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Notes: The scammers letters are posted exactly the way I received them. My replies are in the grey boxes, and the scammers and his aliases are in the other colours. I have added pictures, where necessary, in order to help those who are unfamiliar with some of the references I have made. I have also posted explanatory comments at the end of some of the messages, these also serve as a running commentary. |
JOHNSTONE VS OTUMBA PAGE 2
JOSEPH IS GETTING WORRIED AGAIN. 28 Oct 2003 12:09:51 -0800 (PST) Subject: HAVE U? How is your health now? Hope you are getting better. Have you contacted Adekunle Thomas? What did he say? Please keep me informed on your update with him. Get back to me immediately. Regards Joseph. NOTE: I was giving my Bistard persona plenty of time in which to get his final 'trophy' from Joseph, But, since Joseph obviously didn't know this, he was starting to think he'd lost William - which was also part of the plan, of course.
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I SLIGHTLY REASSURE JOSEPH. Dear Joseph, I had my operation but it hasn't turned out as well as the doctors hoped. The injury was worse than they thought and, as a result, I may have to fly back to England to get specialist care. If this happens it will probably mean the end of our deal, as I will no longer be able to help you get Michael Creek's money out of Nigeria. However, let's hope that doesn't happen. As to your question, no, I haven't contacted Adekunle Thomas yet, mainly because I haven't been well enough. I will try and get a message off to him today. When I do contact him I will be using the same name that I used when I first contacted the Foreign Unit; that is, Lando Calrissian Creek. If I do have to go back to England, to see the specialist doctor, I will let you know, as I think it's only fair that you should be kept informed about whether the deal will continue, or not. Therefore, if you get a new email address you should let me know, as I don't want to lose contact with you. Thanks for all your help. Regards, William Johnstone. NOTES: I am still attempting to ramp up the pressure, as I am keen to bring this bait to a close. Hopefully, the thought of losing me will get force Joseph to be more compliant. Plus, I am determined to get some 'trophies' for my William Johnstone persona. I wanted the extra email address just in case the antics of my Stuart Bistard persona caused Joseph to abandon his current email address. |
I CONTACT ADENKUNLE THOMAS. ATTENTION: Mr Adekunle Thomas. Dear Sir, My name is Lando Calrissian Creek, I am
the brother of the late Engineer Michael Creek, who died in 2000 in a
ghastly car crash. The crash happened in Port-Harcourt, Nigeria, while
my brother was working as an oil merchant / contractor with the Anyway, while searching through some papers that belonged to my brother, I came across a document that stated he had an account with your bank that contained over $20 million. As the legal heir to my brother's estate I wish to claim this money for myself. Since I do not want to go through the usual channels to get this money out of Nigeria, I would appreciate it if you could assist me in a more private way. However, if you are prepared to help me it will be necessary for you to provide me with proof that the money is still there, as I have heard that dormant accounts are sometimes cleaned out by untrustworthy bank officials. As soon as you have provided me with the necessary document of proof we can begin discussing the terms of our deal. Please get back to me as soon as you can. Regards, Lando Calrissian Creek. NOTES: Since Joseph forgot to 'coach' me in what to tell Adekunle Thomas, as regards to how I found out about Michael Creek's money, I was forced to make it up as I went along. I think my story sounded quite believable! Lando's address features the number 47, a number that is 'infamous' in Star Trek lore. It also has the name Mos Eisley in it, which was the name of that famous cantina in the Star Wars movies. Bespin is the name of the planet on which Lando lived. |
I INFORM JOSEPH. Dear Joseph, Just a quick note to let you know that I have sent a message to Adekunle Thomas. I have not had a reply yet, however. Like I said in my last email, I really hope we can finish this deal, but it is now up to Adekunle Thomas to make sure he gets things organised quickly. Let us hope that he does. Regards, William Johnstone.
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I THINK WE HAVE A PROBLEM. 31 Oct 2003 10:46:03 -0800 (PST) Subject Re: Quick note. How is your health? I hope fine. Has Adekunle Thomas contacted you? I will
like to Well try and check the mail address
properly and This is the email address dekunlethomascbn@yahoo.com Get back to as soon as you get this mail. Regards NOTES: It seems as though my email to Adekunle Thomas hasn't got through. This is very strange, as Yahoo is usually pretty good, plus I didn't get a 'knock back' message from my email provider. Could it be that Joseph doesn't really want me to deal with Adekunle Thomas, and if not, why not? This is getting confusing.
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Dear Joseph, How are things with you? I am still not sure whether I will have to go back to England to see the specialist, as the doctors here are still running some tests on my foot. I hope they make up their mind soon, as I am getting tired of waiting. I still have not heard from Adekunle Thomas, which is strange, as I definitely sent my message to the right address. I will send it again, but if I don't get a reply quickly then I might just forget about the whole thing. Regards, William Johnstone. NOTE: I try to force Joseph to reveal his 'hand', by threatening him with an ultimatum. Joseph's reply was not what I expected.
