TITLE: Busted!
SCAMMER NAME: Ony Obo
SCAMMER LOCATION: Lagos, Nigeria
SCAMBAITER: Shiver Metimbers

PAGE THREE.

Obo is getting nervous.

From: Ony Obo
To: Ronald Jones
Subject: very urgent

Dear Ronald,

Compliments of the season.I have been waiting to hear from you all through today as regards the parcel sent to your Manchester office.By now you should have gotten the parcel .I expected you to give me a call.I don't understand why the silence this time.

May i know the state of the project.You may track the stuff again to see what it says.It should be available by now.Please don't leave me confused this time.I need to hear from you.At least give a call,it dose not cost much.I want to know what next line of action to take.

I would't mind sue EMS speedpost for none prompte delievery of my parcel i paid for.But before i go ahead doing this i must hear from you fast.

Till then endevour to call me is now urgent.

Thanks,

Ony.

From: Ronald Jones
To: Ony Obo

Dear Charles,

I did in fact try to contact you by telephone just after 11am this morning to confirm that the DVD has now been received, however I could not get a connection after three times trying.

I can confirm that the video is acceptable, and once we have received your expenses list in full we can quickly move on to making your initial payment. Please note that we can only make one lump sum payment, so it is important that you supply details of your expenses because we cannot make them at a later date as a separate payment. Please let me know when you expect to be able to supply me with these details.

Regards,

Ronald Jones CEO
VXD Video Productions

From: Ony Obo
To: Ronald Jones
Subject: re: very urgent

Dear Ronald,

I have'nt seen your reply today as regards the mail i sent to you.But in any case here is the run down total of my expenditure.Like i said ealier i will like if the actors payment is made immediately.

Every amount has been converted to dorllas.

1) Location Fee:..............$600.00
2)Transportation Fee:.......$1000.00
3)Costume:.................$800.00
4)Carmera:..........$2000.00
5)VHS transfer to DVD:.......$1500.00
Shipping:...............$500.00
Total:................$6400.00

These are the things i used in the course of the production.I believe that the payment will be done soon as you promised.If you have any problem please do call me .I will be expecting your mail tomorrow.Till then.I have called the actors and told them that they did a good job.They were very happy to hear that the work has been accepted.May God continue to bless you.

Regards,

Obo

A pretty expensive shoot, especially when you consider I have to pay over $18,000 on top of that for the actors!

From: Ronald Jones
To: Ony Obo

Dear Charles,

Thank you for your information, and I can confirm that your expenditure list is satisfactory. Please not that before payment can be made we will need to see scans of the SIGNED receipts please. You will recall that I noted this condition in my email to you of December 28th:

"Please note that scans of any receipts will be required before payment can be made. If your expenses are expected to total more than US $10,000 then please do contact me beforehand"

Please obtain written receipts, scan then and send them to me by email attachment. Once they are received your payment will be made in full immediately.

Regards,

Ronald Jones CEO
VXD Video Productions

A few days later, the receipts arrive.

From: Ony Obo
To: Ronald Jones
Subject: receipts

dear Ronald

Here are the scaned copies of the receipts as you requested.They all cover my expenditure.However i will like you to verify if the western union will allow you make that huge sum of money tranfer once.Because for all i know one cannot transfer more than ten thousand dollars once.But the will allow you that is the most prefered medium of payment i will like.

So as soon as you are ready for payment pls let me know so that i will give you the senders name.I expect that will take place by tomorrow.I equally expect you to give me a call as soon as you are ready to pay.

Regards,

Thanks

Ony.

Obo attached scans of the receipts for his "expenses" (some details covered to protect the innocent!):

$800 to hire two crappy coats? I'm in the wrong business!

Amazingly, even though Obo hired services from all these separate companies, the receipts appear to be written out in the same handwriting - what a coincidence!

After a couple of days of ignoring Obo, he gets in touch.

From: Ony Obo
To: Ronald Jones
Subject: get back soon

Dear Ronald,

I have been trying to call your phone but it is entering voice mail.I wounder why you have not been to office this morning.I have sent the receipt of my covering my expenditure but till now you have not said anything.

The actors are in my office now asking about their pay.I want to know the next step or situation.Either you call me or send me an email immdieately because i don't want to have any problem with my actors because some other jobs they will doing for me.I expect you soon.Cheak your mail for the receipts i scanned .

Regards,

Ony

Just a reminder at this point that for the purposes of the video part of this scambait, I created a fake video production company website. Obo did of course check this site out on numerous occasions.

Today I "closed the site down" and visiting the site now brings up the following message:

Obo saw that message (I'm hoping with his mouth wide open in shock!) and contacted DS Palin:

From: Ony Obo
To: DS Michael Palin
Subject: I have been dealing with Jones

Dear Sir/Madam,

It has been some days now i have not heard from Mr.Ronald Jones of VXD Video Services .I ahve a business with him and uptill now he has not reached me.I tried his number but it enters voice mail.I would like to know if there is any problem with him or his whereabout,Or if there is any direct means of contacting him please do let me know.I am facing alot strees because of him.

The people i contracted to work for him are on my throat.Please let him know he is holding some peoples money out there.Here is my dierct phone number for easy communication 080325XXXXX.My name is Mr.Ony Obo from Nigeria.I am the one who sent the pet shop project sample on the 6th of feb 2007.I have sent in the whole receipt covering the expenditure i made as he requested.The ball is now in his court.Tell him to paly ball as agreed. I will like to hear from you soon.

Thanks,

Regards,

Ony

Detective Palin is quick to reply.

From: DS Michael Palin
To: Ony Obo

Your Case Ref: 32768


Mr Ony Obo

Thank you for your email contact and also for your additional information about Mr. Jones.

I am afraid I cannot comment on explicit details of this case because of the current investigation. All I am allowed to tell you is that Mr. Jones and a number of his colleagues were arrested in the early hours of yesterday morning. Mr. Jones is currently being held at a secure location in London. Most of the offences refer to events taking place in the Spanish offices of VXD video. Presently we are awaiting the arrival of a Spanish detective who will be bringing us further evidence. As most of the alleged offences took place in Spain, this will be primarily a Spanish inquisition, and will be headed by Spanish detective, Juan Trique Ponee, he's quite butch.

