Well, I finally burned the story. Kind of liberating, although I admit I had some sadness about hitting the "send" button on the final message. I don't expect any more replies, but what the hell. I've pasted in everything after what's posted on your website. Thanks again. I hope you enjoy it. I know I did.
Donna Jean
From a Kindly Contributor who has mastered the art of "character", a really creative quadruple-play:
Mr. "Buthele Madinga" tries to pull a Lad on "Dave Fleishman"
and his wife "Akanke", who is from Nigeria and knows the score.
But "Dave and Akanke" turn out to be invented characters in a
high school homework assigned by school teacher "Gwendolyn Stephany"
to her student "Donna Jean Godchaux". Mr. Madinga's ok with that and
manfully tries to scam them instead. Be alert for Deadhead jokes.
The scammer's name is sort of South African sounding, the theme he
has chosen is Congolese, but we think he is in Lagos, sipping a latte.
If it's Tuesday, this must be Scamorama.
MR BUTHELE MADINGA
SOUTH AFRICA.
Email: bmadinga@pinoymail.com
DEAR FRIEND,
MY GREETINGS TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY AND I HOPE THIS LETTER MEETS YOU IN
GOOD HEALTH. I AM BUTHELE MADINGA, AIDE TO THE LATE PRESIDENT MOBUTU
SESE-SEKO OF ZAIRE NOW KNOWN AS DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO(DRC). I
AM WRITING TO YOU IN GOOD FAITH BASED ON YOUR CONTACT ADDRESS I RECEIVED
FROM THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE HERE IN SOUTH AFRICA.
I AM MOVED TO WRITE YOU THIS LETTER IN CONFIDENCE
CONSIDERING MY PRESENT CIRCUMSTANCE AND SITUATION AS A WAR REFUGEE HERE
IN SOUTH AFRICA. FEW WEEKS BEFORE THE LATE PRESIDENT MOBUTU SESE-SEKO
WAS FORCED OUT OF POWER, I WAS INSTRUCTED BY HIM TO MAKE AVAILABLE THE
SUM OF US$22MILLION WHICH WAS TO BE TRANSFERRED ABROAD AND LODGED WITH
A SECURITY COMPANY FOR SAFEKEEPING DISCLOSED AS FAMILY VALUABLES IN MY
NAME PENDING FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS. TWO WEEKS LATER ON MAY 16 1997,PRESIDENT
MOBUTU SESE-SEKO GAVE UP POWER TO THE REBELS LED BY LAURENT KABILA, WHO
WERE ADVANCING FROM KISINGANI AND FLED TO TOGO FROM WHERE HE LATER MOVED
TO MOROCCO WHERE HE DIED ON SEPTEMBER 7,1997 LESS THAN FOUR MONTHS AFTER
HE WAS FORCED OUT OF POWER.HE WAS AGED 66 YEARS.
I MANAGED TO ESCAPE TO SOUTH AFRICA WITH MY SON PATRICE,
AGED 17 WHERE I AM PRESENTLY RESIDING AS A WAR REFUGEE
SHORTLY AFTER THE CAPITAL CITY KINSHASHA WAS OVER RUN OVER BY REBELS.
I LOST MY WIFE AND MY TWO CHILDREN, AND ALL MY POSSESSIONS DURING THE
REBEL ON SLAUGHT ON THE CAPITAL CITY. THE LATE MOBUTU SESE-SEKO DURING
HIS 30 YEAR RULE AMASSED A PERSONAL FORTUNE OF US$8 BILLION WITH HOUSES
IN SWITZERLAND AND FRANCE. HOWEVER, THE INCUMBENT PRESIDENT LAURENT KABILA
MADE ARRANGEMENTS WITH THE SWISS GOVERNMENT AND OTHER EUROPEAN COUNTRIES
TO FREEZE ALL HIS ASSETS AND CONFISCATE HIS PROPERTIES. I THUS DECIDED
TO LIE LOW IN SOUTH AFRICA TO STUDY THE SITUATION, UNTIL WHEN THINGS GET
BETTER LIKE NOW THAT PRESIDENT LAURENT KABILA IS DEAD AND HIS SON JOSEPH
KABILA HAS TAKEN OVER. I HAVE BEEN IN TOUCH WITH THE SECURITY COMPANY ABROAD
WHERE THE MONEY IS STILL LODGED AS FAMILY VALUABLES.THE FUNDS ARE SECURITY
CODED TO PREVENT THEM FROM KNOWING THE CONTENT. WHAT I WANT YOU TO DO IS TO
INDICATE YOUR INTEREST THAT YOU WILL ASSIST ME BY RECEIVING THE MONEY ON MY
BEHALF. ACKNOWLEDGE THIS MESSAGE SO THAT I CAN GIVE YOU THE MODALITIES FOR
THE CLAIM OF THE FUNDS.
MAY I AT THIS POINT EMPHASIZE THE HIGH LEVEL OF
CONFIDENTIALITY WHICH THIS BUSINESS DEMANDS, AND HOPE YOU
WILL NOT BETRAY THE TRUST AND CONFIDENCE WHCH I HAVE
REPOSED IN YOU. IF YOU WANT TO ASSIST, I SHALL PUT YOU IN
THE PICTURE OF THE BUSINESS, TELL YOU WHERE THE FUNDS ARE
CURRENTLY BEING MAINTAINED AND ALSO DISCUSS OTHER
MODALITIES INCLUDING REMUNERATION FOR YOUR SERVICES. I AM
WILLING TO GIVE YOU A REASONABLE PERCENTAGE OF THE MONEY
AS SOON AS THE TRANSACTION IS CONCLUDED. FOR THIS REASON,
KINDLY FURNISH ME YOUR CONTACT INFORMATION, WHICH IS YOUR
PERSONAL TELEPHONE AND FAX NUMBERS FOR CONFIDENTIAL PURPOSE
AND ACKNOWLEDGE RECEIPT OF THIS MAIL USING THE EMAIL ADDRESS BELOW.
YOURS SINCERELY,
BUTHELE MADINGA
NB:All further correspondence should be made through this
email address bmadinga@pinoymail.com
......................................................................................
To: bmadinga@pinoymail.com
From: Dave Fleishman
Subject: Re: your urgent response is needed
I am VERY interested in assisting you. Please let me know what I must do.
My e-mail address for confidential matters is as above, and my fax number is
[phone number given]. My personal phone is [phone number given], which has
a voice mail attached to it if I am unable to answer.
Dave Fleishman
......................................................................................
From: "buthele madinga" [bmadinga@pinoymail.com]
To: Dave Fleishman
DEAR DAVE,
I RECEIVED YOUR RESPONSE TO MY MAIL WITH SO MUCH HAPPINESS.I MUST
THANK YOU FOR YOUR INTEREST TO ASSIST THIS TRANSACTION, WHICH SHALL
BE BASED ON MUTUAL RESPECT, HONESTY AND ABOVE ALL, THE FEAR OF GOD. I
WANT TO BELEIVE THAT YOU ARE SINCERELY READY TO ASSIST ME, AS I
CANNOT AFFORD TO LOSE THIS BUSINESS. I AM PREPARED TO HAVE ENTIRE
CONFIDENCE IN YOU TO DO THE BUSINESS WITH ALL HONESTY AND TO GIVE ME
MY SHARE OF THE MONEY WHEN IT IS FINALLY TRANSFERRED TO YOU. I WISH
THAT YOU HAVE SUCH CONFIDENCE IN ME, AND BELEIVE THAT I AM CAPABLE
AND THAT ALL EFFORTS YOU
WILL PUT IN THE TRANSACTION WILL NOT BE IN VAIN.
IT IS VERY IMPORTANT WE ADOPT A CODE NOW IF YOU ARE READY
TO DO THIS DEAL. OUR CODE IS “1971”. ANY MESSAGE I SEND TO
YOU MUST CARRY THE CODE AND IF I CALL YOU OR YOU CALL ME,YOU MUST
ALWAYS BE THE ONE TO ASK ME OF THE CODE BEFORE YOU
DISCUSS ANYTHING WITH ME. THE REASON FOR THIS IS TO ENSURE IT IS I
YOU ARE DEALING WITH, TAKING INTO CONSIDERATION THE
CONFIDENTIAL NATURE OF THIS TRANSACTION. PLEASE RESPOND TO
ME HENCEFORTH THROUGH THIS EMAIL ADDRESS
bmadinga@pinoymail.com ONLY.
I LOST MY WIFE AND TWO OF MY KIDS (JOY-23 AND MARTHA-21)
IN THE CONFLICT. I AM PRESENTLY IN SOUTH AFRICA NOT OF MY CHOOSING
BUT BECAUSE I HAVE NO WHERE ELSE TO GO.I LOST ALL
MY BELONGINGS DURING THE MASSACRE.
THE US$22M PRESENTLY WITH THE SECURITY COMPANY IS ALL I HAVE LEFT. I
WAS INSTRUCTED BY THE LATE MOBUTU SESE-SEKO TO DEPOSIT IT AT THE
SECURITY COMPANY PENDING FURTHER INSTRUCTION. I HAVE DECIDED TO CLAIM
IT FOR MYSELF SINCE NO ONE ELSE IS AWARE OF ITS EXISTENCE. THIS MONEY
IS ENTIRELY IN CASH (UNITED STATES DOLLARS), HUNDRED DOLLAR BILLS TO
BE PRECISE. FOR NOW, I CAN ONLY INFORM YOU THAT THE SECURITY COMPANY
IS IN EUROPE. I WILL ONLY GIVE YOU FURTHER DETAILS ONCE I AM
CONVINCED THAT YOU ARE WLLING TO HELP ME.
LIKE I EARLIER MENTIONED, THE FUNDS ARE IN CASH, AND FOR
THIS REASON, EXTRA SECURITY MEASURES HAVE BEEN TAKEN TO ENSURE ITS
SAFETY. THE MONEY HAS BEEN ARRANGED AND SECURELY SEALED IN TWO TRUNK
BOXES AND THEN DEPOSITED WITH A SECURITY COMPANY ABROAD VIA
DIPLOMATIC COURIER SERVICE SO AS TO MAKE IT IMMUNE TO CUSTOM AND
OTHER BUREAUCRATIC CHECKS AT THE PORTS. THE REASON FOR THIS IS
BECAUSE IT IS THE ONLY WAY THE FUNDS COULD BE TRANSFERRED WITHOUT ANY
PROBLEMS. AT THE MOMENT, THE FUNDS ARE SAFE AT THE SECURITY COMPANY
AND THEY WERE DEPOSITED AS AFRICAN ARTWORKS ON EXHIBITION IN EUROPE
IN TWO TRUNK BOXES.
IMMEDIATELY I RECEIVE YOUR INTENTION TO COOPERATE, I SHALL
EFFECT A CHANGE OF BENEFICIARY IN YOUR FAVOUR AND INSTRUCT
THE OFFICIALS OF THE SECURITY COMPANY TO RELEASE THE TRUNK
BOXES TO YOU. I SHALL FAX TO YOU THE AIRWAY BILL FOR THE
SHIPMENT OF THE CONSIGNMENT AND A POWER OF ATTORNEY FROM ME
WHICH YOU WILL TAKE WITH YOU TO MEET WITH THE OFFICILAS OF THE
SECURITY COMPANY IN EUROPE. MIND YOU, THE CONSIGNMENT IS CODED, NO
ONE MUST KNOW OF ITS TRUE CONTENT. THE OFFICIALS OF THE SECURITY
COMPANY HAVE BEEN INFORMED THE TRUNK BOXES CONTAIN AFRICAN ARTWORKS
AND ARE NOT AWARE IT ACTUALLY CONTAINS MONEY. PLEASE TAKE NOTE.
IT IS AFTER THE FUND IS SUCCESSFULLY IN YOUR POSSESSION THAT WE WILL
HAVE THE CAPACITY TO DISCUSS TYPE AND TERMS OF INVESTMENT I WILL USE
MY SHARE FOR.
MY DEAR FRIEND, I HOPE YOU APPRECIATE ALL OUR SECURED
ARRANGEMENT IN ORDER TO MAKE SURE WE ACHIEVE A 100% HITCH-
FREE AND MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL TRANSACTION WITH YOU AS THIS
MONEY IS ALL I HAVE LEFT. THEREFORE, I IMPLORE YOU TO KEEP
EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS BUSINESS STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL UNTIL
THE FUNDS HAVE BEEN TRANSFERRED. I AM READY TO GIVE YOU 30%
OF THE MONEY I.E. US$6.6M FOR YOUR ASSISTANCE.
SO BASED ON THE ABOVE, IT IS IMPORTANT YOU COMMUNICATE WITH
ME TO LET ME KNOW WHETHER OR NOT YOU ACCEPT TO DO THIS
BUSINESS WITH ME. ON THE EVENT THAT YOU CANNOT ASSIST ME DO
THE BUSINESS, I BEG YOU TO STILL KEEP MY CONTACT AND EXISTENCE OF
THIS FUND A SECRET.
YOUR IMMEDIATE RESPONSE WILL BE APPRECIATED.
TRULY YOURS,
BUTHELE MADINGA. "1971"
......................................................................................
To: "buthele madinga" [bmadinga@pinoymail.com]
From: Dave Fleishman
"1971".
I am willing to help. Please let me know what I must do.
Dave Fleishman
......................................................................................
From: "buthele madinga" [bmadinga@pinoymail.com]
To: Dave Fleishman
Dear Dave,
I thank you so much and may God bless you for me.I am so happy that
you are willing to help us leave this refugee camp soon.My son and I
are happy.Like I have explained in my previous messages,I so much
crave for your understanding in this my appeal.
Like you are already aware,I deposited the sum of US$22M with a
security company in Amsterdam,The Netherlands for safe keeping during
the tenure of President Mobutu Seseseko.This money I lodged in my
name.The money was neatly packed,sealed and crated in two trunk boxes
and then deposited with the security company.It was disguised to
contain African Artworks on exhibition in Europe. Even the officials
of the security company are unaware of its true contents.They have
been told by me that the trunks contain African Artworks.It is now
between the knowledge of me and you that the trunks contain
money.Please take note of this fact.
The name of the security company is UNIGLOBE N.V (SECURITIES),
AMSTERDAM. I have informed the security company of my decision for
you to present yourself and collect the consignment for me and they
have informed me of the steps to follow to get this done.They have
instructed it must be done in this order;
[1] I shall have a reputable Attorney prepare a POWER OF ATTORNEY
here in South Africa authorising you to collect the trunk boxes and
deal with its contents.This POWER OF ATTORNEY I shall prepare in your
full names and send to you via fax.
[2]I will send to you by fax the ORIGINAL AIRWAYBILL for the shipment
of the consignment.
