Advertisement - Click to support our sponsors.

Mail scam targets
company CEOs

Common scams offer such things
as awards and real estate

---

By Rod Ohira
Star-Bulletin

Thousands of scam letters on official-looking stationery are mailed each year to company presidents and chief executive officers.

One dated Sept. 30, 2000, from a member of a foreign country's national petroleum "contract award and monitoring committee" offers them a cut of $29.6 million by assisting in a money-laundering scheme.

"For providing the account where we shall remit the money," the letter says, "you will be entitled to 25 percent of the money; 70 percent will be for me and my partners while 5 percent has been mapped out from the total sum to cover any expenses that may be incurred by us during the course of this transfer."

All but a few letters end up in the trash, said Hawaii-based U.S. Secret Service Special Agent Rick Walkinshaw, who is investigating two cases involving losses of nearly $45,000.

A Kauai man and his friend invested $20,000 apiece in the scam in January, while an Oahu man has lost $4,500 after being approached six months ago, said Walkinshaw.

"The letter works on a person's greed," Walkinshaw said. "It even asks them to bribe officials here."

Among the favorite fraudulent mail and telephone "Nigerian scams" are pitches for purchase of crude oil at reduced prices, real estate ventures, receipt of an award or paper currency conversion. Written material is accompanied by official-looking seals, stamps or logos and all require "up front" or "advance" fees.

"Typically, two out of 20 people will reply," Walkinshaw said. "Once you answer letters like this, they know they've got you hooked."

To report a possible scam letter, call the Secret Service at 541-1912 or CrimeStoppers at 955-8300.