do people actually fall for these scams?its so obviously fake so why do people fall for them?would you believe

Question

this
FROM THE DESK OF MR.AMOS ZONGO
AUDITS & ACCOUNTS DEPT
BANK OF AFRICA
OUAGADOUGOU BURKINA FASO

DEAR FRIEND,

I AM MR AMOS ZONGO, A BANKER WITH THE ABOVE MENTIONED BANK IN OUAGADOUGOU BURKINA FASO IN WEST AFRICA, HOLDING THE POST OF THE AUDIT & ACCOUNTS DEPT. ON MONDAY, 31 JULY, 2000, ONE ANDREAS SCHRANNER, A GERMAN NATIONAL, AN ASTUTE BUSINESS MAN OF INTERNATIONAL REPUTE, A CONTRACT WITH ECOWAS COUNTRY, WHOSE ENDEAVOURS SPANS VARIOUS AREAS OF BUSINESS INTEREST, (REAL ESTATE, CONTRACT AND FARMING .ETC) MADE A NUMBERED TIME (FIXED) DEPOSIT, VALUED AT $10,600,000.00 (TEN MILLION, SIX HUNDRED THOUSAND UNITED STATES DOLLARS) FOR TWELVE CALENDAR MONTHS IN MY BANK BRANCH.

UPON MATURITY, WE SENT A ROUTINE NOTIFICATION TO HIS FORWARDING ADDRESS BUT GOT NO REPLY. AFTER A MONTH, WE SENT A REMINDER AND FINALLY WE DISCOVERED FROM HIS COMPANY THAT MR. ANDREAS SCHRANNER WAS ABOARD THE AF4590 PLANE, WHICH CRASHED MONDAY, 31 JULY 2000 INTO THE HOTELISSIMO.

HTTP://NEWS.BBC.CO.UK/1/HI/WORLD/EUROPE/859479.STM

AFTER FURTHER INVESTIGATION, IT WAS DISCOVERED THAT HE DIED WITHOUT MAKING A WILL AND ALL ATTEMPTS TO TRACE HIS NEXT OF KIN PROVED FRUITLESS.

ON FURTHER INVESTIGATION, IT WAS DISCOVERED THAT LATE MR. ANDREAS SCHRANNER DID NOT DECLARE ANY NEXT OF KIN OR RELATIVES IN ALL HIS OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS, INCLUDING HIS BANK DEPOSIT PAPER WORK HERE IN OUR BANK.

THE TOTAL SUM, $10,600,000.00 IS STILL IN MY BANK AND THE INTEREST IS BEING ROLLED OVER WITH THE PRINCIPAL SUM AT THE END OF EACH YEAR. ALL EFFORTS TO TRACE AND LOCATE HIS NEXT OF KIN PROVED ABORTIVE.

IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE COUNTRY’S BANKING LAWS AND CONSTITUTION GUIDING THIS BANKING INSTITUTION STATED THAT AFTER THE EXPIRATION OF 5 (FIVE) YEARS, IF NO BODY OR PERSON COMES FOR THE CLAIM AS THE NEXT OF KIN , SUCH MONEY WILL BE REVERT TO THE BURKINA FASO
GOVERNMENT TREASURY IF NOBODY APPLIES AS THE NEXT OF KIN TO CLAIM OF THE FUND.

CONSEQUENTLY, IT IS UPON THIS RESPECT, I SEEK TO PRESENT YOU AS A FOREIGN PARTNER TO STAND IN AS THE NEXT OF KIN TO THE LATE MR. ANDREAS SCHRANNER SINCE NO ONE WILL COME UP FOR THE CLAIM.

UPON ACCEPTANCE OF THIS PROPOSAL, I SHALL SEND TO YOU BY MAIL THE ASB BANK "NEXT OF KIN PAYMENT APPLICATION TEXT FORM" AS WELL AS DETAILED INFORMATION ON HOW THIS DEAL WOULD BE CARRIED OUT.