[3]You will proceed to Amsterdam to collect the consignment.It is
upon your presentation of these 2(two) documents and your
international passport or drivers license for identification that the
consignment will be released to you.
[4]Please I will need your full names just as it is in any of your
identification papers i.e,either your international passport or
drivers license.Please send to me your full names so I am able to
prepare the power of attorney as soon as possible.
[5]On the AIRWAYBILL I will fax to you,will be the names and
telephone number of the official in charge at the security
company,you will help me by calling him and introducing yourself and
telling them of your intention to come and collect the conignment.You
will discuss with him for me and book your appointment.
As soon as you take possesion of the consignment ,I shall then begin
with the processing of travelling documents for me and my son to meet
with you in your country.You will wire to me the sum of US$30,000 as
soon as you have the funds in your possesion so that I commence with
the preparation of travelling documents for myself and my son.I shall
employ the services of an immigration expert take charge of this
plan.
I have resolved to compensate you with the sum of US$6.6M for your
assistance in this project.Please help me out as soon as possible
because this place is not good for the health of my son and I do not
want anything to happen to him.I will appreciate if you can write
back telling me how soon you can make the trip to Amsterdam for me.
Thank you so much.
Your friend,
Buthele Madinga."1971"
......................................................................................
To: "buthele madinga" [bmadinga@pinoymail.com]
From: Dave Fleishman
Subject: Re: FURTHER DETAILS "1971"
"1971"
I have made arrangements to travel from my home to Amsterdam on
January 21. I apologize for the delay, but flight availability
to Amsterdam was limited for me. I will be arriving on Lufthansa
flight 4450 at 9:35 a.m. local time. I will be connecting out of
JFK in New York to Frankfurt, and then to Amsterdam.
As requested, my full name is David Jerome Garcia Fleishman.
I am very excited, both to assist you and to travel to Amsterdam!
It has been many years since I have been there. Please send me
the address of Uniglobe N.V so I may proceed directly there upon
arrival. I look forward to the necessary documentation which you
will be forwarding.
I also look forward to meeting you and your son. Thank you again for
allowing me to assist you in this matter. I assume you still have my
fax number [phone number given]?
Dave Fleishman
......................................................................................
[Ed. Note-"Jerome Garcia" is, in reality, Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead.
Let's see if they catch this. Real Lufthansa flight number, though, just
in case they check.]
......................................................................................
From: "buthele madinga" [bmadinga@pinoymail.com]
To: Dave Fleishman
Subject: CALL ME IMMEDIATELY
Dear Dave,
I am in receipt of your response mail. I thank you very much.
My son and I would be pleased to meet with you too.I should have the
Power of Attorney ready today and I will send the documents to you
tomorrow morning.
As at when I got in touch with the security company for guidelines as
to how I should have the power of attorney prepared, I was informed
that the consignment has accrued some demurrage/storage charges, but
the exact figure I could not get. I was told that it was between
US$11,500 and US$13,000.When you call the security company, I want
you to find out how much the charges will be on your arrival there on
the 21st.
My good friend, I want to plead with you to assist in getting the
funds for the demurrage/storage charges before you proceed to
Amsterdam, as the charges have to be paid before the consignment will
be handed over to you. I have no way of raising funds here and I am
relying totally on you in this regard. I want you to bear in mind
that you will be reimbursed for whatever expenses you incur during
the course of this transaction. As soon as you take charge of the
consignment, you can immediately withdraw from the funds, whatever
amount you have spent so far including your traveling expenses to
Amsterdam. This will be deducted from share of the funds.
I will appreciate if you can give me a call on my direct telephone
number 27732496920 immediately you receive this mail, for further
discussions.
Your friend,
Buthele Madinga. “1971”
......................................................................................
To: "buthele madinga" [bmadinga@pinoymail.com]
From: Dave Fleishman
Subject: Re: FURTHER DETAILS "1971"
"1971"
Mr. Madinga,
It sounded as if you left a voice message for me on my phone today, but I could
not hear much of the message. Please respond via e-mail what you needed in the
phone message.
Dave Fleishman
......................................................................................
[Ed. Note-he actually did call!]
......................................................................................
From: "buthele madinga" [bmadinga@pinoymail.com]
To: Dave Fleishman
Subject: CALL ME
Dear Dave,
I am in receipt of your email message.
I did give you a call yesterday and I left a message for you to call
me.In addition,I also sent you a mail yesterday requesting that you
give me a call on my direct phone number 27732496920.
I have been waiting for your call today and I am still expecting you
to call me before I send you the documents.My good friend,you should
understand that it is important we both talk on the phone.
I must thank you for your effort so far and may God continue to bless
you and your household.
I await your call and thank you once again.
Your friend,
Robin Nkrumah."1971"
......................................................................................
[Ed. Note-OOPS! He used "Robin Nkrumah", another of the aides to the late Mobutu Seseseko. Guess these guys have trouble remembering all the names they've used. I've seen Louis Herve Juban, Kala Umbeki, Mesekela Kotova, Buwire Tanko, Mubetu Zika, Mubo Zika, Jean-Pierre Ondekane, Ukonno Jaques, Kamara Ubutu, Kabuya Lumuna Sando, Diata Lumumba, Salome Mabila, Hassan Te Mupepe, Abdul Akin, Louis Obote, Julius Emade, Ben Eze, Kola Olawuyi, Marcus Garvin, Kafara Mabila, Sewanga Ngbale, James Okoye, Claude Best, Barry Kelly, Cole Mobutu, Ahmed Te Mupepe, Fred Te Mupepe (Hassan's brothers?), Lauren Patrick Mukembe, Mubetee Zakari, Lawrence Amechi, Bruno Mobete, Fred Bangura, Sedique Lopez, Abdul Inthebe, Mubetee Waziri, Meka Bakasu Te Pemako, Diaka Tshombe, and Umbomap Olembe--these are just in the last couple weeks, and they were ALL aides to the late Mobutu Sese-Seko. Gosh, that guy must have a lot of aides!]
......................................................................................
From: "buthele madinga" [bmadinga@pinoymail.com]
To: Donna Jean Godchaux
Subject: WHY THE DELAY?
Dear Dave,
How are you today? I hope all is well with you and your household.I
am very worried about your continous silence of recent.What is the
situation with you? I have written two mails to you asking you to
give me a call and you not done so or even responded to my mails.
I beleive you realise that for this transaction to be a success,we
have to act together as partners and keep to the instructions I give
to you.Please get in touch with me immediately so that we can work
according to my on ground arrangement.
My good friend,you should also bear in mind that this transaction is
time sensitive and should be treated as such.
I will be expecting your call before I send you the documents.
Your immediate response will be highly appreciated.
Your friend,
Buthele Madinga."1971"
......................................................................................
To: "buthele madinga" [bmadinga@pinoymail.com]
From: Dave Fleishman
Subject: Re: CALL ME
"1971"
I have been trying to call you, but my telephone company will not permit
international telephone calls until I have supplied financial security for
payment of the charges. I am exploring alternatives, but I will try to
call when I'm able.
I am very concerned, though, that your message is signed "Robin Nkrumah".
I have no idea who this person is, and why you would sign this e-mail
in this manner. I was under the impression that you required confidentiality
in this matter, and I am very concerned that you have now brought another
person into this arrangement.
Please inform me as to your intentions and who "Robin Nkrumah" is.
Also, I am awaiting the documents you promised to fax this morning.
I assume it is now late in your country, and I hope to see the fax
when it is morning where you are.
Hoping all is well,
Dave
......................................................................................
From: "buthele madinga" [bmadinga@pinoymail.com]
To: Dave Fleishman
Subject: Re: CALL ME
Dear Dave,
I am in receipt of your response mail.Thank you very much.
I will still be expecting your call.
Correctly,I used the name "Robin Nkrumah" in order to check your
honesty,transparency and sicerity in this transaction.You have proven
to be trustworthy and reliable for being able to detect this slight
derail.I thank you very much and I must commend you for your
sincerity.
My good friend,I will appreciate if you can give me a
call,immediately you receive this message so that we can discuss in
detail.It is after I hear from you that I will send the documents to
you so that I am sure you are the one who will receive the documents
in person.
I await your call.
Your friend/partner,
Buthele Madinga."1971"
......................................................................................
[Ed. Note-ooh! Good save!]
......................................................................................
To: "buthele madinga" [bmadinga@pinoymail.com]
From: Dave Fleishman
Subject: Re: CALL ME
Mr. Madinga,
I have tried repeatedly now to phone you at the number you provided.
I have finally worked out the details of the phone company charges,
but each time I have called, I have gotten a "busy" signal, indicating
that you are on the telephone. I have called 20 times over the last 15
hours, and I have not been able to reach you. Is there some importance
to speaking directly on the telephone that cannot be conveyed via e-mail,
which is obviously less expensive than calling directly?
Thank you for clarifying the "Robin Nkrumah" issue. I am glad you
can appreciate my concerns, and I also appreciate your comments regarding
my sincerity. I hope you, too, will prove your sincerity in this matter
by forwarding the necessary documentation to me via fax immediately.
As you know, I will be traveling to Amsterdam per our conversation,
arriving on January 21 in the morning. However, due to the distance
involved from my home, I will be leaving the afternoon of January 19,
which is but two days away. Traveling on a weekend enabled me to
reduce the amount of the airfare of my initial travel stops on the
way to Amsterdam. I live in a small town near Sacramento, California,
which is the first leg of the trip. I must travel through Dallas,
Texas, then to New York, then to Frankfurt and on to Amsterdam.
This is the reason for the extended travel time.
I will need to have those documents with me when I leave, so please
forward them at your earliest convenience. The fax number I previously
provided you is a secure fax, and I am the only person with access to
the machine. It is locked in my personal office, and I am the only
person with a key, so you need not be concerned that the fax will
fall into the wrong hands.
I look forward to your further instructions via e-mail, and the
arrival of the documents.
Dave Fleishman
......................................................................................
From: "buthele madinga" [bmadinga@pinoymail.com]
To: Dave Fleishman
Subject: UPDATE
Dear Dave,
Your response mail received and read.I thank you very much.
I discovered that my telephone had some problems and I have been
trying to get it fixed.I will not be able to send you the documents
by fax but instead,I will scan and send them to you via email
attachment and you will print them out.
I have been in contact with the security company and they have
confirmed to me that the total demurrage charges as at Jan 21,will be
US$12,500.Like I mentioned earlier,you should have this amount with
you when you present yourself at the security company in Amsterdam.As
soon as you arrive Amsterdam,you should put a call through to the
security company as they are aware you are coming to claim the
consignment on Jan 21.
Do expect the documents via email attachment later today.
I thank you very much for your effort so far and may God guide and
bless you for me.
Your freind/partner,
Buthele Madinga."1971"
......................................................................................
[Ed. Note-AH! The prize arrives! Gotta love the "Jerome Garcia" part!
Worse, he uses a traceable e-mail account, which shows that the documents
were sent from a computer in Lagos, Nigeria. Confirmation of the 419 scam!]
......................................................................................
From: "buthele madinga" [bmadinga@pinoymail.com]
To: Dave Fleishman
Subject: DOCUMENTS
Dear Dave,
I hope you received my first mail today and also, the documents which
I have just sent to you by email attachment.
When you arrive Amsterdam,you will get in touch with the contact
person at Uniglobe N.V (securities) MR JAV VAN DEN BERG on telephone
number 31-627 46 7721 and fax number 31-205 24 8252.
I will appreciate if you can confirm to me immediately,your receipt
of both the Power of Attorney and Airway bill.
I wish you a safe journey.
Your friend,
Buthele Madinga."1971"
......................................................................................
To: "buthele madinga" [bmadinga@pinoymail.com]
From: Dave Fleishman
Subject: Re: DOCUMENTS
"1971"
There were no documents attached to the e-mail, I'm afraid.
Can you please attempt to re-transmit? Thank you.
Dave Fleishman
......................................................................................
[Ed. Note-A bit of telemetry-I'm hoping he'll send them from another computer
so I can see the IP address on that computer to confirm the Lagos address.]
......................................................................................
To: bmadinga@pinoymail.com
From: Dave Fleishman
Subject: Re: DOCUMENTS 1 & 2
"1971"
The documents did arrive shortly after I sent my last e-mail, so please
ignore my prior message.
In carefully reviewing the power of attorney document, it references
a consignment number different than that on the airbill. I am concerned
that the power of attorney will grant me no authorization to obtain the
consignment referenced in the airbill. Please explain the difference in
reference numbers, or please prepare a revised power of attorney.
In addition, I note that the documents were sent from the e-mail
address "buthelem@yahoo.com". This is NOT the confirmed e-mail
address that you previously instructed me to use, and I am
concerned that the documents may be forgeries prepared by one
who intercepted our confidential communications. So that I
may be assured you are the one who transmitted the documents,
please re-transmit them from the bmadinga@pinoymail.com address
you instructed me to use.
I hope you can understand my caution in this transaction.
I do not wish to be a bother, but as you instructed, I am taking
every precaution to ensure that no one is involved in our transaction
who is not authorized to be involved.
Thank you
Dave Fleishman
......................................................................................
To: "buthele madinga" [bmadinga@pinoymail.com]
From: Dave Fleishman
Subject: Re: DOCUMENTS
"1971"
Please confirm that you received my previous e-mail in which I had
questions for you regarding the documents you sent. I will be leaving
this afternoon for Amsterdam, and I need confirmation from you that the
documents you sent are the correct ones.
Dave Fleishman
......................................................................................
From: "buthele madinga" [bmadinga@pinoymail.com]
To: Dave Fleishman
Subject: DOCUMENTS ARE VALID
Dear Dave,
I am in receipt of your response mail.I am happy you have the
documents in your possesion.I did send the documents to you through
the email address buthelem@yahoo.com
The documents are valid and you should not exercise and fears in that
regard.The security company already has copies of the Power of
Attorney and Airway bill.You must present these two documents on your
arrival at the security company office in Amsterdam.
The consignment number (BCX2002/F011/SNG97) on the Power of Attorney
was given to me by the officials of the security company.The number
on the Airway bill (DNZ 740BN 2001 97)is the shipment number and not
the consignment number.Please take note of this two numbers and the
difference.The consignment number is "NOT" on the Airway bill.I
beleive by now, you are clear on the issues you raised and that you
will proceed to Amsterdam immediately.I thank you very much for your
effort so far, and may God continue to guide and bless you for me.
Please confirm receipt of this mail to me immediately.
Your friend,
Buthele Madinga."1971"
......................................................................................
From: "buthele madinga" [bmadinga@pinoymail.com]
To: Dave Fleishman
Subject: DOCUMENTS 1 & 2
Dear Dave,
I have decided to send the documents as you resquested through the
email address initially given to you by me.
be rest assured that you can claim the consignment with these
documents.
