistake which was not intended to undermine your overall physical abilities. The UK and Africa are direct opposites in terms of stereotype lifestyles typical of English people,while in Africa anything goes. There is so much you don't seem to know about Africa and Africans, it will be my greatest pleasure to join you in less than no time and share with you physically my experiences here. Could bring wildlife films and documentaries when coming. I am touched also by the descriptive skill you exhibit by painting a clear picture of what your home lifestyle looks like. With each mail you send to me, it is as if a powerful whirl wind pulls me towards your most transparent nature i can feel from your mails. Alex, in all frankness you are one person in hundreds whom i notice never wastes a second to express his real frame of mind on in all situations.This trait of yours has a way of conveying the impression of an honest and most reliable fellow. Who are you really, can i have a photograph of yours? Not because of any security reasons this time,but just to satisfy my curiosity,more so as i would be sending mine to you on monday afternoon.I just wish to see you, because the picture in your driving licence is not clear enough to satisfy that curiosity. Moneygram or western union is an electronics process or means through which one person in one country can send money to another person in another country and the receiver receives the money in the same minute and the same hour. So far it is the safest way to send money to people like me who do not have any bank accounts in another country. The only account i can lay claims to as mine is my late father's account which i can not yet operate without a Trustee because of my status as a minor and most of all considering the huge amout it contains. This is the only reason i contacted you in the first place. Sending money through western union or Moneygram is as safe as sending it through a Bank because before the money is released to the receiver,the western union or Moneygram staff must ensure that the receiver is officially identified through his or her Internationl passport and that he answers corrtecty, the secret question which the sender will be asked to include as an additional code to the control numbers which the western union will give to the sender as soon as the sender hands over the sum to them. You the sender, will now send the control code number and the question and answer to the receiver in another country,(Ivory Coast) before they release the money to the receiver . So in this case all you have to do is simply walk into any western union office Nearest to you and inform the fellow you must meet accross the counter by writing, that you want to send the sum of £1.800 to a friend in ABIDJAN, IVORY COAST. They will now give you a form to fill in your name and the name of the friend you wish to send the money to. In the form,you will find a column where you will be required to chose any question and answer that tickles your fancy as an additional code to the control number which they will now write boldly behind your own copy of the same form you filled. For example:Question;= what is the name of my cat. Answer:= Sook. Once you have finished filling the form,you will then be asked to deposit the money at the counter and they will give you a copy of the same form you filled after puting down their stamp , signature and the control code written at the back of the ordinary form you filled. This is enough guarantee to you that if the receiver did not receive the money, you would be refunded with apologies as long as you provide an evidence, i.e your own copy of the form you filled. So do not tear the form untill i have written and confirmed to you that i have received the money. Now as soon as you step out of their office,the next thing to do is to send me a mail stating the Control Numbers,Question and answer, name of sender, name of receiver, destination, e.g Abidjan, Ivory Coast , origin e.g, Nothingham,or Glasgow ,as the case may be,United Kongdom and that's all. So try and send it tomorrow and mail me the particulars as above,so that first thing on Monday morning will be to hand the information over to the lawyer,that is if you are sending it directly to the Lawyer ANTOINE G.KONAN or in my name Blessed Christi Bernard. You know it will take him five working days to be through with the registeration process, so it will be ok if we start counting our timetable from monday so that in the upper week and precisely two weeks from now i would have sent you back the VAT bill first and foremost,(as you never told me when it will be too late). My conscience Can hardly ever forgive me, if you loose your livelyhood and my only hope of a springboard to start from when i come over to the UK, while trying to help me. So let us make hay while the sun shines. Hoping to hear from you and remain blessed and prayerful in the Lord. From Blessed Ben Blessed Ben Dear Alex, (3rd April.) How are you doing? I pray that all is well with you. I have sent you the photograph you requested for and would love to have yours as well. So let me have your photograph alongside the western union