The package arrived today. I could make this entry quite long with quotes from all the emails between me and the African man, but I'll just share the essence. The checks were already in the mail when I sent this email to him on Saturday: Dear Henry,

Let me tell you something important.

Until I have rental cash in hand, I will not give you any refund of the "extra money" you have sent. That would just be too stupid of me.

I heard your voice. Clearly you have the voice of an African without a trace of the British accent that a Londoner would have.

I haven't received your telephone number, flight number or arrival time, or copy of your passport.

I'm not saying that what you are doing is a Nigerian Scam, but if it is, this is the last I hope to hear from you.

Any check that may be on its way to me must be written to me from a real financial institution. I will check the authenticity of any document that may be on its way to my place.

If you indeed are not who you say you are, I will turn over the check and UPS tracking number to the FBI in the USA so they can find the origin of the said "cheque"

Kind Regards,

Don

He sent me an email after that explaining that he was for real and that he has been so busy etc... but he knew his game was up.... Now for the package... The UPS/DHL guy called me this morning and I told him to wait at the desk for me. I explained in my best Thai that it was a scam and that I only wanted to open it in front of police or authorities. After a couple of phone calls to his superior, we made a joint decision to open up the package and copy what was in it and then send it back to UPS/DHL headquarters on Rama IV for them to deal with it. READY???Here it is.... who sent it??

Ohhh!! Could that be an African name? Wonder what's inside!! OMFG!! US $4000 in Travellers Cheques! Wow! Wonder if they are real!What ever should I do? Oh look! There's instructions inside as well! Ohh such simple instructions! I can keep 90% for myself! Should I do it?Too late! I already refused delivery. Sorry, so biased of me to think it was a Nigerian.Anyone can see that the money is to be sent to Ghana! Shame on me!In summary, an alleged man from London called from a German time zone one time and promised to send cheques in British Sterling of 530 Pounds which I requested to pay for two months room rental which was advertised on Craigslist. I was sent unsigned cheques amounting to $4000 from USA which I'm supposed to cash and send extra money to Ghana. Sound simple? How do stupid and greedy people fall for these convoluted scams? I called American Express in Thailand twenty minutes ago and they assured me that the cheques were FAKE when I reported the numbers on them. They put me on hold and they were going to give me an email address to send copies of the evidence. Initially, they told me to send the fake checks to some place in Utah, but I told them I refused acceptance and had photos to email them. The connection was lost. I haven't decided whether to call them back or not because it was an automated system where I had to press a bunch of numbers before I got the outsourced call center somewhere in India to talk to the American express lady. So now it is in the hands of the UPS/DHL and the Thai authorities. End of story??? We'll see.  

Funny Don..........lol

thanks for sharing. a good read.

THAT'LL teach you to talk bad about nigerian scammers.

you should have been a detective

The sad thing is that there are still plenty of willing victims out there.

But glad to hear that you weren't one of those.

No five star ratings for my detective work?

C'mon guys! I did a lot of legwork for your amusement!

This is edutainment at its finest!

Wow, the fake checks are getting good. They look like the ones I get from my bank.

I hope they catch criminals like this, and thanks for playing detective.. I guess its something to do between drinking binges...

Cheers

alright then you shameless attention *****, i gave ya 5. maybe you can even make a cameo as yerself on "law and order."

I just got a phone call from another (or maybe the same) African guy calling himself Mr. Mark Andrew (see the name on the above document). Again, no caller ID number showed up on my telephone (skype call?). I told him that the cheques were identified as fake and have been turned over to the police. He hung up on me.

Good story Don,

You can know it is a scam if they finish the email or letter with "God bless you". It is like a trademark for those scams. I get loads of them every day, reservations for the hotel. I think 90 % ends with "God bless you"

Ahhh, so now I know what you do with all that extra time on your hands. Great story!

Interesting . . . . hope the catch the bastard and have him scrubbing dirty prison toilets for the rest of his life.

lol busted!

Could Of Sent them Down Under here Don,our police would of taken care of all the details and found a way to cash them,lmfao

Good work, Don! Maybe you should have a look at http://www.419eater.com/index.htm for some laughs concerning exactly this topic!

This is better than Scooby Doo...............

darn, hed have got away with it if it wasnt for that pesky kid

You might want to have a peek at this site. Very funny stuff. They basically bait these Nigerian pricks and keep them busy with the baiters rather than scamming little old ladies. Keep in mind that many of these Afican fellows (known as Lads) operate here in Thailand so BE CAREFUL !! Many are at Gullivers, for example. To see the fun, have a look at www.419eater.com

Detective Don!, 5 stars!.

oh, hell yeah.

that made my day.

I took one or 2 of the Nigerian letter scam people along for fun with email and then phone calls but I finally got bored and lifted their skirt when they stopped communication. I didnt have the patience, I guess.

nice one.

Good on you. Those scammers.....grrrrrrr...

good work Don!!

Just as I thought, a Nigerian scam!!!! Good work Don, good to see you didn't get "taken" by this scam. I'd like to see these pricks get caught, but the reality of that is slim and none.