Dear Dennis,

I received your mail, i am happy the photos are acceptable to you. All the same, if you send them the money today, don’t fail to notify me accordingly so that I can follow it up as there is need to hasten things up. I will also appreciate if we can be in constant communication wherever you are to enable me be giving you an update from time to time.

John.

Date: Fri, 13 Aug 2004 09:08:52 -0400
From: Dennis Franz
To: Barrister John Akroma
Subject: RE: Very Important

I will actually be at a friend's wedding tomorrow, and traveling all today and most of Sunday to get there, so I won't be able to get in touch with you over the weekend for the most part. I get my lunch break shortly, and will make my way to the bank.

Dennis

Hello Mr. Tukur, John,

I have copied both of you on this e-mail. I apologize for it's brevity, but I am already running late and must leave town very shortly.

Attached is my Western Union receipt that I quickly scanned in. It is made out for $4,000 US to the specifics you requested - the question/answer is: Playful name? Answer: Snackpants.

Hope this finds you well. I will write when I return on Monday.
Dennis



[I intentionally send John a blurred, distored Western Union receipt so that he'd have to wait the weekend for the *next* fake one I plan to send him]

Dear Dennis,
I received your mail and copy of the western union money transfer, though the copy you forwarded to me was unreadable. Anyway you should not bother yourself since i don't have much need for it, as it is just for my own records.

Now that i have confirmed that you have sent the money to the probate, i will be at their office on monday for the issuance of the Certificate and i will keep you updated.
Have a wonderful trip.
John.

Dear Sir,

We wish to inform you that the copy of the Western Union Money Transfer that you sent to us as attachment was blurred and we could not see a word of it. We therefore will suggest that instead of resending it, you should email to us the requisite information i.e. Tracking number, Senders name and Address as well as the Receivers name. That is all we need, as you have already indicated the text question and answer in your previous mail.
We would appreciate if you will act accordingly to facilitate the issuance of the Letter of Administration without any further hitch.

Yours Faithfully
Ibrahim Tukur

Mr. Tukur,

I am currently at work, but will get you the information you require this evening when I get home. I was in a rush when I left on Friday and mustn't have scanned the receipt at the proper size. My apologies.

Dennis

Dear Dennis,

I was at the Probate yesterday and they also complained that they were unable to access the copy of the Western Union that you sent to them. From what I gathered from Mr. Tukur, he has notified you accordingly.

Early this morning, I was there too and he said that he is yet to hear from you, I told them that you promised to be back from your trip on Monday and definitely they will hear from you today. Please endeavor to correct the anomaly for us to proceed, as time is no longer on our side.

Regards
John.

Why is time no longer on our side? [I've never understood that. Does John have bills due?]

I contacted Mr. Tukur this morning. Please call him and make sure he received my e-mail. I told him I must have scanned the receipt too small (I was in a rush).

I will get the information he requires tonight when I get home from work.

Dennis

Gentlemen,

I have re-scanned the Western Union receipt from Friday and have made sure that it is clear. You should have no problems.

My best,
Dennis


[Thanks goes out to the folks at 419eater for the WU template... And to clothing magnate J. Peterman for signing the receipt]

Dear Mr Dennis,

The Accounts Officer reported back and informed us that he was unable to collect the money, according to him, the Western Union Office here has searched their system word to word based on the information contained on the Western Union Payment Slip which you sent to us and their was no match found.

In conclusion, the Western Union Agent here advised our Accounts Officer to get back to the sender and confirm if he actually sent the money. This is quite embarrassing Mr Dennis. Endeavor to rectify this with your local Western Union Agents from where you sent the money.

We look forward to your immediate response.

Yours faithfully
Ibrahim Tukur

Now you have me concerned. I checked my accounts this morning and the money was definitely processed by Western Union on Friday, Aug 13, 2004.

I will go down there after work. I wholeheartedly apologize for this and assure you I will get to the bottom of it quickly.

Stand by, I will contact you and let you know what is happening as soon as I find out Mr. Tukur.

Dennis

[John sends me a note from the same IP address - I guess he's looking for the two-tiered threat system]


Date: Thu, 19 Aug 2004 01:28:46 +0800
From: Barrister John Akroma
To: Dennis Franz
Subject: From John

Dear Dennis,

The news i got from the Probate that the money you sent could not be traced came to me as a rude shock. I want you to do everything to save the situation, i want to be believe it is not your fault.

Regards
John.

As I told Mr. Tukur when I received his letter earlier today, the money has been taken from my bank account by Western Union on Aug 13, 2004 - so I am headed to the WU office immediately following work to sort things out.

I hope you and Mr. Tukur understand. I will work to rectify this problem as fast as possible.

Dennis

Hi John, Mr. Tukur,

I went to the Western Union office here today after work to sort things out. It seems the money order was made up, and checked out OK, however one of the numbers was wrong on the confirmation receipt. As I requested a corrected copy of the receipt, I heard something a little troubling...

The teller noticed that I was sending the money to Lagos, and warned me of a great deal of illegal activity in the way of fraud and deception around those parts. I said that I knew you and that it was none of his concern. Do not worry, I made sure not to disclose our discussions, or tell him any information about what the money was being used for or any other arrangements.

The teller did persuade me to reconsider, however - since I have not met you. John, Ibrahim, I have cancelled the Western Union wire transfer, and believe it would be best if I flew to Nigeria to conclude this arrangement in person. I've never been one for technology anyway.

Do you agree with this course of action? And if so, please tell me in advance what other fees I may encounter, and how much they will cost. Are there any more administrative fees? I would like to get the paperwork out of the way, so I'm prepared to finish this deal in the flesh. I would like to meet you two gentlemen anyway.

Please let me know about the money. I can be on a plane as early as Sunday. Will this work for you?

I look forward to hearing from you,
Dennis

Dear Sir,

If you wish to be physically present in Nigeria to finalize this transaction you are welcome, as that will even lay more credence to your claim to the inheritance.

As far as the probate is concerned, the $4,000 is the only fee you are required to pay to facilitate the issuance of the letter of administration.

Yours Sincerely
Ibrahim Tukur

Mr. Tukur,

I am finalizing flight arrangements today or tomorrow, and should be arriving in Lagos sometime on Monday. I will send a copy of my flight receipt so that you have the information.

Is it possible for you to secure lodging for me? I would prefer an upper-class hotel, such as a Sheraton or Hilton. I am willing to pay the extra, and will, of course, reimburse you upon my arrival.

Could you please also provide me with either: a) directions to find you once I arrive, or b) a ride from the airport to your location?

Also, please inform Barrister Akroma I will be making this trip. I look forward to meeting with both of you.

Dennis

I know that all this while that you have been acting a script, I decided to tag along with you just to show you that I have nothing to hide. Your suggestion to come to Nigeria is yet another script, I can’t be fooled because you aren’t coming anywhere. Never bother coming, I will find a way out, I don’t want to continue wasting my precious time with you.

I wouldn’t be surprised if you turn out to blackmail me tomorrow, nevertheless, it would be interesting to watch your game plans as it unfolds.

John.

You don't really think I believe for a moment that you went along with my 'act' because you have nothing to hide, do you John? No, you went along with it because you are a very dumb Mugu... A dumb Mugu with MANY things to hide. Why else would you send me pictures? Take the time and spend the money to call me? You are a liar John. I have known this from day 1.

What part of my 'game plan' do you believe will be interesting to watch as it unfolds John? Will it be the part where I arrest you? Or will it be the part where you are beaten and raped in prison?

You see, it's much worse than you may have thought John. I am a police officer in the USA. As you can see from the attached newspaper clipping, I have been tracking you, and several other 419 MUGUs for several weeks now.

Where it gets even worse, is that while I do not have arrest powers in Nigeria, the Nigerian Police certainly do, and this has all been part of a joint operation. It should be an interesting next few days for you John... If that is your real name... John Akroma, Ibrahim Tukur, Osuji Iyk Kings... whatever. It makes no difference.

I'd estimate I won't be hearing from you again - though I would welcome your reply. I'll be seeing you around John.