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FROM JOSEPH. 2 Nov 2003 22:12:36 -0800 (PST) Subject: I WILL. How is your health? I guess you are getting better now. All I will like to know is that has
Adekunle Thomas But I am fully sure that he didn't get
the mail, if he Thanks for been a partner. Regards NOTES: What!!! He's going to walk away? This was totally unexpected. I am really going to have to try and figure out what is going on. However, I, myself, am not going to walk away, at least not without a 'fight'. It's time for a little lateral thinking.
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Dear Joseph, I still don't know whether I will have to go back to England to see the specialist, as the doctors here have decided to wait for a few more days to see if my foot improves. Anyway, back to business. I have been thinking about why Adekunle Thomas hasn't received my email, and I think I may know the answer. I think the reason my emails didn't get through is because they were blocked by his email company. Legitimate emails sometimes get blocked because they look like spam, and this is what I think has happened to my emails. The only way around this is for you to give me another email address for him, preferably one that isn't on the same company as his current one. If he doesn't have another email address then I think we should try and sort this deal out ourselves. After all, I set up a special bank account for this deal, so I may as well use it. Let me know which way you want to go. If you have another email address for Adekunle Thomas then send it to me. If you don't have one then let us get back to doing the deal the way we going to in the beginning. Get back to me as soon as you can. Regards, William Johnstone. NOTES: Yahoo dumping my emails to Adekunle Thomas was the only reason I could think of as to why they weren't getting through, which is why I wanted Joseph to give me another address for him. Unfortunately, Joseph doesn't seem to concerned. |
FOUR DAYS PASS WITHOUT A PEEP OUT OF JOSEPH. Dear Joseph, The doctors have finally decided that I must go back to England to see a specialist. Unfortunately, this will mean the end of our deal. Although we didn't achieve our goal, we gave it a good shot. However, I do feel largely responsible for the fact that things didn't work out the way we had hoped, and it is because of this that I have decided to pay for any expenses that you incurred while working on the deal. If you can supply me with a written list of all your expenses, including any taxes you had to pay, I will send you enough money to pay for them all. I know this isn't much, compared to what our deal was worth, but at least you won't have lost anything yourself. Please get back to me as soon as you can, as I will be leaving here in the next few days. Kind Regards, William Johnstone. NOTES: If this saga was going to come to an abrupt end, then I wanted to be the one to finish it, hence my expense paying 'carrot dangle'. I figured that the lure of such an easy 'score' would be too much for our reluctant Joseph to ignore. Plus, I was going to try one last thing to get a 'trophy' for my William Johnstone persona. Fortunately, my assumption was correct.
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JOSEPH REAPPEARS. 6 Nov 2003 16:17:43 -0800 (PST) Subject: Re: What was the cost? How are you doing and how is your health?
I hope you As you know that I might have sent much
on the I have made some written list on the
expenses that has 1. 3 years tax...$2,800 2. Certificate of deposit....$1,600usd 3. Will deceased made before his death...$1,600usd I came to a final conclusion of a total of $6,000usd If you will want to pay this or the one
you can Get to him so that he can confirm this to you himself. Thanks for your co-operation. God bless you. Regards NOTES: Thank goodness for that, I really thought I'd lost him forever. Mind you, he really is going for broke himself, with that outrageous expense list of his. I also see that the name of the person he wants me to send the money to is the same one he gave to my Stuart Bistard persona. Could that be his real name, after all? Well, let's see how far I can go with Joseph now.
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Dear Joseph, It is indeed a shame that we could not complete our deal, but sometimes life does things like this, and we just have to accept them and move on. Your expenses of $6000 (US) sound quite reasonable, and I will be happy to pay for all of them. However, I am required to have invoices for all of my payments, due to the tax laws in England, so it will be necessary for you to send me one before I can send you the money. All I need is a legal-looking document with a listing of each expense you incurred. It will also need to be signed and dated by someone. Unfortunately, the only phones I can get to are in the nurse's office, so it isn't possible for me to make, or receive calls from Nigeria without rousing suspicion. As a result, you will need to give me Demola David Shobowale's email address, as that is the only way I can make contact with him. By the way, which method of payment do you prefer, international wire transfer, international cheque, or something like Western Union? Get back to me as soon as you can. Regards, William Johnstone. NOTE: I'm trying to slowly reel in my 'trophy', but I dare not do it too quickly, as I'm sure Joseph is very weary of me now. Sure enough, a couple of days go by before he gets back to me.
