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This classic Nigerian 419-type scam e-mail comes to me courtesy of a
friend. I think that the God-fearing Abbott Costello is
the right one for this job.
Conventions within the thread:
E-mails from the fraudster are in black.
E-mails from me (Abbott) are in
italicized green.
Red X's represent characters that have
been changed to protect personal info.
Comments from me are in bold black.
The game commences with Daniel's initial e-mail.
Dear Beloved in Christ.
Holy greetings to you in the precious Name of our Dear Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ Who died on the cross for our sins but rose
victoriously from the dead.
It is by the grace of God that I received Christ, knowing the
truth and the truth have set me free. Having known the truth, I
had no choice than to do what is lawful and right in the sight of
God for eternal life and in the sight of man for witness of
God’s mercy and glory upon my life.
This my testimony may seem strange and unsolicited to you, as I
myself know that a transaction of this magnitude will make anyone
apprehensive and worried, but I will crave your indulgence that
you view it seriously because this is the divinely orchestrates
from God for a struggling ministry to receive His bounty for His
purposes.
I have the pleasure to share my testimony with you, having seen
your contact from the Internet. I am Barrister Afos Daniel, the
legal adviser to the Late Mr. and Mrs. Rahman Hannah Bolkiah, a
Bruneian couple that lived in my Country Nigeria for over 30
years before they both died in a ghastly motor accident late last
year on their way coming back from the marriage ceremony of one
their Company's colleague. These couples were both Muslim
before, but they were then later converted to Christian upon
their arrival to my Country, and they have since then became a
good Christians, they so dedicated their live to God but they had
no child till they died. Throughout their stay in my country,
they acquired a lot of properties like lands, house properties,
etc.
As their legal adviser, before their death, the husband Mr.
Rahman Bolkiah instructed me to write his WILL. Because they had
no child, they dedicated their wealth to God. According to the
WILL, all their properties have to be sold and the money be given
out to a ministry for the work of God. As their legal adviser,
all the documents for the properties were in my care. He gave me
the authority to sell the properties and give out the fund to the
Ministries for the work of God.
In short, I have sold all the properties after their death, as
instructed by Mr. Rahman Bolkiah before his death. And as a
matter of fact, after I sold all their properties, I realized
more than $10,000,000.00 (Ten million US dollars plus), and what
supposed to be the percentage interest of my right legal fee was
first of all deducted by me from the total amount realized from
the sold properties, this was based on the initial agreement
between me and the owner of the properties before his death.
Therefore the total amount left to be invested into God's
work as instructed by the owner, is $10,000,000.00 (Ten million
US dollars) only.
But Instead of me to give the main fund out for the work of God
then, as initially instructed to me by the Owner before his
death, I converted the fund to myself with the intention of
investing the fund in abroad for my personal use rather than
giving the money out as instructed by the owner before his death.
I was afraid of putting the fund in the Bank, because I have to
give account to the bank on how I got the money. I then packaged
the fund in the consignments and deposited the consignments with
a security company. I did not want the management of the Security
Company to know the content of the consignments; therefore I
registered the consignment as diplomatic consignment while the
contents of the consignments were declared as Gold Bars. And upon
my authority given to the security company then, the consignment
has since then been airlifted to their affiliated security
company in Holland. Now the affiliated Security Company in
Holland believes that the contents of the consignment deposited
with them was Gold Bars. To the extent that I have also set aside
enough money then from the Consignment to provide for myself and
my family for years to come, but unexpectedly I fell sick
seriously, and I started moving from one hospital to another, yet
there is no cure for me till all the money in my hand got
finished.
Therefore, as I was preparing myself to fly to Holland due to my
persistent illness, in order to have access for more money in the
Consignment, so that I can remove out of the money again to take
myself to the best Hospital in Europe in order to receive the
best treatment, I then had encounter with Christ when Pastor
Benny Hinn was preaching on television concerning Ananias and
Saphira in Acts 5:1-11. And after hearing the word of God, I then
gave my life to Christ and became a born again Christian. As a
born again Christian, I started reading my bible and one-day, the
Lord opened my eyes to Ezekiel 33: 18 and 19 where the word of
God says: "When the righteous truth from his righteousness,
and Committeth iniquity, he shall even die thereby. But if the
wicked turn from his wickedness, and do that which is lawful and
right, he shall live thereby". From the scripture, I
discovered that the only way I could be well and have peace in my
life is to first of all accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and
Saviour, and also to do what is lawful and right by giving out
the fund to the chosen ministry that deserves this fund for the
work of God as instructed by the owner before his death. Hence I
started attending Pastor Chris Oyakhilome’s healing crusade
over here in my Country, there I confessed my sin not openly to
any human being but widely to God Almighty, that if I can be
truly healed here, then I will not hesitate to release from my
care the fund in question to the chosen Ministry that deserve the
fund for the work of God. And to my own surprised, within three
days of my attending Pastor Chris Oyak’s healing crusade, I
received Salvation from the sickness bondage as God healed me
miraculously without medicine neither with money through Pastor
Chris Oyak’s prayer. This is the reason why I cannot allow
the fund to stay more longer in my care again rather than to
quickly give the fund to the chosen ministry for the purpose of
God's work as instructed by the owner before his death, this
in order to avoid further occurrence of being tempted with the
fund again. Hence the reason why I contacted you if this fund can
be honestly and wisely used by you or through you for the things
that will glorify God's name.