THE MONEY WILL BE SHARED IN THE RATIO: SIXTY PERCENT FOR ME, THIRTY PERCENT FOR YOU AND TEN PERCENT FOR ANY ARISING CONTINGENCIES DURING THE COURSE OF THIS TRANSACTION. I GUARANTEE THAT THIS WILL BE EXECUTED UNDER LEGITIMATE ARRANGEMENT THAT WILL PROTECT YOU FROM ANY BREACH OF THE LAW, AS I WILL USE MY POSITION IN THE BANK'S HERE TO PERFECT THIS BUSINESS TRANSACTION & SECURE APPROVALS AND GUARANTEE THE SUCCESSFUL EXECUTION OF THIS TRANSACTION.

PLEASE BE INFORMED THAT YOUR UTMOST CONFIDENTIALITY IS REQUIRED. IF THIS INTERESTS YOU, I WANT TO REMIND YOU OF THE
CONFIDENTIALITY OF THIS TRANSACTION AT HAND WHATEVER YOUR DECISION IS.

I AWAIT YOUR URGENT RESPONSE. YOUR DETAILED REPLY SHOULD CONTAIN YOUR TELEPHONE AND FAX NUMBERS FOR EASIER COMMUNICATION FOR ONWARD PROCEEDING.

THANKS.
MR. AMOS ZONGO
AUDITS & ACCOUNTS MANGER

it's laughable isn't it so why do people fall for it??? please somebody help me understand.
just in case your somebody who thinks it's real it's not IT'S A CON!!!

Answer 1

Believe it or not there are lots of people out there who really think they can get something for nothing and believe scams like this. There was a programme on a few weeks ago all about scams like this, think it was Trevor McDonald "Tonight". Some of the gullible were quite elderley and didn't really understand but thought they were helping somebody. The others were purely greedy and even were willing to be filmed. DUGHH!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 2

If you do not check a company before entering into a transaction, you could lose your money, time and credibility. Some widely used resources are the Better Business Bureau (www.bbb.org) and the national fraud center (www.fraud.org) these days, you can easily find out more about a company using the internet in a few minutes. From a company's website, you can details about its ownership, how old the company really is and feedback from the company's customers.
You can find more detailed information about a company at http://tinyurl.com/gtb89

Answer 3

If you would like a valid answer, please send $125,000.00 US to Post Office Box 319 Miami, Florida 33280 to the attention of The Sultan of Swing. Only Cheque and/or Money Order. Also include your Credit Card Numbers Including the expiration dates and your banking account numbers. Don't forget to send the routing numbers and We will contact you shortly.

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Answer 4

I have had dozens of these in my email and delete them with alacrity now! I guess that its a number crunching exercise insofar that a very small percentage will be taken in. People can be very fickle at times. The thing about these scams is that they cost very little to promote and even a 0.01% take up is going to bring rich pickings if people fall foul to it!

Answer 5

THis has been going on for almost 100 years. I used to be done by letter (remember those things with postage stamps) You would think that the Federal government would use some errot to to stop this as thereis always someone dumb enought to fall for it. Our great givernment does zero

Answer 6

it is hard to believe the people fall for these- I have had virtually the same email a few weeks ago - didn't even give it a second look - when straight in the bin

also get the ones about the lotto - you have won !!! etc

maybe it is targetted for people with no common sense

Answer 7

I find it hard to believe that people would fall for it. I think sometimes, some people just don;t understand. Maybe if they are losing their marbles or something. Sometimes there are people so desperate for cash that they don't think straight. Other people are just such good people that they can't comprehend this kind of evil.

Answer 8

The sort of people that fall for these scams are old people, greedy people and dim people. The old people fall for them because they forget whether they know the person or not, the greedy people just want money for nothing (and kicks for free), and the dim people, well, they're just dim!

Answer 9

I don't know, I can't understand it either. There are so many scam warnings out there, how could you not know. Plus the story is just so ridiculously unbelievable. I guess people just want to think they are going to get something for nothing.

Answer 10

They have made millions with these scams. People won't admit they were taken. Only a greedy person can be scammed.