Thank you.
Your friend,
Buthele Madinga."1971"
......................................................................................
To: "buthele madinga" [bmadinga@pinoymail.com]
From: Dave Fleishman
Subject: Re: DOCUMENTS ARE VALID
"1971"
Thank you for the clarification. I am so glad I received your message,
as I am just ready to leave for the airport. I should be in Amsterdam
on Tuesday morning if all goes well. I will contact Mr. van den Berg
as soon as I am able when I arrive.
Dave Fleishman
......................................................................................
To: "buthele madinga" [bmadinga@pinoymail.com]
From: Dave Fleishman
Subject: Re: DOCUMENTS ARE VALID
"1971"
I am off to the airport! I have my passport, a small suitcase,
my credit card (I assume the security company accepts MasterCard),
and Mr. van den Berg's phone number with me. It seems strange to
travel to Europe with so little, but I do not anticipate being there long.
Here's to safe travels. I will attempt to contact you from an
internet café once I have made contact with Mr. van den Berg.
Thank you once again for involving me in this wonderful opportunity!
Dave Fleishman
......................................................................................
[Ed. Note-I was hoping he would insist on cash, but he never picked up on this one.
Nonetheless, enter stage left, the suspicious Nigerian wife with the eight sons.]
......................................................................................
From: "Dave Fleishman"
To: bmadinga@pinoymail.com
"1971"
Mr. Madinga,
I wanted to send you this e-mail to let you know that I will be using
my web-based mail account on my trip to Amsterdam. I am currently using
a computer terminal at the Sacramento, California airport to send this to you.
Unlike my home account, I am able to access my e-mail through this account
from anywhere in the world, and I thought it might be useful to use it
in case any problems or other issues arise during my journey or when
I arrive in Amsterdam.
I will let you know that my wife was very concerned at my last-minute
business trip abroad, and I told her that it was necessary to go
and that I could not give her many details of the trip, but that
I would treat her to a vacation in Southern France upon my return.
She is Nigerian, and we may also take a trip to her hometown of
Lagos if time permits. I am sure she would appreciate the vacation
from our eight children.
I am hoping that you and Patrice might be able to meet us in Nigeria
or France to toast our mutual good fortune. Would this be a possibility?
I don't know how difficult it would be for you to travel from South Africa
to Nigeria, but it would be a lot closer than France, I'm sure.
I realize at this moment that I have no idea what you and your son
look like, though I feel as if I know you both! Do you have a
picture of the two of you that I might share with my wife upon
my return from Amsterdam?
Looking forward to completing this matter with you!
Dave Fleishman
......................................................................................
From: buthele madinga [buthelem@yahoo.com]
Subject: CHANGE OF EMAIL ADDRESS "1971"
To: Dave Fleishman
Dear Dave,
Good day to you my friend.I hope everything is going on well with you.
I am writing you this mail to notify you of a change in email address.
From now henceforth,all email correspondence from you to me should be
channelled through this email address buthelem@yahoo.com
Do not contact me any more through the other email address.
This is a precaution I am taking due to the confidential
nature of this transaction.
Please confirm receipt of this mail through this email
address immediately.
I wish you a safe and pleasant journey.
Thank you very much.
Buthele Madinga."1971"
......................................................................................
[Ed. Note-looks like the "pinoymail.com" address got terminated by the ISP-
it was in the Philippines, anyway, so that was another dead give-away.
All the further mail to the pinoymail.com address bounced.]
......................................................................................
From: "Dave Fleishman"
To: bmadinga@pinoymail.com
"1971"
Mr. Madinga,
Well, I've landed in New York City at JFK airport, and the first thing
I did was find an internet terminal to contact you and let you know of
my progress. I'm a bit concerned because I have not heard from you
in a while, and I hope you got my last e-mail letting you know that
I needed to change to this e-mail address while I'm traveling. I do
not have a laptop computer, and I cannot check my mail at the
[other] address until I return, so please do not send me mail
there. I will not be able to get it, and I do not want to compromise
the security of our arrangement by having someone else read it to me.
As such, please use "xxxx@xxxx.xxx" until I return to the United States
from Amsterdam.
I am going to try and see if there is an earlier flight to Amsterdam
on another carrier this morning, so I can get working on finishing
this deal. I understand you have been patient in waiting all these
years, but I am not a patient man, so I can't wait to get to Amsterdam!
Only a few more hours!
Please write back immediately so I will know that all is well with
Mr. van den Berg in Amsterdam so I may call him once I arrive.
Your friend,
Dave Fleishman
......................................................................................
From: "Dave Fleishman"
To: buthelem@yahoo.com
Subject: Fwd: failure notice
"1971"
Mr. Madinga,
I am growing VERY concerned that our arrangement is falling through.
First, I have not heard from you in a while, then I got the following
message when I tried to send you mail from the airport. WHY has
your e-mail been disconnected? Because your phone did not work
when I called it, the only contact point I have with you is that
e-mail address. Nevertheless, with great optimism on my part, I
am sending this e-mail to the other address you used, i.e. the one
that you sent the attachments from, in the hopes you get my message.
Please confirm that you got this message immediately while I look
for another earlier flight to Amsterdam. I don't want to travel
overseas if there are problems with our deal.
Dave Fleishman
......................................................................................
From: "Dave Fleishman"
To: buthelem@yahoo.com
"1971"
Mr. Madinga,
I have been sitting on my ass in JFK airport all day, waiting for my
flight to Amsterdam, and I still have not heard from you regarding
whether you got my message about mailing to my other e-mail account.
I finally broke down and had my wife check my [other] address,
and there was nothing there, either, except your message stating
that I should now use your other e-mail address. Now she's suspicious
even more, demanding to know why I'm going on an unexplained business
trip, and why she has to check my e-mail. I'm running out of excuses,
and I've heard nothing from you at all yet. I'm ready to complete this deal,
but I'll be damned if I'm getting
on an airplane to the Netherlands before I'm certain this deal is
good to go. I'm planting myself right here at the airport until I
get a response from you. I've put my airline ticket to Amsterdam
on standby, so I can jump the plane at the next flight. But, if
I don't hear from you, I'm not coming. This is not how business
people act. I've done a great deal on faith for you, and you
are showing no good faith at all now, so I'm wondering about
your motives. Is this thing for real or not?
Hopefully,
Dave Fleishman
......................................................................................
From: "Dave Fleishman"
To: buthelem@yahoo.com
"1971"
Mr. Madinga,
It's now 1030pm at JFK, and I'm tired of waiting. I'm going to check
into a hotel and get some sleep. I'm extremely angry right now, and
hopefully, with a good night's sleep, I'll be in a better frame of mind.
I still have heard nothing from you about the status of our deal, and
I'm beginning to wonder if you just did this whole thing as a big
joke--ha, hah, play the joke on the stupid American. Well, maybe
you did, but I'm holding out hope that you will be honorable and
get back to me. At least right now, if I turn around and go home,
I'm only out the airfare to New York. I bought a refundable ticket
to Amsterdam, and I'm planning on cashing it in and heading home
tomorrow if I don't hear from you.
The ball is in your court.
Dave Fleishman
......................................................................................
[Ed. Note-we may have lost him-no contact for nearly 12 hours!]
......................................................................................
From: "Dave Fleishman"
To: buthelem@yahoo.com
Yo, Madinga.
I'm headed home. You are a dishonorable person. I waited for your
reply, and nothing. Now I have to go home and explain this whole mess
to my wife. Hope you are enjoying a good laugh. If you are
legitimate--go find yourself another sucker. New York's as far
as I'm going for this.
Dave
......................................................................................
PHONE CALL [Ed. Note-he actually called-6AM local time-said everything is fine,
come to Amsterdam. The fish is back on the hook!]
......................................................................................
From: "Dave Fleishman"
To: buthelem@yahoo.com
"1971"
Oops, again. I'm sorry, but this internet terminal is not working well.
I hope you get this message. I am glad you called earlier. I'm also
glad I gave you my cell phone so you could reach me. I am looking
for a flight to Amsterdam, but I'm having some difficulty. I'll keep trying.
I still have not received any e-mails from you, but I am concerned
you may have the wrong address. Please confirm that all is well
by sending a message to this address, my cell phone--
phone number given
Type in "all is OK" in the subject line, and I will know you are genuine.
Dave Fleishman
......................................................................................
PHONE MESSAGE "ALL IS OK"
......................................................................................
To: buthelem@yahoo.com
Date: Tue, 21 Jan 2003 15:44:07 +0000
"1971"
I received your message on my phone, so I will proceed to Amsterdam.
I still have not received any e-mails on this account, but there may
be a problem with incoming mail. What I will suggest is that you
return to using xxxx@xxxx.xxx, and I will have to bring my wife
into the arrangement so she may check and respond to the mail on my behalf.
You need not worry about her keeping this confidential, since she
stands to benefit from the arrangement, too.
My cell phone will not work in Europe, so until I get there and
find some way to call or e-mail you, I will be out of contact.
However, you can reach my Donna Jean Godchauxe-mail, and I will check
in with my wife every two hours to make sure you and I remain in contact.
Please confirm receipt of this e-mail by sending the following
message to my cell phone address [phone number given]
"Sometimes you can get shown the light in the strangest of
places if you look at it right"
This way, I will know it is you who is receiving these e-mails.
This saying is something my grandfather August West used to tell me as a child.
Thank you!
Dave Fleishman
......................................................................................
[Ed. Note-the quoted phrase is from the Grateful Dead song "Scarlet Begonias".
"August West" is a character in the Grateful Dead song "Loser".]
......................................................................................
From: buthele madinga [buthelem@yahoo.com]
Subject: CONFIRM RECEIPT OF THIS MAIL
To: Dave Fleishman
Dear Dave,
I hope all is well with you.According to your request,I have decided
to send this mail to you at [your other address]
I hope you receive it and get back to me to inform me if you have
been able to call the security company to notify them of your change in arrival.
I will be expecting your immediate response.
Your friend,
Buthele Madinga."1971"
......................................................................................
From: "Dave Fleishman"
To: buthelem@yahoo.com
This message bounced from your mail address, so I am sending it again.
I am still trying to obtain flights to Amsterdam, and I will send you
notification when I am able.
Dave Fleishman
......................................................................................
To: buthele madinga [buthelem@yahoo.com]
From: Dave Fleishman
Mr. Madinga,
My name is Akanke Fleishman, and I am the wife of David Fleishman.
My husband has communicated to me the business situation you and he
have agreed to. I have agreed to act as his intermediary to convey
communications between you and him while he is traveling to Amsterdam.
Please be noticed, my husband, though a good husband and fine
father to our eight boys, is a very trusting soul. He believes
those who speak with conviction, even if they have ill motives
behind their speech. I am not as trusting an individual. Having
grown up in Lagos, Nigeria, I have encountered all manner of
confidence schemes and other criminal activities being perpetrated
by my fellow Nigerians. While I have no specific information to
assume you are like these people, I do wish that you provide me
some measure of assurance that you are legitimate in your requests
of my husband. My husband informs me you are located in
Johannesburg, which I visited frequently when I lived in Nigeria.
So that I will know you are truly legitimate, please provide
me a picture of yourself standing on the front steps of the
Grace Hotel in Rosebank. My husband and I have stayed there,
and we will immediately recognize the hotel.
Once I receive your confirming e-mail with the picture, I will
inform my husband to proceed with the arrangement. Please be
noticed, my husband defers to me in matters of finance, so if
I inform him you are not legitimate, he will return to our home.
With regards,
Akanke Fleishman
......................................................................................
[Ed. Note-"Akanke" is Nigerian for "To know her is to love her".
Except with this one. She's a hard-ass. I all but call Madinga
out into the light as a 419er, but read on.]
......................................................................................
From: buthele madinga [buthelem@yahoo.com]
Subject: Re: CONFIRM RECEIPT OF THIS MAIL
To: Dave Fleishman
This is "1971"
I am in receipt of your response mail.I thank you very much.
Mrs Fleishman,I want you to forward this message to your husband
for me.I hold him in high esteem and I am really very surprised
that you are requesting that I should provide you a picture of
me standing in front of a hotel or else you will ask your
husband to return home.This is my answer "I WILL DO NO SUCH THING".
My reasons for this is because I do not have any direct dealings
with you and you are in no position to dictate the terms and
conditions about how I collect the funds.You can continue to
be an intermediary in this transaction if you wish.If you are
so keen on confirming my location,then ask your husband to
give you my telephone number here and you give me a call.
If you have to call,you must use the code.Your husband knows
the code.This is a very confidential transaction which was
supposed to be between your husband and I,now he has brought
you in only for you to arouse suspicions.Why dont you ask
your husband to get in touch with the security company and
confirm if the trunk boxes are lodged there or not.
I want to look at this issue as a wife looking after the husbands
interest but please, not to my detriment.I will like to know
if your husband is proceeding with this transaction or not.
I await your response.
Buthele Madinga."1971"
......................................................................................
[Ed. Note-OOH! Madinga gets mouthy! Time to rein him in by waving the money
in front of him again.]
......................................................................................
To: buthele madinga [buthelem@yahoo.com]
From: Dave Fleishman
Subject: Re: CONFIRM RECEIPT OF THIS MAIL
Mr. Madinga,
I am not sure you appreciate the fundamentals of the relationship
between me and my husband. Though in my homeland women are
relegated to subservient roles, in America this is not so,
and my husband has assigned to me matters of finances within
our family. This as so, he defers to my judgment on matters
of money, this being one. I have asked that, for his own
safety, he not contact Mr. van den Berg until you have done
the task that I wish you to do. Your telephone number is
constantly busy, so I have had little opportunity to reach
you. My husband informs me of the same facts when he attempted
to converse with you.
The task of which I ask you is a simple one, and it would
require little of your time. With the picture I seek, you
then would gain my complete confidence, which by turn would
extend to my husband. He would then be in a position to
contact the security company with my hearty blessings. My
husband informs me the code is "1971", so you can be assured
that he and I are in constant contact. I have given him
direct access to my bank account containing my father's
inheritance funds so that he may obtain cash for your
transaction, and he awaits my directions.
Thus, if you wish to conclude this transaction, you MUST
do as I ask. My husband is presently in an undisclosed
Amsterdam hotel, and he will await my telephone call after
I receive your photograph.
I look forward to your positive reply.
Akanke Fleishman
......................................................................................
From: "Dave Fleishman"
To: buthelem@yahoo.com
"1971"
Mr. Madinga,
I have arrived safely in Amsterdam, and I have checked into a hotel.
Because of my inability to speak or e-mail you directly, my wife
has had to become involved in the relaying of messages from you
to me. She is concerned (as a wife should be) for my safety
in a foreign country, and she tells me that you will be providing
her some verification of some sort so that she is comfortable
with the transaction. She is our family money manager,
because she has far more experience than I in those matters.
