If this letter by any mistake get to somebody other than the person so named/addressed on the front of the envelope, I beg you to observe the law of mutual respect and confidentiality and destroy the letter.

I am Alhaji Hassan Y. Mohammed an Accountant in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and I head a seven-man tenders committee in charge of Foreign/Expatriate Contract Awards Review and Payment Approvals (CRPAC). I came to know of your name and address in my search for a reliable and low-key person to handle a very confidential transaction based on unflinching trust as we have not met before. This transaction involves the transfer of huge sum of foreign exchange (the United States Dollars) to a foreign account. There were a series of contracts executed by a Consortium of Multinationals in the oil industry in favour of NNPC among which are:

The original value of these contracts was deliberately over-invoiced in the sum of USD Thirty-Six Million, Five Hundred and Sixty-One Thousand ($35,561,000.00) by this committee (CRPAC) during the awards of the various contract. This sum ($35,561,000.00) has now been approved for payment by this committee (CRPAC) and is now ready to be transfered by the Central Bank of Nigeria to the account of any individual and or company which the CRPAC presents as the beneficiary, since the company that actually executed these contracts has been fully paid their fund and the projects have been officialy commisioned.

Consequently, my colleagues and I are willing to transfer the total amount to your account for subsequent disbursement on our behalf, since we as civil servants and we are also serving in a sensitive foreign payment approval committee (CRPAC) are prohibited by the Code of Conduct Bureau (Civil Service Laws) from opening or operating foreign account and or dealing in foreign exchange in our names. Needles to say, the trust reposed on you at this juncture is enormous. In return, we have agreed to offer you 25% of the transferred sum, while 10% shall be set aside for incidental expenses (internal and external) accrued between the parties in the course of the transaction. The balance will be used to purchase agricultural equipment and medical drugs from your country for importation back to my country. You must however note that this transaction is subject to the following terms and conditions:

Modalities have been worked out (secretly) at the highest levels of the relevant government departments involved and the Central Bank of Nigeria for the immediate transfer of funds within 14 working days subject to your satisfaction of the above stated terms. Our assurance is that your role is risk-free. To accord this transaction the legality it deserves and for mutual security of the fund, the whole approval procedures will be officially and legally processed with your name or the name of any company you may nominate as the bonafide beneficiary, as in an ideal situation. It is imperative that you bear in mind that having put in 19 years in the service of the government, I am averse to having my image and career dented. This matter should therefore be treated with utmost secrecy and urgency. Kindly expedite action by contacting me on Tel/Fax: 234-90-404551, indicating your interest in this transaction. For swift response to your reply, kindly indicate your fax and telephone numbers clearly so that I can explain further, especially by fax. I am urgently waiting your reply as payment to foreign contractors is usually made on quarterly basis.