Currently we are investigating 276 separate cases involving Mr Jones and his company so you will appreciate that we have very much work to do in this investigation. I would appreciate it if you are able to give me exact details as to what work you did for Mr Jones and if any other people were involved.

As for any expenses that you incurred; I am afraid that is not my department, however detective Juan Trique Ponee will be arriving at our London headquarters in the next 72 hours from Spain. He will be interviewing Mr Jones, and I believe he has authority to authorise criminal compensation payments based on how money was lost/stolen, and can probably help you based on your situation. However please be aware that official photo identification will be required if any compensation payments are to be made. Detective Ponee will be provided with email communications once he arrives and I am sure he will be in touch with you.

Please take note of the following reference number. This will be unique to your particular case/claim. Please always quote it on all future correspondence so that we can quickly identify your details: 32768

Sincerely

Detective Superintendent Michael Palin
UK Met Police Internet Crimes Unit

From: Ony Obo
To: DS Michael Palin
Subject: Re: I have been dealing with Jones

Dear Michael,

Thank you for your email.I hope you will be of good help for me because the actors that i contracted for Mr.Jones are on my neck.Do let me know as soon as the investigator arrives.I await your reply soon.I wish to follow this case to its last.Your Case Ref: 32768

Thanks,

Ony

From: DS Michael Palin
To: Ony Obo

Ref: 32768


Mr Ony Obo

Thank you for your email. I can confirm that Detective Juan Trique Ponee has now arrived from Spain. I have briefed him on your case, and once I have set up email communications for him he will be in touch with you. I expect this to take place within the next 24 hours, so please expect his email. Please understand that Mr Ponee is Spanish and he does not speak or write very good English, so please take this into account when communicating with him.

Please can you brief me on the following questions:

a) How long have you been communicating with Mr Ronald Jones?
b) Exactly how much money were you expecting to receive from his company?
c) What was the exact nature of the work that you produced for him?


Please get back to me with your reply as soon as possible so that I can inform Juan Trique Ponee of the circumstances of your case.

Sincerely

Detective Superintendent Michael Palin
UK Met Police Internet Crimes Unit

DS Ponee gets in touch with Obo 24 hours later. Apologies for the bad spelling and grammer, English is of course not Mr. Ponee's first language!

From: DS Juan Trique Ponee
To: Ony Obo

Ref: 32768


Mr Ony Obo.

I hop that thees email find you well. My name ees Detective Juan Trque Ponee and I am de lead detectve een charge of de Spanish Inquisition. My base ees usully een Madreed, Spain howeveer for thee porpoises if thees indigestion I need too work frm a UK bass.

I unserstrand that my UK colleeg Detective Palin has alredy sent you some qwestions but aswe have not yet reseeved any ansers I will repeat tem here;


1> How long have yoo been commonicating with Mr Ronald Jones?
2> Exactly how much mony are you expecting to reseive from his company?
3> What was thee exact nature of the work that you producted for him?


Yours,

Detective Superintendent Juan Trique Ponee
Spanish Inquisition Section

Obo doesn't reply to Ponee, instead he fires off an email to DS Palin. Maybe he is getting suspicious?!

From: Ony Obo
To: DS Michael Palin
Subject: Re: Re: I have been dealing with Jones

Mr Micheal,

Your colleague sent me an emial today this my response to him help me deliver the massage Thank you for email.I have written some mail last time where i asked you some question about Mr.Jones but you did not reply.I woundered what the problem may be.In any case my interest in this case is that i want Mr. Jones to pay for the job i did for him.

But before then i want to know the following details about him.

1)When was he arrested
2)where was he arrested
3)what is the crime he commited.

As regards the infromation you needed from me i will provide as soon as am sure am dealing with the right peopel,because i already feel i have been tricked.Am still fully interested in my payment.

From: DS Michael Palin
To: Ony Obo

Ref: 32768


Mr Ony Obo

I did not receive your previous email, however I am not authorised to comment on individual cases in too much detail. What I am able to tell you is that Mr Jones was arrested at 6.30am on the 12th of February in a house Manchester. He has been arrested for procuring and distributing obscene videos and related items from various overseas sources. This is in direct contravention of the UK 1959 Obscene Publications Act.

People were asked to ship these videos, CD, DVDs and magazines to what he told them was his office address in Manchester. We have discovered that the address is not a business premesis but is in fact a Post Office (PO) box. The crime was only discovered when the PO Box was too full of packages to store any more mail in, and the post master had to store the excess mail in his own offices. One of the packages burst open and the contents inside were reported to us. I am able to supply you with a surveillance photograph of the Manchester address if you would like to confirm if you have sent any items to this address.

If you are not comfortable in dealing or helping us with this case then that is entirely your choice. Please let me know as soon as possible if this is the case so that I can inform my colleagues not to waste any more of their valuable time pursuing any potential claims for you.

Sincerely

Detective Superintendent Michael Palin
UK Met Police Internet Crimes Unit

From: Ony Obo
To: DS Michael Palin
Subject: ready

Mr.Micheal,

Thank you for your email.I am ready to work with you in this case.You see i meet Mr.Jones online likewise the way i meeting now.I do not know you i person and can not come to UK in person to see things for myself.However,like i believe i have been tricked by Mr.Jones,i would not like such to happen to me again.

I will go ahead to forword all the discussion between me and Mr.Jones via email which made me to produce a video clip for him,which he was about paying before the you police arrested him.Before i continue i will have some othe questions to ask.

Is Mr Jones in your police custody?Can one speak with him through your office land phone?Have you questioned him about my transcation with him,If you done that may i know what his respones is.

Moreso,i equally believe that since you are in the possession of some tapes sent in from overseas,mine will be in your hands too.It is a DVD tape that has a black cover.Again i want to ask if one wants to come to see Jones can he be allowed to see him.I will stop here for now. i am also having some troubles contacting mr ponee please can you pass this message to him/

Thanks,

Ony

From: DS Juan Trique Ponee
To: Ony Obo

Ref: 32768


Mr Ony Obo

Thank you for your reply and for thee information that youo provided too me.