Information later in the day. By the way, i wll like to see a photograph of Sook to know what it looks like, if posiible, just to satisfy my curiosity which you have tickled so much in your vivid and most desrciptive way of conveying a message. I appreciate that trait so very much. I hope to hear from you later in the day and remain blessed and prayerful in the Lord. From Blessed Ben. Came with photo attachment of Ben. Alex Wale Dear Ben, (3rd April) Sorry, I'm very behind with things today, I've been ill. I didn't feel well on Saturday when I shut the shop. I went to the doctor and he thought that I might have bird flu, he put me on a diet of cuttlefish and millet. This upset my stomach and I've been sick and had the "shits" as well as feeling like I had flu. I'm writing this in a hurry! I did notice when I took the takings down to my local bank, Murray's Mint, that they did some sort of international transfer system. When I reopen the shop, perhaps Wednesday, I'll look into it further. Nice photograph by the way, You look like a fine upstanding gentleman, even if you are sitting down. Will write again when I'm feeling better and have some news on the transfer. Yours Alex I was actually ill, and wanted to keep him interested even though I didn't feel like doing much. Blessed Ben Dear Alex, (4th April) I saw your mail just this morning and,even though there isn't much to write about ,since you said we will be writing again on Wednesday when you will be at your bank and feeling much better,but nevertheless feel i should write to know how are feeling today and to wish you quick recovery. Accept my heartfelt stmpathy and try as much as possible to engage in one sort of routine physical excercise or the other ,as i do, so that your regullar assurance of overall sound health will not only be guaranteed,but will help to keep you in top shape.By the way is SOOK also inffected in any way because domestic animals have such tendency and as such needs medical examination in a nearby Vet as well.. I wouldnt't want anything to happen to it untill i join the two of you in the UK. I must stop now, for iam scheduled to meet with the Director of the Security Company by 1 Oclock my time,in view of the meeting with the Attorney that will procure the requiste documents that will effect release of the consignment. I had presumed that by today, you would have sent the money and so had booked an appointment with him in the Direzctor's office. Hope to hear positively from you tomorrow. Remain blessed and prayerful in the Lord. From Blessed Ben Is there nothing he won't believe? Alex Wale Dear Ben, (5th April) Hello, I'm back at the shop and feeling much better. I think that doctor didn't know what he was talking about, I paid him £50 for bad advice. I found his name in one of the consumer magazines we have here, "Which Doctor?", I shall be writing to the editor and getting his name taken off their list. I managed to get to the bank first this morning and sent you the £1800 you need to pay the lawyer by their transfer system. They didn't do western union, and the man at the bank explained that western union sometimes put a limit on the the amount you can send to certain places in one transaction. He had to explain this a couple of times I'm afraid, because although I can 'lip-read' perfectly, his diction was not all that good. Anyway, he advised me to use the 'Guaranteed International Money Provision Service', which is what I've done. You should find a scan of my copy attached to this email. This is all very exciting I must say, and slightly nerve wracking. This is my VAT money remember?, still when the Big money arrives, the VAT will seem like a trifle! I'm already making plans about what I'm going to do with all that money, it's never really sunk in before, but when I paid that cash this morning, it's all starting to seem very real. I looked around for a photo of me, but was unable to find one. I haven't had a lot of time to look as I've either been in bed or the bathroom for the last two days, there aren't many photos of me anyway, as I live on my own and the cat is useless with the camera. I'll have another look tonight when I have more time. However, I did manage to find a picture of Sook, I managed to get her smiling for the camera one day out in the garden. Yours Alex Attached: Gimps form, looks like some sort of official bank transfer form from Murray's Mint Bank plc. A picture of Sook (actually a photo of a wildcat I found on the Web) The GIMPS form; thanks to "Gilbert Murray" for the idea, hence the 'nod' in his direction. It's all gone quiet since that last message with the GIMPS form, I suspect that he's seen something like it before before, such a shame, I would have liked to know if he went to the bank. But it was worth a final message I thought... Alex Wale Dear Ben, (April 6th ) I've had a bit of a shock today. I was sitting in the shop this morning looking for your lawyer ANTOINE G. KONAN, on Google. I didn't notice that Mr Ben had come into the shop and saw over my shoulder what I was looking for. He suddenly became very agitated and started speaking to me in perfect BSL. I use BSL (British Sign Language) to speak