Adventures in Digital Printing: Another Banner Scam Email from Ghana

Monday, May 26, 2008

Another Banner Scam Email from Ghana - "God is Great"

Some people obviously don't read my blog. I am blocking all traffic from the Nigeria and Ghana IP blocks the coming days (the printing business is not typically economical to outsource from overseas). Below is another scam message I received from Rev Daniel Larry. At least this time what they are requesting printed on the banner is spelled correctly (not much else is).

From: Rev Daniel Larry 
Reply-To: revdaniel_larry@yahoo.com
Subject: Banner Order

Good morning !My name is Rev Daniel Larry.i am intrested in some " banners" to purchase and i believe you do carry some instock for sale.I will appreciate if u get back to me with the cost for the following sizes 30 inch by 20 inch .I need 2 colours wich is white as the text colour, black as the backgroud and print"God Is Great" on the banners.the banners should be 1 sided card. I will appreciate if u get back to me with the total cost of 100.00 quantity and what do you accpet as a payment.Wish u all best in business and hope to hear from u
soon .

Best regards.......
Rev Daniel Larry

After my first quote of $10,000 USD he wrote back the following: (notice they have changed to flyers from banners)

Hello Michael,
Thanks for your mail back and i appreciate it,I want you to
contact Dalex Shipping Logistic's and mail them the sizes and weight of the products so that you can get the shipping cost for me.I will be donating the flyers to a
Orpahanage in Ghana and the delivery Address is

Osu Kid's Home
440 Airport 100 Rd
Osu, Accra
Ghana,00233

Contact person for the shipping company is Brad Miller and their email address is dalexsh@gmail.com When you get the quote i want you give me the total cost of both the products
and freight cost so that i can pay with my Mastercard and you front the funds to the shipping company cos i will busy with a Church Conference which just came Asap..Get back to me with the prices so that i will give arrange my Credit Card for the payment
of the Products and the Freight Cost..Thank You

In Him,
Rev.Daniel

--Michael

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

UPDATE 01/23/09:

If you are worried that you may have received a fraudulent request or a scam email, read the follow up article I wrote on Signs to look for to prevent Fraud on International Orders and Other Redflags

At http://digitalprinter.blogspot.com/2008/08/international-fraud-signs-and-order.html

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

58 comments:

Unknown said...: Is there anyone we can report these guys to. I have received about 4 of these. My wife and I were scamed $3,000 last year by something similar when we listed our furniture in the Pennysavor. The person sent us a money order which we cashed and then forwarded money to the shipper. We thought how could we get scammed when we already have the money order. Well guess what...Money orders can be fake and are not garuenteed by the government. They are just like a normal check. So what is the point in a Money order if they can be fake and the government doesn't back it up. We were pretty devistated.

Here is a sample of the new printing requests I have been getting:

Hello Greetings,
My name is Bishop Jerry Jackson, I wish to print flyers for an NGO. I will be printing the brochures with the following specs.

*Measures 8.5' x 11'
*80# Gloss Text or
*4/0 Full Bleed

However I have my art-work to submit for this project. E-mail me your price-quote on printing 90,000 copies and 120,000 copies.Also let me know if you do accept credit card as a method of payment.
God Bless You.
Bishop Jerry Jackson.(OWNER)

Let me know if there is anyone we can report them to and if there is anyway to get our money back from the last scam.; August 6, 2008 at 12:05 PM
Unknown said...: Is there anyone we can report these guys to. I have received about 4 of these. My wife and I were scamed $3,000 last year by something similar when we listed our furniture in the Pennysavor. The person sent us a money order which we cashed and then forwarded money to the shipper. We thought how could we get scammed when we already have the money order. Well guess what...Money orders can be fake and are not garuenteed by the government. They are just like a normal check. So what is the point in a Money order if they can be fake and the government doesn't back it up. We were pretty devistated.

Here is a sample of the new printing requests I have been getting:

Hello Greetings,
My name is Bishop Jerry Jackson, I wish to print flyers for an NGO. I will be printing the brochures with the following specs.

*Measures 8.5' x 11'
*80# Gloss Text or
*4/0 Full Bleed

However I have my art-work to submit for this project. E-mail me your price-quote on printing 90,000 copies and 120,000 copies.Also let me know if you do accept credit card as a method of payment.
God Bless You.
Bishop Jerry Jackson.(OWNER)

Let me know if there is anyone we can report them to and if there is anyway to get our money back from the last scam.; August 6, 2008 at 12:07 PM
Michael said...: If they were in your same country, you have a chance of getting your money back -- I would check with your local police if you suspect that is the case. As for out of the country, its pretty pointless. I developed a list of red flags to look for and how to verify international buyers (I have completed a very large number of legitimate international business deals). I will post it up here shortly.

Best,
Michael; August 6, 2008 at 11:22 PM
Organic Farmer & Educator said...: I just recieved "the email" myself. I replied asking for a phone number but "Robert" called me. He told me his phone was on his computer so he couldn't give me a number. I insisted that I needed a phone # and he hung up.

They are using gmail addys so you can't block by IP

Robert Walker [robert.walker555@gmail.com]

info@autoapp.com

Attached is my artwork for this project. However i want the flyers printed with
the following specs,

1. Measures 8.5' x 11'
2. 80# Gloss Text or Aqueous Coating
3. 0.25cm - White boarder
4. Provide quote on 80,000 Copies ..
5. Do you Accept Credit Card for this order?

