Scam Money Transfers -
Fake Grants
Example - Chevron Texaco Oil and Gas Company - Chevron Online Endowment Fund Award (COEFA)
Anthony Abbott, London
Here's a variation on the basic scam money transfer email. You received a a check in the mail from "Chevron Texaco Oil and Gas Company - Chevron Online Endowment Fund Award (COEFA)", possibly using a name "Anthony Abbott", of which you are supposed to return 10% to them (at this point you should be asking yourself, why they didn't just keep the 10%!)
Did the email say:
Goodday to You, I am Very Sorry For Not Replying Your Email Immediately I Received It, This Is Because I was Waiting For Instructions From Our Head Office In the United State On the Present Situation Before I Can Speak With You.
The alleged organizations, like "Chevron Texaco Oil and Gas Company - Chevron Online Endowment Fund Award (COEFA)" supposedly gets random email addresses from Microsoft every year. Don't let the use of familiar names fool you. The scammer has nothing to do with them; the email and the grant are all nonsense. If you believe that there are organizations randomly handing out money like this, then we fear you may have been scammed already!
If you need more tangible proof, ask yourself this: why would an substantial organization with a website ask you to reply to a yahoo (or hotmail or other) generic, free email address, unrelated to the organization, which ANYONE could get?
In the specific case below (Chevron Texaco Oil and Gas Company - Chevron Online Endowment Fund Award (COEFA)) there are quite a number of inconsistencies that add up to "scam" to us. See the email below and a review of the available facts following it.
And if you were crazy enough to write back to them, click here to a typical response the scammers send.
Sample actual scam letter from "Chevron Texaco Oil and Gas Company - Chevron Online Endowment Fund Award (COEFA)":
Chevron Texaco Oil and Gas Company,
1 Westferry Circus Canary Wharf
London E14 4HA
United Kingdom.Our Reference: CHT 2008/19513-07.
RE: CHEVRON TEXACO OIL AND GAS COMPANY ENDOWNMENT FUNDS.
Goodday to You, I am Very Sorry For Not Replying Your Email Immediately I Received It, This Is Because I was Waiting For Instructions From Our Head Office In the United State On the Present Situation Before I Can Speak With You.
Firstly, I want You to Accept My Sincere Congratulation As Your Email Address Have Been Shortlisted as One Of the Benefitiary Of this Year Chevron Online Endowment Fund Award (COEFA).
You are Advised to Read and Understand the Explanation Of this Scheme as Analysed Below So that You Will Really Understand What the COEFA is All About.
ABOUT CHEVRON ONLINE ENDOWMENT FUND AWARD (COEFA)
Chevron Texaco Is One Of the Biggest Multi-National Oil and Gas Company In the World that Specialise In Exploring,Refining and Marketing Of Crude Oil and Have Been Rated the Largest and the Biggest Oil and Gas Producing Company 17 Times Ever Since We Started Operation In 1916.
Due to the Profit Max Of the Company, We Were Mandated By the United Nations (UN), Organisation Of the Petroleum Exporting Company (OPEC), And the World Crude Oil Monitoring Forum to Always Use a Resonable Percentage Of Our Yearly Profit to Help the Society at Large.
It Is In View Of this That We Have Always Enpower and Assist Some Governmental and Non-Govermental Agencies Like the United Nations Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF), World Health Organisation (WHO), Future Group Europe, World Action Committee On AIDS e.t.c Finacially, We are Committed to Giving Most of this Organisation a Reasonable Percentage Of Our Annual Profit to Enhance and Promote there Activites For the Sake Of Humanity.
On March 22nd, 2003, Microsoft Corporation Signed a Memorandum Of Understanding With the Chevron Texaco Where the Chevron Oil and Gas Company Agree to Always Donate a Reasonable Percentage Of Her Yearly Profit Out to Promote the Use Of Internet.
That Is: Chevron Texaco Since January 2004 Enhances a Hundred People With Finacial Assistance to Liberate their World and Help their Society With a Better Living.
After The Successful Completion Of Our Market Year Of 2007 Which Ended December 2007, This Company Have Realised Profit Which Is About 0.7% Lower Than What We Have Realised In 2006, It Is In View Of this That Three Hundred Million United State Dollars ($300,000,000) Have Been Released to Be Shared Among the One Hundred Active Lucky Internet Users For the Year, Leaving Each Person With Three Million United State Dollars ($3.000,000) each.
I am Pleased to Let You Know That Your Email Address Have Been Selected to Be Among This One Hundred Lucky Email Address For the Year 2008 Endownment Funds.
HOW YOU WERE SELECTED
The Microsoft Corporation Have Always Supplied this Company With Fifty Thousand Email Addresses Of Active Internet Users Yearly, And Your Email Address Was Submitted as One Of the Active Internet Users For the Year 2007. After Email Address are Been Submitted to Us For the Random Selection By Microsoft Corporation, The Best One Hundred Members Of Staff For the Year 2007 Picked All Over a Hundred Branch Office Of the Chevron Texaco Oil and Gas Company are Invited For a Dinner at the Carribean Where they Will Be Priviledged to Pick One Email Address Each at Random.
Mr Kabir Williams From Our Moscow Office Who Was the Best Staff at Our Moscow Branch Office Picked Your Email Address When He Was Asked to Pick at Random, Therefore Giving You the Oppurtunity to Claim For Yourself a Total Cash Of Three Million United States Dollars. ($3,000,000).
HOW TO REDEEM YOUR CASH
Since This Is Neither a Lottery nor a Gambling Winning, You are Expected to Claim Your Funds In this Branch office as Been Zoned, The Reason Why It Has Been Zoned Is to Avoid Mix Up Of Claims and Unneccessary Crowdy Enviroment In Any Of Our Offices, This Is Why Winners Have Been Zoned Into Twenty Different Zones Of Five Winners Each, I am Pleased to Inform You That You Have Been Zone to Claim Your Winning Here at Zone F With the Head Office Here In the United Kingdom, I Wish to Let You Know that I am the Officer Incharge Of Your Claims.
WHAT TO DO NEXT.
Your Funds Will Be Released to You any Moment From Now, But Before Any Further Processing, We Need to Have Your Information Registed On Our Database, Please Fill The Form as Below.
Full Name:........................ Residential Address:.......... Occupation:..................... Country:.......................... Telephone:....................... Mobile Phone#:................. Fax Number:.................... Sex:................................ Age:............................... Next of Kin:..................... Your Primary language:.. Your Cuntry Curency: .....
Please Note That Your Lucky Number is 2007/72 As You Were The 72nd Benefitiary That Was Selected.
Soon as We Receive The Information Above, You Will Be Duly Informed On What Next to Do. Please If You are Not Interested In the Endownment Scheme And You Like to Turn Down The Offer, Please Write a Letter Addressed to the:
Director Of Welfare, Chevron Texaco Oil and Gas Company 43/45 The Promenade Cheltenham Gloucestershire GL50 1LE.
Finally, We Wish to Clearly State that This Is Not By Any Means Any Form Of Lottery Winning Notification and or Gambling or jackpot money Chevron Texaco Will Never partake in such activities. Get Back to Me With Information Required Soonest So that Your Funds Can Be Officially Released Immediately.
Once Again, Congratulations.
Yours Faithfully,
Mr. Anthony Abbott Tel:+44 704 5729 327 Officer In-charge, COEFA (ZoneF) Public Welfare Department, Cheveron Texaco Oil and Gas Company. London, United Kingdom.
And please let us know about any suspicious calls or emails you receive. We look for patterns so that we can alert the authorities and victims to new scams, before it is too late!
For a comprehensive list of national and international agencies to report scams, see this page.