to other deaf people in the UK, but it's difficult for hearing people to learn. Even normal gestures change from country to country. For instance, it's traditional to wave at all taxis in London, and holding up your middle finger to a Policeman means "Would you please direct me to a room for the night?" These are things you might find useful when you finally come to England. Anyway, it turns out that Mr Ben is an expert in all sorts of languages and foreign affairs as he works for MI8, a government department that investigates Internet fraud. He comes into my shop to try on the various disguises to get into character for undercover operations. He told me that he recognised the name and said that this man is alleged to have been associated with something he called "internet advance fee scams" in the past, and went on to explain how this worked. I found the whole thing staggering, it just goes to show that you can't trust anyone these days, and it's good that there are few trustworthy, genuine people like you and I still around. Yours Alex I thought that was it, hence the sarcastic tone of this 'last message', basically saying that I know he's a scammer. But then... Blessed Ben Dear Alex, (6th April) I have seen the GIMPS transfer receipt you sent yesterday and have tried to cash it( access) since yesterday ,but have not been able to. The whole thing looks like a nightmare because i had hoped that by now the lawyer would have received the money and commence geting the necessary documents in place so we can beat the deadline for your vat etc. Their reason for not giving me the money is ,like i told you in my mail, that i do not have an account in the only bank here that has VISA displayed or attached to their signboard, as it is written on the Transfer Receipt you sent me.Listen carefully my good old friend, there is a big difference between the UK and any ,other country of the world,what more a mere African country;So our levels of development is not the same. It is only one bank here that has the visa sign and the Guaranteed International Money Provission Service available at this bank is for only for people who have an account with this bank I think that i told you from the on -set, that the only account i can lay claims to as mine is my late father's account which iam yet to gain control of.,has been under a kind of probation or something and you know all that, why then didn't you send the money through western union? Sending it by western union is the easiest and safest way i know to receive this money a few hours after you send me the information as you did. I am very dissilusioned and sad that i am not able to give the money to the lawyer today as i pomised him after seeing you transfer receipt . What are you talking about your Ben overthere and the attorney?where did he say he knew that lawyer? I hope you have learnt a lesson or two from the sneaky way he comes in and out of your shop. I also hope that henceforth you will know better not to give him audience or discuss our plans with him,he could set us up with the authorities, since you said we works for the Govt. So all you have to do is simply to go to your bank now and inform them that the person you sent the money to said he was unable to cash the money due to the reason above. And that they said it is only through western union they can make money available to recipients ,like me who do not have account in their bank. Try as much as you can to advice your bank to channel it through western union so that i can withdraw it here without any further stress because iam completely despondent and sad . There is noy hard about that. Try and try again pls.my life depends on how soon thosedocuments are ready so i can have control over my father's account and seize to have trhese kind of embarrassing problems as not receiving the money you sent simply because i do not have an acccount of mine.It can be very embarassing topay for a taxi to and fro a bank that is over six kilometres from where live and be told you can receive payment for some money i have the transfer reeipt in my hands. Remain blessed and prayerful in the Lord. From Ben. Alex Wale Dear Ben, (6th April 2pm) Thank goodness you were not able to access the cash via the GIMPS form, is this not a sign that fate is smiling on us? The only thing lost is your taxi fare and a little of your time, you missed a few lectures at school, but I'm sure a clever chap like you will soon catch up. Now, Mr. Ben is a very old and valued customer. As I told you, he has been coming to the shop for many years and I never knew of his real profession. He didn't have to break his cover tell me about the investigation he is conducting at the moment, but we are very lucky that he has, otherwise our legal fees (my VAT money!) could now be in the hands of a criminal. Furthermore, MI8 doesn't mess about when it comes to things like this, they tend to send in a 'hit squad' and take out anyone implicated. So it's a good job that you didn't take money to those offices today, or you may have lost more than your inheritance. Mr. Ben also explained that you have nothing to fear from the UK Government in regards to your late