God Bless you - please quote accordingly.
Regard
Robert Walker

65 South Woods Lane
Doylestown Pa 18901; November 3, 2008 at 9:21 AM
Michael said...: Thanks for the posts! One defense we have is to publish as many of the emails we have. Then when people search for more information they find and discover it is a scam. They use pretty similar templates in my experience, so we can make it a lot harder on them.

Michael; November 3, 2008 at 10:45 AM
Unknown said...: Just woke up to this email this morning. Very similar to the others so i just wanted to make people aware:

martin.don23@gmail.com

Attached is my artwork for this project. However i want the flyers printed with
the following specs,

1. Measures 8.5' x 11'
2. 80# Gloss Text or Aqueous Coating
3. 0.25cm - White boarder
4. Provide quote on 80,000 Copies ..
5. Do you Accept Credit Card.

God Bless you - please quote accordingly.
Regard
Don Martin; November 10, 2008 at 7:07 AM
Unknown said...: I'm tired of getting these too so this is a copy of the email I sent them back

"Hey Bob - how's it going? Thank you for giving us the opportunity to quote on this.

80,000 = .12 each = $9,600.00

Our company policy is that we require 50 % prepayment before we can proceed. We need $4,800.00 prepaid. We do not accept checks, credit cards or money orders, only cash. Kindly send $4,800.00 (nothing larger than $20.00 bills please.) ASAP.

Thank you for giving us this opportunity - God Bless You"

So far, I haven't received a response back.; November 21, 2008 at 6:33 AM
Unknown said...: That is awesome!; November 21, 2008 at 1:18 PM
Michael said...: I agree, well put! If we educate everyone hopefully we can eliminate this. Sometimes I like to string them along to get more information (like the credit card number, and then I report it to the credit card companies). Keep up the good work!

-Michael; November 21, 2008 at 4:39 PM
Unknown said...: I received the following e-mail:

My name is Rev,Curtis Kim and am interested in some of your banner. I need the Banners in 16ft x 8 ft and should be horizontally displayed must be vinyl and should convey the message GOD IS GREAT .The GOD should be bold and IS GREAT should follow down in small letters. what will the total cost of the work with the dimensions i gave? I wish you all the best in business and i hope to hear back from you with quote.

Best Regards
Rev,Curtis Kim

She wanted 3 banners and I took the credit card up front and billed it prior to ordering anything. She then told me she wanted to use a specific company, which happens to be out of business. When I told her this she wanted to cancel. I told her she could not cancel as we had already started production. She just e-mailed me back wanting to use a shipping company out of the UK. I am so glad I googled her and found this info out. Thanks.; November 25, 2008 at 3:11 PM
Michael said...: Hi Tiffany,

Great to hear this helped. Thanks for posting the email you received as well, as it continues to help myself and others stay on top of the latest scams out there.

Have a great day,
Michael; November 25, 2008 at 4:41 PM
Michael said...: This is also a good post to read, I summed up what my team and I now look for in regards to scam:

http://digitalprinter.blogspot.com/2008/08/international-fraud-signs-and-order.html; November 25, 2008 at 4:43 PM
Acrylic Podiums said...: I just go one of these terrible emails! I want ot catch these guys, I am still in contact with them, is there anything we ca do to get them? I have an acrylic podium business and here is what he said last:

SOMEONE HAS TO DO SOMETHING!!!

Thanks for the email.I Preferred McDan Shipping Company,Because I Have been Using them for the Paste Four Years and i am Satisfied with them.So Go ahead and contact The McDan Shipping Company and Get me the Freight Charges so that i can make the Full Payment.I Am patiently waiting to hear back from you soon.

Regards.
Wilson Williams.

From: wilson williams
Sent: Wednesday, December 10, 2008 12:10 PM
To: Acrylic Podiums
Subject: Shipping And Delivery Details...

Hello Pablo,
I thank you once again and i do really appreciate working with you and am okay with the price quote and i would like you to please go ahead and Contact this Fright Company and get me with the Shipping Cost so that i will be able to make all payments together as well and am Shipping those Podiums to Western part of Africa(GHANA).The Reason is i just i had a call to attend Church metting in Albert CANADA.So i would like you to assist me so that this can be ship these out.Below is the Fright Company Contact Details ...

SHIPPING COMPANY CONTACT DETAILS.

NAME OF THE SHIPPING COMPANY: McDAN CARGO AND TRADING COMPANY
PERSON TO CONTACT: MR .TAWFIQ S. MARGA
CONTACT EMAIL ADDRESS: MCDANSHIPPINGCOS@YAHOO.COM
I will like you to Contact them with this is Information.
{1} Contact Them with the Full Pickup address that is in your Location.
{2} Total Weigth of the PODIUMS Or the Sizes and Diamention.
{2} Full Delivery Address Which am Going to Indicate Below to you.

DELIVERY ADDRESS IN WEST AFRICA.

L & S Co.
14 Oxford St.
Legon-Accra
Ghana-00233..

Once again and i would be waiting to hear back from you soon as soon as you head any reply from them so that we can proceed with all the payments .Nice
working with you ...

Best Regards,
Wilson Williams; December 11, 2008 at 3:28 AM
Michael said...: Thanks for commenting. The best thing I've found to do is string them along until you get the payment information and report it stolen. Other than that, I don't believe Ghana has strong internet laws or the resources to go after them.

