Ordinarily I wouldn't dream of posting the content of a private message on the forums, but this guy is so obviously a scammer that I have no hesitation. 

 

Some of you may have received similar messages yourselves. And most rational people would dismiss such messages with a chuckle.

 

What amuses - and at the same time - disturbs me is that this guy is going to the extent of claiming gayness to further his scam. I have received a number of similar messages via email (mostly from Nigeria, but also from other West African countries as well) with the same kind of 'advance fee fraud/419' message - usually including some reference to god and Christian charity with the usual appeal to the desire for instant wealth (on that note, a wise man once said that "the one thing the swindler and the swindled have in common is the desire for easy money"). But this is the first time I have come across an appeal to gayness. If you have not received such a message, enjoy...   

 

 

From Joe Koffi
Accra - Ghana
Email- joekoffi1990@yahoo.com

Good Day,

My name is JOE KOFFI, an Ivorian national but living presently in Ghana. I know this letter may come to you as a surprise but i am writing you with utmost confidence and trust regarding the sum of (US $ 16.7 Million) Sixteen Million Seven Hundred Thousand United States Dollars inherited from my late father, a cocoa merchant and a contractor in the ousted President Laurent Gbagbo's government of the Ivory Coast.

Before the death of my parents they never knew my gay status so I am contacting you for assistance as my fellow gay brother/family.

I wish to invest in your country if i can have your assured support and willingness to help me sincerely since you are living in a more peaceful country. I will be giving you twenty percentage of the total money in appreciation for your assistance.

Kindly get back to me if my proposal interests you. My appreciation goes to you as you indicate your willingness to help me so i can give you a detailed explanation about the proposal.

Thanks in anticipation and looking forward to your sincere response.

Yours beloved,

Joe Koffi

 

Oh, and a request to the web site owner: Please delete this plonker's registration at your earliest convenience.

wow jovian why do you think hes a fraud ??

i know the guys brother very well, we have been friends for about 10 years now, the guys genuine for sure.

oh before you ask his brothers name is fu..

wow jovian why do you think hes a fraud ??

i know the guys brother very well, we have been friends for about 10 years now, the guys genuine for sure.

oh before you ask his brothers name is fu..

 

LOL. You're a one-man riot timmberty!   

some things are just waiting to be said ... good ol joe huh

how you can turn down the chance of 20% of 16 million dollars is beyond me .. haha thats like 2 er 4 hmm ... a lot of money.

sad to say that people do actually fall for this sort of thing.

i had one on gay romeo i went along with it for quite a while to see how long it would take before i got asked for money!! the guy went for about 2 weeks before he did.

when i told him he was a bit mad he said how sorry he was, then tried it all over again.

theres just no stopping some of them.

i had one on gay romeo i went along with it for quite a while to see how long it would take before i got asked for money!! the guy went for about 2 weeks before he did.

 

You sound like a worthy contender for the scam-baiting community. If you've got the time and inclination, it seems like a lot of fun...   

i have the time, but once again im sure you will know i dont have the inclination .

i normally just click the little red cross and get rid of the scammers.

it was just the once i went along with it .. he/she had some lovely pictures

i normally just click the little red cross and get rid of the scammers...

 

That's the best and easiest way to deal with scammers.

Oh, and a request to the web site owner: Please delete this plonker's registration at your earliest convenience.

 

Addendum: for easy reference, the profile is http://www.gaythailand.com/profile/littlejoe/

Oh, and a request to the web site owner: Please delete this plonker's registration at your earliest convenience.

Did you "report" the profile?

sad to say that people do actually fall for this sort of thing.

In my view it is greed that catch people in these scams.

In my view it is greed that catch people in these scams.

Yes, some are greedy and stupid, others are curious.

 

Some curious people may think "Ok, I know I should just ignore this, but maybe, just maybe, there's something in this; no harm in dipping my toe in the water - after all, I'd never forgive myself if Joe Bloggs down the road is braggin' to all and sundry in the pub about how he just made a cool half a million without so much as lifting a finger".

 

From what I gather the fraudsters can be very plausable and persuasive. Rather like quicksand - once you are in it you're quite likely to be sucked under - so the fraudster sucks out the information piece by piece with the promise of what is to come. By then some of the mugs are already mentally spending their windfall, and once you've convinced yourself of that all reason flies out the window.

My guess is that many of the victims of these scams are merely naive or lonely and may be intrigued by  getting an email such as these.

 

Consider that fellow Manti Te'o who was hoaxed by a fake girlfriend; what a dupe to fall for the scam.

But it  happens all the time.

Did you "report" the profile?

 

I hadn't noticed that function before. Thanks for pointing it out. I've reported it now.

 

Cheers Michael.

Update: I've just been notified by email that the offending member's account has now been deleted.

 

Thanks again Michael for pointing out the 'report' function.

I just got a message from the same guy.

I just got a message from the same guy.

 

He must have set up a new profile already. I guess we should have expected that. Scammers don't give up that easily.