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A few weeks ago I got an email from Fred Barrister asking assistance in a
financial matter and offering me a lot of money. The usual story. I replied,
but he did not answer. After I while I got this email: FRED BARRISTER Dear jack, Thank for your response, I was away for 2 weeks for the burial ceremony of my late father, before we can proceed I will like you to forward your personal telephone and fax no for easy communication. As soon as you give a positive response to this I call explain the details of this transaction to you. we don't have much time to waste in this. Regards, Fred. JACK BREDA Dear Fred for security reasons all telephone calls in my office are being recorded on tape. The only safe way to communicate is by email. Please send me the details ASAP. Regards Jack Breda FRED BARRISTER Dear Jack, Just got your mail with thanks, I can now understand your fear, before we can proceed, I will like to you to assure me one thing, that you will not sit on this money alone as soon as this money gets to your accounts. Secondly as soon as you get this money get to you shall take 30% of the whole money, while 60% will come down to me here, or I shall tell you what to do with my own share of the money, while 10% will map out for any expenses that may incurs in this transaction. Thirdly I shall guide you accordingly until this money gets to your account. If you accept all these conditions, please I will like you to give me your full name,your full house address, your bank name and account number where this money will be transferred and a copy of your international passport or diving license. As soon as I receive all this information I shall proceed to the bank immediately to submit all the needed document. Remember keep this transaction confidential, to avoid people eyes on us. Regards, Fred. JACK BREDA Dear Fred how are you today? Please find my details below Name: Jack Breda Adres: Stinkernietindrive 4190 - 12089 Dagutnie - N Bank: First Corporate Citi Bank Account #: AAA-7324238432-02 Please find attached a copy of my ID. I would like to ask you to send me a copy of your passport as well. Looking forward to your reply. Jack Breda I attached a nice ID (Thanks to Photoshop) FRED BARRISTER Dear Jack, Thank you so much for your understanding and the quick action. I m forwarding the information to the relevant authorities for processing . I shall send my international passport to you later today. Best regards. Fred. JACK BREDA Dear Fred, Why do you send me every email twice? Jack FRED BARRISTER Dear Jack, I am sorry for the repetition. The intention was to mak sure you received it. There are few information I need from you. First do you know any Richard Nielson Brandon? Are you in any way connected to them either my blood or be alliance? Would you know any body from Belgium that goes with that name? I will explain the reasons for these questions later, but Ineed your answers before I explain. Please give me your response immediately, and I will get back to you asap. Fred. JACK BREDA I am personally not connected to Mr Brandon. Please explain. I still expect a copy of your passport. regards Jack Breda FRED BARRISTER Dear Jack, Before any other thing,let me explain the reasons for my question earlier. My deceased client is Mr Richard Nielson Brandon. He is from Belgium, and has worked and lived here in Ghana for more than ten years as a gold prospector and consultant for Dantax Gold Company, a subsidiary of Gold Coast Mining Company( the Government Ministry in charge of Gold Mining in Ghana). Mr Brandon was wealthy and I enjoyed a cordial client /attorney relationship with him while he was alive. He was my client for eight years of the ten years he lived in Ghana. He died under mysterious circumstances in a car crash on the 23rd of April, 2002. The police did a shoddy investigation and were unable to unravel the mystery sorrounding his death, even though suspicion was rife that he may have had a face off with the gold mafia king pins who may have eliminated him to protect their own interest. Richard made a deposit of USD 9.5million in a Finance House here in Ghana before his death. The deposit was made in the year 2000, and he died two years later with his entire family of three(his wife, a son and a daughter)in an auto crash en route to Accra. He died intestate. I have made every effort to locate anyone who could be even remotely connected to him or his family, for the past three years, but I was not successful. That was why I asked if you were in any way connected to the family, in which case, I would have had no option that to fulfil my obligation of ensuring that the estate and funds of my late client were duly executed on his behalf or in favour of any member of his family or his proxy, chosen by him. In his absence, and having left no will, I have the obligation of doing justice to his estate. But I am incapacitated because I cannot locate the relatives or any body who knows them. Recently, the Finance House where he made his deposit has issued me a notice, as his personal attorney,that they will, within a forth night,proceed to declare the account unserviceable as an unclaimed bill if I am unable to produce the next of kin to the deceased, and subsequently confiscate the deposit and hand it over to the government. That is why I needed your help, and that was why I contacted you. This transaction is risk free and you will not be breaching any laws, I assure you. I know that this may go against your moral ethics. And that is why I am going to compensate you handsomely for your assistance and participation. This is a deal. I have worked out all the modalities and have initiated the processes. Your role will be to assume the status of next of kin to Richard Nielson Brandon. He is a foreigner as you are. Therefore, there will not be many questions asked. I have already presented your particulars as a form of introduction to the Finance House, to inform them officially that a next of kin has surfaced to claim the estate and funds of my deceased client. The finance House will initiate correspondences with you and will direct all necessary enquiries to you. I submitted your email address with other particulars to them . If therefore you receive any mail from any finance house, please make sure you consult me first before giving any reply. We cannot afford to make mistakes now. This deal is based on trust and confidence. I do not know you. I have never met you before, but your picture gives out the mien of a man worthy of trust. I hope I am not mistaken. I am going to confide in you and entrust into your care a huge sum. I have the belief that you will respect our agreement and reciprocate my trust and good will. You shall be entittled to 30% of the total sum as compensation for yor help.We will discuss investment plans when the money is in your custody,and I can assure you that you will make a good profit package if we break into a lucrative investment venture under your guidance and direction. I need to know more about you, your personal life, occupation,and general profile. I need your word of honour not to cheat me. I need to know if you have handled big money before. You are a man of experience, no doubt, being two years my junior. We are both men. But how well experienced are you on matters of handling money and investments? Please do not fail to forward to me every information or correspondences you receive from the finance house. Best regards. Fred. JACK BREDA Gee, I hate long emails. This sounds very good. I am your man! I guess you have all my personal details. See also my passport. How do we proceed? Jack Breda FRED BARRISTER Dear Jack, I am worried about your deliberate refusal to respond to some of my questions. You are my man, I have no doubt about that. You are intelligent, that is very obvious from the shape of your fore head, even though that is not the true determinant. You picture did justice to you in every way, handsome, intelligent look, suave Sensual if one must read the curve of your lips, s faint streak of stubbornness, and firm authority which comes from handling responsibilities. But these did not answer my questions in the second to the last paragraph. For emphasis, let me copy it here once more ..." I need to know more about you, your personal life, occupation,and general profile. I need your word of honour not to cheat me. I need to know if you have handled big money before. You are a man of experience, no doubt, being two years my junior. We are both men. But how well experienced are you on matters of handling money and investments?.." I do not mean anything offensive, but I do not even know what you do for a living. And how am I sure you can handle this kind of deal without fail This is not a game of chance. This is for real. I cannot aford to take chances. That is why I keep asking for reassurance. Your words are the only things I can hold unto for now until we meet face to face. In he meantime, be open to me. You are too cagey about yourself. I am two