I am afraid that unteel after the trial date - which we expect to bee sometime in thee next 2 to 3 weeks - it will be imposseeble for anyone except meester Anothy's lawyer to speak to heem. We cannot allow potential witnesses to speak weeth the accused beforehand, this is in order ot ensure a fair and open trial. You can however feel free to forward to mee any questions in writing and I will be happy to forward them to heem for any reply.

My colleeg mr palin may have informed you that the address to which you sent your video smple was in fact that of a post office. Mr Jones hired an anonymous post office box and collected hees packages using fake identifications. For your records I attach a photograph of the address in case you ar in need of it.

We must now move on to your particular claim in thees case mr Obo. I assume that you want to make a claim for criminal compensation. As I hope you weel understand we need to ensure that the coorect and rightful people reimbursed and of course we need to ensure that only the rightful claiments receive payments, so to make your own claim I will need to receive the following before the trail date starts:

1. Proof of your identification in the form of phot ID bearing your name and photograph. A scan of your passport would be suitable.
2. Scans of any proof of any money that you have had to pay out during your dealings with mr Jones.
3. We will also require a handwritten statement, describing your dealings with mr Jones and any other relevent details.

As too question 3, I will forward you some paperwork via email attachment shortly for you to complete. We will require this statement to present to the judge overseeing the criminal compensation. He will need a full explanation of how you were invlved and what money you may have spent during this operation. Your identification ees of course required in order to prove that you are who you say you are and that any payments made to you are legitimate.

One final question; are you able to come to London for the trial? We cannot of course pay for your travel however if you are able to make a personal appearence then it will greatly increase our chances of a full conviction. If you are not able to travel to London do you think that perhaps you will be able to provide a video statment? This will basically require you to read a statement to camera. This will be of great help in our case. It is not vital that you do this however if you are able to then it will increases our chances of a conviction greatly and also improve your creeminal compensation claim.

Yours,

Detective Superintendent Juan Trique Ponee
Spanish Inquisition Section

I attach a Photoshopped image of the Post Office (street name covered to protect the innocent):

Obo has more questions. He's a very curious man!

From: Ony Obo
To: DS Juan Trique Ponee
Subject: ready

Ref: 32768

Mr. Juan,

Thanks for your email.Here are the scaned recipit of the expenditure i incured in the course of the production which i did for Mr.Jones.As you requested i have provided them.As for coming to London during the trial yes i will .I view of that i will like you to give me in details every nessaccery infromation on how i will make it .I mean the following details.

1)The day of the first hearing inthe court.
2)The name of the court,the name of the judge presiding over the case and the court premisse addresse.
3)May i know the name of the Lawyer of Mr Jones.
4)Give me the police station addresse.

All these i need to enable me be there present and see things for myself.I appreciate the effort you are making in order to help me recover my money.I will enjoin you to do more.About my identity,Mr Jones have never asked me of any sort niether did i too,so who is going to identify me when i send in my passport or I.D card.You too do not know me.But if it will aid to the recovery of my lost money who am i to say no.I wll send it as soon as you send in the paperwork which you said i will fill,then i will send it together.

Again you never said anything about all the information about my transaction with Mr.Jones.Did you ask him or not,whether he is dening or saying the same with me.I want to know his mind tell him Mr.Charles from Nigeria is asking for his money,and i want to know what his comment is.I will stop here till i hear from you.

Thanks

Ony

From: DS Juan Trique Ponee
To: Ony Obo

Ref: 32768


Mr Ony Obo.

Thank you for your email and for the scan attacments. To answer some of your questions:

1> There is no hearing date as yet until we have gathererd all the witness reports/complains. meester Jones has already been through the remand process, which took place on February 12.

2> Again, because we are awaiting witnees statments, there is no court date yet, however the most likely court that meester Jones will be appearing is:

The Royal Courts of Justice
The High Court
Strand
London
WC1

3> Mr jones barrister is Terence Gilliam QC

4> Our address is 227 Caledonian Road, London, N7 9BQ. Mr Jones is currently being held at the Branston Caravela Holding cells, 29 monmouth, st. covent garden, london WC2h 9HD. He will be allowed no veesitors until after the first trial date other than his barrister mr gilliam.

Please do note Mr obo as I have already stated, you are not the only person involved in this case. There are nearly 300 victims of mr jones, and it is my job to deal with each individual case, so you will forgive me if I cannot take time to go into great detail. Time simply does not permit it and also English law does not permit me to realease too much detail on any one case until after any trial. There may well not be a trial at all unless we can gather enough evidence from any of mr Jones victims.

Regarding your identification This is nothing to do with mr Jones. If you wish to claim criminal compensation then we must be able to ensure that any payment goes to the rightful person. Any person could contact us and claim money, so we need to ensure that no futher fraud takes place. You will apprecaite that we have to avaoid a situation such as somebody impersonating you and taking away any money entitled to you. I would hope that you understand the need for protect your interests in this matter.

I shall forward the forms for you to complete within the next 24 hours.


Yours,

Detective Superintendent Juan Trique Ponee
Spanish Inquisition Section

Shortly after the email above, I send Obo the Compansation forms. There are a few parts to it, mostly blank pages for him to fill in his statement. Here's the first page detailing how to make a claim:

From: Ony Obo
To: DS Juan Trique Ponee
Subject: confirmation

Dear Juan,

You see as it stands i don't understand what the video tape will contain and what is meant for.Equally i can't foot the bill of sending another video tape to London since the one i sent have not been paid for.It cost alot of money to do the shippment.If because of that i can recover my money well i have nothing to say yet.Again i have asked you time without number about the position of Mr.Jones as regards my payment.I want to know if he is dening of having any business with me?I will like you to tell him that Mr Charles from Nigeria is asking for his money.Tell me what is his comment about that.I await your response soon.

Thanks

Ony.

Looks like Obo can't send his video statement, but we'll be getting back to this later!

From: DS Juan Trique Ponee
To: Ony Obo

Ref: 32768


Mr Ony Obo.

The video tape would just contain yourself reeding from your own statment. Do not worry about thees. If you cannot send the video tape then this is not a problem for us. I only asked you becaose it would make your compensation case much stronger, however your wreetten statement will probably suffice.