After my healing, I then asked God for forgiveness and I know
that God have forgiven me. But I have to do what is lawful and
right in the sight of God by giving out the fund to the chosen
ministry for the purpose of God's work as instructed by the
owner before his death. Even despite the fact that I did not have
any money with me again presently, yet I still made up my mind
not to be tempted again in taking any penny from the Consignment,
rather I must give out the fund to the chosen ministry for the
purpose of God's work as instructed by the owner before his
death because what I have with me now (THE SALVATION) is more
than what any amount of money can buy.
So after my fasting and prayers, I asked God to make His choice
and direct me to an honest Christian or the chosen ministry that
deserves this fund by His Grace. I then came across your address
on the Internet as I was browsing through a Christian site, and
as a matter of fact, it is not only you or your ministry that I
picked on the Christian site initially, but after my fervent
prayer over it, then you were nominated to me through divine
revelation from God, so this is how I received such a divine
revelation from the Lord and how I got your contact information,
I then decided to contact you for the fund to be used wisely by
you or through you for the things that will glorify the name of
God.
Be informed that I am now a born again Christian and in most
honest manner of speaking, I am now a simply servant of Lord
trying as much as is in me by the direction of Holy Sprit, to do
the will of God in my own life. I understood that the wealth of
sinners are acquired for the just, God opened my eyes to the book
of Ecclesiastes 6,verses 1&2., read this scripture very well
and you will understand that there are people in this world that
God gave the grace to acquire wealth yet God did not give them
the grace to enjoy the wealth, and the late Mr. and Mrs. Rahman
Hannah Bolkiah happened to fall into the same category, now it is
the wish of God when God used me through them to give out the
fund to the chosen ministry for the purpose of His work as
instructed by the owner before their death. I understood that God
was testing me like he tested Abraham and other men of God.
Abraham needed children and God asked him to use his only son for
sacrifice, Abraham was faithful, he obeyed and God made him
father of many nations.
Thus, due to the fact that I will not want to disobey the
Commandment of God, and also upon the instruction given to me by
the owner before their death in accordance with the scripture of
MATTHEW 6:1-4, that says we should do our alms secretly and our
Father that see it secretly will reward us openly, as to obey
God's commandment is our best wisdom of life, hence the need
for me to require from you the assurance that you will keep this
transaction absolutely private and confidential within yourself
alone.
Finally, I have notified the affiliated Security Company in
Holland where the consignments that contained the fund is being
deposited, that I will soon move out the consignment from their
company, and their affiliated security company in Holland has
since been waiting for me to come and clear the consignment from
their company.
So if you know that this fund will be honestly and wisely used by
you or through you for the things that will glorify God's
name, then do urgently contact me back first through this my
alternative email address only (xxxxxxxxx@netscape.net),
then the details will be given to you on how you will be able to
receive the fund in your country through the affiliated security
company in Holland where the consignments that contained the fund
is being deposited.
You should also forward to me your telephone and fax number for
easy communication and to fax you the documents concerning the
consignments.
Your prompt response will be highly appreciated.
Yours faithfully in Christ.
Barrister Afos Daniel
xxxxxxxxx@netscape.net
From: Abbott Costello
To: xxxxxxxxx@netscape.net
Date: Sun, 31 Oct 2004 02:22:20 -0500
Subject: Divine Mission Fund
Dear Mr. Daniel,
God bless you and how are you today?
Please forgive my tardiness in responding to you. Wanda, who is
my sales manager, passed this email along to me because she
believes I am in a better position to assist you.
Let me introduce myself. My name is Abbott Andrew Costello. I own
and operate Costello Lexus Toyota LLC, one of the largest
Toyota/Lexus dealerships in the Seattle/Tacoma area.