She inherited a sizeable amount of money from her father,
which is maintained in a Swiss bank. She gave me the account
information, so I can have cash wired to the security company
once she gets the verification she asked you for. I apologize
for the additional step, but I would not have involved her if
your e-mails had gotten through to me in the first place. I
don't see it as a problem, though, since it sounded to me
like the verification she was asking for was pretty easy
for you to do. I'll leave that to the two of you, but
once she tells me it's "OK" to call on the security company,
I'll be in the next taxi over with cash!
Looking forward to hearing that the deal is going forward!
Dave Fleishman
......................................................................................
From: buthele madinga [buthelem@yahoo.com]
Subject: UPDATE
To: Dave Fleishman
I am in receipt of your response mail.I thank you very much.
Please confirm to your husband that I also received his mail
from Amsterdam.I am very happy he arrived safely.
Mrs Fleishman,your husband has informed me that you are
actually the one who is responsible for providing finance
for both his trip and this transaction.Hence, I see the
relevance for me to open up to you as I would do to your
husband.Although this came to me as a shock because your
husband never mentioned to me that he was getting finance
from his wife.I opened up to your husband and I reposed
so much trust and confidence in him,but he held back
this singular fact.What other surprises does he have
in stock for me? Maybe you can furnish me with the details.
With regards to your request,I would very much want
to meet up with your demands now that you are directly
involved but I can not do that for the safety of
my son and I.You must bear in mind that I am just a refugee
here and I do not want anyone to get wind of this
transaction.My going to take a photo directly in front of
such a 5-star hotel could arouse suspicion.I am living a
low profile life here and I want to keep it that way for
our safety here.My son has been suffering a serious
truama since yesterday.His condition is not getting better
even as I write to you now.I have to be by his side most
of the time.Please understand that patrice is all I have
left and I am all he's got.I lost my wife and two kids
during the war.I do not want to loose him.
My telephone line is in good condition and if you try
several times calling, I am sure you will get through.
I do not know why you doubt my location and you have
taken it upon your self to cease this transaction that
has practically come to a successful completion.I want
to plead with you to give your husband the go ahead to
put a call through to the security company and find out
if the consignment is there or not.The cost of his
telephone call within Amsterdam should not be a problem
for him.Please correct me if I am wrong.Also,I sent a
copy of the power of attorney to the security company,
and he can also confirm from them where the power of
attorney comes fom.I have nothing to hide from your husband.
I crave so much for your understanding in this transaction
and I am hoping you will not let me down.
Your immediate response will be appreciated.
Buthele Madinga."1971"
......................................................................................
To: buthele madinga [buthelem@yahoo.com]
From: Dave Fleishman
Subject: Re: UPDATE
"1971"
Mr. Madinga,
I understand the situation you are in with Patrice, having had
eight sons myself. I therefore offer my sympathies. Mr. Madinga,
as you might envision, I have suspicions. My father did not
grow to be the wealthy man he was at his death by trusting
everyone at their word. He raised his children to be the
same as he. As so, I offer to you the opportunity to be
true to your word. Please send me a picture of you in
front of SOME easily recognizable landmark in Johannesburg.
I suggest Museum Africa or the Johannesburg Art Gallery,
or perhaps one of you at the Rosebank Rooftop Market.
You will not raise suspicion in any of these places by
having your picture taken. I will leave it to you to
determine the particulars, but I must see a picture of
you in some EASILY recognizable Johannesburg landmark.
I have spent much time in Johannesburg, and I will be
able to recognize whether the picture is legitimate.
Also, so that I will be sure you do not simply obtain
a picture from the internet, I would like you to be
holding up any denomination of South African currency
in your left hand.
Again, I've tried your telephone number, which does not
function. In any case, I am sure it is a cellular telephone
that can be carried to any country. I recall from my time in
Lagos how the 419ers would tap into my family's telephone line
at the pole to propagate their scams, using OUR telephone number
as their contact. It was terribly humiliating to have the police
enter our house and seize our telephones, so I must be sure you
are not such a person.
This is the only step remaining between you and my husband
contacting the security company. We wish very much to assist
you. It is your choice what the next step will be. If your
next message is a persistent refusal to provide me what I seek,
it will be your last contact with me or my husband. He has
the cash necessary to consummate this arrangement, and he is
awaiting my word to proceed.
With regards,
Akanke Fleishman
......................................................................................
[Ed. Note-Okay, I've all but called him a 419er. This is usually where I lose the fish.]
......................................................................................
From: buthele madinga [buthelem@yahoo.com]
Subject: TREAT AS URGENT
To: Dave Fleishman
This is "1971"
Your response mail received,read and understood.
Mrs Fleishman,I beleive I have made it clear to you that
I would not be photographed here in any public place and
I still stand by my word.You are not the one at the receiving
end here.I know the risks I am taking contacting someone out
of mere recommendations given to me and entrusting such
huge amount of funds into his hands.I also made mention
of a surprise given to me by your husband and I am now
getting suspicious due to another surprise coming from both of you.
I remember when I made mention of the required fees for
the demurrage charges, your husband never reflected to it ,
but istead assured me he was prepared to proceed to Amsterdam.
Now I notice that in your mail to me and the one I received
from your husband,the major point being raised is the issue of "cash".
What about the documents for this transaction that happen to be
in your husbands possesion right now? What has happened to the
Airway Bill and Power of attorney I sent to your husband?
There is no mention of that anymore.Do you really think with
only the "cash" and without the documents for the claim of the
consignment that your husband will be able to collect the trunk boxes?
I came to your husband in good faith and intentions,but now you
as his wife is now taking over my dealings with him and you are
trying to "boss me around".Despite the fact that I lost my wife,
you should also respect the fact that I was once a married man.
I will not risk my life and that of my son "just to prove a point to you".
Now since you know south africa so much,I had my picture taken
as I was emerging from a bar.I want you to tell me the name of
the bar.If I do not get this reply from you,I want both of you
to assume that this whole transaction has been called off by me.
Your husband should therefore,send to me a letter of agreement
to be singed by himself and myself requesting for a change of
beneficiary.This transaction has to be done my way as I am the
initiator of the whole project.
Let me correct you by letting you know that my phone line is not
a mobile line and the line has been in perfect condition since
yesterday till this moment.I do not beleive you attempted calling me
today.You and your husband have betrayed the trust and confidence I had in him.
I am sending the photograph immediately after this meesage and I
expect you to give me the name of the bar.If you really know your
way around here very well,take a good look at the door I emerged from.
I await your response.
B.Madinga."1971"
......................................................................................
[Ed. Note-Picture of him in a nice vest!. Hard to recover from this one, though.
I have no idea where the bar is. Time to switch gears.]
......................................................................................
To: buthele madinga [buthelem@yahoo.com]
From: Dave Fleishman
Subject: Re: TREAT AS URGENT
Mr. Madinga,
I regret that you question my motivations. I evidently cannot
change your mind, and I will not be able to identify the bar
from which you emerge. As a devout Moslem, I do not imbibe
alcohol, and I therefore do not frequent "bars".
I will inform my husband to return home. I hope you are able
to find another to assist you in your arrangement.
Kind regards,
Akanke Fleishman
......................................................................................
From: "Dave Fleishman"
To: buthelem@yahoo.com
"1971"
Mr. Madinga,
My wife has asked that I return home, and although she would
not go into details, she did say that she suspected you were a
"Nigerian 419er", whatever that means. She is from Nigeria
as you know, and that phrase must mean something in Nigeria.
I apologize that we were not able to complete our deal,
although I have been enjoying myself in Amsterdam the
last few days. I guess I needed a vacation more than I thought.
I hope you will be able to find someone to help you with your situation.
Your friend,
Dave Fleishman
......................................................................................
From: buthele madinga [buthelem@yahoo.com]
Subject: Re: TREAT AS URGENT
To: Dave Fleishman
Dear Dave,
I am in receipt of both mails from you and your wife.
I quite understand that you have decided to back out of this
transaction just as I have decided to discontinue with you.
I would need you to send to a written agreement duely
signed by you requesting for a change of beneficiary
to the consignment.
I thank you for your effort and good luck.
B. Madinga."1971"
.....................................................................................
[Ed. Note-Thus ends Act I of our little drama. I can't just let this one go,
though-we've come too far! Begin Act II of the play.]
.....................................................................................
From: "Mandy Moore" <Gwendolyn Stephany>
To: buthelem@yahoo.com
Mr. Madinga,
I believe we owe you an apology.
I am an English teacher at a high school in California,
and as part of my creative writing class, I encouraged my
students to attempt to engage a stranger in correspondence
as a "pen pal". I suggested that they take the first e-mail
they received and attempt to engage that person in communication.
Also part of the class project was to write as if the student
was another person, instead of himself/herself. I find this
a good tool to help expand my students' abilities as writers
by thinking outside their own personal experiences. The
correspondence back and forth was to be handed in and the
students were to receive grades on the project.
I have now reviewed the class projects, and it appears
that you were unwittingly brought into my project by one
of my students, who posed as "Dave Fleishman" and his wife
"Akanke Fleishman". There are no such people, and my student
apparently found the names at random in a phone book.
The middle name she gave you, Jerome Garcia, is in
reality a guitar player for a band called the Grateful Dead.
She said she even had her boyfriend answer her cell phone
every day hoping that you would be the one calling. She
was a bit over-zealous in her communication with you, and
I suspect the thrill of acting as another made her get
carried away with herself. I admire her youthful enthusiasm
for the project, but I fear that you may have been seriously
misled. For that I deeply apologize. Had I known that my
project would have such an impact on others, I certainly
would never have assigned it to my students. I will know
better next time. Again, my sincerest apologies.
I know it does not excuse my student's behavior, but I
thought her creative use of a dueling husband and wife
was remarkably innovative, and my student received an "A"
on the project.
Gwendolyn Stephany
Department of English, San Jocas High School
Merced, California
......................................................................................
[Ed. Note-Gwen Stefani is the lead singer of the band "No Doubt".
This is a variation on her name. The high school, of course, is
fictional, and depending on how you pronounce the name, is either
"Joke-us" or "Hocus". I screwed up on the "Mandy Moore" e-mail
address-I established that one to work another 419er, but I'll
recover shortly. But first, enter our heroine, Donna Jean]
......................................................................................
To: buthele madinga [buthelem@yahoo.com]
From: Donna Godchaux
Subject: Re: TREAT AS URGENT
Mr. Madinga,
My name is Donna Jean Godchaux, and I'm a high school student,
and my teacher Ms. Stephany, told me to write you an apology letter.
Ms. Stephany gave us a writing assignment to be a penpal with
someone, where we acted like we were someone else. I am totally
sorry that I wrote to you. Ms. Stephany told us to just respond
to the first e-mail we got and yours was my first e-mail.
There never was a Dave Jerome Garcia Fleishman--I made that
name up out of the phone book, and out of a band called the
Greatful Dead. I made up his wife, too. I'm really, really,
really, really, really, really, really, really, really sorry. I was so
totally into being someone else that I kept writing to you. I hope you
and Patrice can forgive me. I know how hard it is
to be a foreigner living in Africa because we studied African
in my geography class. It's very hot there and there's lots
of poor people.
My boyfriend Keith told me to say sorry, too. He was the one
you talked to on the cell phone that day.
I put the papers you sent to me in Ms. Stephany's shredder,
so you don't need to worry about that. Anyway, I hope you
have a happier life and I hope you get your money soon! I hope
Patrice gets better, too.
Love and kisses,
Donna Jean Godchaux
.....................................................................................
[Ed. Note-Donna Jean Godchaux was a singer with the Grateful Dead in the 70s.
Her husband Keith was the keyboard player. Our Donna Jean is not particularly
bright, as you can tell from some of the intentional misspellings. This is
pretty funny, since Madinga apparently will not recognize what a truly great
writer she was during Act I of the play. Now her writing is that of a typical
high-school student, complete with "like" and "he's all", etc. Now we've got
two concurrent threads with Madinga-he's going to be busy responding to e-mails
from both Gwen and Donna Jean!]
.....................................................................................
From: buthele madinga [buthelem@yahoo.com]
To: Gwendolyn Stephany
Subject: Re: Treat as urgent
ATTN: Gwendolyn Stephany
Department of English, San Jocas High School
Merced, California.
Good day to you.I am in receipt of your mail to me and I have
in fact been in total shock.Things like this are bound to occur
in life.I have a problem that I must be settled first.
My documents in your students possesion.With that,anyone
bearing the names on the documents can easily have access
to my funds in Amsterdam.The fund is all I have left right
now and I do not want to loose it.Please be kind enough to
prepare letter of agreement requesting for a change in
beneficiary so that I can present it to the security company.
I will remain obliged to you if you can do this for me immediately.
I await your response.
Buthele Madinga.
.....................................................................................
[Ed. Note-faithful to the scam until the very end-this guy wants his documents back!]
.....................................................................................
From: "Gwendolyn Stephany"
To: buthelem@yahoo.com
Mr. Madinga,
I spoke with my student, Ms. Godchaux, and I told her that she
should write to you and apologize. Please let me know if you
do not get her apology e-mail. She also shredded the legal
documents you forwarded to her in my classroom shredder.
By the way, my previous message, I assume you received, since
another one of my students, Ms. Moore, forwarded to me your
reply. We have a single computer in my classroom, and sometimes
my students fail to log out of their e-mail accounts. I apparently
sent you my last e-mail from Ms. Moore's account. If you need to
communicate with me further, you may do so at this address.
Again, my apologies for the intrusion into your life. By the way,
Ms. Godchaux shared with me your photograph. You are quite a
handsome man. Your wife must be a lucky woman.
Kind regards,
Gwendolyn Stephany
Department of English, San Jocas High School
Merced, California
......................................................................................
[Ed. Note-Caught the earlier "Mandy Moore" e-mail address mistake.
Now, let's see if we can get him interested in Gwen, either for
her money, or for other stuff! But first, some more of Donna Jean,
complete with pictures!]
......................................................................................
To: buthele madinga [buthelem@yahoo.com]
From: Donna Godchaux
Subject: Re: TREAT AS URGENT
Mr. Madinga,
I've been feeling really bad about what I did to you and Patrice
for my writing assignment. I wish there was a way I could help
you out as a way of saying I'm sorry. I don't know what's wrong
with Patrice, but maybe my picture would cheer him up. I attached
one for him to put in his hospital room. One of my friends took
this at a cheerleading competition we went to last fall. Maybe
Patrice will get a smile or two knowing that someone is thinking
of him from far away.
