Nigerian Scam Warning

Scam Warning-Important According to www.fraud.org this is one of the top worst scams on the Net. Admittedly this column is not about disabilities. However I think it is important and relevant since it is about a problem that seems to prey on people with disABILITIES Yours truly doesn't mean to imply that disabled people are the only victims of scam artists. The truth is that this population is especially targeted. The reasons I believe are several. First many disabled people are on fixed incomes so the appeal of getting rich quick may have some appeal. Second scammers assume that just because someone has a disability that they are an easy touch for them. Not assuming anything about gullibility. Please take this as a warning only. If you are skeptical already, great. More power to you There are many scams on the net. In essence, if it sound too good to be true, it almost always is One warning sign is if you have to pay money to get in, its a ripoff. Also if there's a time pressure or any other type of pressure that should be a sign to warn you too. There is one particular scam that claims if you are willing to fly to Uganda and meet the wife of the former leader of Togo, you will get millions of dollars. This is an actual scam. For more information please go to home.rica.net/alphae/419.coal Many people have lost their live savings with this scam and even gotten in trouble with the law. They are stranded in Togo with no help from the Togolese govt. or their native country Believe it or not, to coin a phrase, many people, too numerous to count have actually fallen for this foolish scheme. The illicit plan has been around for close to twenty years !!! I know about this one because I received several of their emails. I can honestly say I did not fly to Togo and I was not a victim. I don't want you to be one either. Note: I am not condemning the Togolese people, Nigerians and all other African People, African Americans or People of Color anywhere in the world. Here is an actual email that I believe is part of this terrible scam. I must assure you I did not answer this email. Telephone: 228084460 Dear Sir, I am Akunor Rawlings, a cousin of the former president of the Federal Republic of Ghana, Jerry Rawlings, and I also held an appointment during his 10yrs in office as the General Manager in charge of Ministry of Solid Mineral such as Gold, Diamond, Bauxites etc. During this 10yrs tenure, I managed to secure a large quantity of Gold and Diamond secretly before he handed over power to his successor Mr. John Kuffour. When he took over power, information got to me that the new president is aware of this large deposit of Gold and Diamond that is in my possession, and because of this, I have to look for a way to dispose it. To this end, I contacted a friend of mine in a neighboring Country Federal Republic of Togo, who helped me to sell the Gold and Diamond for a total of $18.5Million (Eighteen Million, Five Hundred United States Dollars), which is now deposited in a security company in Lome, Togo. Because of my relationship as the cousin of the former president of the Federal Republic of Ghana, Jerry Rawlings, my Togolese friend suggested that we should move this entire fund Overseas to avoid being traced by the present Ghanaian president. However, I am now asking you to be my partner in this transaction. Therefore, if you are interested, kindly contact me through my e-mail address or call me on my telephone number in Togo: 228084460 so that we can discuss on the modalities for a smooth transfer of the entire fund into your nominated bank account Overseas. For your participation, I will offer you 15% of the entire fund but which is subject to negotiation. Meanwhile, I am looking forward to hearing from you so as to plan on the next line of action to execute this mutual beneficial transaction. Yours sincerely, Akunor Rawlings.