to think this is worse than the usual "big money" email scams?

[Bogeyface]

I normally just delete these but this one struck me as particularly sick, citing dead service men etc. Disclaimer: I am pg and v sensitive atm!

Dear Friend,

Good day and compliments, I know this letter will definitely come to you as a
huge surprise, but I implore you to take the time to go through it carefully
as the decision you make will go off a long way to determine my future and
continued existence.Please allow me to introduce myself.I am Sgt.Charles Moore,
a US Marine Sgt.serving in the 3rd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment
that Patrols the helmand province, Afghanistan. I am desperately in need of
assistance and I have summoned up courage to contact you. I am presently in
Afghanistan and I found your contact particulars in an address journal.
I am seeking your assistance to evacuate the sum of $14.5m (Fourteen Million
Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars) to you,as far as I can be
assured that it will be safe in your care until I complete my service here.
This is no stolen money and there are no dangers involved.

SOURCE OF MONEY:

Some money in US DOLLARS was discovered and concealed in barrels at a location
in helman province when we conducted a foot patrol and it was agreed by all
party present that the money be shared amongst us.This might appear as an
illegal thing to do but I tell you what? No compensation can make up for the
risks we have taken with our lives in this hellhole.The above figure was given
to me as my share and to conceal this kind of money became a problem for me,
so with the help of a British contact working with the UN here (his office
enjoys some immunity) I was able to get the package out to a safe location
entirely out of trouble spot.

He does not know the real contents of the package as he believes that it
belongs to an American who died in an air raid, who before giving up trusted
me to hand over the package to his close relative. I have now found a secured
way of getting the package out of Afghanistan for you to pick up. I do not
know for how long I will remain here, as I have been lucky to survive 2
suicide bomb attacks by Pure Divine intervention.

This and other reasons put into consideration have prompted me to reach out
for help. If it might be of interest to you then Endeavor to contact me
immediately and we would work out the necessary formalities but I pray that
you are discreet about this mutually benefiting relationship.

Respectfully,
Sgt Charles Moore,
United States Marine Corps. Afghanistan.

Yes. Disgusting, and also provocative. Imagine what a naive person might think about the morals of the "looting invaders" after reading that!

I hadnt even thought about the looting aspect, that makes it even worse.

what an absolute scumbag! im incensed! what sort of person uses that as a scam? Im disgusted particularly as my husband is currently serving in afghanistan and the men and women he's met there would not dream of doing such a dishonest thing. If I was you I would forward that to the US embassy for them to investigate. Im pregnant too so maybe we are a little sensitive lol but I cant imagine anyone thinking that this is ok!

You should google 'Bob Servant - Hero of Dundee'. He wrote back to these internet scammers, stringing them along that he was interested and even getting some money out of them. Must get his book!

Bob Servant - Delete This At Your Peril is the book I should have said. And 'Bob Servant' is the pseudonym - it's written by Neil Forsyth

Of course disgusting, but what do you expect? These are thieves whose objective is to exploit your greed to get their hands on your money. If they weren't without morals they wouldn't be making a living scamming people in the first place.

There's absolutely no need for the embassy to investigate, though, as it's clearly just as made-up as any other of those "guess what, I found $MMM down the back of the sofa and I trust you, a random stranger, to help me smuggle it out" emails (generically referred to as Nigerian scams because the early examples usually purported to be Nigerian politicians or their widows - racial stereotypes are also fair game!). The only reason an embassy might want to know is to counteract the bad publicity - oh, and perhaps a timely reminder to potential victims not to believe anything that comes over the internet like this.

Just Amazon'd it chil, it looks brilliant and I have some Xmas money waiting to be spent so job done!

Thanks :)

Annie, I shouldnt be shocked I know. But this is the first of this type I have seen, although I am a multi millionaire from the "nigerian scams"! Probably pg hormones are making me more shockable these days!

Oh, mrsnich84, I hope he's all right and that his tour of duty ends soon.

Also known as the 419 scam, as it breaks section 419 of the Nigerian penal code.

See Met Police advice here.

www.scambaiters.com

This a whole community dedicated to baiting scammers...quite interesting, some of it funny, some of it left me a bit cold (encouraging the scammers to get tattoos with things that are inappropriate in order to "prove" themselves and get the make believe cash).

Worth a view though.

The soldier with money in war zone has been around for a while
as has refugee in transition camp in either an African country, Haiti, anywhere there's been a natuaral disaster
I'm always amazed that these unfortunate people have access to internet, email etc but are unable to get their own money from their own bank or an advance from their own lawyers- so they'd have you believe
There must be enough people falling for these scams to make it worth their while

Always worth googling the name on these emails
first hit with Sgt moore comes up as a posting on scamwarners
see here

I hope there isnt a real sgt moore somewhere getting grief because some twat is using his name. Thats the reason I'd inform the embassy. If he does exist then its a case of identity theft as well. grrrrr. blood still boiling . and thanks plupervert hes due home the week before the baby is due - early may! ill be keeping my tights on til then! never thought about scamming them back. not sure i'd have the balls to do it!

YANBU for reading beyond the 2nd line. I mean really, why would you?

Oh, good thinking about the potential comeback for a real Moore! You're going to be a kind mother if your little one meets any nasty kids at school.

I looked at that scamwarners link, ratspeaker, and really felt sorry for the hurt indignation of the poster who wrote: "we need to catch this douche who is giving marines a bad name."