I am afraid that I cannot geeve you any comment from mr ronald jones personally as all communications have to go through his lawyer, however what I can tell you is that he is denying having had dealing with almost all of the people that we have contacted, which is again nearly 300 people. This is why it is so impostant to us (for a good case) to have detailed statements from any person that has lost money through dealing with this person.

I am afraid that the truth is that mr jones will almost certainly not be paying you any money. mr jones appears to have cleared his bank account of nearly 3 meellion UK pounds and we have no idea yet where this money has been moved to.

Your only chance of recompense is to be sucessful in your criminal cimpansation application. We are operating on a first come first served basis. Victims who have lost money because of mr jones will be dealt with in the order that their completed statements are received.

Yours,

Detective Superintendent Juan Trique Ponee
Spanish Inquisition Section

A couple of days later, Obo sends in his poorly scanned statement.

From: Ony Obo
To: DS Juan Trique Ponee
Subject: statement

Dear Juan,

Here is the copy of the scaned claims as you told me.I expect you to put the very last effort with your powers to enable me get what rightly belongs to me.Thanks for your co-operation.I anticipate your help.

Thanks

Ony.

Obo forgot to include his identification.

From: DS Juan Trique Ponee
To: Ony Obo

Ref: 32768

Mr Ony Obo.

Thank you for sending in your statmentm however please note that you were also asked to supply a quality scan of your international passport as proof of your identity and also supply your full address. Please will you attach this with your next emails.

Yours,

Detective Superintendent Juan Trique Ponee
Spanish Inquisition Section

Obo sends in his passport and another request for information!

From: Ony Obo
To: DS Juan Trique Ponee
Subject: identification

Dear Juan,

Thank you for your last e-mail.I am very much grateful.Here is the scanned copy of my passport.Though i don't see any need for that,but i have to fullfil all the task you have been given me.Now i think i have done all these what is my faith.About the interview of Mr.Jones well may i see what he has for me there.Again i will like to have the contact of Mr.Jones Lawyer.I would like to ask him some few questions.Tell him one of their cilents want to have a word with him

.I look forword to hearing the interview and the laywers contact soon.Thank you once more for your effort so far.May God bless you in all your endevoure.

Thanks,I anticipate your kind reply soon.

Ony.

A stunningly bad effort at a passport I hope you will agree! No need to complain about it just yet though. We need to keep Obo thinking that cash is still a few emails away

From: DS Juan Trique Ponee
To: Ony Obo

Ref: 32768

Mr Ony Obo.

Thank you for your information and for the identification you provided.

Regarding your question about contacting Mr  Jones' solicitor; I shall ensure that he is given your contact details and I will ask him to get in touch with you.

I thought that you might be interested in some parts of my first interrogation of Mr Jones. We spent a total of five hours asking him about his dealings with various victims in this case, including yourself. For your information below I have sent you a partial transcript of my interview showing some of the questions and answers in the part of the interview where I asked him about you:

DS Ponee: Mr. Jones. Have you had any dealings with a person named Ony Obo from Nigeria?

Ronald Jones: Yes.

DS Ponee: What was the nature of your partnership?

Ronald Jones: Well, you see guv, it was like this. This guy contacted me wanting to buy some animal sex videos from me, you know, men and women having sex with animals. He wanted anything featuring sex with donkeys and horses. He also asked me if I could get some man on man action as well. I told him that I could get the stuff no problem, but it would cost some cash. Mr. Obo told me that cash wasn't a problem. He was desperate to watch some donkey sex and also to get some homosexual videos for his boyfriend as a present.

DS Ponee: And what happened to these tapes? When we arrested you, we found no evidence of the donkey sex or homosexual videos?

Ronald Jones: Well of course you didn't. By that time I had already shipped the videos to Mr Obo. The robbing bastard still has not paid me for the videos. I sent over a hundred video tapes to that thief and I haven't received a single dollar. The dude owes me nearly $10,000. You can tell Obo from me that if I don't get my money I will publish all of the naked photographs of him that I have, even the ones where he has his penis in a goat's mouth.

DS Ponee: Mr Jones. Your claims seem outrageous to me. Do you really expect me to believe the allegations against Mr Obo?

Ronald Jones: Believe what you want copper. I have paperwork to prove that I sent lots of donkey, horse and homosexual video tapes to Mr Obo. Obo will of course deny everything. He is a lying bastard. Of course he is going to deny buying animal sex videos from me, that is to be expected, plus he owes me a lot of money. You can tell him from me, if I don't get my money, I have people who will see to it that he has trouble walking. Anyone who tries to screw with me ends up getting their legs removed... from the neck down. By the way, do you have to wear that sombrero in the interview room?

DS Ponee: Mr Jones, there is no need for threats. About your allegations; do you have paperwork to prove this?

Ronald Jones: Yes. You obviously didn't search my house properly. Did you look in my filing cabinet marked "Pervert Files"? Can I have your sombrero?

DS Ponee: No. I did not get any report of such a filing cabinet in your house.

Ronald Jones: No, not the house you dumb ass. The filing cabinet is in my garage, at the rear of my house. Are all you Spanish cops this dumb?

DS Ponee: Mr Jones, I would advise you to show me more respect. I can make your life pretty miserable in here if I want to. Shall I ask officer Dibble to bring me the cattle prod again?

Ronald Jones: Sorry guv.

DS Ponee: OK. Yes, we have searched your garage, but I have not yet seen that particular search report. I will review it after this interview.

Ronald Jones: Yeah. When you see that report you will see that there are shipping receipts for donkey sex, horse sex, and gay man on man videos sent to that son-of-a-bitch. Obo is a dirty bastard. He told me once that he had sex with his dead brother. I mean, what kind of pervert does stuff like that? At least my brother was alive. Did I tell you that one time he called me he asked me if I would send him photographs of my penis?

DS Ponee: No?

Ronald Jones: Yes. It was about 6 weeks ago. I was trying to complete this deal as honestly and efficiently as possible, but all Obo wanted from me were photographs of my penis. He told me that he has a huge collection of penis photographs and offered to sell copies of them to me. I told the prick that I wasn't interested in that kind of stuff. He is pervert you know. He told me that he has no interest in women, and only men and animals could satisfy his lust. Hey, but I didn't argue with him, after all, he wanted to buy stuff from me so it's all money in the bank right?