years your senior, married with four kids, two boys and two girls, the boys came first, and the girls followed. My first boy is rounding up high school, the second is in junior college, the first girl has just stepped into college while the third is waiting to take the entrance examinations. A lawyer by profession, called to the bar at the age of 34, have my own chambers, my wife is a nurse. My parents are alive, father was a Colonel, and retired as a colonel in the Army, mother was a full house wife. Brothers and sisters who have all grown up and gone their different ways. Not so exciting as a resume, ut at least, it gives the picture of the drudgery of existence. How about you? You asked how we were to proceed. Well, I have submitted the particulars you brought. The bank will go through and make their own in house verifications. I do not expect much action today, since this is friday. Possibly early next week. But I may be mistaken. Just be on the alert. I need your mobile phone so as to reach you any time, in case something comes up urgently. I cannot call you in the office, but I am sure I can get you on your mobile. Or is it tapped too? Even if you were under CIA surveillance, they would not dare, would they? I mean tap your mobile line? Jack, after this transaction, I will very likely relocate to your country or any other place. Any ideas? Regards. Fred. JACK BREDA Dear Fred, thanks for your elaborate email. Please learn that I am a financial counsellor of international business, so I am used to handle transactions with huge sums of money. I am not married. I spend most of my time on working and studying modern art. I am used to hard work and taking risks. However, this transactions should be protected by all means of security measurements. Therefore I will not give you my personal telephone number. I am sure that you don't really want me to give you my number and that you only ask me to see whether or not I am careful. You also know that email is by far the safest way to communicate nowadays. I recall you told me that this transaction should be finished in a fortnight. That means that we have to get moving now. It is no problem for me to travel, so we could meet in any place you prefer. I expect some details form you. regards Jack FRED BARRISTER Dear Jack, I can see you are not a man of too many words. But your answers still leave me hungry. But I cannot insist for now. May be later, I will need your telephone number. The only instruction I can give you is that you should please be at a lert in case any correspondence comed from the Finance House or from any quarters concerning this transaction. I want to be alerted promptly. Yoou must never correspond to them, no matter the pressure and the urgency, until you have consulted with me. This is imperative. IDo believe that next week is going to be full of action. So, be at alert. Best regards. Fred. JACK BREDA Dear Fred, I still don't understand why you keep sending me every email twice. Would you please be so kind to stop this? I will wait for a message from the Finance House and I will inform you accordingly. Are there any other procedures I should prepare for? Please be aware that all my transactions will be carried out under the ACAEPBOP policy, which I am sure you are familiar with. regards, Jack Breda Of course he is not familiar with the ACAEPBOP policy, because it stands for All Costs And Expenses Paid By Other Party FRED BARRISTER Dear Jack, once again I apologise over the mistake of sending the mail to you twice. But I am sure this time, the error was not from me. I sent only once. I cannot explain the multiplication. Any news yet? I should expect that there will be news. Today is monday. The Finance House is supposed to be working. They must have started work on the file. Therefore there ought to be some news. Get across to me as soon as you get infos. I confess I am not familiar with the "ACAEPBOP policy". Kindly explain and also explain your position on it. I will expect news from you today. Lets keep our fingers crossed. Fred. JACK BREDA Hello Fred, no news so far. I will check my mail regularly. The ACAEPBOP policy consists of a cost-split procedure, basically pointing that all financial burdens will be laid upon the initiating party, but I am sure that these details will be dealt with by one of your employees. best regards, jack FRED BARRISTER Dear Jack, I must say that I never expected this kind of calculation from you. You are a man of the world. You are a financial consultant, and a seasoned business man. If ever any man offers you money frrely, do you accept? It would be a trap, don't you think so? You you ever sat down in your house and have someone throwing millions of dollars on your laps through your window? Would it not be a fairy tale, like in a dream? That would be too good to be true. We are presumed to be partners in this project. I am the initiator and the majority owner of the proceeds. You have a stake commensurate to the level of your participation and to the fact that you were coopted by me. I have been very fair to you in the portion I allocated to you. If this your latest policy is to presurize me to renagotiating your percentage on account on fanacial participation, then you better forget it, because I will not. Fair is fair, and foul is foul. Go and ask anybody if Ihave not been very generous. Ask yourself if I have not been very fair to you. You and I have our different roles to play. I am the initiator and the bearer of the greater portion of the risk. I also have a percentage commensurate to my risks(and that includes financial paticipation). You will do your part to earn you keep. That is part of your role as a partner. I shall carry most of the expenses as is required of my role. You will be called upon from time to time to assist financially if I get stuck. I do not expect you to hesitate. Best regards. fred. JACK BREDA Dear Fred, well, since you keep the greatest part of this deal, I still think that the All Costs And Expenses Paid By Other Party Policy is still realistic. However, I will reconsider it, assuming that you give me an accurate estimate of the money I have to set apart from my cut of the deal to pay the expenses. So far, however, no expenses at all, since the Financial House has not sent me any information. By the way, do you think it is useful to meet in person one day to finalise this deal? This could be more efficient as email. Let me know in advance. Jack Breda And meeting in person means more fun..... FRED BARRISTER Dear Jack, I know you are a very realistic man. I appreciate your understanding of this matter. Let me point out one vital information you seem to have overlooked. part of our agreement is that 10% of the total amount will be mapped out for settling/remboursing the expenses we may incurr in the process of the transaction. Now isn't that total couverage? At the end of the day, whose account are we using to receive the money? Yours of course. And is there any reason on earth that will make us spend 10% of 9.5million in securing this fund? Impossible. So, what happens to the balance that will be left in your account which will not be part of my 60% and your 30%? Who takes it? Still you. Are you seing the larger plan now? During the transaction, we will both run expenses. You will tabulate every expenses you made while I do the same. When the money is secured in your account, before sharing in the percentages agreed, every person will bring out his list of expenses and they will be paid up first. I am sure you will agree to this. At least it gives me a kind of relief. I may borrow some of the monies that I will spend. The remboursement will be an extra. Your suggestion is good. I think we should meet in Ghana towards the weekend or early next week. It will help matters a lot. You will take direct control, and prevent them from holding us to ransom by digging up one technicality or the other to ensure delay and to make us pay more charges. I know how my people are. They will be afraid of a White man doing his thing rather than a brother standing in on behalf of a white man. Besides, it gives us the opportunity of negotiating better, seeing the money physically in the Finance House, making sure of things and possibly ordering the remittance direct from there or from any other bank. It will give us a good opportunity to take matters into our own safe hands, order the remittance ourselves, see face to face and harmonise our agreement and the investment projects. Please think about it. My estimate for total cost of every thing including demurrage, tax,insurance coverage,certification from drug law, terrorism and money laundry and the transfer charge is in the neighbourhood of $435,000, which is nearly 5% of the total amount. Where as the amount mapped out for expenses is 10%. Invariably, you have an excess of nearly $500,000 as balance in yoour account after the transaction. Will we divide this excess or do we invest it in a mutual project? I hope there is a good news after all from the Finance House? Best regards