Michael; December 11, 2008 at 3:15 PM
Unknown said...: martin.don23@gmail.com is still going strong. Just got this tonight with a PDF attachment:

Attached is my artwork for this project. However i want the flyers printed with
the following specs,

1. Measures 8.5' x 11'
2. 80# Gloss Text or Aqueous Coating
3. 0.25cm - White boarder
4. Provide quote on 80,000 Copies ..
5. Do you Accept Credit Card.

God Bless you - please quote accordingly.
Regard
Don Martin; December 15, 2008 at 1:07 AM
Michael said...: Directly asking if you accept credit cards seems to also be a reoccurring theme here. I will add it to my list of things to be wary of.

Thanks Desirae!; December 15, 2008 at 8:15 PM
Unknown said...: We received a call yesterday from a Dr. Bradley from area code 408 (San Jose, CA) asking if we sold banners (our company is located in Cincinnati OH). He then sent me the following email:

Hello Sir,
Good afternoon,
am Dr.Bradley and i just called and i spoked with you to make an enquiry on banners,
i would need to place an order on banners for an oncoming orphanage event to be taken place,
below is details on how the banners should look like.
Artwork::
FEEDING THE ORPHANS IS OUR TOP PRIORITY
HELPS THE HOMELESS TODAY
AND BE BLESSED.AMEN....

Color:: The color should be royal blue and i want it done as arranged.

Size :: The size of the banner should be a 4 x 8 foot

Background:: The background of the banner should be white.

Quantity:: I need 60 pieces of the banners at the same size and same artwork.
I would like you to work out a quote and then email me back with the pricing and then also let me know what the turn around time is,
and also let me know what your forms of payment is so that i can go ahead and place the order,
and then one more thing i need the total price plus tax excluding shipping because i would have them picked up when they are ready for pick-up .

I have been corresponding with him in hopes that he gives me his credit card # so I can report it as stolen to MasterCard.

This link has a good list of suspected scammers including Dr. Bradley, Bishop Jerry Jackson, and many others that I have seen here and on other blogs and forums:

http://www.printnet.com.au/scammers_identified.html; December 16, 2008 at 12:47 PM
Unknown said...: I just received an email from these people as well. They wanted central vacuum hose for their people in western Ghana. The quote was for $18,000. I googled the shipping company and found this blog - thank God!; December 17, 2008 at 12:12 PM
Unknown said...: We have been in contact with a Rev Michael Wool from Ghana. He claims to be from the Fun Lin Foundation and wants to order a bunch of Reverse Osmosis Units from us. He wants advance payment for shipping using AGC Delivery. I checked the web and niether AGC Delivery or the Fun Lin Foundation exist! They said they could only recieve payment via money gram. We advised that no advance payments would be made untill full payment has been recieved. He sent us his credit information this morning and told us to go ahead and process payment. How should one proceed in this situation?? Where/how do you report it?? If we take their payment, then what??; December 18, 2008 at 7:56 AM
Unknown said...: We have been in contact with a Rev Michael Wool from Ghana. He claims to be from the Fun Lin Foundation and wants to order a bunch of Reverse Osmosis Units from us. He wants advance payment for shipping using AGC Delivery. I checked the web and niether AGC Delivery or the Fun Lin Foundation exist! They said they could only recieve payment via money gram. We advised that no advance payments would be made untill full payment has been recieved. He sent us his credit information this morning and told us to go ahead and process payment. How should one proceed in this situation?? Where/how do you report it?? If we take their payment, then what??; December 18, 2008 at 7:58 AM
Unknown said...: We have been in contact with a Rev Michael Wool from Ghana. He claims to be from the Fun Lin Foundation and wants to order a bunch of Reverse Osmosis Units from us. He wants advance payment for shipping using AGC Delivery. I checked the web and niether AGC Delivery or the Fun Lin Foundation exist! They said they could only recieve payment via money gram. We advised that no advance payments would be made untill full payment has been recieved. He sent us his credit information this morning and told us to go ahead and process payment. How should one proceed in this situation?? Where/how do you report it?? If we take their payment, then what??; December 18, 2008 at 7:59 AM
Michael said...: I would recommend calling either your credit card processor or the companies directly. That is the best place to report it!

Be careful, what normally happens is the credit card will go through and you will have the money for a month or so before they take it away from you. It is during this month that the scammers try to convince you to wire money overseas.; December 18, 2008 at 10:51 AM
newstalion said...: Ha ha I appreciate all the posts. I got an e-mail about a week ago from a Rev. Jakkson Ferguson asking for a quote on 40 3'x4' white banners with blue letters saying, "Save the Children." I gave him the quote of $3200 and told him that we could produce them over the next week as soon as the order was placed. It wasn't until after that he said anything about Ghana, which is when I started to be suspiscious.

Once I get back to work I can upload the entire messages so that others can watch for ones like them, but they seem to follow the pattern exactly.

He did call my office and even attempted an AT&T text-to-phone service. I was suspicious all along, but wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, and I figured if it was a scam the only way they would get people was throught the shipping charges. I told him that UPS and FedEx would ship the same package for a fraction of the cost that his shipping company had quoted and I even suggested he pay the shipping company directly from his own account, which he kept trying to dodge claiming that his wife was very sick with kidney problems, so he had little free time.

That's when I googled "Ghana Banner Scam" and found your blog. He wants to give me CC info on Monday, which I now plan on reporting (thanks to this blog, otherwise I would never have thought of that).

Keep up the good work. You know if these guys worked half as hard for something legitimate they'd do alright... kinda sad.; January 17, 2009 at 2:06 PM
Michael said...: I agree with you completely. The AT&T Deaf phone chat, also known as IP Relay, is usually an indication of a scammer.