As a fellow Christian, I, too, believe that it is the will of God
that we be brought together to do His work regarding the proper
use of this fund.
Please email me with more details.
I understand the need to keep this transaction confidential.
Therefore I setup this new email address just for the purpose of
our business. You can email me at this address
(abbottcostello@xxxxxxxxxx.com) and
rest assured that only God and we will know our intentions.
I'm looking forward to your reply, my brother.
May God give us direction in our endeavor.
Your brother in Christ,
Abbott Costello
From: xxxxxxxxx@netscape.net
To: abbottcostello@xxxxxxxxxx.com
Date: Sun, 31 Oct 2004 07:41:01 -0500
Subject: MARK 9:23 / AWAITING YOUR RESPONSE
Dear Abbott Costello in Christ
Cordial Greetings to you and your family. My greetings and
Gratitude to you all in the most worthy and splendid name of our
Lord & Saviour Jesus Christ.
I received your response regarding my message sent to you
concerning the Divine Charitable fund offer to the God's work
and to His outreach ministry, and I thank you very much for
allowing the Lord to use you for your God-kind loving concerned
regarding this transaction, and I believe that you will be felt
honored by God to be a steward of His resources to extend the
Kingdom of God. As you should know that we can never repay God
for His love, grace and mercy, we certainly want to do something
to express our gratitude to God, we want to love God. That is why
you and me are to be at the altar of sacrifice. For we are
God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good
works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (Eph.
2:8-10).
I know you will be surprised to receive my mail but remember the
Bible says, the blessing of God comes supernaturally and it is
through divine favor, and you should also be noted that blessing
and honour can only come to the people who appreciate the gift
and blessing of God.
My dear beloved in Christ, as it is very important that we as
Christians must always confirm the mind of the Lord in all things
we do, so our first and most important Spiritual priority in all
Spiritual matters is to seek the face of God diligently in
prayers and fasting that we might truly know the perfect will of
God, His desire, His purpose, His intent, and the direction He
would ultimately have us go as His servant. I must confess to
you, that after I received the instruction from God to use this
funds to do His work which is also the initial instruction given
to me by the owner before his death. I first prayed to God for
direction to choose for me an honest man or woman of God who is
in every way honorable, God fearing, humble servant of our Lord
and Saviour Jesus Christ, whose desire only that the Gospel of
Jesus Christ be spread throughout the world by means made
available to them by the hand of God, and it was confirmed to me
through divine revelation that you are the right person, as such
I believe that you have also prayed too to confirm the mind of
God that this transaction is truly His doing.
Be informed, that I am not doing this to get acceptance from God
neither to buy salvation for forgiveness of my sin because
salvation is not something we earn by doing good for others, it
is God's gift for humanity. The moment we believe it we
receive it, with no other human merit only by faith. I believe in
salvation by faith alone, not by good deeds. So I am only doing
this as God directed me so as to bless the ministry of God's
people, and also upon the owner’s instruction before their
death. And if I am able to make any investment into God's
work from the estate of the late Mr.& Mrs. Rahman Hannah
Bolkiah, I am sure they would rejoice that their funds have been
used for the Lords work. Because we all understood that those in
the Ministry cannot function perfectly in accordance with the
will of God, except they are empowered financially, and also
equipped with this Godly compassion in their personal lives. This
is reason why this fund must be invested into something
extraordinary that will be very powerful in spreading the Word of
God.
Note that the reason why this fund will be used for God's
work in Abroad only (anywhere outside my Country), is due to the
fact that, before God finally directed me to give the fund out
for the work of God as instructed by the owner before his death,
I have initially intended to invest this money for my personal
use in Abroad instead of giving the fund out for the work of God
as instructed by the owner before his death, this which made me
to lodge the money in the security company and moved it to their
affiliated security company in Holland for safe-keeping. And also
because the consignment has since be with their affiliated
security company in Holland, although the management of their
affiliated Security Company did not know the true content of the
consignments, as I registered the content of the consignments as
Gold Bars, in which this make them believes that what I deposited
with them was Gold Bars. So any attempt for me now to reverse the
agreement that I have initially made with them will definitely
cause jeopardy to this transaction as the contents of the
consignment will be exposed to the management of their affiliated
Security Company in Holland, hence the need for me to consult
only foreign Ministry in Abroad for the collection of the
consignment (the fund) to be used wisely for what will glorify
God's name.