I'm only a high school kid, but is there a way I can help you
with your situation? My dad has a lot of money, and maybe I
could ask him for some to help you out. I'm turning 18 in a
couple weeks, and my dad said he'd buy me a new car for my
birthday, but I feel so bad about your situation and what
I did that I think maybe I should help you instead.
Anyway, I'm sorry again.
Love and kisses,
Donna Jean Godchaux
......................................................................................
[Ed. Note--The picture is, as will be the the next few,
of porn star Traci Lords. How long will it be before
Madinga tries to scam money from poor Donna Jean?] .....................................................................................
From: buthele madinga [buthelem@yahoo.com]
Subject: Re: TREAT AS URGENT
To: Donna Jean Godchaux
My dear friend,
I am in receipt of your mails and I have informed your
teacher that I received your apology letter.
I appreciate your concern and I must tell you that my son's
health condition got worse when I told him that Dave was
a fictitous name,and that there is nobody like that.I am
suffering from high blood pressure right now and I am so
confused as to how I am going to get my son and I out of here.
I will show him your picture later today and I am hoping
it helps because I am so depressed right now.
Please,if you need to speak to your dad about assisting
us,I do not want any details of this transaction revealed.
I have had too many surprises of recent and I do not need
anymore.If you can find some other stories to tell him,
that will be okay with me.I will also,inform Patrice
of your intending financial assistance,and that maybe
we can leave this place after all.
As you are already aware,I lost all my belongings during
the war and I do not even have any form of identification
to receive funds from you.I have spoken to a friend working
in a Bureau de Change, and he has offered to furnish me
with one of his bank account details through which I can
receive funds from you.I am hoping you will not disappoint
Patrice for the second time again.
I await your immediate response.
Buthele Madinga.
......................................................................................
[Ed. Note-Looks like not long!]
......................................................................................
To: buthele madinga [buthelem@yahoo.com]
From: Donna Godchaux
Subject: Re: TREAT AS URGENT
Mr. Madinga,
I'm totally glad you wrote back. My boyfriend Keith and I had a HUGE fight last night, and we
broke up. I've been crying all night and the only thing that has made me happy was your e-mail.
Me and Keith were at a party, and he got really drunk and started screaming at me that I was
cheating on him. It's not true! Anyway, he said some things that were so mean I don't want to be
his girlfriend anymore, even if he WAS drunk. I want someone who is more mature and serious. I
can't wait until I graduate from high school so I can meet some mature MEN!
I'm totally sorry that you are sick, too. I hope my picture will cheer up Patrice. If you think
it will help, I can send some more. I just think I should try and fix the damage I've done to
others before I get my own life back together. What a mess!
I told my best friend Cassidy about you and Patrice. She's in my english class, and she had to do
the same assignment I did. I'll bet SHE didn't mess up someone's life, though. Cassidy said I
should ask if you have a picture of Patrice. I'm sorry to be so nosy, but I thought your picture
was very nice, and you look like a nice man. I even thought you looked a little cute, so I'll bet
Patrice is very good looking, too. Anyway, if you can send a picture, Cassidy and I would like it
alot.
I don't know what a Buereau do Charge is, but if I can help you out, I want to do that. My dad
actually doesn't live with us anymore, so he's pretty cool about things. He and my mom got
divorced when I was 9, so I've been living with my mom and my sister Althea since then. Daddy
lives in Colorado, but he sends me money and stuff all the time. I think he feels bad for not
living with us anymore. I could just tell him that I want to put the money in a bank until I
figure out what kind of car to get. He only comes to see us once a year, so I could probably send
you some money and buy a different car, and he wouldn't even know. He said he was going to buy me a
Corvette, but those things are like $50,000. I could get the money from him and buy a cheaper car.
How much do you think you need?
Anyways, give Patrice a hug and a kiss for me. I was thinking about him a lot last night after
Keith and I broke up. I bet Patrice doesn't get drunk and call women sluts and stuff like that. I
hope you send me a picture of him. How old is he? Is he really sick or is he going to get better
soon? I hope he gets better, because I would like to get some e-mail from him if he can send one.
Love and kisses
Donna Jean Godchaux
.....................................................................................
[Ed. Note-"Cassidy" and "Althea" are Grateful Dead songs.
Cassidy will figure into the story shortly, with any luck.
Maybe I can get a third thread going with Madinga. Had to
get Keith out of the picture to get the next prize, though-
trying to get a picture of "Patrice". I wouldn't want poor
Patrice to be jealous. Always helps to wave a bit of money
in front of them, too.] .....................................................................................
From: buthele madinga [buthelem@yahoo.com]
To: Gwendolyn Stephany
Dear Stephany,
I am in receipt of your mail.I thank you very much for your
transparency in this matter.I have been badly hurt and my son's
health condition has depreciated seriously due to the games played on
me by your student.I have told him that David does not exist and
I do not know when we will leave this place,if at all we are going
to leave.The funds are still in europe and I am now very skeptical
as to who I can trust to receive the funds on my behalf.
I had my blood pressure checked yesterday, and doctors advice
that I should take a bed rest.Nobody knows what I am going
through,except my son and I.
Be informed that your student has apologised to me and stated
that she has destroyed the documents.How can I be sure of this?
Do you expect me to beleive this? I am indeed worried,not only
about the funds,but also about my son's state of health.
I thank you for your remarks about my picture,and my wife was
the most beautiful woman I ever met until her death.I now
have only Patrice as my famly.I lost my wife and two daughters during the war.
Please confirm receipt of this mail so that I am sure it got to you.
Kind regards,
Buthele Madinga.
.....................................................................................
[Ed. Note-Kinda chokes you up, doesn't it?
When will he try and get Gwen to send him money?
Let's work on the sympathy angle for a while, with,
of course, a little money waving in his face.]
.....................................................................................
From: "Gwendolyn Stephany"
To: buthelem@yahoo.com
Subject: Re:
Mr. Madinga,
I did receive your e-mail. I am so sorry to hear about your wife. I am a widow myself. My husband
was a police officer who was killed in a drug raid several years ago. Time passes, but the wounds
never completely heal. I am sure it is even worse for you having lost your daughters and having
your son being sick. My husband and I never had children, because my husband did not want
children. It is just me now, but fortunately the police department provides well for widows of
slain police officers. The city for which he worked paid for a large life insurance policy which I
am now able to live on. Without that, it would be very difficult for me to continue being a
teacher, for as you may know, teachers in our country are not very well paid. I love teaching, but
I couldn't afford to live on just my teacher's salary!
Your e-mail calls me "Stephany", but that is my last name, and I hope we can be more informal in
our correspondence. My first name is "Gwendolyn", but you may call me "Gwen" if you wish. May I
just call you by your first name "Buthole"?
With regards to the shredding of the documents, I can only tell you that Ms. Godchaux told me she
used the shredder in my room. I regret that I cannot tell you that I observed her doing so, but I
have no reason to doubt her. I can understand why you would not be trusting of her, but I hope you
can trust me when I say I believe she shredded the documents.
In any event, I hope you are able to find someone you trust to help you extricate yourself from the
situation in which you find yourself. Please let me know if I can assist you in any manner.
Affectionately,
Gwendolyn Stephany
Department of English, San Jocas High School
Merced, California
......................................................................................
[Ed. Note-I just couldn't resist calling him a "Buthole".
It was only one letter off his "real" name. I figured I couldn't
get away with calling him "Buthole Mydingus", though. Gwen is
warming up to poor Madinga, signing off "Affectionately"]
.....................................................................................
From: buthele madinga [buthelem@yahoo.com]
Subject: Re: TREAT AS URGENT
To: Donna Jean Godchaux
Dear Donna,
I am in receipt of your mail.I thank you very much for your
concern over Patrice.I think your photo had an impact on him
because there has been signs of relief today.If it will not
be too much trouble,I think he will like to see some more
photos of you.I am sorry to say that I do not have any of
Patrice's pictures right now, but as soon as he recovers
fully,I will surely get one and send to you.He is a pleasant
young man and easy to get along with.I told him you intend
to assist us leave here and that you were really sorry about
what you did.I beleive I convinced him about that.I want you
to keep him in your prayers for me.I know all will be well
soon.I am sorry to hear about you and your boyfriend.
Disagreements do occur but dont you think you can both make
up for everything? You should know better than anyone else
in this case.
With regards to the financial aid which you have offered,
I beleive we should be clear on some points before you go
any further.Firstly,a "Bureau de Change" is a finance establishment
dealing in foreign exchange(FOREX) .Secondly,considering
your age,dont you think you are too young to walk into a
bank and make an international fund transfer? Are questions
not going to be asked where you are transfering funds to and
for what reasons? What will be your response? Will your
Dad not be suspicious of the fact that you want to keep as
much as US$50,000 in your bank account?Well if all these
steps can be taken care of by you,the assistance I need is
about US$6,500.I will make arrangement to get Patrice and
myself out of here.As soon as you confirm to me the possiblility
of the above matters,I will send to you the details of the
account into which you will make the transfer.
I will await your response.
Thank you.
Buthele Madinga.
......................................................................................
[Ed. Note-Even Nigerians con artists like looking at pictures of pretty girls!
He's a bit suspicious, though. Once burned, I guess. His price has gone down,
too! Only $6500 now. Do I hear $5000?]
......................................................................................
To: buthele madinga [buthelem@yahoo.com]
From: Donna Godchaux
Subject: More pictures!
Mr. Madinga,
I am TOTALLY stoked to hear that Patrice is feeling a little better.
Just think, a picture of ME did that! I would send you a whole bunch
of pictures to make him feel better, but I don't like the way I
look in most pictures. I think I'm too fat. Keith used to tell
me like all the time that I was too fat. He's all YOUR SO FAT,
and I would like just start crying. Do these pictures make me
look fat? If I could only lose 15 pounds, I would be SO happy.
My friend Cassidy--she's like so skinny and pretty. I wish I
could be like her. I'm a little embarassed to send you the
picture of me in my bathing suit, because I like don't really
know you, but you seem like a nice man, and I hope you won't
show the picture to anyone exept Patrice. Keith took the picture
when we went to the beach last fall. The one of me holding up my hair
was when I was 16. I was trying to look sexy. The one of me in the
white dress was from last spring when I went to my grandma's house
in Washington for spring break. She bought me the dress. If I
wasn't so fat, I'd probably look better in it. I thought dying
my hair blonde would make me look better, but I don't know.
What does Patrice think? If I can get someone to take some
better pictures of me, maybe I'll send those. I'm sorry I don't
have any better ones. I can't wait to see what Patrice looks like!
I don't know what to do about the money. Daddy usually doesn't
ask me what I spend the money on that he sends, but I've never
had him send me like that much. Maybe if I send you little bits
of money at a time, like maybe $2000 at a time, no one will get
suspicous. Daddy sends me $2000 every two weeks, so it's not a
big deal. He just sent me some more money yesterday. I usually
spend it on clothes and stuff like that, but it sounds like you
could use it more.
They have these check cashing places in our town that send money
to Mexico and other countries and stuff. My teacher said the
farm workers send money to their families back home from these
places, so maybe I could do that. I think their called Western
Unions or something like that. Do you have a Western Unions where
you live? Let me know.
Love and kisses,
Donna Jean Godchaux
......................................................................................
[Ed. Note-Donna Jean has pretty low self-esteem, unfortunately.
Particularly for such a rich kid! Let's troll for some compliments
from the scam artists. Traci Lords pictures abound on the internet,
so I probably won't have any problem fulfilling his wishes for more p
ictures-even X-rated ones if he asks-I sure hope he does!]
......................................................................................
From: "Gwendolyn Stephany"
To: buthelem@yahoo.com
Subject: Re:Thank you
Buthele,
I'm so pleased you are comfortable calling me "Gwen". I am sorry
for misspelling your name, but I must have mistyped it. What does
"Buthele" mean? My name was taken from an Arthurian legend.
I enjoy corresponding with you, and I hope we can continue.
Give my best to Patrice, and to you, as well! I hope, too,
that we may meet one day.
Affectionately,
Gwendolyn Stephany
Department of English, San Jocas High School
Merced, California
......................................................................................
[Ed. Note-Okay, okay, so I can't really keep calling him a "Buthole".
Gotta cover this one. I'm getting a little impatient for him to cast
the line for money from Gwen, though. I may have to end this one if
I don't get some results, soon.]
......................................................................................
To: buthele madinga [buthelem@yahoo.com]
From: Donna Godchaux
Subject: ARE YOU OK?
Mr. Madinga and Patrice,
I AM SO DEPRESSED! Cassidy just called me and she said she saw
Keith like making out with Delilah Jones at a party last night.
WE JUST BROKE UP AND HE'S MAKING OUT WITH SOMEONE ELSE! He had
his hand like up her shirt and everything! I NEVER WANT TO SEE HIM AGAIN!
I'm really hoping you got my pictures that I sent and that Patrice
liked them. At least someone appreciates me! I hope you both are ok,
bcause I didn't hear from you after I sent the pictures. I hope Patrice is getting better.
Anyways, write me soon. I need to hear some friendly words because
I'M SO DEPRESSED.
Love and kisses,
Donna Jean Godchaux
......................................................................................
[Ed. Note-"Delilah Jones" is a character in the Grateful Dead
song "Brown-Eyed Women".]
......................................................................................
From: buthele madinga [buthelem@yahoo.com]
Subject: Re: More pictures!
To: Donna Jean Godchaux
Dear Donna,
I am in receipt of your mails.I am sorry I could not respond earlier
than this.I had to be with Patrice most of the time.I have presented
your photos to him and he tends to like them.He says thank you and
he hopes to be able to send his own picture to you as soon as possible.
I am sorry to hear about your boyfriend's attitude.Maybe you should
call him and have a chat with him and find out why he has acted that
way.I beleive in dialogue over such matters and I am hoping it will
help you.
Patrice's condition has not improved greatly as I expected.Doctor's advice
that he will be observed this week and if his condition remains stable,I
will have to take him abroad for treatment.Now, I am going to need your
financial assistance in getting him to europe.I want you to inform me on
what amount of funds you have at your disposal to assist us.As soon as I
receive your response,I will furnish you with the details of how you will
send the funds to us.
Hopefully,Patrice will give you a call this week and speak with you.He
wishes to call you personally and thank you for the photos you sent to him.
I await your response.
Kind regards,
Buthele Madinga.
......................................................................................
[Ed. Note-Bummer-no compliments-he "tends" to like the photos.
Must not be into porn stars or something. Let's try again.
I did like the money trolling, though. Never say die. Let's
just switch stories and appeal to Donna Jean's sympathetic side.
Poor Patrice must travel to Europe now for medical treatment.
And my dog can fly backwards.]
......................................................................................
To: buthele madinga [buthelem@yahoo.com]
From: Donna Godchaux
Subject: Re: More pictures!
OOOH! THANK YOU FOR WRITING BACK! I was like starting to think you forgot about me!