Glad you found the blog helpful!; January 20, 2009 at 12:04 AM
Valerie said...: Thank you All!! I am a custom cabinet builder and rec'd a possible order for 8 wall cabinets all the same size, totalling $4,500 from John Sizemore of the Fun Lin Foundation. Problem was he couldn't converse with me intelligently on the sizes of the cabinets he needed, which tipped me off. I googled the foundation and came across your blog and I used your lines of accepting cash only, however I want cash paid in full before I even would consider building for him and so far.....no response back! Funny how that is..... Your blog is fantastic and I'm so glad you do what you do. Always stay one step ahead! Thanks a Million!; January 20, 2009 at 10:14 AM
Valerie said...: I am a custom cabinet maker and we rec'd an email from John Sizemore of the Fun Lin Foundation asking for a price on custom cabinets. What tipped me off was that he couldn't speak intelligently about cabinets or didn't know the sizes he needed and was making things up as we went along. so I told him the price would be $4,250 for 8 cabinets all the same size and he went thru the shpeel on Agc Delivery and shipping to them and wanted to send me his cc info. And then I googled the foundation and caught up to your wonderful Blog and came back to "John" and asked for 100% cash in $20 bills before we would even consider it and haven't heard from him since! So, it seems they've moved out of your industry into mine! Thanks a Million for the tips and thanks for the Blog. I was a little skeptical, but now I'll always be thinking, thanks to you!!!; January 20, 2009 at 10:26 AM
Jon Mullender said...: You may have saved me a ton. I had a Rev. Mark Thompson wanting me to send fencing to Africa and he wanted me to use McDAN CARGO AND TRADING COMPANY.

I have a list of his credit cards and he wanted me to run $2000.00 on each card.

I am glad I typed in the shipping company and got your blog.; January 22, 2009 at 2:42 PM
Michael said...: Thanks again everyone for posting your stories. If anyone knows more about this, please let me know. McDan Shipping appears to be the name of a legitame shipping company in Ghana that they like to "phish" the name of. www.mcdanshipping.com. However, in all of the Scams I have seen emailed to me they always try to have me contact mcdanshippingcargo@hotmail.com instead of a name@mcdanshipping.com address. Any insight would be helpful!

Michael; January 23, 2009 at 10:06 AM
Lumens said...: The lighting industry works just as well, it seems. I knew something wasn't right, but I didn't have enough experience to know where to hole was. I was going to go as far as I could on this $6,200 order (plus $2,800 in shipping) before actually letting product get out of here, and now I know better what to do. If I can at least help report some stolen credit cards I'll do that. I dealt with mcdanshippingcos@yahoo.com and kenlarry65@yahoo.com. I would have been in more trouble if they would have had a real domain.; February 2, 2009 at 4:08 PM
Michael said...: Good point -- they must not be making too much money if they don't bother to even buy their own domain name. One of the scams I almost fell for was the aheadcargodivision.com scam, they bothered to set up an entire fake website with email addresses. Lets keep posting the websites and emails to make sure these guys can't make any money.

Michael; February 8, 2009 at 10:28 PM
v said...: Thank you, thank you, everyone! I am an Independent Demonstrator for a home party business called Uppercase Living (http://veronica.uppercaseliving.net). I've posted on boards/blogs before, sharing my product w/ people and I'm sure this is how MR. BRIAN MOORE of the FUN LIN FOUNDATION got my name. I'll spare you all the details but this guy emailed an order for 150 of a particular vinyl graphic (coming out to like $4,000) but what was weird was that he didn't seem very interested in working out details, like what color he wanted them in. I could tell English wasn't his first language so I was figuring that we were just having some language barrier issues. What really made me start to wonder was that he wanted me to arrange shipping thru a company I was unfamiliar with (AGC DELIVERY) and that it was to out of the country (GHANA). Though unusual, but I was still willing to consider this transaction. I kept telling my husband, "As long as his credit card goes through, I'm cool. This is unsual but I just won't ship till I have payment and then I'm safe." Well, I decided to check the FUN LIN FOUNDATION and also ACG DELIVERY to see what I could find and this blog came up. THANK YOU, THANK YOU! It just helped confirm that little voice in my head that told me the whole thing was too good to be true. I was surprised to read on here someone said a scammer can give you a card # that goes through and then a month later they can take the money back- I didn't know that. Also, I think it's good advice on here to be wary EVEN IF you do find what appears to be a legit website b/c it's really easy (and cheap, even!) for anyone to get a domain name and set up a legit enough looking website. The one thing that frustrates me most is that we can post these names here but if they're smart, they'll just change it up a bit and keep on scamming. I guess the bottom line is: If it seems to good to be true, it probably is.; February 9, 2009 at 7:05 PM
pmmb said...: Is there anyone who can help me? My husband has sent $115,000.00 or more to a Ghanan guy - to his bank in New Jersey! It's for a computer contract from 21 months back. My husband thinks the guy is legitimate??!!! I can't believe it - how naive do people come? Any advice? I wanted to stay married, but it is hard based on my husband doing this all behind my back and now thinking it is legitimate.; February 14, 2009 at 9:22 PM
Michael said...: Hi PMMB, thanks for commenting. Please contact me and I will see if I can help at all. If you can't through Google, send me an email at info@elevateprinting.com.

--Michael; February 15, 2009 at 12:31 AM
Venus Karura said...: We received a similar email from a person name "Scott Moore" just yesterday from Ghana who wanted to purchase icemakers from us.