However, for me to be well sure and have solid assurance that the
fund that will be given to you, will be used wisely by you for
God's work to facilitate what God is doing through your
Ministry, as I will want every penny given to you, to be honestly
used to obey God's heart, minister to His suffering children,
loose those in spiritual bondage and obey the vision of service
He placed on your heart. Hence I will want you to answer and also
assure me on the followings information.
(1) I will like to know how old are you.
(2) I will want you to give few descriptions about yourself and
your Ministry, which will enable me to have full confidence in
your capability and your facilities to handle the huge amount of
this nature.
(3) I will want you to write to me again at least with the few
line of what you will use the money for in your Ministry, in
order for me to be well sure that the fund which will be given to
you, will be wisely used for only purpose of God's work in
your Ministry.
(4) Again, I will needed your assurance that this transaction
will be absolutely kept private and confidential within yourself
alone, not only because I don’t want to violate the
instruction given to me by the owner before their death, but also
because I don’t want to disobey the Commandment of God in
accordance with the scripture of MATTHEW 6:1-4, which says we
should do our alms secretly and our Father that see it secretly
will reward us openly, to obey God's commandment is our best
wisdom of life.
This information / assurance requested from you does not mean
that I don't have trust in you, but they are what will give
me more confidence about your integrity, and also that the fund
which will be given to you will be truly used wisely for only
purpose of God's work in your Ministry. I believe that you
will address promptly the concerns and the questions that I posed
in this very message because your clarifications will help put me
at ease with my decision to make this donation to the God's
work through you and your Ministry.
Meanwhile, I will go to the security company over here in my
country, for the procedure enquiry on how the consignment (the
fund) will be received by you through their affiliated security
company in Holland, and consequence upon your assurance response,
I will then send to you the information that will be gotten from
the security company, all the documents relating to the
consignment / the picture of the consignment will also be sent to
you for your perusal.
Finally, you should forward to me your telephone and fax number,
your Ministry’s name and your direct contact address, as
all these required information will be used to process the
fund's beneficiary documentation, this which will enable you
to have my legal authority to receive the fund on my behalf
through the affiliated security company in Holland. You can also
forward to me your cell phone number for easy communication, or
you can call me on my direct line.
Your prompt response will be highly appreciated.
Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in
sincerity Ephesians 6:24
Yours faithfully in Christ.
Barrister Afos Daniel (234-80-2364XXXX) DIRECT LINE
From: Abbott Costello
To: xxxxxxxxx@netscape.net
Date: Sun, 31 Oct 2004 15:56:56 -0500
Subject: Re: MARK 9:23 / AWAITING YOUR RESPONSE
Dear Mr. Daniel,
How are you today, my brother in the Lord Jesus Christ?
I appreciate your prompt reply to my email.
I also appreciate and understand your knowledge of, and devotion
to, Our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. I, too share your
enthusiasm and I am in accords with everything you say. However,
at the risk of offending you, I would respectfully ask that you
keep your emails to me a little shorter and more to the point. It
would be much easier for me to read as, at my age, reading the
small type on the computer screen tends to make my eyes water
after a while.
To answer your questions:
I am 65 years old. I am a very successful business man in the
community and am accustomed to handling large sums of money.
While I do not have my own Ministry as you seem to assume, I do
give many thousands of dollars annually to my church here in
Seattle. But most importantly, I give quite substantial amounts
of money to many charitible Christian organizations both here in
the U.S. and around the world.
One of the most deserving of organizations, of which I am a
director, is, ironically, the Society for Less Privileged
Children in Africa (SLPCA). The SLPCA is a non-governmental
Christian organization, totally devoted to African children. Our
operations are community-based in several African countries. Our
goal is to increase our subdivisions in Africa, thereby touching
the lives of more African children. You have probably heard of us
and perhaps may even be affiliated with our organization. I
firmly know that the SLPCA can put much of this money toward the
benefit of Christianity and children. And what in this world
could be more important that these two causes?
The are several other similar Christian organizations as well
(too many to go into detail about) with which I am affiliated
that could put some of this money to good use in advancing
Christianity and which I can sort out at a later date.
To address your request for my phone and fax numbers, due to the
requirement for confidentiality in this matter, using either my
home phone or my regular business phone/fax numbers is out of the
question. However, I will give you my private number which is
setup at my place of business. This number is setup to receive
both voice and fax. Unfortunately, I had to give up my mobile
phone long ago. I seems I could never remember to turn it on or
keep the battery charged rendering it useless and I finally gave
up on it.