fathers money, they have no interest in these sorts of affairs, quite the reverse in fact, as they like to see legitimate money coming into this country. "It's all good for the economy", says Mr Ben Its essential that we get a new lawyer. I'll drop by the bank this afternoon, and see if I can move that money back again so that it can be sent another way. Yours Alex It reads as if he went to access the GIMPS, I hope so. Blessed Ben Dear Uncle Alex, (7th April 12.30pm) I can not thank you enough for the timely and vital information you passed to me concerning the "lawyer" whom i never knew very well apart from the bogus advertisment of his firm i saw on the net,@google precisely where i saw your contact as well. That publicity of his numerous contacts around the world is the only thing that gave me the confidence to think that he is the most eligible to handle a transaction of this height. I wonder what would have become of my fate if you had n't been there to unmask his real identity. Alex, you have been able to prove that ,despite your shortcomings,that you are indeed capable of seeing this transaction to the end and that you can see to the proposed investment when i get to the UK and busy at school. You have added to the trust i had in you such that i feel i must reveal to you now what i intended as a pleasntly surprise package for you when i arrive in the UK; the package is that the amount 14.3million Dollars mentioned in my first mail and the Deposit Agreement Certificate issued to my late father by the security company is the total value of the Gemstones,Diamonds /Gold Ornaments and cash in the consignment which he declared as containing a mere family treasure,for security reasons.And that the total cash in the box is 6.3 million,that means that the value of the gemstones is about 8million dollars. This i had kept as secret because i know you must be thrilled by the idea of renting out some of these stones alongside the custume you lease out from your shop to movie actors or comedians in the UK. Isn't this a great idea? This is the reason why i can not joke with the VAT you must pay to ensure that the shop is retained untill i arrive. After your mail that unmasked the lawyer, i hastily went to his office to conduct a kind of investigation of him and to my greatest shock, what i saw never conveyed a little of the impression one must have from his bogus publicity on the net.Only God knows how many people he has been able to fool or defrauded following all that advertisement. Thank you once more for being there. From the moment you mentioned your 'customer' ?Ben, i knew in my mind that God could not have arranged that coinicidence only for window shopping on the part of Ben,but that there must be more to that coincidence than meets the eye,and now time has provbed all that. This goes to show that God can decide to use anybody at any time to minister to another irrespective of race or physical ability. Above all and not withstanding the hint about the lawyer from Ben, you must not tell him everything because you said from the begining that you never knew his real intentions in coming to window shop at your end without ever buying or hiring a mere doll from you. So there is every need for you to be careful about what you let him know about the gemstones i just revealed to you because a friend today can become an enemy tomorrow. Do not reveal anything about us to him untill i arrive and if need be try and make friends with him as well and only then be able to psyche him myself and know his intentions and perhaps find a way to compensate him, on a neutral ground, for the role he played in unmasking the lawyer.For i don't know what my fate would have been if i had gone ahead to release the money to him yesterday as planned. This Ben that knows so much about somebody in Africa and is proved right at the end of the day might as well know somethings about my late father or his colleagues whom i do not even want to see untill we are through .You know that only you and i know that my father was a shipping magnate who had to sell of his share in the shipping company to make it easier for me to use the proceeds to pursue my own interests instead of rubbing shoulders in his absence ,with his colleagues whom he feared might plot to eliminate me to have a field day in the company with their own kids as co directors: you know also that i can not afford any mistakes at this stage of my waiting to assume control over my inheritance. Concerning how to resend the money, there is no other choice better or easier,more convenient than western union,because i have been able to find another lawyer who will procure the documents within three days as long as i am able to pay him outright for his services ,unlike the two weeks the lawyer antoine konan told me,probably because he (antoine konan)had planned to use the two long weeks to perfect his plans to withdraw the consignment on his own with the enabling Power of Attorney i must issue to him and while i would still be waiting for a mere documents to be available, he would have succeeeded in withdrawing it from the company without my knowledge and for his selfish interest. This new