is this spam?

[rich_m]

i recieved a mail from a guy and it seems so real that i'm not sure wheather to ignore it or not. this is wat the mail contained...(i would like to know if any other gmail users have got similar mail) cause i found the same mail, in 2 accounts, both gmail.

First National Bank Holdings LTD,
6th floor 1 first place,bank city,
Johannesburg 2001,
Republic of South Africa.
Email:[email protected]

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am Jeffery Monvete, Bank Manager of First National Bank Holdings LTD,South Africa.This is an urgent and very confidential business
proposition.

On June 6, 2002,a Foreign Oil consultant/contractor with the South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, Mr.Paul Farrel made a
numbered time(Fixed) Deposit for twelve calendar months, valued at US$26,500,000.00,(Twenty-six Million, five hundred thousand Dollars
only) in my branch.

Upon maturity,I sent a routine notification to his forwarding address but got no reply. After a month,we sent a reminder and finally we
discovered from his contract employers, the Institute of Mining and Metallurgy that Mr.Paul Farrel died from an automobile accident.

On further investigation,I found out that he died without making a WILL,and all attempts to trace his next of kin was fruitless.

I therefore made further investigation and discovered that Mr.Paul Farrel did not declare any kin or relations in all his official
documents,including his Bank Deposit paperwork in my Bank. This sum of US$26,500,000.00 has carefully been fixed in my bank for safekeeping.

No one will ever come forward to claim it.According to South African Law,at the expiration of 5 (five) years, the money will revert to the
ownership of the Government if nobody applies to claim the fund.

Consequently, my proposal is that I will like you as a Foreigner to stand in as the owner of the money which was fixed deposited in my
bank. I am writing you because I as a public servant,i cannot operate a foreign account.


I want to present you as the owner of the funds so you can be able to claim them with the help of my attorney. This is simple.I will like you
to provide immediately your full names and address so that the Attorney will prepare the necessary documents which will put you in place as the
beneficiary of the funds.

The money will be moved out for us to share in the ratio of 80% for me and 20% for you. The paperwork for this transaction will be done by the
Attorney.

If you are interested, please reply immediately via my email address and Upon your response,I shall then provide you with more details and
relevant documents that will help you understand the transaction.

Please observe utmost confidentiality, and be rest assured that this transaction would be most profitable for both of us because I shall
require your assistance to invest my share in real estate within your country.

Due to the nature of confidentiality in this Transaction our communication can only be via email.

Awaiting your urgent reply via my email Above.

Thanks and my regards.

Jeffery Monvete.

[Candy]

No, it's not spam. It isn't real though.

It's something that's like 3-4 years old already and known as 419-scamming. The 419 comes from the country in which it originated, being Nigeria.

Person Z died, he left $X money, they want you to have Y percent of it and need your help in constructing a foreign account to which to stash it temporarily. If you reply they'll ask transaction fees and when/if you pay them they leave with the "transaction fee" without giving you anything.

And yes, you're not the first to get them.

[rich_m]

thanks, i guess that brings this thread to an end, twill be useful for those who aint aware of this kinda scam.

[mystran]

Most people would call it "spam" anyway, even though technically it's a scam, and not really advertisement. Ignore it anyway.

[I Lostalim]

Basic rule of safety...
Humaity is self-centred and greedy!

Some random person you've never met, from a country you've (probably) never been to is offering to just give you money... why would he when he could just keep all that money for himself.

Once had a a fairly long relay with one of these scam artists in which I kept asking for proof of the money's existence etc. Listening to him trying to explain his way out of it was funny, but it eventually ended on my third request for photographic proof of the money - he didn't reply.
* yes I knew it was a scam, and yes I was bored that week!

[CESS.tk]

It is spam. Spam doesn't need te be advertisement. It refers to everything you keep getting, eventhough you don't want it (like in the Monty Python sketch). According to the Cambridge dictionary, it's "unwanted email, usually advertisements".
The Gouranga mails aren't advertisement, nor are they a scam. But would you give them any other name than spam?

[I Lostalim]

Yes, the name vaugly comes from Monty Python Origin, which was a sketch based on canned sandwich meat that went by the name of "SPAM" - which most people wouldn't eat if it was the last meal on Earth.... It was kind of a cheap war-era thing

Didn't realise the eMail use of the word is now in the Cambridge dictionary... how fun!

And yes, in this context spam is kind of like the term weed. A rose is a weed if it's growing where it's not wanted.