DS Ponee: Did you have contact with any of Mr Obo's friends or business partners?

Ronald Jones: Yes. There was a guy called Tony Titecheeks. I think he was Obo's boyfriend because he would keep calling Mr Obo "my darling", and "bareback lover", and similar strange names. Mr Titecheeks told me of the many business dealings that Obo had with other sex dealers all over the world. Apparently Mr Obo is the biggest importer of animal sex videos in Nigeria. Titecheeks told me that Obo runs over 30 animal sex houses in his country and sells the animal manure to garden centres all over the world. You see Mr Ponee, Obo really is full of shit, Ha! Ha! Ha!

DS Ponee: Now settle down Mr Jones. I will be checking your allegations in some detail over the next few days.

Ronald Jones: Fine. You will soon discover that what I am telling you is the truth and that Obo is a gay thief. And I don't mean gay in happy way either. Please can I have your sombrero?

DS Ponee: No.

Interview ended at 2:45am - Thursday 1st March 2007

As you can see Mr. Obo, Ronald Jones is making some startling allegations against you. Of course, it is probable that most of the statement is lies, but you will appreciate that we have to check into all allegations. I will shortly be looking through any evidence found in Mr Jones' garage and if I am able to, I will report the findings back to you. In the meantime, please feel free to compile a list of questions for Mr Jones if you wish to and I will put them to him during our next interview.

Sincerely,

Detective Superintendent Juan Trique Ponee
Spanish Inquisition Section

Hopefully that statement will get Obi in a bit of a bad mood!

Yep. He's not happy.

From: Ony Obo
To: DS Juan Trique Ponee
Subject: Re: identification

Dear Juan, I received your mail.

As the time i read the interview i was dumpfounded,because i could not believe that there are some cheap liers in this morden world of ours.But another thing that keeps running across my mind is that you seem to belief what Mr.Jones is saying.However am not yet sure as to that.But be it as it may,having gone through all the information i gave you about my business with him,by now you should have known who is telling the truth.Thank God he accepted having a transaction with me,but he tured the truth upside down.

Instead of tell you he contracted me to do a video tape for him,he now reversed it.Now he acursed me of asking for pornograph.Let me put it clear Mr.Juan am a practising Christain.It is against my faith to involve in such an attrocity.All other accusation he leveled against me are fouls. Howevre,I will like to drow your attention to one mail which i sent ot you as an evidence of my expenditure which i incuerd while working for him.Cheak those reciepts you will see one for the shippment,there is a number like this there:EE3146933XXXX this the the tracking number of the video tape i sent to Jone which he received. Go to www.parcelforce.com and see for yourself what will happen there.

When you have cheaked you will know who is saying the truth.This the last evidence i have to prove my point.If at this you are not conviced then i think i will rest my case and call on God almaight to intervan on mybehalf.Look he called all sorts of names and said all sort of things,well it is all his opinion.I will stop here,till i hear from you.

Thanks Ony.

From: DS Juan Trique Ponee
To: Ony Obo

Ref: 32768


Mr Ony Obo

Thank you for your reply.

Please do not assume what my team or myself may be thinking. It is very common for criminals to try to reverse their story and try to make out that it is the victims that are at fault. We only believe hard evidence, not just what we are told, so even though Mr Jones may have given some wild accusations everything will be checked in very fine detail. You yourself are under no suspicion.

In fact I am able to offer you further information today. After further investigation we have discovered thet Ronald Jones is not this person's name. His real name is Mr. Eric Idle. The reason that Mr Idle took the name of Ronald Jones is because this is the same name of the person who works at the post office where your package was shipped to. It was clever to do this because of course even though the person calling himself Mr Ronald Jones would not be there to accept the package, because the post master is called Ronald Jones, none of his victims were aware of any misdirection. So now we know his real name is Eric Idle, we will quickly be able to find out more information about him.

Moving on to your compensation claim; your passport and statement are now being processed. We now require your Nigerian Movie Guild details proving your credentials and that you work for them. The statement that you sent to me some days ago states your membership of the Nigerien Movie Guild, and as I stated before, we have to have all the relevent paperwork to prove these facts, therefore before your claim can be processed and paid, we will require the following:

A letter from the director of the Nigeriam Movie Guild, stating that you work for then, and that the work that you produced for the person known to you as Ronald Jones was produced by them on his behalf. This letter needs to be signed and of course written on the official Letterhead peper of the Nigerian Movie Guild. If the Nigerian Movie Guild have any official stamps then please include them on the letter.

I have also spoken with Mr Eric Idle's solicitor Mr Terence Gilliam, and he has told me that he will be contacting you shortly.

Yours,

Detective Superintendent Juan Trique Ponee
Spanish Inquisition Section

From: Ony Obo
To: DS Juan Trique Ponee
Subject: Re: identification

Dear Juan,

I thank you for your email.Am not accusing you of believing the so called Mr.Jones.I just told you my feelings.Equally i thank you for the investigation so far so good.I will get the letter as you reqirued.But you never told me if you searched for the tracking i refered you to do.I will do as you said.Thanks once more.This findings will show you now that he is a crimminal.

Regards

Ony.

Some days go by and I still haven't got Obi's note. Time for a reminder.

From: DS Juan Trique Ponee
To: Ony Obo

Ref: 32768

Mr Ony Obo.

Please will you get back to me as soon as possible. I am still awaiting receipt of your letter from the Nigerian Movie Guild.

Yours,

Detective Superintendent Juan Trique Ponee
Spanish Inquisition Section

Obo finally sends the note after a few more days of waiting.

From: Ony Obo
To: DS Juan Trique Ponee
Subject: Letter

REF: 32768

Thanks for your mail reminder.I am most grateful when i saw the mail.It has show how committed you are and concerned about my progress. However,I have been away for a while, that is the why i was unable send in th cover note.I went for a programme organised by African Movie Academy.I became sick after the event and so could not collect the letter.Now all these are over,am back on my feet again.