Fred. JACK BREDA Hello Fred, once again and hopefully for the last time: STOP sending me every email twice. I guess it will be possible to meet next week in Ghana. I assume Accra will be the place to meet? However, it will be my first time in Africa. I would like to receive a detailed schedule of the days we spend together. How many days do you think we will be needing? Please also confirm that you will meet me personally at the airport. Thanks for explaining to me that All costs will be paid out of the fund. It means that I don't have to bring much money, which is quite safe. We can discuss possible investments while we are in Ghana. Please send me your reply (one time!) and we can discuss my detailed travel plan and itinerary later this week. I am looking forward doing business with you! Jack Breda FRED BARRISTER Dear Jack, Please do not keep me in this kind of suspense again. I do not like it. Like I promised yesterday, I had to make enquiries, and I was reliably informed that the Finance House has finally reached you. I am surprised that you did not contact me immediately, why? Please it is not good. Do not do it again,please. You could cause high blood pressure for me So, what did they say? Have they approvd the payment? And have they fixed a date for you? How was your interraction? Please I need a copy of their correspondence soa s to go through it with a fine tooth comb. One can never be too careful. Best regards Fred. JACK BREDA Dear Fred, I do not want to be the cause of your high blood pressure, but I have not received any information from the Finance House. In case it reaches me tomorrow, I can still make reservations for my trip to Ghana (I'd love you to be my personal guide !). In case there is no information, I have to postpone my trip for possibly a long time, due to business appointments. I hope to hear from you soon. All yours, Jack Breda FRED BARRISTER Dear Jack, I was so pissed off this morning that I nearly threw caution to the wind. I discovered that these people were deliberately sitting on the file, and going about their normal duties. I had wondered why they ignored me since we finished the initial application,documentation and defence. They were either to contact you or to call me in for more interview. They did not do that. I stayed away to give them room to do their job, but they sat back on their asses and made no move. I went to the Manager today and threatened to sue their asses to hell. We had a very hot altercation, and I did not like it, but it was inevitable. Please do not reschedule yet. We have to finish with one before you go into another project. This one is almost over. And I am very anxious to get it over with and get busy with other things. I expect some positive moves from them today, and I hope you will inform me promptly. Best regards Fred. JACK BREDA Hi Fred, sorry to hear that things are not proceeding as expected. They have not sent me any information so I have cancelled my reservation for the flight, because I understand that you now have to wait for another project. Well, in case I can do anything for your in the future, just let me know. I was quite lucky because I got an email from Mr Emanuel Savimbi from Ivory Coast, who offered me a great business opportunity. Today I sent him some money by Western Union and he promised me to send me a certificate next week! This will keep me busy the next couple of weeks. Well, again I hope to hear from you once again and good luck with your projects! All the best, Jack Breda He replied within the hour ;-) FRED BARRISTER Dear Jack, Please do not reschedule your flight yet. Let us book a date with the Finance House between thursday and friday next week. This project cannot be rescheduled. If we do, it will die. The business you have in Abidjan is as good as this very one. Please do not disappoint me. I am counting on your friendship and understanding. Fred. JACK BREDA Dear Fred, first you told me I had to wait for information from the Finance House. Nothing happened. Then you told me that the project was over Now you tell me the project is still on. I am lost. You seem not capable of communicating very clearly, Fred. Please send me the proper information and requirements before Sunday end of the day. I am not sure whether or not I can reschedule my flight.. Looking forward for your clear response. Jack Breda FRED BARRISTER Dear Jack, Please let us not create room for misunderstanding between us. I know that the delay in hearing from the Finance House is causing a lot of inconvenience for you. But I must let you know that that such is expected from them. My reason is that we pulled the carpet from under their feet and they resorted to delay tactic and dilly dallying just to frustrate us. We cannot allow them to frustrate us. They almost succeeded when I had that hot exchange with the Manager. But I had to make things aright by claiming that I was under instruction from my client(you) to find out why the delay. The explanation they gave was that they needed to ensure that.."all reasonable doubts were eliminated, to avert misappropriation...' This is the official position and it is justifiable. I did not contest it, because it would have looked suspicious if I had to put undue pressure on them to approve payment when they claimed they were still conducting their verification. But now, they have concluded. I was reliably informed by a contact person in the Finance House that tehy have concluded and will definitely contact you by friday, if they have not already done so. As a matter of fact, my contact person claimed that he was sure a mail had been dispatched to you. Let us assume that there was a network problem, and that they will definitely reach you tomorrow. It is not my place to say what the requirements are. The Finance House will be the ones to say exactly what their requirements are. By tomorrow, all these things will be made clear. Please be a little more patient. We have practically come to end of the transaction. I guess wat you claimed I said was this line in my mail of Friday, October 14th,"... We have to finish with one before you go into another project. This one is almost over. And I am very anxious to get it over with and get busy with other things. By this statement, what I meant was that we have almost concluded the transaction, and that what is left is for us to get the money released to us, that's all. I urge you to please make effort and reschedule your flight. I am strongly persuaded that the meeting will likely be in the middle of the week,most probably on wednesdayor thursday. Hope to see you then. Best regards. Fred. JACK BREDA Fred, instead of spending hours on writing elaborate emails to me, I'd prefer more concrete action from you. Allow me to take over from here and give you my requirements: 1. I need the exact information from the Finance House by Monday end of business day. No information = no deal. 2. Secondly, I need detailed information about my trip to Senegal i.e. name of airport, arrival date, length of my trip, people to visit, hotel information and last but not least the confirmation that you will meet me at the airport. 3. Details about the actions we have to perform while in Senegal. It will be very difficult for me to reschedule my agenda. I will only consider doing so, in case I receive answers to all 3 issues I just mentioned. Please stop writing long emails to me and behave like a real business man. Jack Breda Oops, I mentioned Senegal instead of Ghana. I got confused, due to my other email thread with a nice lady from Senegal who is offering me 5 million dollars. Or was it 15 million? Whatever. FRED BARRISTER Dear Jack, You are actually becoming more combative of recent. I am not a businessman, and yoou know it. I am a lawyer. They say we talk too much. Maybe you are right. I had no intention of boring you. I went to the Finance House again this morning and they claimed to have contacted you. You claim otherwise. I do not know who to believe. I requested for a copy of their correspondence but they refused. I will still go back to them today and see how to get it from the secretary. I have NEVER said anything about SENEGAL. Where did you hear about Senegal. And who invited you to Senegal? Last week you were talking about your friend Savimbi from Ivory Coast, now it is Senegal? Our rendez-vous is in Ghana. The name of the Finance House is Millenium Trust Securities and Finance, Ghana. The name of the Airport is KOTOKA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, ACCRA, GHANA. It will be glad you arrive here between wednesday and thursday. I can only confirm your appointment and the days you can spend when the finance house must have contacted you. But in my opinion, we will not spend more that two days, A day for the normal formalities and the second day for conclusion and taking possession of the money, and giving instruction for the remittance into your account. I will meet you at the Airport. You will stay in my friend's Guest House or we book a hotel if you prefer. I have given asnwers to the questions under my control. I cannot answer for the Finance House, but I will make more effort again before the end of the day if they did not contact you. Best regards. Fred. Email received from the Finance House: KOFI ANDERSON, FINANCE-LAD Dear sir, Be informed that your payment application has been satisfactorily verified and approved forimmediate release.We could not complete the verification on time because of undue interference in the procedure by your legal representative. To enable us finalize the payment release documents,you are advised to provide the following: your current contact information(your address,telephone,fax numbers),a valid national identity or international passport, and the sum of $24,600,representing the processing fee and handling charges. You are requested to make yourself available in the office of the General Manager,on or before friday,the 21st of October, 2005, for the endorsement of the Fund Release Documents and to take custody of your funds. You will notify this office of your arrival date and schedule an appointment with the Remittance Officer. We commend your patience and understanding, as we reaffirm our commitment towards serving your interests at all times. For more clarification,you can reach the General Manager on telephone number +233 244 569139. Do not hesitate to confirm the receipt of this message immediately. Yours truly, Kofi Anderson General Manager Millennium Trust Securities and Finance. JACK BREDA Dear Fred Wow, this was a hectic day!! But to start with the good news: everything seem to have been settled. First of all: apologies for confusing you with Senegal. After my trip to Ghana I have to go to Senegal, so I just mixed things up. I have received detailed information from the Finance House (finally! And they blamed you for the delay!!!), so it seems that on your side everything has been taken care of too. Their email has been copied into this email Today I called the travel agency several times to make sure that my reservation was confirmed. Only half an hour ago I got the email that everything was final. This means that I will be arriving on Accra Kotoka Airport on Thursday 20, on 4.45 AM. Please make sure that you meet me at the gate. Since I consider this transaction as confidential, please do not hold up a sign with my name on it. Please hold up a big sign (at least 40 by 60 cm), totally blank. As soon as I see someone with a big card with nothing on it, I will know it is you and I will make myself present to you. To be honest, I am a bit nervous to make the flight and do this transaction, so please understand my desire for well defined procedures. Tomorrow I will visit my bank to withdraw US$ 30,000 which I presume should be enough to cover the fees and the expenses. Thanks for your offer to stay at your friends guest house but I'd rather stay in a hotel. I am sure you can recommend me a good hotel. Fred, don't forget to confirm everything that I mentioned in this email. That will reassure me and it will take away the need of cancelling the whole trip. Best regards Jack That would be nice: to see a man waiting at the airport very early in the morning with a totally empty piece of paper in his hands..... FRED BARRISTER Dear Jack, I am glad to hear you finally sing a new song. But it is a shame that the Finance House felt they could pass over the blame of their inefficiency and negligence to me, as a way of rubishing my image before my client. I won't be surprised if they siddle to you when you arrive, as a way of eliciting favours from you and to be in your good book. I am glad you were able to confirm your flight for thursday. I will be at the Airport to receive you. Do not be afraid because it is your first trip. it may not be the last once we get to establish this rapport between us. We will be opportuned to exchange visits from time to time. I hope you will be coming with a special gift for me, possibly a good quality watch and a mobile handset? These things are valued here. It will not be out of place to get something to appease or lobby the internationall Remittance Officer or the General Manager, as a form of appreciation. It will push them to do things for us. We are in the third world country. Any gift from abroad is considered special, and a gesture of good will. I will appreciate it. In return, we will share some rare moments of African Hospitality. My friend's guest House would have been fine, but since youo prefer a hotel, we have some good five star Hotels that will suit you. I will make reservations for you. Please inform me of the Airline you will be flying in, and the schedule. I wish you a safe flight, and hope to see you on thursday. Best regards. Fred. JACK BREDA Dear Fred, I have been very busy today to make arrangements for my trip to Ghana. I am a bit tired but also excited. I collected $ 30,000 from my bank account, so I think I can handle the guys from the Finance House!!!. But please be aware that I will only pay the charges AFTER I have received a written confirmation that the fund will be transferred to my personal bank account. I don't take any risks!! You asked for presents.....well, it is a bit, how do I say that,.....not done, to ASK for presents. Well, I will blame that on the fact that you are from the African continent where habits and customs are different from the civilized western world. Anyway, I will see what I can do for you. Do you have 230 voltage in Ghana or 110V? Do you have electricity at all everywhere? KLM 767 will fly me to Paris first and then connect to Accra. Scheduled arrival time is 4:45 in the morning. Please do confirm that you will hold a BIG BLANC sign. I will ignore everybody without such a sign. Please wear a pink T-shirt and pink shorts for easy recognition. Please tell me if there are any other things I should bring with me. I will bring my lap top to connect to the internet. I am looking forward to finalising this splendid transaction. Just a little favour..........do you think that when we have concluded the deal, we can celebrate it? And I mean mature, over 18, XXX, celebration with some beautiful black princesses from the African jungle? All the best Jack FRED BARRISTER Dear Jack, Thanks for you response .If i have offended you by asking for a present, please i apologise. Well is our orientation here. We cherish exchanging gifts a lot, it shows good friendship and love . I don,t know how you people see it over there in the western world. I will be waiting for you at the airport with a big blanc card. No problems for that. Your scheduled and flight noted. The power voltage is 220 but if you have any appliance with 230 or 110 voltage i can get you a step down or step up to meet your convinence. About our queens here you don,t have any problem, their will be enough ladies for you to make choice.You have nothing to worry about, i will make your stay in Ghana a thing of joy and happiness and i promise you after this trip you will always want to visit Ghana for holidays. After the transaction we will have reason to celebrate to the fulliest, Your happiness is my concern. Best regards, Fred Note the laste line: You happiness is my concern....well Fred, don't worry, I am really happy. Making a fool of you. JACK BREDA Thanks Fred, I am sure everything will work out fine. I hope I can send you an email tomorrow from the airport. I am looking forward to meeting you at the gate on Thursday morning. Regards, Jack Well, I am not so sure we will be meeting...... FRED BARRISTER Dear Jack, Thanks for your mail. I be waiting for you at the airport gate. Best regards, Fred JACK BREDA Dear Fred, I am now at the airport and will soon be boarding for Paris / Accra. This email is just a try out to see whether or not my satellite email connection is working properly and that seems to be the case. I also did some shopping and I bought you some nice presents. I am sure you will like them. See you tomorrow morning!! regards Jack FRED BARRISTER Dear JAck, I have been worried sick since morning, waiting for you at athe Airport, only to confirm that the only KLM Flight from Paris is an evening Flight. Please confirm your present location. If you had a change of flight arrangement please inform me. At the same time, I would want you to write to the Finance House if you have not done so. I expect your urgent response. Regards, Fred. So, this was the first time he had to get up real early, dress up in a pink T-shirt and pink shorts and waited for a few hours at the airport with a white piece of paper. What do you mean 419 fraudsters are not funny?? JACK BREDA Dear Fred, I am very sorry to inform you that I had terrible problems with my flight. The connection between Amsterdam and Paris was without any problems. In Paris however, we had a delay for several hours due to technical problems. Then we finally took off, but after about 1.5 hours the captain announced that he had to return to Paris. Again due to technical failures of the plane. We all had to go back to the arrival hall. Since my PC was in my luggage, I could not email you any earlier. We now just got our luggage back. Everyone is now trying to transfer to another flight, but as you can imagine capacity on the flights is limited. As soon as I know more about rescheduling my flight to Accra, I will let you know. Please be so kind to inform the Finance House about my delay. Apologies for the inconvenience. Jack Breda this email was sent through the wireless internet gate at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris -- www.charlesdegaulle.fr -- << I guess the reference to the Charles de Gaulle airport will convince him I am actually in Paris...... JACK BREDA Dear Fred, good news finally. I managed to reschedule my flight. Tonight I will get a new ticket for my flight to Accra. I have to reconnect half-way in Africa and I don't know which carrier, but my arrival time will be between 4.00 AM and 6:00 AM Friday morning. I am a bit tired of hanging around at the airport, but I am glad I am gonna make it anyway! I spent some extra money on presents for you. Hopefully that will compensate the extra day of delay. Please confirm that you will be meeting me tomorrow morning at the Accra airport. See you tomorrow! Jack Breda this email was sent through the wireless internet gate at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris -- www.charlesdegaulle.fr -- << FRED BARRISTER Dear Jack, i am sure you have had a very rough day. Accept my sympathy. We know that good things don't come easy. It usually gets tough in order to get better. Between 4.am and ^ am, I will pick you up at the arrival gate and take youo to the hotel. I have taken some security measures to ensure than there will be no problems or inconveniences for you at teh immigration office at the Airport. There are too many touts and unpleasant characters who will be ready to molest you once they see you are a foreigner, and that you are new in town. I will not want any one to annoy you. I will appreciate and cherish any gift from you, as long as it comes from your heart. I have informed the finance House that your flight had technical hitches, and that you could not arrive as scheduled this morning. I had no idea you did not send your flight schedule to them. They said you only informed them that youon had received their letter, but that you did not specify the date of your arrival, and had been expecting the confirmation since tuesday. I will see you soon. May God protect you and lead you to Accra in peace. Fred. FRED BARRISTER Dear Jack, Please be very careful about your luggage. Do not allow any body to help youo carry it for you. You may never know what next step the person may take. And hold yoou luggage fast. I will detail a Police personnel to protect youo to avoid snatching of your luggage at teh Airport. Regards. Fred. JACK BREDA Dear Fred, Thanks for your email. I am still in Paris, but I guess I can collect my ticket in about an hour and I will be leaving for Accra shortly after that. I am a bit worried about your emails. Do you really think this protection is necessary? And of course, I will take care of my luggage, but is it really so unsafe in Ghana?? Well, please make sure that you wait for me with the big, blanc paper. Please don't forget to wear a pink T-shirt and pink shorts so that it is even easier for me to recognize you at the gate. After your last email I think we could not be careful enough and I don't want to approach someone who is accidentally holding some white paper. See you tomorrow morning. Jack Breda this email was sent through the wireless internet gate at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris -- www.charlesdegaulle.fr -- << FRED BARRISTER Dear Jack, Thanks for your mail and informations on you arival. Ghana is safe, their is no problem.Its my duty to give you maximun security all through your stay here, so no problems for that.Please what is the name of the air line you are flying with? I will be waitng for you at the airport. On your landing/arival at Kotoka airport, please call me on this cell phone number:233-244-56-9139 if you are call from outside Ghana,but inside Ghana call 324-456-9139.Iwill be waiting for you. Regards, Fred FRED BARRISTER Dear Jack, I have ben waiting at the Airport since 4.30 am. I asked you to confirm your Airline and you did not. How am I supposed to know when you arrive? There are too many Aircrafts from different Airlines coming in from france and other places. How do I know which you are boarding? Please call me on the number I gave to you or send a mail quickly. You gave your laptop with you and it has satellite connection. youo should be able to call me from anywhere. Please call or send a quick mail. Concerning your safety, there is no problem.Ghana is safe. Its my duty to give you maximun security all through your stay here . Please what is the name of the air line you are flying with? Please call me on this cell phone number:233-244-56-9139 if you are still outside outside Ghana,but if you are already at the Airport in Ghana call 324-456-9139 from your phone or ask anybody around where you can make a local call there at the airport.I am still waiting for you here at the Airport. Regards, Fred And this was the second time..... JACK BREDA Fred, I am really worried now. I arrived at Accra airport this morning at about 6.30 (we had some delay again) and you weren't there! I looked for a man in pink shorts and a pink T-shirt with a blanc piece of paper, but nobody was there who met these requirements. Where were you?? I was approached by other people who offered me all kind of services, but I managed to get away. However I am afraid someone followed me to the hotel where I am now. I have locked my hotel room, but I think people are outside waiting for me. Please respond. I will try to get some sleep now, but I will check my email later. Luckily this hotel room has a vault with a number lock, so my money and presents are safe. I suggest that we meet somewhere in Accra later today, but I want to be absolutely sure that I don't speak to the wrong person. I will think about a safe place to meet, but please send me an email to confirm that you will be able to meet me later today. Please also inform the Finance House. Regards, Jack FRED BARRISTER Dear Jack, I was at the airport to wait for you but not sure the particular airline you came in with. Please tell me the name of the hotel you are staying and you room number. I will come immediately to take you to the hotel where you will stay. please do not talk to anybody till you see me and do not tell anybody your mission till you see me. Fred FRED BARRISTER Dear Jack, You can call me on this number asap.24-456-9139.am waiting for your mail and call. Regards, Fred JACK BREDA Dear Fred, this morning I slept some time and I also travelled around in Accra. It was not a nice experience that people kept approaching me. One of the men told me that he was the man I was waiting for. First I thought it was you, but that turned out not to be the case. I don't know who I can trust anymore. At this moment I do not want to give you the name of my hotel, but here is my plan: Tonight between 8:00 and 9:00 PM you go to the Labadi Beach Hotel. Please wear only black and white cloths. In this hotel there is a restaurant called The Restorante Primavera. I want you to reserve a table for two and order two VSOP French Cognacs and two Davidoff cigars. This morning I have asked the waiter on duty to warn me as soon as someone is making this order. As soon as the waiter has warned me, I will come to your table to introduce myself. This is the best plan I can think of to make sure that I meet the right person. Be aware that the Labadi Hotel is not the place where I am staying. I am not sure whether or not I will be able to check my email this afternoon, so please follow my instructions. By the way, I made inquiries about the Finance House, but nobody seems to know what I was talking about. Please explain this to me tonight. regards, Jack I am sure a 419 fraudster is capable of going to the most expensive hotel of Accra and paying for French cognac and Davidoff cigars.. JACK BREDA Fred, I just called the number you gave me, but the telephone was answered by a person who refused to confirm his name. He only said 'hello' , 'hello'. So I did not discuss any details with him and just said he had to check his email. Why didn't you give me your personal number??? Anyway, I decided to make no more calls !! I see you tonight between 8 and 9. Jack FRED BARRISTER Dear Jcck, I have never been more dismayed in all my life. What kind of arrangement is this that has made me carry my heart in my mouth for the past two days? Please I do not want this to continue. Make sure that you meet me tonight. I have had enough fright already, thinking that something sinister had happened to you. I will be at the Hotel at the specified time, and I will order the cognac. I warned you before hand about security. Please be very conscious of it. No matter who approaches you, do not respond or accompany the person except he mentions this code" '3615", apart from ordering the cognac and cigar. I will explain things better when we meet. And please the number I gave you was my mobile telephone. I was charging it when you called and my cousin answered for me. Please be at alert. Fred. JACK BREDA Fred, I am almost desperate!! Why didn't you stick to the procedures I asked for?? They were not that difficult, right?? I was in the restaurant of the Labadi Beach Hotel at 7:00 tonight to discuss the procedures with the waiters. I also gave them US$50 tip to make sure they would be alert. Sometime between 8 and 9 o'clock they told me that a man asked something about cognac and cigars. However, he did not explicitly ask for VSOP cognac nor for Davidoff cigars. This man was also not wearing only black and white cloths, according to the waiter. The waiter also told me that this man was making inquiries about someone he was supposed to meet in the Restaurant. Because my email was very clear, I could not believe this was you. I waited till 9:00 o'clock but nobody showed up who followed the exact procedures. I can't believe it was you tonight, or am I wrong?? Sigh, Fred, why are you making life so difficult for me?? Why can't I trust you and why don't you just do what I asked you? You should be aware of the fact that I travelled thousands of miles, missed a lot of sleep, walking around through a big, strange, hot city and seeing lots of people who I don't trust. That might be okay for a simple tourist, but I have 30,000 dollars on cash and some valuable presents with me!! I will be spending the rest of the evening alongside the pool or in the bar of my hotel and I will think about a fool-proof plan for tomorrow to make sure that we can finally meet. I will email you tomorrow. I have not come all the way to Ghana just to give up, because you could not follow some simple guidelines! Have a good night! Jack Breda This email was sent by the hotel email connection *** Novotel Accra City Hotel *** Gee, suddenly a reference to my hotel appeared at the bottom of my email. How could I know that this should happen.? JACK BREDA Fred, please respond to my last email. I do want to meet you this afternoon. Last night I met a nice gentleman in the hotel who seems to be able to offer me some good business opportunities. However, I first want to discuss with you how we can proceed our deal. I still do not feel really safe and I am glad that I did not use my own name when checking in in this hotel. Please reply and we can meet today. Jack Breda This email was sent by the hotel email connection *** Novotel Accra City Hotel *** ... It is the longest email in this story, but undoubtedly the best... FRED BARRISTER Jack, I have had enough of your running me and trying to ruin my life and my project. I did not involve you in this transaction so that you turn me around your fingers and go behind me to the authorities of the Finance House and run away. No Jack. I am not your fool. (is it okay if we disagree on that?) First, you purposely made your person elusive to me from the Airport in Paris. You said you were taking a KLM flight to arrive in the morning between 4am-6am. There was no KLM flight to arrive at Kotoka Airport at that hour. Why the prevarication? You asked me to wear a pink short and a pink shirt, me, a lawyer, walking around in an International Airport Arrival lobby in a pink short and a pink shirt, a man of my age? What do you take me for? Yet, I managed to get things done, and you did not appear? Why? Because according to you, your plane developped technical faults and you had to transload. You refused to tell me the Airline you were flying into Accra in, you just told me the time. And you came in and ran into a hotel, and you could not tell me what the name of the Hotel is nor your room number. I still endured that humiliation and apparent distrust. Again, you asked me to come to the Labardi Hotel, Restaurante Primevera, and order for two VSOP FRENCH COGNAC, AND TWO DAVIDOFF CIGAR. And that you had discussed with the Waiter. Therefore it is assumed that if I come and order for these items, the waiter with whom you had discussed earlier on will understand that I was the one, and he would come and alert you, as you had already arranged. then you changed the format again to read that I should come to the LABARDI HOTEL, RESTAURANT PRIMEVERA, IN BLACK AND WHITE ONLY, ORDER FOR TWO VSOP FRENCH COGNAC,AND TWO DAVIDOFF CIGAR, PAY FOR THEM, and that is the only time you will come out to introduce your self to me. Bizarre as it sounds, I swallowed my objection and even humoured you by even renforcing you sense of security by adding another detail to this mafiosi coded identification by telling you that upon identification, I will say 3615, which every person who has passed the street of paris or travelled through Charles De Gaulle Airport would know. You rejected it outright with so much insistence that I questioned myself on what could be responsible for this almost paranoid sense of secrecy. I could not necessarily be on obsession for personal security and protection of the business. There could be something behind it. Yet, I followed your instruction. It did not matter to you that I had confirmed to you that your security was my absolute responsibility, and that I had taken adequate measures to protect you. I even alerted you to be careful about your luggage and interraction with anyone whatsoever when you expressed your fears that someone may have followed you. I came to the Labardi Hotel, went to the Primevera restaurant, met the waiters and ordered for two VSOP FRENCH COGNAC, AND TWO DAVIDOFF CIGAR. I was dressed in a black trouser and a white shirt. I wore my reading glasses. I wore a pair of black shoes. I had a jacket on. I removed the jacket as soon as I got into the restaurant, sat down and placed my order. Any persdon watching would identify me easily. The waiter repeated my order for clarification. He then said they do not have Davidoff Cigar, but they have cognac. I was worried but I kept calm. I asked myself that if you had already discussed with the waiter and had paid for the items like you just claimed in this mail, then why would they say they have VSAOP FRENCH COGNAC BUT NO DAVIDOFF CIGAR. I asked the young man if he was the only waiter around, he said his colleague was at the back. I asked him to go get him. He went, and I enquired if both of them were the only waiters on duty on that day, and they answered in the affirmative. I ordered for the same again in his presence, and he repeated the same thing his other colleague had said. I asked him to bring the cognac. Then I sat back and started waiting. After about fifteen minutes, the elderly black couple sitting close to the entrance left, and I was completely alone.If you were somewhere watching, you would have seen a short man and a big buxom fair complexioned african woman. I waited. Another ten minutes, you were no where to be found. I stepped outside, glancing every where discreetly for some one who resembles you. I saw a young man in jean and polo T-shirt, a laptop and two books(like novels)on his table, seating backing the glass partition, young, about 28-31 years, caucasian with his hair pulled back. I even walked into the other restaurants and all I saw were white men and women. I was particularly distinct. there were a couple of other black men, and of course the security I came with, to ensure no harm to comes to you. (he came with security, to ensure no harm would come to me...yeah right) Obviously you remarked me. But you deliberately refused to identify yourself to me. Very curious. I left the hotel, went to the Reception and asked if there could be any other Hotel with the same restaurant name, and she smiled and said no. I had to go back to Restaurant Primevera again and asked them if any man had asked of Fred. Both of them said no, and I left with a heavy heart. I called the Manager of the Fiance House and he berated me for keeping them on standby and fumed that he had kept his director informed that were to meet due to the number of days I had told him you would stay. He had no idea why I called him. My intention was to ask him if he thought that collaborating with my client and blanking me out was the best professional thing to do by a man in his position. I had no idea they two were not aware of your schemes. Then it occured to me you could be rooting for trouble. You were explicit in where you were not staying. Now, you are showing a pointer to Novotel Hotel Accra Ghana, so that I will go there and look for you? No, my friend, I will do no such thing. You will allow me to run this deal or you may go back to your country. Senegal is waiting for you. You wanted to go there before. You can go now or you may even join those men who have been following you, and have been offering you one deal or the other. Go ahead. Enjoy your show. But be smart enough to look behind your shoulders. If you are serious and you know what you came all the way from Netherland to do here, then you must let me lead you to our mutual destination. This is my country and I run things here. You can't come all the way from there and jump inot a hotel and be callinmg the shots like you were some mafiosi godfahter from Venice. By the way, why did you swithc the phone to answering machine after I left the hotel last night? You saw me didn't you? And you pretended you did not see me, and you were laughing at my back? And you want to have me scurring helter skelter when next you blow your whistle? I want you to tell me where you are. Go now and buy a mobile chip. Give me the number. I will call you and you and I can talk. I will tell you where we can meet for a meeting and map out plan on how to proceed. Today is saturday. Tomorrow is sunday, We ought to have cleared all things and should have been ready to order the retransfer though our own account or make alternative arrangements. Will you follow my lead ? Fred. JACK BREDA Fred, it seems that our relationship is not as good as it used to be. You accused me of several things, which are all based upon misunderstandings. I never told you that I was on an KLM flight to Accra. I told you that I had a KLM flight to Paris! I was not able to give you the name of the airline I had to transfer to because of the technical problems. I am absolutely sure that I have not seen you at the gate waiting for me. I.e. no one was there with a big blanc paper. I am bit confused about the hotel last night. I was waiting in a separate room and the waiter told me the things I already mentioned in my email. He never told me that he ran out of Davidoff cigars. I think we have to blame this on the inexperienced waiters. I am really surprised how you know that I am staying in the Novotel? You must have been able to trace my email someway. Anyway, I think we should go on with the business. I am a bit more relaxed now as compared to my first days in Accra and I feel more at ease. There is no need to buy a cell phone, because my plan is very easy: wait for me on the steps of the Holy Trinity Cathedral between 3 and 4 o'clock this afternoon. I am sorry I asked you to appear in pink last time. I didn't realise this was an unusual dress code for you. This time I ask you to dress as a typical lawyer: black or grey suit, vest, tie, black shoes and business brief case. I am sure this time we are going to meet each other, Fred. See you in a few hours time ! Jack Breda This email was sent by the hotel email connection *** Novotel Accra City Hotel *** FRED BARRISTER Jack, I will meet you. But I must speak with you first on the phone. I will call you. You will give me a number or your number and tell me how to call it. I can call you anytime.before the appointment. Where is Holy Trinity Cathedral? And how did you come to know about it? I have no idea whether you are in Novotel or not. I did not trace you there, and I do not have any need to. I am too busy to play your cat and mouse(Tom & Jerry) capper. The address of the centre of emission of the mail was indicated under the mail. See you later, Fred. JACK BREDA Fred, The Holy Trinity Cathedral is at High Street, in the south of Accra close to the sea. I passed this cathedral last night. Please be there between 3 and 4. I am not going to call you. The last time I called you some one else answered the phone and I don't like the way you can trace my emails. You might be able to trace my phone as well. Just dress as a lawyer and come to the cathedral. I am leaving the hotel now and will not be able to check my email before we meet. Jack This email was sent by the hotel email connection *** Novotel Accra City Hotel *** Thank you internet, for offering me detailed maps of Accra. FRED BARRISTER Jack, I will be at the Holy trinity Cathedral, but not between 3-4, rather I will be there by 6pm. I will not dress like a lawyer. I will dress in a native African Attire. I will not carry a Portfolio or a brief case. I will wear an ash coloured native african suit. This is the weekend. You want me to be conspicuous, and yet you are over anxious over security. You forgot you called me yesterday with your line. If tracing you was possible or even necessary, why have I not done it till now? I did not trace your email, I merely commented on the deliberate trail of diversion which you left for me to follow. it was a very obvious ploy, like the Charles De Gaulle Airport email emission ? Jack, whatever it is you are hidding under your sleeves, I do not know. I am your lawyer, I invited you. I did not invite you to kill you. If your mind is not strong enough for such a deal, then why are you here? You were afraid of their tracing your line while you were in your country. Because of this, there was serious communication break down. Now you are here, with our laptop and a sattelite phone. Yet you cannot be called. You do not wish us to discuss and harmonise things. You want me to go sculking and scurring from one venue to the other for clandestine appointments. No Jack. You will give me your number, and I must call and discuss with you before I go anywhere to meet you. if you do not accept, then you are free to leave for your country. I feel you are setting me up for something else. Your motives are obvioous. But the Finance House will never release the money to you, no matter the lobbying you do behind my back. If they have told you that I had any bad intention and because of that you are planning on going behind me to negotiate on collecting the money and running off, I can assure you that it will not work. You will do things my way or not at all. Fred. JACK BREDA Fred, I just returned from the Cathedral and once again you did not follow my simple request. I don't know what game you are playing with me, but I always thought you were a clever man. Apparently you are not, because you can not even come to a simple spot, like a cathedral. I will now go and have dinner. If you like you can come back to the cathedral tomorrow morning between 7 AM and 8 AM. Please confirm and don't come up with other requirements. Jack FRED BARRISTER Dear Jack, I received your mail. But I found out from your mail that you are joking with me. All the appointments you gave, you never fulfilled any. Now, I want you to meet me at the LANDING RESTAURANT AT THE AIRPORT, TOMORROW, at 10 am. Make sure you are there. No games this time. As soon as you get there, call me on the phone on my number, 0244569139. This is how we will properly identify each other. I told you that in the afternoon, but you did not pay attention. I will not entertain any argument from you concerning this instruction. If you do not keep the appointment tomorrow, then I am cancelling everything, and you might as well start going home. I do not expect you to write any other rejoinder or raise any more objections to this. I expect strict compliance. Failure to do so, you just schemed yourself out of the deal. Regards. Fred. I sent him another email from another account, just ignoring his last one: JACK BREDA Fred, I am now in an internet cafe and I just opened a temporary email account. I left the hotel this afternoon and I will probably not be able to check my email before tomorrow morning. I just want to make sure that you and I meet Sunday morning between 7 and 8 AM at the Holy Trinity Cathedral. Please be there, so that we can finish out business. In case you don't show up again I will be leaving Accra tomorrow night. So it is really our last chance. I am now going to enjoy Accra's night life ! See you tomorrow Jack PS Please do not respond to this email address since I won't be able to read it anymore. FRED BARRISTER Jack, Let me repeat myself for the avoidance of doubt> I will not be at the Trinity Cathedral. I will meet you at the AIRPORT LANDING RESTAURANT, TOMORROW AT 10 AM. If you actually came for this business ansd you know you came to see me, then you will do as I said and meet me at the stipulated time tomorrow. Failure to do so, then you can wave yourself good bye. Fred. JACK BREDA Fred, I don't believe this. Yesterday I sent you an email in which I suggested to meet between 7 and 8 this morning at the Holy Trinity Cathedral. I told you that I was not in the position to check my email anymore that day. Last night I repeated my mail from an internet cafe. This morning you were not at the Cathedral. It was only a couple of minutes ago that I noticed that you not only sent me an email but that you also changed the time and place to meet!! How could you do this? You knew that I was not in the position to read my emails, so I am sure you have done this on purpose. How can you expect that I am in the Landing Restaurant?? There is more and more doubt in my heart whether or not I can trust you, Fred. You never stick to the procedures we agreed upon, you don't show up, you change place and time. What is it that you want from me?? Fred, yesterday I had to cancel my trip to Senegal. That means that I take the 9.25 KLM flight to Amsterdam tonight. If you insist we can meet before I leave at the airport. I still think your business proposal is attractive and I still have 30,000 us dollars on me. In case you do want to meet