The original scam letter

wind fall200 [windfall200@qrio.com] wrote:
Dear Sir,
I hope this letter will not come to you as an embarrassment, your name was forwarded to me by an old acquaintance, and I was assured that you would be of immense assistance in impending transaction. I am faxing this letter to you in view of the urgency required.

My name is BALA MUSA. I was an assistant in the home of Major Mohammed EL Mustapha, the former chief security officer to the late Nigerian head of state, General Sanni Abacha. At the death of General Abacha, there were general arrests and persecution of his principal officers and family members, who were suspected to have terrorized Nigerians and embezzled over 10billion US dollars. My boss major El Mustapha was also arrested. He is presently detained and facing charges of murder, and embezzlement of public funds.

During my service in major Mustapha’s home, I was dehumanized and treated like a slave. So were other assistants helps. A chance into one of his secret rooms revealed a stockpile of millions of American dollars. This was part of his own loot, which he stored in his home. Soldiers acting on government instructions searched his home and seized a lot of the money. My colleagues and I escaped with boxes containing the sum of US$28.5 Million in cash. This money was defaced to escape detection. The total sum was entrusted in my care, with the mandate of sourcing a reliable foreigner, who can assist us take, this money to his country for safekeeping.

[Note: $28.5 million in $100 bills would weigh 570 pounds. FYI.]

I moved to a neighboring country, C, where I placed the fund in the safe of a deposit company for security. I have the key to the safe in my possession. I need your assistance in removing this money from the republic of Benin, to your country, or any other country of your choice. Since you are a foreigner, you will not be questioned here, and I assure you, that you will not be

Your name and address have been placed on the box as the beneficiary. Nobody can now claim this cash except you, as you are now recognized as the beneficiary. You are expected to act expeditiously in this matter.

For your assistance, we are prepared to give you 30% of the total sum. We shall retain 65%, and 5%is set aside for expenses.

I am presently in the border region between Nigeria and republic of Benin. So I require you to respond to me at once, so that I can notify the Deposit Company about your intention to collect the boxes.

How sympathetic is it for you to know that no body else can help me beside you

Lastly, please note that there are no risks involved in this for you, and do keep this confidential. Please indicate your private telephone number in your response, so that I can call you up and provide you with more information.

I am awaiting your urgent response, using my above e-mail address.

Reply strictly to this alternative E-mail box: Windfall200@qrio.com

To which our intrepid Kindly Contributor replied

Dear BALA MUSA,
I read your very compelling letter, and I am interested in knowing who our old acquaintance might be. The reason I ask this is that my email address is TralfazJetson@(his isp). The name Tralfaz Jetson is the real name of cartoon dog Astro Jetsons from the animated cartoon series "The Jetsons". In other word you are requesting help from a cartoon dog.

I have no problem with you putting money into a safe with a deposit company under the name Tralfaz Jetson, or even my stage name Astro Jetson.However, it may be a little difficult for me to come to the Republic of Benin, since I am, after all, a dog and I would need someone to accompany me. If you would like to come and pick me up and fly me back to the Republic of Benin, that would be fine.

In addition, since I am a dog, I have no money, soyou would also have to pay for the round trip flight.I would be more that happy to reimburse you from my30% of the money that you are promising me.

The second problem we might have is that I have a minor speach impediment. I speak with a lot of R's in my words. So, the deposit company may have difficulty in understanding me, but I could always write it out.

The last problem I have is that being a dog, I have no identification, except for my dog tag. However, I may be able to get a credit card, since I am also getting plenty of email offers for credit cards. I think between my dog tag, a credit card, and the fact thatI am a very recognizable cartoon dog, this should not be a major problem. I can even bring along some old episodes of "The Jetson", to further prove my identity.

So, if you don't mind picking me up, fronting the money for round-trip air fare, don't mind my speach problem,and think that the identification I can provide is satisfactory, then let's go ahead with this deal.

This produced many laughs at ScamOCentral, and we wrote Tralfaz/Astro these admiring words:

Tralfaz/Astro kindly replied: