I was contacted by a Micheal Bangura who claimed to be the son of the finance minister of Liberia. He and his mother supposedly were granted temporary asylum in Dakar, Senegal. They requested that I assist them in relocating to the US along with their family possessions which were allegedly deposited in a shipping container and they needed to get the container and their possessions into the US. They requested that I send them funds to pay for the transfer of the container to Amsterdam through a diplomatic service in Dakar (Ambahill Securities Organization, Dr. Roy Joseph, Director and a member of MidWestern-Group, an offshore banking and securities org.) to a diplomatic service located in Amsterdam, Continental Diplomatic and Securities Service, supposedly a banking branch also of the MidWestern-Group.
I communitcated with all these people by email, fax, and telephone for nearly a month. I was told that after sending a total of $1,360.00 USD that there would be no more charges. Then I was contacted by a Mr. Mark Williams of Continental Diplomatic Services in Amsterdam demanding an additional $8,500.00 USD. I told him that I was out of funds and would try to come up with the rest of the required funding. Mr. Williams was telling me that the consignment had been delivered to his office in Amsterdam and the additional funds were required before the shipment could be sent to the US or deposited in an offshore account with MidWestern-Group.
I contacted MidWestern-Group and they denied that Mr. Mark Williams was employed by them. Then I knew that I was screwed!
I had transferred monies from my personal account using my Visa check/credit card to Western Union to a bank in Dakar, Senegal.
Mr Bangura and his mother were requesting that I compose a letter to request the US State Dept to allow them a temporary Visa to enter into the US. They claimed that they wanted to move to the same community where I live in Arizona. They faxed to me several documents: a power of attorney, a mutual trust agreement, a passport copy which was not legable, and a deposit/bond receipt for the shipping consignment. They were claiming to make me a full partner in their "Company". When I asked what sort of business they were involved in they just blew me off.
I was imploring them to get out of Dakar and use whatever resources they had to get to the US so they would be safe. Mr. Bangura and his mother both claimed that Mr. Bangura, Senior, had died during torture and that they were both being sought by "rebel" forces in several African countries.
After sending them every last penny we had saved for my fiancee's medical bills, all of these people just blew us off and our bank account was cleaned out because we were sucked into this scam as Christians assisting those in need of humanitarian assistance for their survival. (sic)
I took copies of all of the emails that I printed out to the local US Border Patrol to be turned over to the Office of Homeland Security, I called the FBI, and informed them of what had happened....they did nothing. I contacted the US Consulate in Dakar and Amsterdam and explained what happened. They simply told me to alert local law enforcement authorities who didn't do a damned thing, nor did they care. I contacted Interpol in Amsterdam, recieved no replies. The US Consulate contacted me and told me that my driver's licence was probably being used in Europe on the black market and that I should change my licence.
I contacted Visa and the Bank of America, they blew me off telling me that I had authorized the money transfer so there was nothing that they could do. Same with Western Union and Money Gram (walmart). So neither you nor I have any
recourse.
Advice: Do not transfer funds using Visa, Western Union, Money Gram, or the BofA. Don't transfer any monies to anyone to any international country.....period! If anyone wants to send you money let them transfer it to an offshore account that is accessable only by your lawyer or accountant.
The law enforcement authorities don't give a flying f--k what happens to you or your money. They don't care if your money is funding terrorist troup movements, weapons, or anything for that matter. They simply don't care.