me at the airport, please note that I will ONLY pay the money to you, if you sign an official document stating the details of the transaction. It is up to you now. Jack JACK BREDA Hello Fred, I am back home. No delay or technical problems this time. Although our business appointment has not come to a satisfactory end, I still had a good time in Accra. It is a nice, crowded city and I loved strolling around. I still feel a bit worried that I have not heard from you over the last couple of days. Would you be so kind to accept my gifts? I am more then happy to send them to you. I look forward to your reply. Best regards Jack Breda FRED BARRISTER hello JAck, I still need to hear from you. No hard feelings. It was fun while it lasted. But you had me. I loved that challenge. Lets be friends, okay? fred. JACK BREDA Hello Fred, I did not 'have' you. It was just a sequence of misunderstandings. It is okay to be friends. Would you still accept my gifts? Best regards, Jack Breda He did not reply anymore, so it was time for the last email... JACK BREDA Hello Fred, it has been a few days ago since I heard anything from you. I guess you stopped emailing me. I can understand that. So I am going to write you one more email. Sit back, relax and enjoy the ride.... A few weeks ago you sent me an email asking assistance in a financial matter. I could earn a few million dollars. From moment one I knew you were a scammer. 419 Advanced Fee Fraud to be precise. No one would ever believe that it was that easy to earn so much money. Of course there was a possibility just to ignore you. But that is no fun. And I wanted to make fun. So I replied..... You were so happy that I answered your emails and that I told you that I was interested. I even kept sending emails after you told me that I had to pay $ 24,000. I decided it would be nice to come to Accra. Well, actually I mean that its was nice that I TOLD you that I would come to Accra. I never did of course. Thinking about you waiting for me at 4 o'clock in the morning in a pink T-shirt and pink shorts, holding a white piece of paper made me laugh. Man, me and my friends and relatives, who shared our emails, had a lot of fun. Even more, when my plane had problems (yeah, right...) so that you had to come back the next day. Early in the morning again, of course. Then I made you run around in Accra. You went to the Labadi Beach hotel to order expensive cognac and cigars. How much did you have to pay for the drinks, Fred? A lot, I am sure about that. On October 18, you wrote to me: "your happiness is my concern" . Well Fred, you made me happy. I am extremely happy when I can make fraudsters run around in Accra, thinking that they can get their hands on 30,000 dollars. I am sure you also went to the Novotel hotel, because of the little hint at the bottom of my email. But there, was no Jack Breda in the hotel.... You also went to the Trinity Cathedral......but again no Jack. That can be explained easily: Jack was not in Accra, nor in Ghana, not even in Africa. Jack was at home, drinking a cold beer and having fun with his friends about making you do what we wanted you to do. You are so funny, Fred. Also stupid, but especially funny. But Fred, so far for the fun.......trying to steal other peoples money is a serious matter. And I don't think you should come away with it. So I forwarded all your emails, including the headers, to the Ghana Police Authorities, to the FBI and to Interpol. They were very happy with the email addresses and even more with your telephone numbers, like 324-456-9139. Most likely you will be arrested in the next couple of weeks, Fred. I assume your email address will be blocked soon. That will be the first step........ I am also going to publish all our emails on a website where similar stories are posted. That means that thousands of people all over the world can read how much fun we had. Well, I had the fun and you will get arrested. But that again, is something a lot of people like to happen..... Thanks Fred, and when in jail, think of me once and again. Your happiness is not my concern. Jack Breda PS....there might be a chance that other people who are currently replying to your emails are not the people you think they are......... I did not expect an answer, but Fred replied. In a certain way he is honest about his loss. He is even sharing some political thoughts with me. FRED BARRISTER Hello Jack, You were very much right. I was caught napping. it was silly of me not to have caught the joke on time. You had your fun, but I really would have needed that money, for real, that temptation was real immense. But then, I can only wipe my disappointment, and hope to catch a bigger fish who will fall prey to my scheme. Forget all threat about FBI, Interpol etc. No shit. You don;t catch a shadow, do you? Fred Asuquo does not exist. It was all a ruse. the phone lines are just P.A.G mobile phones from private telephone providers. The government has no control over their activities. Besides, you do not pick them up with genuine particulars. Save your breath then, and savour the fun so far. I lost some money, and had some real excitement. Frankly, if I had read your mail on thursday before your phantom trip, I would have known you made a jest of yourself. The pink shorts, pink shirt and the blank white placard was a complete give away. That was why I did not do it. I went to the Labardi, and to the Cathedral. But I did not go to NOvotel, even though you pointed in that direction. I knew you were flying a kite. It is a psychological thing, you know, and I am not so completely bereft of intelligence. I confess that even when it became obvious that you were faking all these, some of my colleagues in the scam refused to read between the lines. Blinded by the greed for the $30,000, nothing else mattered, even though if it had been a trap, I would have been caught red handed. But then, it would have ended up bad for you too. You were coming in (if you had actually come in) as an accomplice, an accessory after the fact of crime. You would be as guilty as the scammer himself. Tell your fellow whites that the reparation due to Africa for 300 years of rape and violation will be paid in full either by hook or by crook, from this generation or the next. And unless the white man confesses and takes a positive proactive action for restitution, he can never be free. This is the idealogy of the scammers. Would you want to know how Europe and America underdeveloped Africa? Would you want to know more about the perenial debt burden of the third world countries and the refusal of the so called Industrialised Nations to accept debt repayments intead of insisting on debt servicing? What do you call this? A scam of international scale or is it international politricks? Jack, I did not ask for your friendship to scam you. I saw a challenge in the astutue way you habdled your part of the fun. I was impressed. I do not get easily caught off guard. But I confess yoou really had me. I like that intelligence in a man. We may meet on a different and possibly equal format some day. Its a small world after all. Even though your name is not Jack. Whose picture was it you affixed on that your fake id card? I do not expect that this will be our last mails. iT IT RATHER THE END OF THE BEGINNING, AND THE BIRTH OF A NEW PHASE. Yours, Fred. JACK BREDA Fred, I did not think I would send you another email after my last one, but I changed my mind. You have a strange way of justifying your criminal behaviour. Why should you try to rob me because you think that Western countries have not treated African countries right? Who taught you that that is a valid argument? Instead you should be ashamed of yourself because you give Ghana people and African people in general a bad name. What do you expect European people to think of Africans, after receiving scam emails every day? And it is the bloody limit to tell me that I would be as guilty as the scammer himself! You must have a crooked mind, Fred. And although you seem to have a certain flavour of intelligence, you certainly are an ordinary mugu. And what make you think that this should not be our last email and the birth of a new phase? Do you know another dead customer or do you have a box full of money that should be smuggled out of the country? Don't try it, I have read those stories many times. Or do you want me to work together with you?? Don't even think of it...... We will never be on any equal format, Fred. Not because you are African and I am European. but just because you think it is okay to rob money from other people. And I don't. Jack Breda [Ghanaian Secretary-General of the UN, Kofi Annan, was recently quoted on a BBC news web site to the effect that the English language is hogging the internet, apparently crowding out other languages; apparently only a fixed number of web pages are available. There was more verbiage about the digital divide. 'Fred Barrister', at any rate, doesn't seem to have a digital divide problem, apart from his failure to divide Jack Breda from his cash.] |