lawyer told me that he is not even a lawyer in the first place,but took advantage of the net to advertise his name there to reap off unsuspecting and innocent members of the public under the guise and capacity of a lawyer. He also reminded me that a good lawyer need n't even advertise in the first place to woo a client,but that his reputation as a proffessional will be all that is needed to fetch him the trust of clients and not by publicity which he told me is quite unethical for any proffessional to advertise .As i write this mail ,i still feel pangs of goose pimples all over me at the thought of what my fate would have been like if you weren"t there So please send it by western union so i can take it to this new lawyer whom i am sure of his identity and can vouch for, because a senior member of our congregation personally introduced this one to me, but i never disclosed the reason why i needed a lawyer to brother Lazarus who introduced him. His name is Dr Pierre Bakoyoko Esq., a renowned Lawyer and above all, a God-fearing christian of our Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witness in another congregation. Is he OK? The Lawyer also told me that it will be a bit easier for us if he should include a clause in the Memorandum of Understanding that will portray our relationship as a kind of ADOPTION that will facilitate the procurement of the AFFIDAVIT ,the transaction(wuthdrawal process)and my Visa application at your embassy here when i am ready to leave. How do you see this? is it an idea to consider or ignore? let me know in your next mail. I hope to hear from you later day so that by monday the lawyer would have started work on it. Remain blessed and even more prayerful in the Lord at this time so he could keep using you as my third eye to see things i can not se on my own. Thanks once more for being there for us and for having a shop that has kept my hope alive and brought ben into the picture of what we have at hand. From Ben There's 'gem stones' now as well, and even more money. Alex Wale Dear Ben, (7th April 3.23pm) I've been to the bank this morning and managed to recall the money I sent via the Gimps transfer. What I didn't get back was the fee, so I'm £23.10 down on the deal and not pleased. You say that you don't have a bank account. This is just stupid; a man of your age should have one. Have you thought about what you're going to do with your late father's money when it is released to your care? You can't put that sort of cash under the mattress, or carry it around with you, and you're going to need somewhere to put those gems. If the 'Visa' bank that you visited yesterday required you to be a customer in order to manage the transfer, then why didn't you open an account with them, there and then? You could have killed two birds with one stone. The man at my bank, Dennis Norden is his name, (he's hard to lip read because he's always sucking a bloody mint!), told me that the limit for western union transfers from Murray's to the Ivory Coast is £500. This limit is 'daily', meaning that I would have to go in four times to move the £1800 pounds you need, and each one has a fee of £16. It's a rip off if you ask me; I think that they are trying to make money out of legitimate transfers to foreign parts. He said that this was to "...help combat the rising tide of internet advance fee fraud", which is all very noble I'm sure but it doesn't help us very much does it? He gave me a leaflet entitled; "419 and You". It makes amazing reading, did you know that are more U.S. dollars reputed to be locked up in safe deposit boxes in Nigeria than the U.S. Government has actually printed? And if they actually existed and were all "released" back into circulation, it would bring about the fall of the western economy! I'm pleased to see that you've already arranged for a new lawyer, because I think that this is almost as imperative as you opening a bank account, as obviously the two go hand in hand towards the completion of this project. Paying into a bank account would be almost instantaneous, whereas the "western union" route is going to take at least four working days (that doesn't include Saturday or Sunday for banks in the UK). So, it will now take us into Easter. My VAT bill will be due at the end of the month, this doesn't leave a lot of spare time to get the money to you and the 'funds' back to me in order to pay it. I think that this lawyer is talking some good sense, and the adoption thing sounds a fine idea. Perhaps it would be a good idea for him to send things to me directly rather than to keep having you go to the office; it's not good that you have to keep missing school like this. I was pleased with the news that your legacy is even bigger than you first suggested! This is staggering, it will be like winning the lottery to have so much money. I'm keen to get things moving, so let me know whether you intend to open a bank account, or if you want me to start sending the money in instalments. Yours Alex Blessed Ben Dear Uncle Alex, (April 8th 1.10 pm) I am very sorry about the small delay in giving you reply to your mail concerning the opening of an account or four installmental remittance