Dennis/Andy



(click to enlarge)

Dear Detective Andy Sipowiez,

Ha ha ha, Very very interesting indeed, Clap for yourself, I knew it the very first time I saw your mail that you have something up your sleeves. It was really interesting and i have been looking forward to this. Don’t think that I am disappointed as I knew you will come up with your real identity sooner or later so don’t think that I am surprised.

You don’t think I will be that dumb to send you my real picture do you? I am smarter and I have been into this racket for too long to be fooled by people like you. I know a real maga when I see it. For you information, I just wanted to play along with you because I knew you are up to something and I wanted to unravel it to update my knowledge in the field as most of these experiences helps as this business is more of psychology. So I was enjoying the whole scenario. This is a game of chance and you don’t win all the time.

Now for your information, the guys you saw on the picture were hired on the streets of Lagos and dressed up on suits like gentlemen to pose for the photograph, so you don’t think I will be dumb to send my picture to you, So that makes the two of us okay. As you will also discover that I am not John as it just a coded name for the operation.

Are you now satisfied, so the celebrity image you want to carve for yourself I believe is dashed because you got nothing, if you are that smart, you would have worked towards apprehending the culprit before rushing to the press, that is why you are dumb.

Let me tell you, because of the rate of unemployment and hunger here, if you offer any unemployed person just 1000.00 (one thousand naira) that’s a whole lot of money and with that kind of money, the person will be prepared to take a picture naked even with his mother, so if you still want that picture again and again, I can make it available to you as much as you want, its no big deal. If actually you are working with the Nigerian Police on this, they would have advised you better.

It will be easier to apprehend OSAMA BIN LADIN than to apprehend a core 419 artist, so get that into your dumb brain. Anyway it was fun while it lasted. It is only small boys that are new in the game that you can take unawares and not a big fish like me who can feed your entire family. Better go back to your routine beat you crackpot.

NOTE: You may wish to respond and don’t fail to send this mail for publication.

John

Wow! You wrote back! This is wonderful!

Let me explain why you are not the big fish you believe you are, and why you are truly a dumb, dumb Mugu: I do not require your photograph or your real name to apprehend you, and the article would not have run if we did not already have all the evidence required... The New York Times wrote the piece on our 419 operations as a warning to the not so bright. I have fully traceable e-mail headers from all of your accounts, as does our FBI and your police. If you don't think we know exactly what you've been doing – you need to have your head checked. We operate on a multi-BILLION dollar budget and have all the latest bells and whistles. Additionally, we have a back-trace on the cell phone as well as its records... (Which by the way, doesn't work worth a shit), and we even have another dumb Mugu in custody who thinks he recognizes your style.

Regarding your practices, your 'official looking documents' were horrible forgeries. They were crooked, too large and without imagination. I'm half-glad you did pay a couple of idiots of the street to pose for those photos, as it would have cost you some hard-earned stolen money. What a shame you would have had to rent the cheap suit and pay for photo developing. I'm also glad you made several overseas calls to my wiretapped phone... all in the name of 'going along with my game'. No idiot in their right mind would have jumped through the hoops you did for the practices of psycho-evaluation... so the only person you're fooling with that statement is yourself.

We all enjoy laughing at you here at the office. A bunch of the guys are actually baiting you currently as well, under different names. Have fun wasting your time on them! Maybe you can "figure them out" also.

Incidentally... You also need to learn how to spell. The affidavit and 'bill' for $4,000 both contained VERY stupid spelling errors on the official-looking stamps that could only ever fool the retarded. RecIEved… Jesus, it's RECEIVED. DISpatched, not DESpatched.

What I considered to be the best part was this: In ALL the cases so far, the Mugus we arrested ALL said: I knew all along and just decided to go along with it to see what you were up to... Proving once again that you are: Just another dumb, dishonest Mugu without a brain in your head.

[John never replied.

Of course I am not really a police officer - which was the next 'twist' I would have thrown into this bait... I'm sure John already knew about THAT too though, and was just going along with it for the fun of it.

For all the good it will do, all of John's info was forwarded to the FBI and the Nigerian Police.]

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