Identity Theft Fraud – Mr. Abba Lawal

It seems that the never ending stream of junk mail is bringing me yet another identity theft fraud topic. I received a message from Mr. Abba Lawal [l_abba@msn.com] which is requesting a lot of personal information. Naturally, I denied the offer. You should read the e-mail scam yourself so you could be the judge:

From: Mr. Abba Lawal.
Auditing and Account manager
Lloyds Tsb Bank Plc Republic Of Benin.
Phone:+229 9709 3412
Email: abba_l@msn.com

Dear Friend,
PLEASE REPLY TO MY PRIVATE E-MAIL ADDRESS:
abba_l@msn.com

I am writting to seek your coperation over this business, Please due welcome this letter.

I am  Mr.Abba Lawal, the director of the accounts & auditing dept .Lloyds Tsb Bank Plc Republic Of Benin With due respect, I have decided to contact you on a business transaction that will be beneficial to both of us.

At the bank’s last accounts/auditing evaluations, my staffs came across an old account which was being maintained by Mr. Peter Lund, a European. He was a seasoned contractor with Benin Cement Company, Cotonou, who unfortunately died in a plane crash of Union Transport Africaines Flight Boeing 727 in Cotonou,  Republic of Benin on 25th December, 2003.The deceased was unable to run this account since his death. The account has remained dormant without the knowledge of his family since it was put in a safe deposit account in the bank for future investment by the client.

Since his demise, even the members of his family haven’t applied for claims over this fund and it has been in the safe deposit account until I discovered that it cannot be claimed since our client is a foreign national and we are sure that he has no next of kin here to file claims over the money. As the director of the department, this discovery was brought to my office so as to decide what is to be done.  I decided to seek ways through which to transfer this money out of the bank and out of the country too.

The total amount in the account is (US$22.1M).with my positions as staffs of the bank, I am handicapped because I cannot operate foreign accounts and cannot lay bonafide claim over this money. The client was a foreign national and you will only be asked to act as his next of kin and I will supply you with all the necessary information and bank data to assist you in being able to transfer this money to any bank of your choice where this money could be transferred into.

You will read more stories about the crash on visiting this website:
1.www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-3555201,00.html
2.www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/africa/12/26/benin.crash/

I have decided to give away forty (40%) to you for your assistance and ten (10%) for any expenses that might arise during the transaction of this transfer, I want to assure you that this transaction is absolutely risk free since I work in this bank that is why you should be confident in the success of this transaction because you will be updated with information as at when desired.

If this proposal is acceptable to you, kindly email your following information to me:
a. Full Name(s)
b. Direct phone & fax number(s)
c. Your direct email & any other information you maydeem helpful.

I will wish you to keep this transaction secret and confidential as I am hoping to retire with my share of this money at the end of transaction which will be when this money is safety in your account. I will then come over to your country for sharing according to the previously agreed percentages. You might even have to advise me on possibilities of investment in your country or elsewhere of our choice. May God help you to help me to a restive retirement, Amen.

Please for further information and enquiries feel free to contact me through my email address abba_l@msn.com or on my telePhone number :+229 9709 3412

I am waiting for your urgent response!!!

Thanks and remain blessed.
Mr.Abba Lawal

If you have been reading the posts on my website you will know not to reply to this e-mail. If you haven’t been reading, now you know. Identity theft scams like this one are dime a dozen on the net. You should utilize protective measures in order to avoid identity theft.

One of the best for the e-mails is a junk mail filter. You might probably have it installed on your e-mail application or through your web-based e-mail provider, like: Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo Mail, and others. This first identity theft defense usually catches majority of the spam that’s out there on the internet. However, there are those that do slip through and can cause havoc if the reader adheres to the authors demands. Be smart and don’t become an identity thief’s prey.