I will be pleased if you write me to update me about the ongoings with Mr Idle or Jones as the case maybe. I await you kind response soon.Thanks once more for your effort do far, May God continue to Bless you.

Thanks

Ony.

Once more, the signature seems very familiar to me, but of course that's probably my suspicious side!

Nice to see that Obo is not yet so ill that he is unable to attend the 'African Movie Academy Award' though.

I give Obo a taste of his own medicine and do not bother to reply for around a week.

From: Ony Obo
To: DS Juan Trique Ponee
Subject: Re: Letter

Dear Juan,

I was suprise that you decided to keep excommincado.Well i accept your excuse.But i don't understand the fact that you will only write me when you have time.You know i have lost the information as to what is going on now with my case.I imploy you to contact me with the latest infromation.My ears are on the ground to hear your report.I await your response soon.

Thanks,

Regards

Ony

Just to let you all know, today marks the eighth month that I have been communicating with Obo!

From: DS Juan Trique Ponee
To: Ony Obo

Dear Mr. Obo,

I apologise for my delay in replying to you. This case is very complicated and there are many witnesses to question, hence my late reply.

I shall be in touch again very shortly.

Yours,

Detective Superintendent Juan Trique Ponee
Spanish Inquisition Section

I'll leave him to stew for a few days!

From: Ony Obo
To: DS Juan Trique Ponee
Subject: I need a solution to my problem

Dear Juan,

Thank you for the mail.I wonder why is now taking you 24 hrs to let me know the on-going about my case.Is it stand now i have put in everything i have to make sure i get paid for the job i did for Eric.I want to know if am going after shadows or am wasting my time .Is like things are not going the right way it should.

Let me know if i stand a chance to gain back what i lost or something as a compasation for my work.See the actors now nolonger accept my as agent to anymore because they believe i eat thier share of the work.At least i want to know that i did not do such a thing,by paying something to them even any littel amount.

Just brief me.Has he gone to court and what was the outcome of the judgement.Why has'nt his lawyer contacted me all thing while.Is he affraid of talking to me?Because i just want to ask him few question about his client.I will be waiting to hear from you soon.

Thanks

Regrads

Ony.

From: DS Juan Trique Ponee
To: Ony Obo

Dear Mr. Obo,

Thank you for your patience in waiting for my reply.

I am just letting you know that I received a telephone call from Eric Idle's lawyer Mr. Terry Gilliam QC this evening. He asked me to pass on his apologies for not getting in touch because the complexity of the case has kept him very busy, however he will be contacting you very shortly.

Mr. Gilliam made a request; Please can you forward to him all emails that you have sent to me, and all emails that I have sent to you from the date of March 7th. The reason he is asking for this of course is so that he is completely up to date with all the relevant facts. Mr. Gilliam's email address is: [email protected]

I shall also be in touch with you very shortly, possibly later today.

Yours,

Detective Superintendent Juan Trique Ponee
Spanish Inquisition Section

A few hours later , I also forward Obo a request he probably won't like.

From: DS Juan Trique Ponee
To: Ony Obo

Dear Mr. Obo,

Thank you once again for your patience. I do apologise for the delays in getting back to you however this case is proving to be very complicated, and yes indeed, very frustrating.

Mr. Obo I am afraid that we have hit upon a very frustrating obstacle. Mr. Idle has confessed to a majority of the criminal acts for which he is being charged, and I can inform you that his trial date has now been set for Monday April 30th. The problem we have is concerned with your criminal compensation payment. Myself and my colleagues have taken into account your statement, along with evidence we found in Mr. Idle's house of his dealings with you. Criminal compensation has been worked out now, and you are entitled to the amount of £13,772 UK pound sterling, which translates to US $27,230. I understand of course that this amount does not come up to the amount that Mr. Idle promised you, however I hope you can understand that criminal compensation is calculated in ways which may not result in the total amount lost.

As I said, there is a problem which we shall need to address before we can proceed with any payment to you. After discussions with lawyer acting on behalf of the criminal compensations bureau, Mr. Graham Chapman, the statement you gave in writing is not sufficient in order to guarantee a conviction in this case. If there is no conviction of Mr. Idle with reference to your case then of course you cannot be eligible for criminal compensation, and in that case the £13,772 will not be paid to you.

In order to secure the conviction, and indeed your criminal compensation payment, you will have to do one of the following:

1. Come to London, England (at your own expense) and appear in court in person to give your statement.
2. Arrange to make some kind of video recording of you reading your statement, and send the video recording to the prosecution lawyers London offices.

Please do let me now if and when you will be able to manage one of the two options above. If you would like to travel to the UK to make your statement in person then let me know and I will provide you with the dates/times and address of the courts and make an appointment for you to make your statement to the prosecution lawyer.

Thank you,

Detective Superintendent Juan Trique Ponee
Spanish Inquisition Section

Obo is not a happy bunny!

From: Ony Obo
To: DS Juan Trique Ponee
Subject: dam the lawyer

Dear Juan,

I have seen that you are tried about this case why are not bold enough to say it out.As for the laywer am not ready to forward any dam thing to him.

Why are behaving as if you are part of this fraud.I can't understand you any more.

Thanks

Ony.

From: DS Juan Trique Ponee
To: Ony Obo

Mr. Obo,

Do you expect the lawyer to try to defend his client without the full facts? If you were the person being prosecuted would you like your own lawyer not to have access to all the information?

I shall contact the Criminal Compensation Bureau tomorrow and inform them that you no longer wish to make a claim, and that you are being uncooperative. I will have your particular case closed tomorrow also. This will mean that Mr. Idle will face no charges with relation to your losses.

Goodbye, and I wish you good luck for the future.

Yours,

Detective Superintendent Juan Trique Ponee
Spanish Inquisition Section

From: Ony Obo
To: DS Juan Trique Ponee
Subject: Re: dam the lawyer

Dear Juan,

I have receive your massage in good faith.I can see that you have been waiting for such a time to get me furstrated so that i will back out and my money will be lost to the air.No problem,I know that i made sure i gave you all the necessary informtion you need about me and the business i did with Mr.Jones.Now you have said it let it not be that i am the one who requested the case to be closed.