Through the email conversations, we asked this Mr Scott to contact McDan Shipping directly. But he insisted we do it for him and would like to pay by credit card.

Well, my business partner did contact McDan shipping (Macdanshippingcoltd@cooltoad.com) and their reply sounded just as dodgy as Scott's email. Both their email have long sentences with no correct punctuation, no paragraphing, all bolded text that looks like copy and paste...

Thanks for your blog i searched "mcdan ghana" on google and as i've already suspected this guy is definately a scammer!!!

Keep up the good work! Below is the very first email we received:

Dear Sales Manager,

My name is Mr Scott Moore with the Scott And Company Inc and i am sending this email to your business in regards to the order some Ice Machine and below are the sizes and types that i am looking for the Ice Machine i will need the sizes AZ-45/15kg series ice maker shown.Storage capacity 15kg. ,Dimensions (D/W/H) 558X536X827mm,Water spray-molded ice making machine,Fits under kitchen bench top.Very easy to install, 2yr warranty on compressor. and so can you send me an email back with the types and designs that you carry in stock.And so can you check your inventory and send me an email back with the sizes styles,types and designs that you carry in stock along with the pricing information and availability and also let me know the forms of payment that you accept so that we can proceed with the order and you can contact me back on the email address Mrscott200@yahoo.com

Best Regards
Mr Scott Moore; February 16, 2009 at 5:42 PM
Anonymous said...: Good Morning,
My name is Larry Ken and Please accept my apology if my inquiry has Caused you any inconvenience.Am inquiring 3000 of Blank T-shirts and Below is the Description of my inquiry.

Colour : Plain white ( Blank White)
Size : Mix ( S & M )
Brand : Gilden or Fruit of the Loam
Quantity: (3000)pieces.

(We then responded w/ a quote)

Hello (insert name here),
I thank you once again and i do really appreciate working with you and am okay with the price quote which is $5,400 . and i would like you to please go ahead and Contact this Fright Company and get me with the Shipping Cost so that i will be able to make all payments together as well and am Shipping those T-SHIRTS to Western part of Africa(GHANA).The Reason is i just i had a call to attend Church metting in Albert CANADA.So i would like you to assist me so that this can be ship these out.Below is the Fright Company Contact Details ...

SHIPPING COMPANY CONTACT DETAILS.

NAME OF THE SHIPPING COMPANY: McDAN CARGO AND TRADING COMPANY
PERSON TO CONTACT: MR .TAWFIQ S. MARGA
CONTACT EMAIL ADDRESS: MCDANSHIPPINGCOS@YAHOO.COM
I will like you to Contact them with this is Information.
{1} Contact Them with the Full Pickup address that is in your Location.
{2} Total Weigth of the T-SHIRTS Or the Sizes and Diamention.
{2} Full Delivery Address Which am Going to Indicate Below to you.

DELIVERY ADDRESS IN WEST AFRICA.

L & S Co.
14 Oxford St.
Legon-Accra
Ghana-00233..

Once again and i would be waiting to hear back from you soon as soon as you head any reply from them so that we can proceed with all the payments .Nice
working with you ...

Best Regards,
Larry ...

Am ordering this T-shirt in regards to a Royal Orphanage Home and i want the Blank without any Prints on it.So kindly please go ahead and Quote me with the total prices of 3000 plus tax Excluding Shipping and Also .Kindly Advice if you can assist me with my inquiry and also let me know the method of payment you accept.Hopeful to hear from you in the near Future.

Much Regards,
Larry ...; February 19, 2009 at 8:31 AM
Michael said...: Thanks for sharing. Has anyone ever SUCCESSFULLY completed a transaction to West Africa? Ghana, Nigeria, etc.

I heard on the radio this morning someone using the rule of thumb that if it said Nigeria or Ghana on it, they just knew it was fraud.

Looking forward to some more stories...; February 19, 2009 at 11:12 AM
EastBaner said...: I don't know if this is from Ghana or not, but it has all the hallmarks of a scam:

Email from
John Breithaupt

"Hi,
Good day and I'll like to make an inquiry.I will need some banners for our 10th Tesano Children s Home Anniversary and i want theme for the event on the banner.Below is how i want it done.
Organizations Name:: Tesano Children s Home Anniversary
Join Us Celebrate Our 10Th Anniversary
Banner Size:3x8
Artwork:No Art Work
Banner Location:Outdoor

Please send me the pricing for the above banner and i will send you how many i will be needing Thank you."

How do you quote something without the quantity?; April 9, 2009 at 11:48 AM
Michael said...: Thanks for sharing. It is strange all of these banners in broken English -- I would think it would be more realistic to have it at least in another language that you understand. The God and Children aspects definitely play off the emotional response of the printers.; April 9, 2009 at 2:01 PM
Unknown said...: HI
We are a florist in Auckland New Zealand, contacted to send Flowres and Food gift baskets to Ghana by Rev Curtis Williams, and Rev John Andrews, they were using the shipping company Global wide Air and Sea Cargo Line International. Our sory is much the same as the scams above, apart from some name changes. We were not fooled and done some investigating. Hopfully by posting this it may warn others not to be sucked in.; April 13, 2009 at 11:51 PM
Unknown said...: Here is the emails we recived.

Dear Sir/Madam,

With much regards to your company services and products, I am rev.Curtis and would like to make a purchase below for my church Anniversary.

wreaths/florist price range$25-$40 50 units artificial all plain white.Decorative gift Basket $50-70 price range 60 units with cookies,candy,biscuits.and chocolate in each,olive oil 1litr can 50 units and florist Kindly send me a return e-mail on what you currently have in stock and what you can offer with prices and availability.