My private number here in Seattle is 206-XXX-XXXX. As I
said, this line is connected to a system which enables both voice
and fax services. I'm not sure how it works as I'm afraid
I am quite ignorant when it comes to technology. I had a
communications company set it up for me and it serves me
well.
I hope that this email alleviates some of you concerns and
satisfies most of your questions.
Speaking of questions, I have a few of my own if you will permit
me.
Firstly, am I correct in assuming that seeing this transaction
through will require my attendance in Holland?
Second, would it be possible to get you to send me a picture of
yourself? It would really be a blessing to be able to put a face
to your name. I'll send you a photo of myself just as soon as
I can locate one and have it scanned into my computer.
God bless you, kind sir. I am looking forward to your
response.
Your brother in prayer,
Abbott
From: xxxxxxxxx@netscape.net
To: abbottcostello@xxxxxxxxxx.com
Date: Mon, 01 Nov 2004 07:23:33 -0500
Subject: GOD IS ABLE TO DO EXCEEDINGLY ABUNDANTLY (EPH 3:20)
Dear Abbott Costello in Christ
Greetings to you in Jesus Mighty Name
I praise and thank our living God for this great acquaintance and
fellowship He has given me in knowing you. All glory and Honor
belongs to our Lord Jesus alone.
I am very delighted to receive your assurance response; sincerely
speaking I am well pleased and okay with your explanation / your
wonderful testimony. For ROMANS 8:28 says that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are the
called according to his purpose.
I am really impressed on what the Lord is doing through your
Ministry, so I don't have any doubt in my mind that the money
which will be given to you will be wisely used in your Ministry
for what will Glorify God's name, so I am assuring you again
that I will fulfill my promised to give the fund to you to
facilitate what the Lord is doing through your Ministries,
because I am a Kingdom Minded person and God has chosen me as
well as others to work together in the field for the End-time
harvest. It's time we all put aside our denominational
differences and work as a team as brothers and sisters reaping
the field. From poor to rich, black and white, and man or woman.
In the early church in Acts, after the Holy Spirit was poured out
then, the Bible says that ".... They had all things in
common." Acts 4:32
I believe that we are living in the last days and He is coming
back and we aren't going to take any material things with us,
so we all as Christian brothers and sisters must have all things
in common. Then, we will all have a part in seeing the biggest
number of souls saved then ever recorded in history! Not to
mention all the miracles that God has shown us of His power that
will take place! You know, isn't it great how God works?
Although, I did not receive your direct contact address as
required in my previous mail sent to you, this which I will also
want you to send to me the needed information to enable me
commence the procedure on how the fund will be received by you
through the affiliated Security Company in Holland, as all the
required information will be used to process the fund's
beneficiary documentation in order for you to have my legal
authority to receive the fund on my behalf through the affiliated
security company in Holland.
Thus, it will be highly appreciated and helpful if you can
forward to me the requested information exactly as required in my
previous mail sent to you, and I will expect to hear positively
and promptly from you as I believe that you will be felt honor
and humble by the fact that you have chosen to me by God to be
steward over His house because I consider stewardship to be an
awesome responsibility that can not be taken lightly. We will be
accountable to God and the giver of all that we receive. Great
judgments follow if not follow carefully. "Let a man so
consider us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries
of God. Moreover, it is required in stewards that one be found
faithful." (I Cor. 4:1-2) "Give an account of your
stewardship." (Luke 16:2).
Anyway, regarding your comment on, “Firstly, am I correct
in assuming that seeing this transaction through will require my
attendance in Holland?
Be informed that based on my finding from my contact man in the
Security Company, your attendance may be required in Holland for
the collection of the Consignment or the Consignment may be
brought to you in U.S.A., depend on what will be more convenient
for you according to him, although he said that the details
regarding this issued will be given to me officially by
tomorrow.
And the find attached is the picture of my wife and I, I am
sending this to you upon your request so as to know ourselves
better while I will want you to send yours to me too.
However, I will go and start the procedure by tomorrow on how the
fund will be received by you through the affiliated Security
Company in Holland, and I will update you the position of the
procedure same tomorrow.
So until then, when I shall hear promptly from you / when I shall
also update you again on Monday, we shall keep on praying and
trusting our Great and Mighty God whom we believe can provide all
that we need for what He has called us to do.
May the Lord bless and bring to fulfillment the desire of your
heart to serve Him!
Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in
sincerity Ephesians 6:24
Yours faithfully in Christ.
Barrister Afos Daniel
P.S. I am not comfortable with the computer telephone number that
you gave to me; hence your other alternative numbers will be
highly appreciated.
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