Tell the Criminal Compensation Bureau that you have decided to close my case.I will like you to give them reasons why you want to close my case.As regards the laywer i have no business with him.His client should be able to give him the details of the case so that he can mow defend him.All i want is to ask him some few question.If he can't write me then he is to be blame.On your part you have kept silent for over two weeks now,no information,i don't know the stage my case is.Now you are telling me you are closing the case.Well if that will please your mind and consence if you have any go ahead and do it.But i will want to know the grounds you want my case closed.

Regards,

Ony.

From: DS Juan Trique Ponee
To: Ony Obo

Mr. Obo,

You obviously are not familiar with the way that the UK law works. Here, a defendent is presumed innocent unless proven otherwise. Until such time as he or she is found guilty then he/she is entitled to a full and professional defence. Please remember that it was you that asked to be put in touch Mr.Idle's lawyer in the first place, You will of course recall that in your email to me at the beginning of March. Now I have given you his contact details it seems you have changed your mind.

Again I shall remind you that you are just one of many people that Mr. Idle has allegedly defrauded. The reason that things appear to be moving so slow are because of the enormous amount of data and people we are dealing with. Please remember that the whole case does not revolve around you alone.

Your particular case against Mr. Idle will be closed if you are unwilling to supply requested information. Do you expect the prosecution or defence to put forward a case without the full facts?

If you want to continue your claim, then I suggest you contact Mr. Idle's lawyer and give him what he is requesting, and also tell me your reply to the email I sent to you, a copy of which I have included below (copy of the, "I want another video from you" email!).

If however you decide that you do not want to cooperate then that is fine, it will make our work somewhat easier.

Sincerely,

Detective Superintendent Juan Trique Ponee
Spanish Inquisition Section

From: Ony Obo
To: DS Juan Trique Ponee
Subject: Re: dam the lawyer

Dear Juan,

Am suprise that you of all peopel sound this way.I thought it is your job you are doing and you are happy doing helping peopel like my seek and get redress.Why are you turning your back at me at this time it seemed you were helping.Look there was never a time i agreed with you that i will come to london or send a video tape.You told me to do so but,i refuse considering the expensive nature of what you demand.Remember that you promise to continue if i can't come physically.Now why are sounding this way.If it is your interest to close the case then satisfy yourself.But remember that Almight God who leaves in heaven knows the truth.

As for the laywer i don't understand why i should forward what to him.Is he cross-exemining me or what.Let him write me first.Any question he ask i will answer.I can't afford to send any video tape or come to london,because i have no money to foot the bills.I have provided you with everyother evidence you require.If it is not yet enough then do your wish.As for me i want to be compasated at lets something i can use to settle my actors.I wish to continue but you are putting in a tight corner.Please be reasonable enough so that we can forge ahead.

Thanks

Ony.

From: DS Juan Trique Ponee
To: Ony Obo

Mr. Obo,

You were the one that started acting stupid, which such phrases as "damn the lawyer". Am I really supposed to take you seriously after such childish words?

I can see that I am wasting my time. Please do not contact me again. Mr. Idle's lawyer will be informed that he will not be charged for any offences against you. I have real work to do and I will not have my time wasted by children.

Once again, goodbye.

Detective Superintendent Juan Trique Ponee
Spanish Inquisition Section

From: Ony Obo
To: DS Juan Trique Ponee
Subject: Re: dam the lawyer

Dear Juan,

Thank alot for knocking me off.May God continue to bless you in your good work.I know i have done my best to fight for my good job.May your concense be your jugde.

Thanks

Ony.

At this point (in real life) I went on a two week vacation, and I left Obo to ponder over his predicament for a while. Whilst I was away two copies of the exact same email came in:

From: Ony Obo
To: DS Juan Trique Ponee
Subject: Thank be to God

Dear Juan,

I appeal to you for help in this case. I have done my best to appeal to your concence. Please consider my plight.

Ony.

After I returned home, I decided to try a different approach and sent Obo an email from the accused's solicitor.

From: Terry Gilliam QC
To: Ony Obo

Dear Sir.

Your contact information was passed on to me by DS Juan Trique Ponee who is the lead detective in charge of the police case against my client, Mr. Eric Idle, formally known to you as 'Ronald Jones'. I am Mr. Idle's defence attorney.

I have been informed by DS Ponee that you no longer wish to pursue a case against my client.  I am bound by law to inform you that the trial of Mr. Idle is to take place at the Royal Courts of Justice in London on May 24th 2007.  If you wish to submit any evidence against Mr. Idle then
it must be submitted before this date.  

This email is just for your own personal records.

Yours faithfully.

Terry Gilliam QC

From: Ony Obo
To: Terry Gilliam QC
Subject: Your client

Dear Terence,

Thank you for your mail.I have been expecting you to write all these while i was talking with police.

May God bless you.As regards my case with your client,there was never a time i wanted to drop my claims.It will look as if i am not saying the truth all these while as it concern the business i had with your client.The police started making difficult for me.They gave some task which i have told them easiler that i cannot accomplice.Be that as it may they asked me not to contact them again.I have wrritten them couple of mails but they decided not to reply.

See Sir,I have surffered alot because of this deal with your client. All through i was asking him if this is a scam he should tell me so that i will back off because i don't have the resourse to up set the bill of the production.I went as far as borrowing money from the bank to carry-out the job.The actor am having problems with them ,as it stands now they do not accept any job i give them anylonger. They said i eat their money. This has brought me a bad name in my business. If you are inmy shoes how will you feel.

However,i gave the police all the evidence i have about the trancation between me and your cilent.So i expected them to do something with that but they have disapointed me.All i ask from your client is as follows;

1)Please say the truth about the business we had.
2)Pay up all the money he promised upon completion of the job.
3)If he dose not have all please pay some,if it is the actors which he has agreed to pay before now.Am willing to have that so i can clear myself from the actors.I have his mail where he wrote me telling me he will pay up the actors but he advise i put in my expenditure,so he can pay up once.
4)If he is not willing to pay he should let me know.

I am pleding to you his laywer,to assite me in this busienss.I believe you are an honest man and God will bless you as you do this.I expect your reply so to know the situation of thing.

Thanks once more for your anticipated co-opreation.

My Regards to your family

Ony Obo.

