THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, July 8, 1995 TAG: 9507080387
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM SHEAN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines
Tom Vaughan was surprised by the letter that arrived from Lagos, Nigeria, but he wasn't tempted.
``It was one of those things that you hear about but don't expect to receive,'' said Vaughan, president of Burgess Snyder Industries, a Virginia Beach manufacturer and installer of windows and doors.
The one-page letter marked ``Strictly Confidential'' offered more than $10 million if he made his checking account available to a group of Nigerians. The sender asked that Vaughan forward the name, telephone number and fax number of his bank, along with certain Burgess Snyder documents.
Instead, he forwarded the letter to the Better Business Bureau of Greater Hampton Roads.
Vaughan, who is chairman of the regional BBB, said it was readily apparent that the offer was a version of several Nigerian-based frauds aimed at American businesses over the past few years.
On Thursday, the regional BBB warned its members that letters from Nigeria promising payments of millions of dollars were showing up this week in Hampton Roads. The bureau advised anyone receiving a solicitation not to respond.
``While the scam has taken many forms, the end result is that businesses who respond as requested have their bank accounts drained,'' the BBB warning said.
Linda Candler, a spokeswoman for the regional BBB, said one Northern Virginia aerospace engineering company lost $4.4 million in a similar fraud.
The person writing to Vaughan at Burgess Snyder identified himself as ``a member of the contract award committee under the Nigeria National Petroleum Corp.''
The writer said he and some colleagues from Nigeria's Federal Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of Nigeria were entitled to $35.5 million after they helped a foreign company get a contract. However, the group needed an overseas bank account to receive their money, the letter said. In exchange for providing a bank account, Vaughan would receive 30 percent of their $35.5 million.
Vaughan said the letter was the first of its kind that he or his company had received. Burgess Snyder does not do business overseas, but it's possible that the letter writer got his company's name and address from a mailing list, he said.
The letter, signed in blue ink, appeared to have been printed on a laser printer. The envelope bore a Lagos, Nigeria, postmark and had been addressed by hand.
Last year, the U.S. Postal Service's Office of the Chief Postal Inspector issued a nationwide warning about Nigerian swindles aimed at American companies.
``Offering only the sketchiest of details, the writer explains that a large sum of money, usually from $10 million to $30 million, is available from the government of Nigeria if the American firm will act as the accepting agent,'' the Chief Postal Inspector's office said.
``For this service, the American firm can expect to receive a fee of 30 percent or more of the amount transferred. The balance is to be paid to the Nigerian accomplices.''
In some cases, Americans have traveled to Nigeria to meet the participants and were robbed or physically threatened, the warning said. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by Christopher Reddick, Staff
Tom Vaughan was offered more than $10 million if he let a group of
Nigerians use his bank account
Photo of letter
The Better Business Bureau advises anyone receiving a business
solicitation from Nigeria to contact the bureau or the Secret
Service. The regional BBB's address is 3608 Tidewater Drive,
Norfolk, VA, 23509. The Secret Service, Financial Crimes Division,
Room 942, 1800 G. St. NW, Washington DC, 20223. The letters also can
be faxed to the Secret Service at (202) 435-5031.
KEYWORDS: FRAUD by CNB