God bless you
Rev.Curtis

And then,

Hello,

Thanks for the prompt quote.i will be very Glad if you can have the order ready for shipment in about 5 to 7 days time.

Actually this order is going to be ship direct to my Church branch in Ghana.so kindly contact the below shipping company with the total package details and get back to me with the total amount of order including freight by Air to the below address,so that i can arrange payment for you to proceed with my order and have it shipped as soon as possible.

Shipping Company Details to Contact
Company Name:Global Wide Air and Sea Cargo Line International
E mail Contact :globalwideexpress@gmail.com

Shipping to Address is
Most.Rev.John Andrew
By His Grace Church of onjecado
211 west 20th century st # 2
Accra-Ghana 00233

Looking forward to welcome your prompt response.

May God Bless YOU.
Rev.Curtis

After searching for the shipping company and being unable to find them, we serched google maps trying to find the Church or street names provided in Ghana - nothing came up. We them stumbled upon this blog.
Very strange he wanted us to send food (what about customs and declaring it) and 50 litres of olive oil?
The old saying applies,
If its too good to be true, it probablay isn't.; April 14, 2009 at 3:52 PM
dripool said...: Still going. Different industry

Hello Good Day
This is Robert Walker, With regards to your Company i am sending
this email to order some ( Massage Beds ),i would like to know the type and
sizes you have in stock and get me the sales price of it and i would tell
you the quantity i would purchase,and also if you accept credit card as a
form of payment .
Stay Bless .
Robert Walker
65 South Woods lane
Doylestown Pa 18901; May 1, 2009 at 6:38 AM
Steph McCoy said...: This is the email I received today. I have received several others and stopped replying when I found out they were scammers.

From: wilson williams [mailto:wilsonwilli2002@yahoo.com]
Sent: Wednesday, May 13, 2009 7:41 AM
To: info
Subject: Gift Baskerts Order...

Good Day,
With much regards to your services and product,My name is WIlosn Williams and i would like to know if you carry gift basket for sale.Kindly send me a return e-mail on availability and prices in order to proceed.Looking forward to hear back from you soon.

Best Regards.
Wilson Williams.; May 13, 2009 at 2:18 PM
Steph McCoy said...: This is the email I received today. I have received several others and stopped replying when I found out they were scammers.

From: wilson williams [mailto:wilsonwilli2002@yahoo.com]
Sent: Wednesday, May 13, 2009 7:41 AM
To: info
Subject: Gift Baskerts Order...

Good Day,
With much regards to your services and product,My name is WIlosn Williams and i would like to know if you carry gift basket for sale.Kindly send me a return e-mail on availability and prices in order to proceed.Looking forward to hear back from you soon.

Best Regards.
Wilson Williams.; May 13, 2009 at 2:24 PM
Unknown said...: I just got one of these emails forwarded to me from my boss. Here is the original:

From: Mr Mark Davis mrmark488@gmail.com
Date: August 4, 2009 7:53:13 AM CDT
Subject: BANNERS

My name is Mr. DAVIS and i will like you to help me with an
order of some Banners and below is exactly how i want them done .

ART WORK FOR BANNERS

JESUS IS THE ANSWER TO ALL QUESTIONS

DETAILS OF BANNERS

Size: 3x8

Color: Blue lettering with Yellow background

Quantity:40 pieces .

And i will like u to provide me with the Art Work..

And i want grommets at all four ends and i will
like you to go ahead and email the total pick up price for the 40
banners and advise me on your name and payments system you accept .
Thank You

I sent him the price, and this was his reply:

Thanks for getting back to me and here's the contact information's for Express Air shipping Int I would like you to contact them and get the freight cost for shipping these
Banners from your location to my church in the below address and let me know the quote so that i can make the full payment as well.
Contact details for Express Air shipping Int.
expresssairshippingint@gmail.com
Contact person :Mr Gap
Here is the ship to address.
Shipping Address

REV. PRINCE TAYE,
25 OXFORD STREET.
RING ROAD CENTRAL
ACCRA GHANA 00233

And when you contact them with the details, they will get back to you with the freight charges and you let me know the total so that i can make payment for the shipping as well.I will be waiting for your email so that we can finalize this purchase.
Thank you.
Mr.Davis

I thought the original was suspicious, but when I saw the Ghana shipping address, I knew it was a scam.; August 4, 2009 at 3:32 PM
Air Expert said...: These guys are expanding to heating and air conditioning now:

Hello Good day..
I am Mr. Wayne Taylor.. please i will like to know if you do carry air conditioner in stock please i need 18,000 buts air conditioner and i need it in split system please i will like you to get back to me with the price without shipping charges and installation and also i will like to know the form of payment you accept
Hope to read from you soon...

MR Wayne Taylor

***next email after I ask him for contact info:

Thanks for getting back to me and here's the contact information's for MULTI SHIPPING PLAZA I would like you to contact them and get the freight cost for shipping these air conditioner from your location to my church in the below address and let me know the quote so that i can make the full payment as well.
Contact details for MULTI SHIPPING PLAZA
E-mail address multishippingplaza@gmail.com
Contact person : Tom Rosis
Here is the ship to address
REV. PRINCE TAYE
25 OXFORD STREET
RING ROAD CENTRAL
ACCRA GHANA 00233
And when you contact them with the details, they will get back to you with the freight charges and you let me know the total so that i can make payment for the shipping as well.I will be waiting for your email so that we can finalize this purchase..
Hope to read from you soon

Wayne Taylor.