I try to get Obo to agree to Juan Trique Ponee's demands.

From: Terry Gilliam QC
To: Ony Obo

Dear Mr. Obo,

Thank you for your reply.

I was given to understand that the police had asked you to either appear in court in person as a witness, or provide a video statement.  Mr.
Ponee told me that you had refused both of these requests.

As you know, I am the defence attorney for Mr. Idle, and therefore you can be assured that I am not in any kind of collusion with the police as
it is my duty to represent my client and to assure him of a fair trail and professional representation.  I would hope therefore that you will take what I tell you to be the truth and facts of the matter.

DS Ponee is entirely correct in that in order for you to pursue any criminal compensation claim against my client, you have to be prepared to submit either a video recorded statement or appear in court in person.  English law will not permit written statements from witnesses/claimants who wish to make a financial claim.

DS Ponee has forwarded me your claims paperwork, and I see that upon successful prosecution, you are to be awarded criminal compensation to
the amount of £13,772 pounds sterling, approximately $27,370 US dollars. This money would of course enable you to clear any outstanding
creditors that you may have, including of course the actors you speak of.

Unfortunately, unless you can provide your witness statement as required, either in person, or by recorded video testimony, you will not be eligible for this payment.  I believe that DS Ponee has already informed you of this.  My apologies if I am repeating things to you Mr. Obo however I am unaware of everything that the police have told you.

Mr. Obo, it is not within my power to force you to do anything, and in fact to be entirely truthful to you, it would benefit my client greatly
if you were not able to provide any testimony at all, however I am obliged by law to make all the facts available to you.  To be very truthful to you, without your personal or video testimony, Mr. Idle will almost certainly escape any criminal charges against him with reference to his dealings with you.

I hope that this letter has explained things more clearly to you, and please do feel free to contact me at any time should you have any further questions.  Please do understand that as I am preparing the defence of my client I am unable to answer any questions before the trial that may prejudice his case, but I am very happy to help answer any other questions you may have.  

If you still require to pursue your £13,772 claim then you would be advised to act quickly and contact DS Ponee to tell him that you will either send in the video testimony to him, or appear in person in court.

Yours faithfully,

Terence Gilliam QC

Looks like my luck is running out.

From: Ony Obo
To: Terry Gilliam QC
Subject: Re: Your client

Dear Terence,

Thank you for the mail.I wish to bring to your notice that am not an English man. I am a Nigerian and you know what it takes to travel from here to there.If i have such money i will not boader myself about the money your client is owing my. Again sending a video tape is expensive too.The only thing i ask from you now is that am appealling to you and your client to pity me and give me the friut of my labour.

I have seen that going through a court will not get me my money.I think we are all christains lets us be kind to eachother as christ thought us.Am on my knees pleading that your client should remember when we started and how we started.

I look forword to your co-operation.

Regards,

Ony.

From: Terry Gilliam QC
To: Ony Obo

Dear Mr. Obo,

Thank you for your reply.

I am afraid my client is in no position to help anyone as he is in police custody.  All his assets have been ceased by the British and Spanish authororties and cannot be released. I am very sorry that I am unable to help you, however thank you once more for your prompt reply.

If you wish to take my advice, I would urge you to try to find some way to raise money to send your video testimony and contact DS Ponee to
inform him of your desire to proceed with your claim.  It would be very sad to see you lose so much money and compensation because of such a
small obstacle.

Whatever you decide, I do wish you good luck for the future.

My kindest regards,

Terence Gilliam QC.

Sadly I have to report that I never heard back from Obo again. It has now been two weeks since I sent my last message to him and I get the feeling he has just given up the ghost! I think we have come to rather an abrupt end. However, I plan to write to him after the trial has finished. In fact, I plan to write to him as Eric Idle (AKA Ronald Jones) to tell Obo the I managed to escape prosecution and that I want to make things up to him, and perhaps get him some money. I'm guessing the trial will last about 2 months before I'm acquitted of all charges.

All is not lost if Obo is gone forever. I have a new (lady) scammer now called Jani. She's currenly doing some very hard work for me. Look for a brand new scambait sometime in the next week or so. I think you're going to enjoy Jani's work very much ;)

Watch this space...

NOTE:

You may feel tempted to feel sorry for the scammer in this correspondence, after all, he has been put through a lot. DON'T! Many will argue that this is "just a poor guy trying to scrape a living together". I would encourage these people to research this scam more thoroughly. I've been involved with 419 scams for five years and many of our members for longer. We know exactly how these guys operate, and you can be assured these are vicious, nasty people, with absolutely no morals whatsoever. They will not have a second thought for anyone who loses their home, job, or in some cases their lives as a result of having to find money to pay these thieves off.

For the most part these are not poor people trying to scratch out a living. Compared to their own countrymen, they make a small fortune from this scam, ranging from many hundreds of pounds a week, to many hundreds of thousands of pounds a month. Many operate in very large and complex gangs, dealing in many other criminal activities, such as drugs, the sex trade, Credit Card fraud and firearms. These gangs make millions a year and create untold amounts of misery for innocent people. I know because I hear from a lot of them first hand. Some of the stories from real victims would make your toes curl.

If you are of the opinion that only greedy and gullible people fall for these scams then you seriously need to educate yourself about this scam a lot more. It is most definitely not the greedy who lose out most to these people. Lives are ruined by these scammers on a monotonously regular basis. Billions of dollars world-wide a year are lost in this highly organised gang crime. Among the hundreds of victims who have contacted me, some have lost their entire living, friends, families, homes, and worse.

Of course the artwork (and probably the video above) did not involve the scammer here using his own skills. More likely he paid various people to produce all the work. My hope is that IF these people were not paid in advance (and I have reason to believe that they were all actually paid in advance, which I can't publish here) then they may give the scammer a taste of his own medicine in a rather different form once they realise payment is not forthcoming. And no, I don't feel the slightest tinge of sympathy for this particular scumbag. By the way, as I write, this particular scammer is involved with just under 20 other scams.

These scammers can be thankful that the very worst that can happen to them here is that a silly photo/video of them appears on this site. Their hundreds of thousands of victims a year cannot count themselves so lucky.

Thanks for reading.

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