of the money.The reason is that i had written from the second paragraph of this same mail and sent it ,but it did not go.only this morning when i came to check for your rtesponse to iot that i realised the mail did not go that yesterday evening. so try and send the response to this mail later today, for tomorrow is not a working day here in ivory coast.so i can receive the first five hundred for the initial documents first thing on monday morning. Your mail i received this evening made sense to me from all angles. I understand how you feel about me not having a bank account; it has been part of my game plan to open one as soon as i have the consignment released to me,only then can i have a financial instrument with which to remit the money in different instalments into your local account at Murray's Mint Bank. It is true we have not discussed this i have always had it at the back of my mind,of course i can never imagine myself hoping to leave safely with such money here in Africa because that is why i sollicited for your assistance from the begining. The process of opening an account here is not as authomatic as it is overthere. It requires a guarantor among the bank customers before you can open an account.Besides the category of accout i can afford to open right now, may not be enough to carry such transaction. Of course while there, at the only bank i saw that had the visa card on, i made futile efforts to see if i could open one in a day or two and was told the difference between current account and savings account and that each one had their modus -operandi and there is a limit to the amount you can use to open it. For the transaction i have in mind, i know that when iam ready to open an account it will definetely have to be a Current account, because savings account i am made to understand ,can not carry such transaction. I am happy to hear that you were able to recall the money and sorry about the loss on interest charges,but the opnly assurance i am giving you now is that it will not be too late to resend you the VAT money since you said the need for it is towards the end of April. There is no problem about sending it four times because even the new lawyer must not have the total money at once because there a different stages of need . For example if by monday you have been able to send the first five hundred pounds, that means that he could start procuring the documents and within two or three days,as he said,it will take him to register it at the Public Notary's Office,i would have received the remaining .Remember that part of that bill is to settle the demurrages incured on the deposit. So i have discussed this with him and he has no problem reciving the money in bits ,since he is not going to need all of them on the same day. It is a stage- by -stage tranaction. And within this time frame the documents are put in place and they will release my money, i am certain i will be able to round up this whole thing before the end of the month. So Uncle, let it be the only favour you can do for me in life ,for i can not have the kind of trust i have in you with anybody else in the world. I have long lost interest in even my late father's relatives because of the way they scrambled my father's property from my helpless mother before she died. I do not even trust any one around here who knows my family background it is as if any one that smiled at me did that because he envied my inheritance or wanted something from me.You understand that kind of feeling? All you have to do is go to your bank tomrrow ,Saturday morning and withdraw the £1.800 at once and go straight to the nearest western union and send the first five hundred to me so that by monday morning the lawyer would start his work in earnest. By moday morning you send the second and the third on tuesday by wednesday which is about the third day the lawyer mentioned earlier on ,it will take him to be through,we would have rounded up every thing simultaneously as we are withdrawing the last batch that would be used to settle the small demurrage and perhaps other miscaleneous expenses like hiring a bullion van from the securty to a bank for the account opening and onward installmental remittance into your account. I have discussed with him (the new lawyer) the likelyhood of the money coming in four different instalments and he sees nothing wrong with that. He was able to see it from my spectacles that he wouldn't be needing all of that at once but according to the different stages of the transaction.He said the first Affidavit to be sworn will be the one that makes you not only my Trustee,but also my foster father .he believes that the adoption idea is all i need if i do not want to raise too many eyebrows at the bank,as the documents in question will then enable the bank to look up to you and relate with you as such,otherwise if there are no such a solid foundation of relation between us ,the bank may be tempted to see you as attempting to defraud my account. Only then will this transaction be seen from the "scam"point of view you mentioned in your mail because of lack of proper documentation. So start sending the money in instalments from saturday