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FROM JOSEPH. 9 Nov 2003 05:21:50 -0800 (PST) Subject: I AM SORRY. How is your health? I hope fine, I am
sorry that I was I will like to know what exactly you want
me to do but Thanks for your help and co-operation. Regards NOTE: Well, he's still here, but for how much longer?
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Dear Joseph, I was beginning to think that you had forgotten about me. Anyway, things are pretty much the same with my foot; it is still not the best. I am really looking forward to getting back to England, so that I can get it fixed up once and for all. Actually, it's lucky you contacted me today, as I am leaving Canada tonight. If I had already left it would have been impossible for me to arrange for the payment of your expenses. Luckily, for you, I was able to make arrangements with a Canadian friend of mine to take over this task. He is an American businessman, but he is based in Canada. His name is Nathan Anderson, and he is a well-known figure in the local business community. Anyway, I have instructed him on what needs to be done, as regards to sorting out the payment of your expenses. However, due to his high profile here, and the fact that he wants to keep his part in our deal totally secret, he has insisted that all communications with him be handled via his private email account only. Here is his email address: nathan_anderson@canada.com Now, as for what I need on the invoice, here are the requirements. The invoice must be on your banks official paper, with all of its contact details. Each expense must be listed separately, together with the amount due. The total amount due must be listed separately. The document must be signed and dated by you and a witness. Once you have the document ready, just send it to Nathan Anderson, and he will arrange for it to be sent on to me. I will then file the document away until next year so that I can claim it against my taxes. As soon as Nathan receives the document he will contact you to let you know what is happening. He will then arrange for the transfer of the $6000 to wherever you choose. Since this is the last time I will be able to talk to you, I just wanted to say how much I appreciated the time and effort you put into this venture, and that it is a real shame that we couldn't successfully conclude it. Well, I have to go now. Take care of yourself, Joseph, and have a good life. Kind regards, William Johnstone. P.S. Nathan will keep me informed on how things are going, and will let me know if there are any problems. NOTES: I felt I had to 'prove' that what I had been saying about having to go back to England was true, as I figured it would make him more trusting of me, as well as guaranteeing that I scored my 'trophy'. This is why I brought in Nathan Anderson, plus I figured Joseph would be less on guard around a new 'client'. I decide to let Joseph make the first move, as I wanted to see if he was still keen. I soon found out.
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JOSEPH MAKES CONTACT WITH NATHAN. From: Joseph Otumba
<xxxx@yahoo.com> Date:10 Nov 14:16 (PST) Dear Nathan, How are you doing today, I must be sure
that you are He said he will be going to England for
treating and I will like to know what you will like me to do. Thanks for your concern Regards NOTES: Great, it looks like things are going to plan. Unfortunately, I misread the situation and the following message is what I foolishly sent.
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NATHAN REPLIES. Dear Joseph, Hello there, I've been expecting your message. I am well aware of William's condition, as I was on the same hunting trip as him. We have hunted together for years, and are good friends. However, I have not heard him mention you before, so I am at a loss as to what his dealings with you have involved. William is a very trusting man, and I sometimes worry that he will be fooled into schemes that will lose him money. However, since he has asked me to handle the conclusion of your deal, whatever it is, I will do my best to see that it is done. Now, all that I need from you is for you to send me the necessary document as described to you by William. Once I receive the document, and I am satisfied that everything is legitimate, I will contact you again, so that I can get the details of where you want the $6000 sent. Please get back to me with the required document, as soon as you can. Regards, Nathan Anderson. NOTES: After sending this I got an uneasy feeling that I may have come across as too suspicious, and that Joseph wouldn't bother trying to scam my Nathan persona. The reason I acted as if I was suspicious of him was to set the background for my plan to get a 'sucker' photo out of him, as well as the document I wanted. Unfortunately, as I feared, this email got no response out of Joseph. Time to try and undo the damage. |
Dear Joseph, I must apologise for the tone of my last email, as it was somewhat harsher than it should have been. You see, I was under the impression that you were trying to get William involved in some kind of new business, and since I didn't know what it was, I was somewhat suspicious. However, I have now talked to William and he has told me that all you are doing is sending him an invoice for work you have already done. Since this is all that is happening I don't think that there is anything for me to be too concerned about. So, just send me that document, as soon as you can, and I will send it on to William. Once I have done that I will get back to you for the details on where to send the $6000. Regards, Nathan Anderson. NOTES: I hoped this would be enough to get Joseph back on the hook. It wasn't! Time to make one last effort. |
14 NOVEMBER 2003 Dear Joseph, I am surprised that you have not yet replied to either of my emails. Have you decided to write off William's debt to you? If so, please confirm this with me. If I do not get a reply from you in the next three days, I will assume that you have, indeed, written off the debt, and I will then arrange for the return, to William, of the $6000 he left with me. Regards, Nathan Anderson. NOTE: If this doesn't work, then I will just have to give up on getting any 'trophies', but I really hope it doesn't end like this.