BEWARE!!!!!! I hope this helps everyone. It is a scam, don't fool yourself.; October 16, 2009 at 1:31 PM
Heather said...: Still going and now to the catering/hospitality industry. This is the original email I recieved:

From: wilson williams [mailto:wilsonwilli2002@yahoo.com]
Sent: Friday, November 13, 2009 9:33 AM
Subject: Order...

Good Day,
With much regards to your services and product,My name is Wilson Williams and i would like to know if you carry Table Cloth for sale.Kindly send me a return e-mail on availability and prices in order to proceed.Looking forward to hear back from you soon.

Best Regards..
Wilson Williams

I then directed him to our website and he replied back with the item and quantity he was looking for, so this morning I emailed him a quote (11,000, not including freight). Thought it was weird that I hadn't heard back from him yet so I took a look at his information and this is the phone number he gave me:

775-252-9927

I did a reverse look up and this is a landline in Nevada, but I was given an address in East St. Louis. This seemed really fishy so then I googled his e-mail address and found this blog.

I gave my boss a heads up and she said our policy with order this size is to speak to the client to confirm billing/shipping info and quantities, etc.

He hasn't mentioned anything about Ghana (yet) but my company DOES ship internationally so I'm glad I found this blog before everyone got involved in the logistics of it.

Thanks for the heads up! Let's try to get this information out to as many places as possible to prevent these guys from taking advantage of people just trying to do their jobs.; November 17, 2009 at 12:06 PM
Heather said...: This is an update from my previous comment.

Just got an email back from "Wilson Williams".. here's what he said:

Hello Heather,
I thank you once again and i do really appreciate working with you and am okay with the price quote and i would like you to please go ahead and Contact this Fright Company and get me with the Shipping Cost so that i will be able to make all payments together as well and am Shipping those Tablecloth's to Western part of Africa(GHANA).The Reason is i just i had a call to attend Church metting in Albert CANADA.So i would like you to assist me so that this can be ship these out.Below is the Fright Company Contact Details ...

SHIPPING COMPANY CONTACT DETAILS.

NAME OF THE SHIPPING COMPANY: Global Logistics and Shipping Ltd.
PERSON TO CONTACT: MR .TAWFIQ S. MARGA
CONTACT EMAIL ADDRESS: GLOBALLOGISTICSCOS@YAHOO.COM
I will like you to Contact them with this is Information.
{1} Contact Them with the Full Pickup address that is in your Location.
{2} Total Weight of the Tablecloth's Or the Sizes and Dimension.
{2} Full Delivery Address Which am Going to Indicate Below to you.

DELIVERY ADDRESS IN WEST AFRICA.

L & S Co.
14 Oxford St.
Legon-Accra
Ghana-00233..

Once again and i would be waiting to hear back from you soon as soon as you head any reply from them so that we can proceed with all the payments .Nice
working with you ...

Best Regards,
Wilson Williams; November 17, 2009 at 12:54 PM
Unknown said...: Hello,

the company I work for has already done buissnes with these people, we sold them 30,000$ worth of product yesterday and have already charged it to a credit card.... what is the scam that they are trying to pull off? I became supicious after they gave me four credit card numbers for there payment; December 1, 2009 at 2:27 PM
Michael said...: John -- What did your company sell them exactly? And were the credit cards with four different names and addresses?

I wouldn't think that splitting up a $30,000 credit card purchase into 4 cards in itself is suspicious, as most people don't have credit limits above $5,000.

You could call the credit card companies or the cardholders to verify the information -- that would be a good place to start.

Please post more info if you can and we will all do our best to help.

Michael; December 2, 2009 at 10:48 AM
Tamara Laschinsky said...: posted a similar scam on my blog - same people I'm sure:

http://naturalegreen.blogspot.com/2010/01/scam-alert-read-dialogue-below-if-you.html; January 26, 2010 at 10:27 PM
Unknown said...: We have also received similar scam emails looking to purchase goods and inquiring about credit card usage:

Hello Customer,
My name is Mr John Shannon,from John And Sons INC,And am sending you this email regards on ordering some ( Anesthesia Carts ) from your stores,please if you do have them in stock,i will be very glad for you to get me their prices of each item.

And also i will like you to get back to me if you do accept credit card for this order transactions.if yes let me know so that i can advice on how to
proceed now.

Stay Blessed..
Mr John Shannon
65 South Woods Lane
Doylestown Pa 18901

*****Stay away from these scammers and keep posting so others can google and be aware; January 28, 2010 at 7:57 AM
Carl N said...: morel to the story is "if it looks too good to be true" it a scam.

how many time must hear of someone that get a money order for more than the amount of the item with instruction to WESTERN UNION the balance to another place, only to learn several weeks later teh money order as FAKE..

WAKE UP PEOPLE this is stupid. its not hard to figure out this crap and just tell these a$$ wipes to bugger off.; February 2, 2010 at 8:04 AM
Unknown said...: I just got this email

Hello Customer,
My name is Mr Robert Loop,Robert And Sons Inc,And am
sending you this email regards on ordering some ( Tumbling Composter ) from
your store,please if you do have them in stock,i will be very glad for you
to get me their prices of each item.

And also i will like you to get back to me if you do accept credit card for
this order transactions if yes let me know so that i can advice on how to
proceed now.

