Mail Scam Targets Bank Accounts

An African prince needs a reliable and trustworthy partner to hold onto tens of millions of dollars for him.

Allow him to put the money in your bank account and in return for your help you’ll get several million dollars.

That is the seductive - though fraudulent - pitch being made in thousands of letters that have hit the Northwest from Nigeria in the past month. Most of the letters are targeted at small businesses.

Postal inspectors from Great Falls to Spokane to Anchorage have received five to eight inquiries per day on the letters, said Jim Bordenet, postal inspector in the Seattle division headquarters office.

“We have some people with a Xerox and a lot of stamps, and that is a dangerous combination,” Bordenet said of the letter senders. “One can only imagine, based on the number of people who call us, how many thousands of letters are going out.”

Law offices and small businesses receive most of the letters. Bordenet suspects those sending the letters are using business directories to focus their mailings.

“Maybe they figure they are small firms strapped for funds,” he said.

The letters come in a variety of forms, although all have the same basic pitch: a corporate president, doctor, chief or prince has come across $25 million to $35 million in government funds. Through an accounting error, or some other implausible explanation, the money is available. However, the bank account of a friendly American is needed to hold it.

The letter’s author promises roughly one-third of the money in return for access to an account.

All that’s needed initially is a home telephone and fax number, two copies of company letterhead and a “proforma invoice duly stamped and signed by you,” and “full banking particulars where this money will be wired into,” according to one solicitation letter.

Those providing such information risk having money illegally withdrawn from their accounts by wire or being solicited for funds to help clear the way for the millions to be deposited.

No one in the region has admitted losing any money to the scam operators, Bordenet said.

Aside from warning people, the Postal Service and other government agencies are powerless to help people who might send money to the foreign con artists.

“We have no jurisdiction in Nigeria,” Bordenet said.

Anyone wishing to report a letter of this type, or other suspicious solicitations, can contact the Postal Inspection Service Operations Support Group, 225 N. Humphreys Blvd., Fourth Floor, Memphis, TN 38161-0006.

Bordenet will be in Spokane today and Wednesday to talk about the Nigerian scam and other mail fraud schemes. He will be at the South Hill Senior Center, 2727 S. Mount Vernon, at 9 a.m. Tuesday, and at a noon Lions Club luncheon at the Manito Methodist Church, 3220 S. Grand Blvd., Wednesday.

, DataTimes