I'm glad Patrice liked my pictures. He didn't think I was too fat, did he?
You said he "tends" to like them--does that mean he really doesn't like
them because I'm too fat? Please tell me whether he thinks I'm too fat.
Keith kept saying YOUR SO FAT and YOUR A FAT SLUT, and my mom says its not
true, but I want a BOY to tell me that I look okay. My mom would tell me
anything to make me happy, I think. I'm NOT going to call Keith, because
he is an idiot. If he can't appreciate me, then he can't have me.
It would be really cool if Patrice called me, but my mom has an unlisted
phone number, and I'm not supposed to give it out. She had a boyfriend
(after she divorced Daddy) and he started like stalking her, so she got
our phone disconnected and got an unlisted number. That's why we had to
move away from Colorado to California. I'm only allowed to give it out
for like emergencies. I'm sorry. I would have Patrice call on Keith's
cell phone number that I gave you before, but obviously that's not an
option now. Can Patrice send me an e-mail? I'd like to hear his words,
even if they are in e-mail.
WAIT, I HAVE AN IDEA! I think I told you my birthday is coming up (February 2),
and I WOULD LOVE IT if Patrice could send me a birthday card or a little present.
I hate to ask this becase he's so sick and stuff, but it would really cheer me up!
Anything little would be fine. It would just be nice to know there is someone
who likes me enough to send me a birthday card or something. Last year, Keith
didn't even give me a card or nothing. He said he was busy, and it slipped his
mind. I'm better off without him! Maybe Patrice could pop a little card in the
mail now so it gets here by my birthday. How long does it take mail to get here
from South Africa?
I looked in my underwear drawer (that's where I keep my money! Dont tell anyone!
Hee, hee!), and I have a little over $3500 in cash, and Daddy's check from last
week for $2000. I can cash that today--the banks were not open on the weekend,
so I could have $5500 today. I'm sorry that's not as much as you said you needed
before, but if you can wait until Daddy's next check in two weeks, I will have more.
I'm sorry, but I could send what I have. I could like check with my sister and see
if she has any money, too. Daddy sends her the same amount he sends me, and she
doesn't buy clothes or nothing. She just puts all her money in the bank "for college".
She's like really brainy and stuff, and she's only 14! She gets straight "A"s in
school, and she's like on the honor roll and stuff. She's pretty smart, so I'll
have to give her a reason why I want the money. What do you think I should say?
Write back soon!
Love and kisses,
Donna Jean Godchaux
......................................................................................
From: buthele madinga [buthelem@yahoo.com]
To : Gwendolyn Stephany
Subject : Re:Thank you
Dear Gwen,
I am in receipt of your mail.I am sorry for not being able to reply you
sooner.I had to be with my son.I am sure you understand I am all his has
now.I passed your kind words accross to him and he is indeed grateful.I
will write to you as soon as I receive confirmation from you that you
received this mail.
Remain blessed and thank you.
Buthele.
......................................................................................
The DenoumentFrom: "Gwendolyn Stephany" To: buthelem@yahoo.com Subject: Re:Thank you Buthele, I did indeed receive your e-mail, and I am glad to hear from you. I hope you will be able to find a way for Patrice to receive the medical care he needs. Please let me know if there is anything I can do for you or Patrice. Lovingly, Gwendolyn Stephany Department of English, San Jocas High School Merced, California ...................................................................................... From: buthele madinga [buthelem@yahoo.com] Subject: URGENT ATTENTION NEEDED To: Donna Dear Donna, I am in receipt of your mail.I want you to understand that I never forgot about you;I had to be by son most of the time.Patrice does not think you are too fat and that is the honest truth that he told me.I told him you are very concerend about your weight and he said you looked good.He said what he likes most about you is your lips.I asked him why the lips and he said that was between yourself and himself.I beleive he will explain to you when he finally corresponds.We could not talk for too long because he still needs rest.I am sorry about your boyfriends attitude towards you and I hope you find real love later on. With regards to the funds,I will appreciate a great deal if you can send to the available funds you have i.e. US$5,500.That would help a great deal in getting Patrice to a better hospital in europe.Be informed that there is no western union transfer shceme here in south africa.What we have here is called "Money Gram Transfer". You can have the funds sent in my friends name.He will assist me in receiving the funds because like I mentioned earlier,I do not have my identification papers with me i.e.my international passport.My friends name is KINGSLEY MOWOE (55 PARKLINE STATION.SANDTON). I will advice that you get in touch with your teacher, Mrs Gwen Stephany to assist in going to the money gram office and sending the funds here on your behalf. Patrice has promised to send you an e-card via internet before your birthday. Please continue to keep him in your prayers. I await your response regarding the above matters. Kind regards, Buthele Madinga. ...................................................................................... To: buthele madinga [buthelem@yahoo.com] From: Donna Godchaux Subject: Re: URGENT ATTENTION NEEDED OH, THANK YOU! I'm so happy SOMEBODY like appreciates me. We didn't have school today cause it was a holiday--our school celebrates the Feast of St. Elmo's Fire every year on January 28. I won't see Mrs. Stephany until tomorrow, but I'll talk to her about the money. I can't like wait for the birthday card! I really hope you can do it by my birthday! I hope Patrice will put something really personal in it. Love and kisses Donna Jean [Ed. Note-"Feast of St. Elmo's Fire?" That's where we get together and celebrate the acting careers of Rob Lowe and Judd Nelson, right? Just buying time to get the birthday card, really. Don't want to send off all that money without something in return.] ...................................................................................... Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 00:05:17 -0800 (PST) From: buthele madinga [buthelem@yahoo.com] Subject: Re: URGENT ATTENTION NEEDED To: Donna Dear Donna, I am in receipt of your mail.I am happy you appreciate Patrice's comments about you.His health condition has not improved much but I know he will send you a mail before your birthday on the 2nd of feb. Do get in touch with your teacher today as I have written a mail to her asking her to assist in sending the funds on your behalf.I have to go now and be with Patrice. Awaiting your immediate response. Buthele Madinga. [Ed. Note-yeah, you're making sure Patrice doesn't think Donna Jean is fat so you'll get your money. Right answer, buddy.] ...................................................................................... To: buthele madinga [buthelem@yahoo.com] From: Donna Godchaux Subject: Re: URGENT ATTENTION NEEDED Okay! I got the Moneygram form from the Dark Star Market on the other side of town. BOY, they don't put those Moneygram places in like very nice parts of town! There were all these broken cars and bars on the windows and stuff. I was a little scared, but I knew I had to like do it, because Patrice is counting on me. I already cashed Daddy's check, so I have all the money now. It's in my underwear drawer, safe and sound. I'm going to like take the from to Mrs. Stephany today and see if she'll help me fill it out. It looks pretty easy! But I want to do it right. I'll send you a scan of the form when I send the money--Mrs. Stephany has a scanner in her classroom that we can use. I CAN'T WAIT FOR PATRICE TO SEND ME THE CARD. Please tell him to put something personal in it. I'm getting all like shiverry thinking about it! HOOO! I really, really, really, REALLY hope he can send a picture so I'll know what he looks like. I bet he's REALLY cute! Love and kisses, Donna Jean Godchaux ...................................................................................... From : buthele madinga [buthelem@yahoo.com] To : Gwendolyn Stephany Subject :Re:Thank you Dear Gwen, I am in receipt of your mail.I thank you for your concern towads Patrice.Please continue to keep him in your prayers for me. I need your help and I hope you will not let me and Patrcie down.Donna has offered to assist us with some funds in order to get Patrcie the proper medical care he needs.You know Donna is still very young and I will need you to collect the funds from her and send to me here on her behalf.I hope this task is not too much for you.I have given her the name in which the funds should be transfered and it should be through money gram transfer scheme as we do not have western union transfer scheme here in south africa.Patrice sends his regards to you. Please confirm receipt of this mail and your willingness to assist in the above matters. Your friend, Buthele. [Ed. Note-Oh, damn-he signs off "your friend". No romance between Gwen and Buthole. No trolling for money, either. Is it possible this guy actually has a conscience?] ...................................................................................... To: buthele madinga [buthelem@yahoo.com] From: Donna Godchaux Subject: Re: URGENT ATTENTION NEEDED Mr. Madinga, Mrs. Stephany was out sick today, so I couldn't like talk with her about sending you the money. We had a substitute teacher, and I couldn't like use the scanner to send you the form to see if it looks right. I filled it out, but I'm waiting for Mrs. Stephany to help me make sure it's like all correct and stuff. I'm hoping she'll be there tomorrow. I'll let you know. Only 4 more days to my birthday! (hint, hint!) I can't wait to see what Patrice writes! He seems so mysterious because I haven't like gotten ANY messages from him except what you tell me. No offense, but I'm hoping he can write to me personally and tell me what he thought of my pictures. I think he might have like told you just a little because your his dad! I'd be embarrased to have to send messages to a boy using my mom to translate! Anyway, can't wait to hear from Patrice! Love and kisses Donna Jean [Ed. Note-a little stalling to get the birthday card.] ...................................................................................... From: buthele madinga [buthelem@yahoo.com] Subject: Re: URGENT ATTENTION NEEDED To: Donna Dear Donna, I am in receipt of your mail.I beleive you must have received an e-card from Patrice.I hope you will be able to get in touch with Miss Stephany today.I have to get Patrice to europe as soon as possible. Once again,thank you fr being there for us. Awaiting your response. Buthele Madinga. ...................................................................................... BIRTHDAY CARD! hello donna i wish you a happy birthday and i think you are wonderful.thank you for your concern and effort.i hope we both meet soon. think of you, Patrice [Ed. Note-Cheap bastard-he sends an Amazon e-card. Animated GIF file, so it doesn't reproduce well here, but the "personal" message sounds like it was written by Patrice's grandfather-I mean for THIS I'm sending him $5500? I won't ding him too hard for being without emotion, but I do want to make him pay a little now. Show me the money!] ...................................................................................... To: buthelem@yahoo.com Subject: Re:Thank you Buthele, I am back at school today, and I spoke with Donna Jean about your request. Buthele, I must admit I was quite concerned at the amount of money she will be sending you and Patrice. It is one thing for someone of my age and financial means to make a monetary contribution of such magnitude, if not such magnanimity, but it is quite another for someone of Donna Jean's young age and inexperience to do so. While it is her money to spend as she sees fit, I do hope that you are not simply taking advantage of her youth and openness towards you. My opinion of you would be diminished greatly if that were the case. I hope it is not. Nevertheless, I assisted her in filling out the form, which I expect she will shortly be sending to you. Gwendolyn Stephany Department of English, San Jocas High School Merced, California ...................................................................................... To: buthele madinga [buthelem@yahoo.com] From: Donna Godchaux Subject: Re: URGENT ATTENTION NEEDED Mr. Madinga, Can you please read the next part of this email to Patrice for me? THANK YOU, PATRICE! I got the birthday card, and I was so, like, STOKED! I was kind of hoping you'd write like some more nice things, but I know you are so sick. I appreciate every word! If you have your own personal e-mail address, maybe when you get better, we can write to each other personally. I hope you get better real soon! Love and kisses Now, Mr. Madinga, I got Mrs. Stephany to help me fill out the form. She seemed kind of weird about it, though. I don't know if she's just not like feeling better from being sick, but she was almost like I shouldn't do it. Well, too late! I already sent it! I scanned the moneygram form on Mrs. Stephany's scanner, and it's attached to this e-mail. There is stuff in the form that your friend will need to know to pick it up, like a "test question". I don't know what kind of computer you have, but you should just be able to like double-click on the picture to open it up. The moneygram person asked me if I wanted "restricted delivery", but you didn't tell me whether you did, so I just got it. The moneygram person said it means you can only pick up the money at a specified location. I thought that was probably a good idea to make sure that Mr. Mowoe gets it and gets it to you. The moneygram person said that it will go to a place called "Rennie's Foregin Exchange" in the Sandton Shopping Center. I hope Mr. Mowoe can find it. There phone number is 21718844035 if he has any trouble. I hope you will get the money soon so you and Patrice can get to Europe. Maybe I could tell my dad I want a trip to Europe for my birthday instead of like a Corvette, and I could come see you and Patrice! Where do you think you'll go? I hope we can keep in touch while your in Europe. Anyway, let me know if you have any problems with the moneygram form. Love and kisses Donna Jean [Ed. Note-I sent him a virus instead of the scanned moneygram form. I wonder how many times he'll double click on the attachment. I expect an e-mail shortly saying he would like me to send it again because it would not open. Well, DUH!] ...................................................................................... From: buthele madinga [buthelem@yahoo.com] Subject: Re: URGENT ATTENTION NEEDED To: Donna Dear Donna, I just received your mail.I thank you very much,but I have a problem with opening the file containing the form.I will appreciate if you can send to me the details of what is contained in the form so that I can pass it on to my friend. I will have your message delivered to Patrice as I leave now to go and meet him.I look forward to meeting you in Europe.We will be going to England from here.Happy Birthday in advance. I await your response. Buthele Madinga. [Ed. Note-this email came within minutes after I sent the virus to him. Gee, I wonder why he can't open it. Let's try again.] ...................................................................................... To: buthele madinga [buthelem@yahoo.com] From: Donna Godchaux Subject: Re: URGENT ATTENTION NEEDED Mr. Madinga, I'm SO sorry. I don't know what the problem is. Here it is again, so if it doesn't work, let me know, and I'll like try scanning it again. I'm using the school computer instead of like my own computer, so that might be part of the problem. Please let me know. Love and Kisses Donna Jean [Ed. Note-this time I sent him a different virus. Next time, if he doesn't get wise, I'll send him the real thing, or at least as real as I can make it look! In addition, since he's not taking the bait on Gwen, I'm going to get her in the same position in the next message that Akanke played earlier in the play. Suspicious and protective. Let's see if he ever catches on. This entire play is getting tiring, without much hope of new milestones, so I may just crash and burn it in the next couple days. I do have some ideas on how to do it that will be a spectacular crash, though. By the way, Donna Jean will be out of contact with her teacher at least until Monday, since she has the flu. Gwen won't be able to let her know, so I suspect Buthole will try making very sure that he gets the information on the money transfer. I might give it to him, I might not. Actually, it might be a good play to get some money out of him if Gwen gets in touch with Donna. Let's see what happens.] ...................................................................................... From: "Gwendolyn Stephany" To: buthelem@yahoo.com Subject: Re:Thank you Mr. Madinga, Shortly after school was dismissed this morning, I received the text reprinted below in an e-mail. You can imagine my shock when I realized that one of two things was happening (1) either President Mobutu had several aides, of which you were one, and so was Mr. (Mrs.?) Kenule, or (2) you have been propagating a confidence game against my student. Given your original message to Donna Jean, I am left with little option but to believe that you are a scoundrel taking advantage of a young girl. Please be advised that I will be enlisting assistance from my late husband's fellow police officers to ensure that you are placed behind bars. Your conduct is outrageous. HOW DARE YOU play on the sympathies of a wonderful young girl, and how dare you appeal to my sympathies by claiming you lost your wife and children. I am not sure whether Donna Jean has already sent the money, but if I am able to reach her today, I will be informing her of your true nature and I will recommend that she break off contact with you immediately. She left class today ill, suffering from the same flu I had earlier in the week. I note Donna Jean has an unlisted telephone number, or I would have already called her and let her know. As soon as school opens in the morning, you can be assured that I will discuss this matter with Donna Jean and let her know what you've done. Shame on you. I was right to call you "Buthole", for as you may know, in our country that is an insult. Typing mistake or not, you ARE a Buthole. Gwendolyn Stephany Department of English, San Jocas High School Merced, California [herewith follows the e-mail Gwendolyn is talking about] FROM: WADADA KENULE DEAR FRIEND, MY GREETINGS TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY AND I HOPE THIS LETTER MEETS YOU IN GOOD HEALTH. I AM WADADA KENULE, AIDE TO THE LATE PRESIDENT MOBUTU SESE-SEKO OF ZAIRE NOW KNOWN AS DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO (DRC). I AM WRITING TO YOU IN GOOD FAITH BASED ON YOUR PROFILE I RECEIVED FROM THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE IN SOUTH AFRICA.I AM MOVED TO WRITE YOU THIS LETTER IN CONFIDENCE CONSIDERING MY PRESENT CIRCUMSTANCE AND SITUATION AS A WAR REFUGEE HERE IN SOUTH AFRICA. FEW WEEKS BEFORE THE LATE PRESIDENT MOBUTU SESE-SEKO WAS FORCED OUT OF POWER, I WAS INSTRUCTED BY HIM TO MAKE AVAILABLE THE SUM OF US$22MILLION WHICH WAS TO BE TRANSFERRED ABROAD AND LODGED WITH A SECURITY COMPANY FOR SAFEKEEPING DISCLOSED AS FAMILY VALUABLES IN MY NAME PENDING FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS. TWO WEEKS LATER ON MAY 16 1997, PRESIDENT MOBUTU SESE-SEKO GAVE UP POWER TO THE REBELS LED BY LAURENT KABILA, WHO WERE ADVANCING FROM KISINGANI AND FLED TO TOGO FROM WHERE HE LATER MOVED TO MOROCCO WHERE HE DIED ON SEPTEMBER 7, 1997 LESS THAN FOUR MONTHS AFTER HE WAS FORCED OUT OF POWER. HE WAS AGED 66 YEARS. I MANAGED TO ESCAPE TO SOUTH AFRICA WITH MY SON KENNETH, AGED 17 WHERE I AM PRESENTLY RESIDING AS A WAR REFUGEE SHORTLY AFTER THE CAPITAL CITY KINSHASHA WAS OVERRAN BY REBELS. I LOST MY WIFE AND MY TWO CHILDREN, AND ALL MY POSSESSIONS DURING THE REBEL ONSLAUGHT ON THE CAPITAL CITY. THE LATE MOBUTU SESE-SEKO DURING HIS 30 YEAR RULE AMASSED A PERSONAL FORTUNE OF US$8BILLION WITH HOUSES IN SWITZERLAND AND FRANCE. HOWEVER, THE INCUMBENT PRESIDENT LAURENT KABILA MADE ARRANGEMENTS WITH THE SWISS GOVERNMENT AND OTHER EUROPEAN COUNTRIES TO FREEZE ALL HIS ASSETS AND CONFISCATE HIS PROPERTIES. I THUS DECIDED TO LIE LOW IN AFRICA TO STUDY THE SITUATION, UNTIL WHEN THINGS GET BETTER LIKE NOW THAT PRESIDENT LAURENT KABILA IS DEAD AND HIS SON JOSEPH KABILA HAS TAKEN OVER. I HAVE BEEN IN TOUCH WITH THE SECURITY COMPANY ABROAD WHERE THE MONEY IS STILL LODGED AS FAMILY VALUABLES. WHAT I WANT YOU TO DO IS TO INDICATE YOUR INTEREST THAT YOU WILL ASSIST ME BY RECEIVING THE MONEY ON MY BEHALF. ACKNOWLEDGE THIS MESSAGE SO THAT I CAN GIVE YOU THE MODALITIES FOR THE CLAIM OF THE FUNDS. MAY I AT THIS POINT EMPHASIZE THE HIGH LEVEL OF CONFIDENTIALITY WHICH THIS BUSINESS DEMANDS, AND HOPE YOU WILL NOT BETRAY THE TRUST AND CONFIDENCE WHCH I HAVE REPOSED IN YOU. IF YOU WANT TO ASSIST, I SHALL PUT YOU IN THE PICTURE OF THE BUSINESS, TELL YOU WHERE THE FUNDS ARE CURRENTLY BEIGN MAINTAINED AND ALSO DISCUSS OTHER MODALITIES INCLUDING REMUNERATION FOR YOUR SERVICES. I AM WILLING TO GIVE YOU A REASONABLE PERCENTAGE OF THE MONEY AS SOON AS THE TRANSACTION IS CONCLUDED. FOR THIS REASON, KINDLY FURNISH ME YOUR CONTACT INFORMATION, WHICH IS YOUR PERSONAL TELEPHONE AND FAX NUMBERS FOR CONFIDENTIAL PURPOSE AND ACKNOWLEDGE RECEIPT OF THIS MAIL USING THE EMAIL ADDRESS BELOW. k_wadada1@mail.com YOURS SINCERELY, WADADA KENULE ...................................................................................... JAN 31: From: buthele madinga [buthelem@yahoo.com] To: Gwendolyn Stephany Dear Gwen, I am in receipt of your mail.I must express my disappoinment in your judgement for I was expecting you to be smarter than you have shown.If you had carefully gone through the mail proposal which you suspect comes from someone else,you would have found out that it was I who sent the mail.There is no difference between my initial proposal to your student and this proposal.I made sure everything was word for word.I was only tested your sincerity to see if you would bring up the issue but you went about it wrongly.You insulted me. Whatever you wish to do,I have no comments about that but bear in mind that whatever decision you take will in one way or the other affect my sons life.His opinion about Donna is something I would not want to alter.I will relay your feeling to Donna. Have a nice day. Buthele. [Ed. Note-boy THAT's a lame-o story! The ol' "test of sincerity". Gwen fires right back, though, as seen in the next message. Let's see how he responds to this one!] ...................................................................................... From: "Gwendolyn Stephany" To: buthelem@yahoo.com Subject: Re:Thank you Mr. Madinga, WHY would need to TEST MY SINCERITY??? Have I not been completely open and honest with you? Have I not helped you get the money from Donna Jean when I thought it inadviseable for such a young person to be sending such a large amount of money? Have I not been completely truthful about my writing assignment to my students? I'm at a complete loss to understand why you would play such a cruel joke on me. I thought we were friends. If this is how you treat your friends, I want nothing more to do with you. Why on earth did you do this? It makes no sense. You even used another e-mail address. I thought you were in difficult financial times, yet you seem to have free access to different e-mail accounts. How much money do you REALLY have? Are you really a widower? I still have not been able to reach Donna Jean, although I may keep trying. I am willing to retract all I've said, but you have broken domicile with me. I would, however, accept a showing of your faithfulness so that I may know you are true to your word. In fact, Mr. Madinga, I will go one better. Not only will I refrain from ever mentioning your duplicate e-mail to Donna Jean, I will double Donna Jean's financial contribution to you, i.e. I will send you $11,000 if you do one thing for me. I noticed when I helped Donna Jean fill out the Moneygram form that you asked her to send it to Mr. Kingsley Mowoe. The one thing I ask of you: have your friend Mr. Mowoe send me $4.20 via return Moneygram. That's all. It is a small token of faith, one I am sure you can easily accomplish. If you do not have the funds accessible, please ask Mr. Mowoe to send the money on your behalf, as a temporary loan. You may repay him when I send you the money. Why $4.20? Because April 20 is my birthday. Nothing more. Mr. Madinga, if you do not do this, I will know that your "test" of my sincerity was a false one, and that you are not who you say you are. I will also ensure that Donna Jean finds out about you. She has apparently become quite fond of your son Patrice, and because she is such a fragile young woman, I don't know what she would do if she found out Patrice didn't exist. She has recently broken up with her boyfriend, and she is therefore in a precarious mental state. As you are aware, teenage suicide is a common problem in our country, and it is things like this that lead our young people to end their lives prematurely. I do hope for your sake that you are not merely toying with the emotions of a fragile young woman. If you DO this small act for me, I will know that you are true, and I will apologize profusely to you, both with my words and my money. In our country, they always say "Put your money where your mouth is", and I am both asking you to do that and binding myself to do that. Either way, it's entirely up to you. If you are willing to do this, I will provide you my contact information. I will hold off on contacting Donna Jean until I hear from you. Consider it a small investment, one with enormous potential return. If you are not willing to do this small act of faith, though, I will know your true intentions, and I will make every effort to inform Donna Jean of your true nature. I will not wait long, however. I will hold off until Monday before discussing this with Donna Jean. If you have not confirmed that you will send me the $4.20 by Sunday night, then on Monday morning, I will tell Donna Jean about you. As we say here, the ball is in your court. Gwendolyn Stephany Department of English, San Jocas High School Merced, California [Ed. Note-Okay, now we have Gwen holding all the cards-she's waving big money in Buthole's face, she's got Donna Jean's money hanging over Buthole's head, and she's ready to pull the trigger. For a few measely bucks, though, Madinga can get the big payoff! The $4.20 is, of course, not Gwen's birthday, but rather that special time of day known to Deadheads throughout the world. Meanwhile, back on the Donna Jean front] ...................................................................................... From: buthele madinga [buthelem@yahoo.com] Subject: Re: One more try To: Donna Dear Donna, I am in receipt of your mail and once again I am having the same problems about opening the attachment.I will appreciate if you can send the details on the moneygram form to me so that I forward it to my friend. Patrice sends his regards. I await the details from you. Sincerely yours, Buthele Madinga. ...................................................................................... To: buthele madinga [buthelem@yahoo.com] From: Donna Godchaux Subject: HERE'S THE INFO I don't know why you've been having problems. I'm so sorry. I'm really feeling sick today, so I'm not going into school. I couldn't sleep all night, and I'm feeling very weak. I've puked like six times this morning already. Here's the info on the form, even though I've tried to attach it again in a couple different formats. They said at the moneygram place that it would be helpful for you to have a copy of the form so they can like trace the money if they need to. I've tried to attach the back side of the form, too, because there was some stuff on there that you need to know, too. Please try double-clicking on the attachments, or downloading them to your computer and opening them there. The "sender" is me! Donna Jean Godchaux. My address is 611 W. 22nd Street, Merced, California 95340. My phone is (209) 385-6915. PLEASE don't tell anyone this phone number. I'm REALLY not supposed to like give it out. If you need to call me on the number and my mom answers, PLEASE use one of my friends' names. You can just say you're Charles Manson or Richard Ramirez. They're two boys at my school who are on the cheerleading squad with me. My mom wouldn't get suspicious if they like called me. She knows them and said I could like give them our number. The "receiver" is Mr. Mowoe like you told me, with the address you told me. The test question is "Sister's name", and the answer is my brainy kid sister "Althea". I put a personal note in, too, that you'll need to know: "Kisses to Patrice!". The reference number is 70993439, and the total amount of the transfer is $5500.00. The moneygram guy said that he had to like convert it into South African Rand, whatever that means, but the total amount to be received is 48,402.80 ZAR, whatever that means. I hope you understand it, because like I don't! Is that like South African money? What a weird name for money. Rand ZAR. It sounds like a superhero!! RAND ZAR THE BARBARIAN! Hee, hee! Oh, the moneygram guy's name is Jack Straw, and his operator number is 361423. He said to use that if you have any problems getting the money. Remember, he did put "restricted delivery" on this, so Mr. Mowoe needs to pick it up at Rennie's Foreign Exchange in Sandton Shopping Center. I'm sorry this didn't work right the first couple times. I hope this is all the info you like need to get the money. I hope we can meet up in England soon. Please let me know whether you got the money. Love and kisses Donna Jean [Ed. Note-Donna Jean's address is actually the Merced, California Police Department. The phone number is the Chief's direct line. "Hello, Chief, this is Charles Manson. May I speak with Donna Jean Godchaux?" Richard Ramirez was the Hillside Strangler. "Jack Straw" is another Grateful Dead song. In the song, Jack Straw, from Witchita, cut his buddy down. Looks like he's cutting Buthole down here! Obviously, there is no money, but can you imagine someone walking into Rennie's Foreign Exchange and asking about this? Oh, I wish I could be there. Also sent two more viruses to Buthole with this e-mail.] ...................................................................................... To: buthele madinga [buthelem@yahoo.com] From: Donna Godchaux Subject: Re: One more try Mr. Madinga, I just got a phone call from Mr. Straw, the moneygram guy and he said that I like didn't fill out the back of the moneygram form, so he can't send the money just yet. He said it's a security thing, you know after 9/11, and they have to get some more information about me and about Mr. Mowoe before they can send the money. I guess they want to make sure Mr. Mowoe is not a terrorist or something! How could he be if he's your friend? I can't imagine either you or Patrice being friends with a criminal! I like gave the moneygram guy my information, but he said he needs a letter showing the reason for the money transfer, plus a copy of Mr. Mowoe's passport or other identification. He really apologized and said he should have caught this the first time. He said if we were sending $900 or less, we wouldn't have to do this. He said if you have any questions, there's a website for moneygram at www.moneygram.com, and he said to click on the link about "money laundering regulations", whatever that means. I'm REALLY sorry this has taken so long. If you can send me the information the moneygram guy needs, he said he could send the money this afternoon. I hope I hear from you soon! Love and kisses, Donna Jean ...................................................................................... To: buthele madinga [buthelem@yahoo.com] From: Donna Godchaux Subject: Re: One more try Mr. Madinga, I didn't hear from you this afternoon if you could like send the information the moneygram guy asked for. Did you get that message? If not, I copied it again below. The moneygram place is only open until 12pm tomorrow, so I hope I hear from you before then! Love and kisses, Donna Jean [Ed. Note-so far, Buthole has not responded to Gwen. He has been working hard, though to beat the Monday deadline Gwen set for burning him. He's also lowered his expectations as far as the money is concerned. Read on.] ...................................................................................... From: buthele madinga [buthelem@yahoo.com] Subject: Re: One more try To: Donna Dear Donna, I am in receipt of your response mails.I thank you very much. I beleive that the money gram official is trying to play games with us. How could he have accepted to transfer money and later call the sender on phone and request for additional information from both sender and receiver.I hope your money is still safe with moneygram. My friend went to moneygram office after I received the information from you, and he was embarrased when he was told that there was no such transfer.He insited and asked that they call their office in California and to his greatest surprise also,Mr Jack Straw was not one of the officals.Or maybe we called the wrong moneygram office? Well, I will suggest that you retrieve your money back from Mr Straw and follow the rule of 900 USD or less.You can start by making two transfers of 850 USD each.Or do you think Mr Straw will still have objections to that? Donna, I am your friend and so is Patrice.We have no relationship with terrorists or their organisations and it came to me as a huge surprise hearing that you were told that we could be terrorists.Is it 5,500 USD that terrorists use to fund their organizations? If this is true, then the whole worl wouldbe full of terrorist.You will inform Mr Straw that you are