Stay Blessed..
Mr Robert Loop
65 South Woods Lane
Doylestown Pa 18901

Even looks fake; March 7, 2010 at 8:12 PM
Unknown said...: Here's one today from my store:

Hello Customer,
My name is Mr Jan Barick,Barick And Sons Inc,And am sending you this email regards in ordering some ( Life Vests ) from your store,please if you do have them in stock,i will be very glad for you to get me their prices of each item.

And also i will like you to get back to me if you do accept credit card for this order transactions if yes let me know so that i can advice on how to proceed now.

Stay Blessed..
Mr Jan Barick
65 South Woods Lane
Doylestown Pa 18901; April 27, 2010 at 1:58 PM
Dirkdexter said...: Just got this one yesterday, I had already chalked it up to a scam, but decided to look around to verify it. Thought I'd share the email to help others identify this one. I did find it a little odd that this one is from a gmail address and the sender actually sent it to a corresponding yahoo address as well. My address modified for the spam bots.

Subject Banners Order

from jerry jackson
to jerryjackson4427@yahoo.com
to xxxxxxxx@ mulvanecopy.com
date Mon, Jun 7, 2010 at 6:04 AM
subject Banners Order
mailed-by mail-wy0-f174.google.com
signed-by gmail.com

Dear sir/madam
I will like to place an order with your company for some vinyl banners below is the information i need on the banners .

Lettering words on banner:: BIRTH OF CHRIST JOY FOR CHRISTIAN AND THE WORLD (it should be in CAPS)
Banner Size:3x8
Art Work:No Art Work
Banner Location:Outdoor
i need grommets also for them .
TURNAROUND TIME :ONE AND HALF WEEK

Please send me the total I will need 30 pieces of them so i want youto go ahead and email me back with the total cost of it also the type of credit cards you take because am a deaf and only make all my payment by my credit card .I will pick it up at your store when is ready for Shipping.I will need the background color should be white and the Text Color also be Red on the banners.

Jerry Jackson
BEST REGARDS

I really like the inclusion of client being deaf, and the quick turn time requested.
I replied with the following

Mr. Jackson,
Thank you for contacting us. I've put together a quick sample of the banner as per your description, we can make further changes to it to meet with your expectations. The pricing would be as follows.

30: 3x8foot 13oz Banners with Hems and Grommets: $89.99 each
Sub Total: $2699.70
Tax: $170.08
Total: $2869.78

Naturally if you have a tax id number for your organization we can get that information and place the order as a tax exempt sale. For orders over $500 we do require half down to begin. Let me know if you have any questions. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Derek Z. Wathen

Haven't heard back, doubt I will.; June 8, 2010 at 6:07 PM
Anonymous said...: Just received this one today. I love the way it starts; HELLO CUSTOMER????

Hello Customer,
My name is Mr Bruce McElroy,Bruce And Sons Inc,And am sending you this email regards in ordering some ( led powered lighting fixtures ) from your store,please if you do have them in stock,i will be very glad for you to get me their prices of each item.

And also i will like you to get back to me if you do accept credit card for this order transactions if yes let me know so that i can advice on how to proceed now.

Stay Blessed..
Mr Bruce McElroy
65 South Woods Lane
Doylestown Pa 18901; July 8, 2010 at 6:16 AM
sjcharris said...: Got this one today - after quoting him on printing, I checked my website analytics. He claimed to be in Quebec, but my site showed him in Ghana Africa. Red Flag!

"
Well i am okay with the $4774 +GST. And i will recommend a freight company for the pick up of the items to ( Iceland ).. Now i want you to contact them with the total weight of the items find out the freight quote how much it will cost me . The delivery address is below:

Please contact them with the information below:

1. The pick-up address
2. The delivery Address:
3. The total weight on this shipment

The delivery Address:

Barry and sons Co. Ltd.
Engjateigur 11
ls-105 Reykjavik
Iceland

Contact Person Name:Captain Manfred Anderson
Freight Company Email Address : dolphinanchorline@gmail.com
Try and CC me a copy of what you will be sending to the freight company...

And including the pick-up location and they will surely get you a
freight quote .As soon as you hear from them let me know so that i can
proceed with the transaction . I will make payment with my Credit
Card..Am located in Quebec .After that get back to me with the grand total of the freight and the flyers .Attached is a pdf of my artwork.
Best Regards

jaggers Eric
[jaggers_eric@yahoo.com]
"; August 13, 2010 at 4:14 PM
sjcharris said...: Got this today. After quoting on some flyers, I checked my website analytics. He claimed to be in Quebec, however he was actually located in Ghana Africa. Thank god for website statistics!

Well i am okay with the $4774 +GST. And i will recommend a freight company for the pick up of the items to ( Iceland ).. Now i want you to contact them with the total weight of the items find out the freight quote how much it will cost me . The delivery address is below:

Please contact them with the information below:

1. The pick-up address
2. The delivery Address:
3. The total weight on this shipment

The delivery Address:

Barry and sons Co. Ltd.
Engjateigur 11
ls-105 Reykjavik
Iceland

Contact Person Name:Captain Manfred Anderson
Freight Company Email Address : dolphinanchorline@gmail.com
Try and CC me a copy of what you will be sending to the freight company...

And including the pick-up location and they will surely get you a
freight quote .As soon as you hear from them let me know so that i can
proceed with the transaction . I will make payment with my Credit
Card..Am located in Quebec .After that get back to me with the grand total of the freight and the flyers .Attached is a pdf of my artwork.
Best Regards

jaggers Eric
[jaggers_eric@yahoo.com]; August 13, 2010 at 4:18 PM