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JOSEPH REAPPEARS, BUT FOR HOW LONG? From: Joseph Otumba
<xxxx@yahoo.com> Date: 15 Nov 02:51 (PST) Dear Nathan, Good to hear from you. I am sorry that I
have not been I will send the document today as soon as I get it ready. Regards NOTE: This sounds promising, but I'm not holding my breath.
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Dear Joseph, That was close. If you'd left it any later you would have missed out on Williams payment. Anyway, thanks for letting me know, and I look forward to receiving the document. Regards, Nathan Anderson.
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FROM JOSEPH. From: Joseph Otumba
<xxxx@yahoo.com> Date: 16 Nov 11:07 (PST) Dear Nathan, Thanks for your mail. I just want you to
know that the Reagrds NOTE: Well, after another three days of not hearing from him I decided it was time to give it one last try. If this fails, then I'm going to abandon this bait.
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Dear Joseph, I have just received a message from Williams London based lawyer, in which he states that they will only wait until Friday, UK time, for you to provide them with the necessary document of claim. Failure to do so, by that time, will result in all debts owing to you by William being declared null and void. If this happens you will never be able to ask for payment again. I therefore urge you to send your document of claim urgently, as time is running out. There will be no further extensions. Regards, Nathan Anderson. NOTES: 20 NOVEMBER 2003. Another four days pass and I still haven't had a response from him. Unfortunately, it would appear that this little saga has turned into a bit of a fizzer, and after all that work, too! Oh well, it's been an interesting ride. Time for me to look for greener pastures.
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22 NOVEMBER: AN UNEXPECTED DEVELOPMENT. FROM JOSEPH. From: Joseph Otumba
<xxxx@yahoo.com> Date: 22 Nov 10:19 (PST) Dear Nathan, Thanks for your mails, I appreciate them,
I am sorry I I have prepared the invoice which William asked of. Hope to hear from you soon. God bless you. Regards NOTES: Well, I'll be!!! Just when I thought it was all over, he comes up with the goods - and at the very last minute, too! Unfortunately, the 'trophy' isn't as good as I hoped, but at this stage I am just happy to get any kind of result. Now to see if I can get that extremely elusive 'sucker' photograph, the one he supposedly took way back when. I doubt he will comply, however.
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Dear Joseph, Thanks for sending me the invoice; it is quite satisfactory, as far as I am concerned. However, I am afraid there is a problem. Due to the length of time it has been taking for you to reply to my messages, William no longer thinks that you are actually the same person he was talking to. He now thinks that someone is pretending to be you in order to get the $6000. I have been trying to convince him that you really are the same Joseph Otumba that he has been dealing with, but he won't believe me. I asked him if he knew of a way you could prove to him that you really are who you say you are, and he said there was. He said the real Joseph Otumba had a photograph taken that used a special code he gave you. He said that the secret code involved his favourite fruit and his favourite number. If you are able to send me that photo he said he would be satisfied that you are telling the truth and that I can go ahead and send you the $6000. So, that is the situation, Joseph, if you send me the photograph I can send you the money, if you don't send the photograph I can't send you the money. By the way, if you do send the photo, could you also send me the details of where you want the money sent, as I am quite keen to conclude this matter quickly. Let me know what your reply is, as soon as possible, as further delays could mean that even the photograph won't be enough proof. Regards, Nathan Anderson. NOTE: Although I'm not confident about getting this elusive 'trophy', I think that this message is pretty believable, and, hopefully, Joseph will think so, too. After all, I'm offering to give him $6000 for it!
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FROM JOSEPH. From: Joseph Otumba
<xxxx@yahoo.com> Date: 23 Nov 09:04 (PST) Dear Nathan, Thanks for your mail, I appreciate it. I am sorry to say this that William does
not trust me If that means the end of this deal, then
so be it. I Thanks for your help and concern Nathan. Regards NOTES: The fact that he is giving up so easily seems to suggest that he is extremely suspicious of me - can't imagine why! Either that, or he's up to something. But, I've had enough of this particular 'game' and won't be pursuing it anymore. However, I thought I'd leave Joseph forever wondering if I really was going to pay him the $6000, by sending him the message below. Aren't I mean!
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Dear Joseph, I understand how you feel, and I am not surprised that you have decided to abandon your $6000 debt. I have informed William of your decision, and he is not surprised either. I will be sending the $6000 back to him by Wednesday, at the latest. Thanks for your prompt response. Regards, Nathan. NOTE: I wonder what he's thinking now!
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