sending to your friend whom you are to meet in England in less than two weeks from now.I have declined to having my friend send a copy of his passport to Mr Straw.I do not entirely trust Mr Straw's ways.I hope you understand. Patrice lost all the excitement when I informed him that we could not get funds for the travel arrangement.He has been itching to see you in person in England and now that things are not going the way they were planned.I will have his puicture and send to you next week.Please keep him in your prayers for me. I hope to hear from you immediately. Best wishes and HAPPY BIRHTDAY!!!, Buthele Madinga. [Ed. Note-I've already decided to crash and burn this one tomorrow, Groundhog Day. The burn e-mail is written, sitting in my outbox ready to go. I didn't think I'd get any response to Gwen's request for funds, but it was worth a try. I think for the next 24 hours, though, I need to make Buthole work and worry a little.] ...................................................................................... To: buthele madinga [buthelem@yahoo.com] From: Donna Godchaux Subject: Re: One more try Mr. Madinga, I'm sorry that your friend like had problems with the transfer. I tried to email you to let you know there was a problem so your friend wouldn't have to like go to the moneygram place. I guess you got the email too late. I'm sorry! Did Mr. Mowoe go to that Rennie's place in Sandton? Remember, it was a restricted delivery so he couldn't go to any other location and pick up the money. I don't think Mr. Straw thought you were terrorists! He just has to make sure he's following the rules, I guess. I don't know which moneygram place you called in California, but I know there's like seven of them here in Merced. There must be hundreds of them in California. Mr. Straw works at the one at Merced Drug Store on 16th Street near my house. But I thought I'd just not use Mr. Straw's store, just in case. Anyways, I went to the moneygram place at Wal-Mart first thing this morning (they open at 5:30am!) and I got my money back from them. I guess you don't have to go to the place you send it, since moneygram is one big company. The people at Wal-Mart thought it was weird for a kid like me to get like all that money back, but who cares! I told them to send Mr. Mowoe $850 like you asked, and then I went to the moneygram place at Long's Drug Store and sent another $850. Then I went to another Long's Drug Store on Canal Street and send another $850. I'll try to like send some more this afternoon, but I'm really, really tired. I got up really early to like get the money back, and I've been rushing around since then. I'm still getting over the flu, and I'm still not feeling like completely better. I wish Patrice would send me a picture. It would really like cheer me up. You remember how my picture made him feel better? I bet his picture would make me feel better! I don't want to be like sick on my birthday tomorrow! Please, any old picture will do. I just want to know what he looks like. Oh, by the way, my best friend Cassidy came over last night to give me my homework from school, and she said that like in class yesterday, Mrs. Stephany told Cassidy that she wanted to talk to me about you or something. I don't have Mrs. Stephany's phone number so I can't call her right now. Maybe I'll try to find her number in the phone book. Do you know what it's about? Anyways, let me know if your friend has any problems getting the money. Love and kisses, Donna Jean [Ed. Note-Looks like Buthole is monitoring his e-mail more frequently. This came within a couple hours after Donna sent the last message. He's eager to get his dough!] ...................................................................................... From: buthele madinga [buthelem@yahoo.com] Subject: Re: One more try To: Donna Dear Donna, I am in receipt of your mail.I thank you very much.I am happy you have been able to make the fund transfers now.But there is no way my friend can collect the funds without the transfer information.You did not send the information to me.You only mentioned that you had made three transfers of US$850 each.what are the test questions, transfer serial numbers? etc. I will pass on your message to Patrice about sending any picture to you even if the photo was taken while he is lying on the hospital bed.I hope you dont mind.I am sorry about your health condition and Patrice told me this morning that he was keeping you in his prayers also. I am sure Miss Stephany will see you and talk with you, but there is no problem at all.You do not have to worry yourself. Please send to me the transfer information so that my friend can assist me collect the funds to enable conclude our travel arrangement as soon as possible. I await your urgent response. Kind regards, Buthele Madinga. [Ed. Note-I love the line about Gwen! He's trying to put Donna off the scent. How the hell does he know whether there is a problem or not! Since I'm trying to crash and burn this story on Groundhog Day, I made sure I waited until all the Moneygram locations in Africa, particularly the one at Rennie's Foreign Exchange, were closed for the day before I sent the next one. I'm still hoping for a picture of Patrice, too. Buthole will have to spend another night dreaming of dollars. I expect one or two more emails from him after he gets the following one, then I'll burn the story. Keep reading. The burn email will be worth it!] ...................................................................................... To: buthele madinga [buthelem@yahoo.com] From: Donna Godchaux Subject: Re: One more try OOPS! Silly me. You'd think I was like really a blonde and stuff! Ditzy Donna my friends call me. I don't know what I was thinking! I'm not going to try like sending you the scanned pages, because I would have to wait until Monday at school to do it, and you had like such trouble before with my scans. So I'll just like give you the information. The "sender" is the same as before--ME! Donna Jean Godchaux. If you lost it, my address is 611 W. 22nd Street, Merced, California 95340. My phone is (209) 385-6915. BUT AGAIN, PLEASE don't tell anyone this phone number. Remember, if you need to call me on that number and my mom or someone else answers, PLEASE use one of my friends' names. The two names I gave you before were Charles Manson or Richard Ramirez. The "receiver" is still Mr. Mowoe like you told me, with the address you told me in Sandton, South Africa. The test question for the first transfer is "Sister's name", and the answer is my brainy kid sister "Althea" like before. The transfer serial number is 28846536. The second one, the test question is "How many students are at San Jocas High School?" The answer is 419. We're a small, Catholic high school. I only have like 100 students in my whole class! At other high schools in Merced, they have like thousands of students. Oh, transfer number is 87226637. The third transfer, the question is "Grandfather's name?" and the answer is "Brent Mydland". That's my mom's dad. The last transfer number is 85375633. On all three transfers, I put "restricted delivery" again, so Mr. Mowoe needs to pick it up at Rennie's Foreign Exchange in Sandton Shopping Center. If he tries to pick it up anywhere else, they told me like it wouldn't even show up in their computers. I really don't mind if you send me a picture of Patrice in his hospital bed. Anything would be nice. I know it would like make me feel better. I know what you look like, and you know what I look like, but I don't know what Patrice looks like. PLEASE, anything would be nice. I mean, I'm sending him all this money, and I don't even know what he looks like! Let me know if you have any more problems (like problems I don't create! hee, hee!) Love and Kisses, Donna Jean [Ed. Note-I again give him the phone number and address of the Chief of Police for Merced. Note the "419" reference in one of the test questions. Again, calling him out as a 419er, but subtly so. Finally, the reference numbers he'll never get. In order, if you get a telephone out, the numbers can translate into "BUTHOLEM", "USCAMMER" AND "UJERKOFF". Brent Mydland was the keyboard player for the Grateful Dead during the 80s. Unfortunately, I've heard nothing from Buthole now for some time, so I suspect he knows he got burned. Nevertheless, I sent him the final scene of the play, the one where we figure out "the butler did it." I really will miss him, but on to the next lad. Thus ends our little play. Thank you, dear reader, for reading on.] ...................................................................................... To: buthele madinga [buthelem@yahoo.com] From: Donna Godchaux Subject: Re: URGENT ATTENTION NEEDED Well, Buthole, Do you feel like a violin? Because I've been playing you like a Stradivarius, my little mugu friend. And what wonderful music it was! As you've probably surmised by now, given your silence to my last message sending you the money transfer instructions, it is you who got scammed. Twice, no less! First, a little about me. I'm a graduate computer science student at Carnegie-Mellon University, and about the only thing true about the whole Donna Jean story is that my name IS Donna, and this WAS a class project. A computer programming class project. Last spring, we were assigned a project to hack a remote computer by having the owner of the computer voluntarily install a "back-door" program for us. It's something they've been working on for law enforcement purposes, and the Secret Service came to Carnegie-Mellon to enlist our programming help. They helped us by setting up fake email accounts and fake cell phones, sort of like what you do. By now, your computer should be thoroughly accessible to the Secret Service, and the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), given the little program I had you install voluntarily by receiving the attachments I sent you. Can't be a crime if you voluntarily installed the program, right? Nice pictures of Donna, but they had a little extra code sent with them. Same for the Moneygram form. Guess that's why you had a problem opening the file, eh? By the way, the only way to eliminate the program is to reformat the hard drive. If you need instructions, let me know. Even then, however, the program inserted some code into the BIOS of your computer such that every time you transmit any IP packets over the internet, whether by e-mail or by looking at a web page, along with those packets will go a couple extra ones that will set a traceroute on your computer. The extra packets are being sent to the Nigerian authorities, too, so I imagine you can expect a knock at your door any day now. In fact, they may be watching you as you read this message, since I sent them a log of our e-mails, the times you were at the computer, and the geographic location of the actual computers you were using. Look around you. Do you see any guys who are staring at you? Or maybe they're watching you through binoculars from down the street. Yes, I knew you were in Nigeria from the very beginning of the scam. Jeez, didn't you get it? I called you a Nigerian scammer twice, and you still think you were fooling me? By the way, I know my little program works, because I've used it before. Last summer, the Scorpions detective squad in South Africa were able to use the information from my little program to track a bunch of you mugus and arrest them. Read about it here: http://www.suntimes.co.za/2002/08/18/news/news20.asp If your "friend" really did go to Rennie's Foreign Exchange to check on my "money transfer", the agents at that store are helping the Scorpions track 419 schemes. Their cooperation last summer led to the arrests in Sandton. They've no doubt given pictures of your friend from the store's security cameras to the Scorpions. In fact, if your friend went back to Rennie's the second time, it's very likely he's now being followed by the Scorpions right this minute. I guess I played HIM like a violin, too! You might want to tell him not to go home any time soon! Also, my little program searches your hard drive for IP addresses of other computers you have used in your little scam and sends a report of those computers back to me so I can open the ports on those computers to install my little program on those machines. My little program tells me you used at least two different computers in writing to us. Think about it. I'm right, aren't I? Your internet provider, or at least the one the internet café you are at is Cosmos Technologies, Ltd., right? Every time you wrote back, it gave me more and more information about your computers, and you wrote back a lot! Thanks! Finally, I installed a back door into your computer with my little program that lets me see who you've been sending e-mails to, so I can warn them. Time to get another computer, my little mugu. Any time it's turned on, it's mine. Don't bother with virus checking software, either. This is custom code I wrote myself, and I modeled it so that any virus software already on your computer is disabled. Like I say, you might try erasing the hard drive, but that won't completely do it--it will take care of most of my program, but not all of it! All the characters in the story were, of course, fictitious. Most were characters from Grateful Dead songs. Jack Straw, our boy at the Moneygram place in Merced, is the name of a Grateful Dead song. My "sister" Althea--another song. Same with Cassidy. You'd have to be a Deadhead to catch all the references, because they were everywhere. I picked Donna Jean Godchaux since she was a singer with the Dead in the 70s. We share the same first name, so why not, I figured. By the way, did you ever try calling Donna Jean's phone number? That's the chief of police in Merced, California. I alerted him that you would be calling just in case you did. I suspect they were able to put a geographic trace on your cell phone, so you'll probably not be able to use that again, either. Thanks for the birthday card, though. It was really sweet. The pictures of Donna were a local porn star, so you might be able to find some nude pictures of her if you lean that way. As you may know, today, February 2, Donna Jean's fictional birthday, is Groundhog Day here in Pennsylvania. On that day, an oversized rodent sticks its head out of the ground to see if it can see its shadow. If it doesn't see its shadow, there are six more weeks of winter. You, my little mugu friend, are that groundhog. I got you to stick your head out not once but twice. And now you'll wonder a little about that shadow that's following you through the streets of Lagos. Looks like at least six more weeks of winter for you! I'll admit that I'll miss you, my little mugu. It's been quite a good time corresponding with you these last three weeks, as you are a pretty good writer, even if you are a common criminal. I really looked forward to each email you sent, and I'm only sorry that I know I won't get a response to this email from you. Maybe you can just accept the humor in this whole thing and admit to me that you got scammed, eh? No big deal. Be a man about it and admit it. Ever thought about getting into another line of work, though, one that doesn't involve preying on the sympathies of unsuspecting and good people? I hope I've been able to give you a taste of your own medicine. For the nearly three weeks I've been occupying your time, you've been distracted from scamming others. Nevertheless, your English skills are quite good, and if the 419 task force in Lagos doesn't track you down with your newly reprogrammed computer and your burned cell phone, you will have quite a career as a mugu scammer. Of course, you will never know quite whether the person on the other end is real or not. My classmates at C-M have taken it up as a hobby to write to you mugus and waste your time. We post all our e-mails on a website on the college's server. Everyone at the university, and everyone in the world, for that matter, gets to see what mugus you and your friends are. So you won't know until the very end whether you've got a real fish, or whether you've got someone like me playing Foggy Mountain Breakdown on you. You will never know whether it's the police, either, until it's too late. Think about it. I'm an amateur programmer. Imagine what I could have done to your computer if I was really pissed off. Maybe I already have. You'll never know, though, will you? As it was, I had a lot of fun and entertained all my friends and classmates by copying them with all our e-mails. How does it feel to be looked upon as a fool by hundreds of people? What a mugu you are. But you're my little mugu. Cheers, and oh, yeah, "Love and Kisses!" Donna ...................................................................................... Date: Mon, 3 Feb 2003 11:30:42 -0800 (PST) From: buthele madinga buthelem@yahoo.com Subject: Re: URGENT ATTENTION NEEDED To: Donna IDIOT!!! YOU ACTUALLY THOUGHT YOU HAD ME FOOLED FOR ONE SECOND??? HOW VERY DAFT OF YOU. YOU CAN GET LOST!!! I HAVE ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!!!! Oh well, Donna will never be the Bride of Chaotica. Mwahahahaha!!!!!
Literary footnote from another Kindly Contributor: |