so that by wednesday we are through from all angles and have enough time to withdraw and send to you for the VAT .Remember that our initial calculations of how soon we can be through was done based on the two,weeks time schedule proposed by that old lawyer and the new lawyer has said that all the documents need'nt beyond three working days to be through. I pray that the Almighty God should continue to guide you in all you lay your hands on till all this is over. i feel a pang of conscience to worry about this expenses, but i do promise you that, as soon as every thing is Ok, we shall both have cause to smile and to glorify the name of God for his undeserved mercies to those who excercise faith in all they do. Hoping to hear from you tomorrow, thanks once again for being there for us. Remain blessed and even more prayerful in the Lord. From Blessed Ben Blessed Ben Dear Akex, (10th April 9.49 am) How are you doing today? I have been waiting anxiously to hear from you about the moey to secure the first phase of our transaction. I shall recheck my box later this morning so i can keep my appointment with the Lawyer that will procure the requisite documents. Could you please try as much as possible to send the first five hundred to enable him get started ,for i can not afford to disappoint him concerning the appointment i gave him for today morning when i still thought that the first mail sent you on saturday evening got accross to you. I don't want him to have cause not to take me serioous in this whole transaction. I know that it is not your fault that you did not receive my mail before you retired on saturday eve, but try and let us get started so that we can round up on time to meet up your VAT bill that is scheduled for this month end. I am very convinced we can meet bup this deadline if we are able to commence from today,and by thursday we would have rounded up and have enough time to withdraw from the security company and send to you. Even if we find out that time is not on our side ,i may send you the basic sum you need for the vat through western union as well . Remain blessed and prayerful in the lord. From Ben Alex Wale Dear Nephew Ben, (10th April 9.59am, the letter above appeared after I sent this) I am late opening the shop this morning as I've been to the western union shop. What a lot of messing about to send a bit of money, it would have been far easier for you to open a bank account, despite the restrictions there. I've sent £500, they gave me a number to send you, which is 2643051346, and the test question is my cat's name. Let me know when you've picked it up, and then I'll feel a bit more confident about senid the next one. They did seem to have a lot of trouble with the computer system this morning when I was there, in fact the man behind the counter gave up trying to use it to enter my details and filled in what he called a 'manual form'. I had to write all my questions down on a piece of paper of course, but I asked him if it would be easier to transfer to a bank account in a foreign country. His reply, as far as I could lip read was something like "If everyone used bank transfers, I'd be on the cooking street", I took this to mean that he'd take up a job in catering if he no longer worked there. He also added that "anyone not having a bank account in this day and age is a complete twat", and I have to agree to the sentiment if not the expression. Anyway, go to it and get that money to the lawyer, me and the VAT man are depending on you. Alex I like winding him up about the bank account. Blessed Ben Dear Uncle, (10th April 3.52pm) I have not been able to receive the £500.00 you sent . I tried several times to reappear at the reciving counter when they told me that neither your name nor the ten digits were traceable in their computer down here. So try and see the man you met behind your western union counter and tell him that i have not been able to access the money you sent me through their agency. Or you can scan and send me the receipt of payment and the manual form you said he filled. Tell him to let you know if it is as a result of the faulty computer or the manual form he filled. I am not sad that i have to go through all this before i can have some control over my inheritance, but i will appreciate it so much if you can visit the western union people before you close from shop today and make them realise the inconvenience their faulty computer is causing me and that they should be ready to go court if at the end of today i do not write you to confirm receipt of the money so you can have the peace of mind you need to send the rest before the end of this week ,as to meet up our deadline with the vat man ,for iam as concerned as you are,about the need for us to retain that shop till i arrive. Reply this mail after visiting the western union people today so i will know where the problem is from and wether to go bact to the western office later today. Please try . FROM BEN Oh Joy! He's actually gone to the western union office and tried to get the money. Alex Wale Dear Ben, (10th April 4.43 pm) I just don't understand it, I'm completely at a loss as to what has happened. Didn't I say