This is the copy of a PM I received today:
I'm sure most of caedes members can feel the scam... ;-)
Be aware though...



Personal message from leofabrice1 [ 25/08/08 11:02 ]:

From: Mr.Paul Conan,
This information that I am about to reveal to you might either destroy me, ruin my professional career or make me, depending on how you received and take it, the future and happiness of my family depends on it. Please I need you to read this mail attentively to know the reason and purpose why you received this mail from me, I didn't come to you by chance nor by accident, I have come to you because your names has planted you in the centre of relevant in my life and my professional career as a banker at this very moment. Before I go further I will like to introduce myself to you.

I am Mr. Paul Conan, a managing director and head of international private banking division of Versus Bank-Côte d'Ivoire. I am contacting you concerning a deceased client , and an investment he placed under our bank's management 3 years ago. I would respectfully request that you keep the contents of this mail confidential and respect the integrity of the information you come by as a result of this mail.

I contact you independently and no one is informed of this communication. I would like to intimate you with certain facts that I believe would be of interest to you.

In 2003, the subject matter came to our bank to engage in business discussions with our private banking division. He informed us that he had a financial portfolio of 20.7 million British Pounds Sterling, which he wished to have us turn over (invest) on his behalf. I was the officer assigned to his case, I made numerous suggestions in line with my duties as the de-facto chief operations officer of the private banking sector, especially given the volume of funds he wished to put into our bank. We spun the money around various opportunities and made attractive margins for our first months of operation, the accrued profit and interest stood at this time at over 6 million British Pounds Sterling, this margin was not the full potential of the fund but he desired low risk guaranteed returns on his investments. In mid 2005, he asked that the money be liquidated because he needed to make an urgent investment requiring cash payments. He directed that I
liquidate the funds and have it deposited with a security firm in London.

I undertook all the processes and made sure I followed his precise instructions to the letter and had the funds deposited with a security consultancy firm in London as he had directed. This security firm is an especially private firm that accepts deposits from high net worth individuals and blue chip corporations that handles valuable products or undertake transactions that need immediate access to cash.

This small and highly private organization is familiar especially to the highly placed and well-connected organizations. In Line with instructions, the money was deposited with them. He told me he wanted the money there in anticipation of his arrival from France later that week. This was the last communication we had, this transpired around 25th February 2005. In October 2005 we got a call from the security company informing us of the inactivity of that particular portfolio. This was an astounding position as far as I was concerned, given the fact that I managed the private banking sector I was the only one who knew about the depositat at the security company, and I could not understand why our client had not gone forward to claim his deposit. I made futile efforts to locate him.

I immediately passed the task of locating him to the internal investigations department. Four days later, information started to trickle in, apparently our man was dead. If you are familiar with private banking affairs, those who patronize our services usually prefer anonymity, but also some levels of detachment from conventional processes. In his bio-data form, he listed no next of kin. In the field of private banking, opening an account with us means no one will know of its existence, accounts are rarely held under a name; depositors use numbers and codes to make the accounts anonymous.

It is this investigation that resulted in my being furnished with your details as a possible relative of the deceased because of the similarity in your last names.

My official capacity dictates that I am the only party to supervise the investigation and the only party to receive the results of the investigation. It is quite clear now that our dear fellow died with no known or identifiable family members. This leaves me as the only person with the full picture of what the prevailing situation is in relation to the deposit and the late beneficiary of the deposit. According to practice, the security company will however broadcast a request for statements of claim to VERSUS BANK failing to receive viable claims they will most probably revert the deposit to VERSUS BANK. This will result in the money entering the VERSUS BANK Private Bank accounting system and the portfolio will be out of my hands and out of the private banking division. This will not happen if I have my way with you. What I wish to relate to you will smack of unethical practice but I want you to understandsomething. It is only an outsider to the
banking world who finds the internal politics of the banking world aberrational. The world of private banking especially is fraught with huge rewards for those who sit upon certain chairs and oversee certain portfolios. You should have began by now to put together the general direction of what I propose. There is 26.7Million pounds deposited in a security company in London. I alone have the deposit details and they will release the deposit to no one unless I instruct them to do so.

I alone know of the existence of this deposit for as far as VERSUS BANK Private Bank is concerned, the transaction with the late customer concluded when I sent the funds to the security company in London, all outstanding interactions in relation to the file are just customer services and due process. The security company has no single idea of what's the history or nature of the deposit. They are simply awaiting instructions to release the deposit to any party that I may direct. This is the situation.

I will simply nominate you as the next of kin and have them release the deposit to you. We share the proceeds 50/50. You with the same very last name as the original depositor would easily pass as the beneficiary with right to claim. The alternative would be for us to have the security company direct the funds to another bank with you as account holder. This way there will be no need for you to think of receiving the money directly from the security company as it is not a conventional financial institution; they accept deposits from only organizations thus; what you hand over to them is what you get back. They do not have the means to process the money.

I am not a criminal and what I do, I do not find against good conscience, this may be hard for you to understand, but the dynamics of my industry dictates that I make this move. Such opportunities only come once in a life time. I cannot let this chance pass me by. For once I find myself in total control of my destiny.

If you will not work with me let me know and let me move on with my life, I am a family man and this is an opportunity to provide them with new opportunities. There is a reward for this project and it is a task well worth undertaking. I have evaluated the risks and the only risk I have here is from you refusing to work with me and alerting my bank - VERSUS BANK.
I am the only one who knows of this situation, good fortune has blessed you with a name that has planted you in the centre of relevancein my life. Lets share the blessing. If you find yourself able to work with me, contact me through this email. If you give me positive signals, I will give you the relevant details and initiate this process towards a conclusion.
I do not want any direct link between you and I. My official lines are not secure lines as they are periodically monitored to assess our level of customer care in line with our total Quality Management Policy. Please observe this instruction religiously. Do not betray my confidence in you. email me: paul_conan12(at)yahoo(dot)com

I await your response.

Mr.Paul conan
paul_conan12@yahoo.com

Respond
ok - Edit

I've also put a warning on this members comments section, I hope the mods don't mind me doing so, if they feel it isn't my place to do so, then I don't mind if they erase it.

Definately sounds like a scam to me.. geez I get those all the time in emails now they are hitting the PM's lol

Ahhh - how refreshing it is to see someone reviving the ole Nigerian oil money scam from '94. Back then my boss got a letter saying pretty much the same thing just it was Nigerian oil money instead. He and I discussed it, and I was on the cusp of telling him to go for it, but then I realized he'd be giving the guy access to his money, and I stopped him short. He later thanked me for the advice. Such a nice trusting guy.

classic! thanks for posting this one.

I've received a couple of similar email a couple years ago. I have a site addie where you can check scams. I'm glad you posted this, PIerre. Thank you for making us aware. Verena

Well you have to give him some kudos - that's the most well written scam letter I've seen in a while.

It appears 'Mr Conan' has been at it since at least July 2007.
What a ratbag.

http://www.419scam.org/emails/2007-07/12/01084638.258.htm

http://www.419scam.org/419scam.htm#what

Someone really ought to collate all these scam letters - there are quite a few around - and publish them as a volume of humorous fiction with the proceeds going to charity. After all, some of them are very well written! And of course, if the original authors have any complaints about their work being treated in this way, they could always report the matter to the police... couldn't they? :)

How many L's are there in gullible Pierre ? lol

Oops pardon me :o( things went awful sssssssssssllllllllllllllllllllllllooooooooowwwwwwww