though that a bank transfer is much easier? Obviously, I am unable to phone the western union office that I made the transaction from, so I'll have to go there in person. However, I have a shop full of people at the moment all wanting costumes for the "Rocky Horror Picture Show" that is in town at the moment. In this production, the audience dress up as well as the people on the stage. It's always good for business when they're in town, and so I can't close early. I'll go round there first thing tomorrow when they open. I'm sorry you had a wasted journey and I'll get to the bottom of it don't you worry, or my name isn't Alex Wale. Yours Alex Alex Wale Dear Ben, (11th April 9.10 am) Good News. You'll be pleased to know that I've managed to get to the western union office this morning and sorted things out. I was invited into the manager's office, a Mr. Attely, and had a long conversation (well, it's always long when you have to write it down) and explained what I wanted to do and what had gone wrong. Phil said that the man I dealt with yesterday had been given the sack over making several such mistakes recently and apologised profusely to me and asked me to pass his apologies to you over the inconvenience and stress it caused. We examined the paperwork from yesterday and found out that he had given me the wrong number. He also managed to get my name wrong, he'd put down Alec Swale instead of Alex Wale, this was apparently because he hadn't written it down at the time, and then tried to do it from memory when the computers came back online. Obviously, this sort of behaviour could not continue when working with people's money, and he was dismissed. So, to make up for the errors of yesterday, the Phil Attely said that I could transfer the rest of the money in one go and even halved the fee for me. The original £500 is still in the system and now there is the last payment of £1300 to collect at the same time. £500......2643057346, (not 2643051346, the number I was given yesterday when the dolt couldn't read his own handwriting.) And, £1300........2643199523. Test questions name of my cat as before, and "what does Alex's shop hire?" answer "fancy dress". We're back in business Nephew Ben, go and get our money. Yours Alex I'm hoping the thought that it was a mistake and the greed of maybe collecting £1800 will lure him to go back to W.U. again. I waited all day, and the next morning (Wednesday) thinking it was over, I let him have it... Alex Wale Dear Ben, (12th April 9.18am) I haven't heard from you since Monday, have you managed to get the money from western union? Ok, here's what I suggest you do next. Buy a goat and go and sit up on a hill-top somewhere and look after it, or perhaps you can go to a village that looks poor and struggling and help them dig a well. In fact, to do anything useful would be a good idea, because lets face it, you're far to dim to be an Internet scammer. Do you really think that people in the UK are so stupid that they will send their money to Africa to a person that won't even give them an address or any proof of existence other than a bull-shit letter? Do you have any idea how many of these requests we receive? [Scam-o-note: The scam rakes in hundreds of millions of dollars each year. So somebody's sending money. Not Alex, though! And not you, if you're reading this. And not your friends, if you warn 'em!] Alex Wale does not exist, neither does the shop, or even "Townsend" in Nottingham. But you are so greedy and stupid that you didn't even think to check. I've had a great deal of fun stringing you along, making up fake ID, fake forms, a fake "flyer", and increasingly ridiculous stories which you've swallowed whole. How we've laughed. I've even given you clues all along, but you didn't spot them; for instance, "Alex's" date of birth is impossible. I'd have loved to have seen you go to try to get the transfers, I hope that you've wasted plenty of time and money. But think of the benefits, I got you off your sweaty backside and out into the fresh air for a few hours, and during that time, you weren't try to scam someone else. I dare say you'll think you've been hard done by. But if Alex Wale had been a genuine person, just keeping his business afloat, you'd have robbed his money without the slightest compunction and closed him down. How do you have the nerve to make out that you are such a good Christian? What about "Do not steal"? and as for "Honour your father and mother", do they know what you do and are they proud? Take my advice at the top of this letter, or better still, crawl back under the stone from which you came. "Alex" He must have been typing at the same time, or didn't really read what I'd written. Blessed Ben Dear Wale, (12th April 9.21 am) i have not received the money. what is the problem again? From Ben. That was the end. This last mail almost looks as if it is written by a junior member of a team, notice that I'm now 'Wale'. I've reported him to his e-mail provider, "Yahoo", as they take a very dim view of their customers using accounts for scamming. So hopefully he'll be cut off very soon and will loose my address along with any others he's trying at the moment. |