I received this e-mail one too many times, so I thought I'd play around with the sender. I created a new account on my Linux server, jimbo, and responded to him. I doubt he has a log of the millions of people he sends messages to every day trying to scam them, so I doubt he'd notice that he never actually e-mailed me. Below is a transcript of our conversation. I've even made commentary along the way! Enjoy!

Date: Sun, 8 Jun 2003 22:25:30 -0400 (EDT) From: James Thomas To: billymaria2002@freesurf.fr Subject: Re: Urgent Help Hello Billy and Maria, I would like to help you transfer the $18 million into America. Please write me back and we'll exchange more information. Cheers, James

Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2003 12:24:34 +0200 (CEST) From: billy biros <billy_maria2002@yahoo.fr> To: jimbo@titan.shafe.com Subject: The informtaions about this transaction. Parts/Attachments: 1 Shown 106 lines Text 2 OK 32 KB Image, "Billy.jpg" 3 OK 46 KB Image, "maria.jpg" ---------------------------------------- Dear Uncle James, We recivied your mail and Thank you so much for your willingness to assist us May God reward you. Our sincere pledge is that you can never regret assisting us and we pray that this will be an enduring relationship that will last from generation to generation. We know that you may be surprised to receive our mail since we have not met before. However, we would like you to accept it in good faith and sincerety of purpopse since we contacted you based on Divine guidance. Everything work for good to them that trust and love God. It is God that directed us to you not human being. The transaction we revealed to you is as it is. Please the assistance we needed from you is: 1. To receive the money for us in your account for investments in your country by providing a bank account so that we will submit it to the bank and ask them to make the transfer. 2. To look for a good investment in your country where our own share of the money will be invested when it is transferred to your account. You will also manage such investment for us. This is because we are not good in business and have not managed any before. 3. To assist us migrate to your country as soon as the money is transferred to your account. 4. You will also assist us in getting a good school so that we will continue our education which we loves most and which we abandoned because of our ordeal. I was studying Library science/sociology in the Federal University Freetown - Sierra Leone but stopped my education in my part one when my father died and my sister Maria just finished her secondary education and awaiting her result until the incident befell us and we had to leave the country for our dear lives since the government of our country were out for the families of the people involved. Our mother brought us to this country because of the hit in our country and everything pertaining to the bank was handed over to them after the death of our mother....may her soul rest in peace and since then we have been alone without parents and families, no one to call upon, no one to assist us and we cannot tell anyone about this because this is our future and our lives. We do not have a passport because we have never travelled before and we entered into this country through the aide of our late mother and a captain who assisted us down here, although he brought us in as refugees, we need to have a passport for me and my sister Maria and we have met a lady working in the passport office who said that she will help us get new passports but we are waiting for the transfer of this fund first so that we can have money to pay for this passports. We need our freedom and we want you to show us love when we arrive their in your country, please do everything legal for our safety and of this fund which is all that we have. Please you are not only an uncle to us but a father and also an adviser. We are living a life of fear and insecurity here even in the midst of plenty. This is why we want to ransfer the fund out as quickly as possible so that as soon as the money is transfered to your account, you will send money to us for our upkeep and travel expenses to your country. the bank told us that we are going to look for any attorny here who will assisit us get all the documents for this transaction. Please you know that this money is our only hope. Kindly keep the transaction secret.May the Glory of the Almighty God be upon you as you assist us. assistance. we have attached our photo to this email we will like to have yours too, as soon as we recived your mail and you asure us that you are welling to help us we will send you the lodgement slip with bank contact for you to contact them. God bless you and keep you till we meet you in America soonest. Thanks and best regards, Billy and Maria Biros. ___________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? -- Une adresse @yahoo.fr gratuite et en frangais ! Yahoo! Mail : http://fr.mail.yahoo.com

Date: Mon, 16 Jun 2003 16:38:01 -0400 (EDT) From: James Thomas <jimbo@titan.shafe.com> To: billy biros <billy_maria2002@yahoo.fr> Subject: Re: The informtaions about this transaction. Hello Billy and Maria, This sounds like a good plan. Where would you like to live in the states? Do you like warm weather or average weather with all the normal season? East coast or west? What is your preference? James

Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2003 15:23:28 +0200 (CEST) From: billy biros <billy_maria2002@yahoo.fr> To: jimbo@titan.shafe.com Subject: Deposit Slip. Parts/Attachments: 1 Shown 24 lines Text 2 OK 193 KB Image, "Deposit Slip.jpg" ---------------------------------------- Dear Uncle James, We are very happy to read your mail, May God reward you for your care in us it is nt invain. please we will like to stay in this seam country were you are so that you will be taking good care of us. Uncle, please we don't have time to west any more in this country because of the political problem that is going on in the country we wan't to leave this country and come over to your country for better life. we have attach the lodement slip that is giving to our late father by the bank for to see. please try to foward your banking details so that we can submmit it to the bank for the transfer. We are waiting for your quick reply. Best regards. Billy/Maria Biros ___________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? -- Une adresse @yahoo.fr gratuite et en frangais ! Yahoo! Mail : http://fr.mail.yahoo.com

Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2003 06:00:32 -0400 (EDT) From: James Thomas <jimbo@titan.shafe.com> To: billy biros <billy_maria2002@yahoo.fr> Subject: Re: Deposit Slip. Dear Billy, I am concerned that this is a scam. I am suspicious of giving out my bank account number to someone I don't really know well. I read this article on the web and found that I have a good reason to be worried: http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,53115,00.html Please convince me that you are legitimate, and I will provide you with my bank account information! Thanks, James

"Billy" attempts to argue that he's not a scammer! Got to love the "family photos."

Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2003 22:38:00 +0200 (CEST) From: billy biros <billy_maria2002@yahoo.fr> To: jimbo@titan.shafe.com Subject: Go throgh the bank web site and get back to us:www.rtbsltd.com. Parts/Attachments: 1 Shown 72 lines Text 2 OK 45 KB Image, "Our family photos..jpg" ---------------------------------------- Dear Uncle James, I have receive your mail and thank you, Please I don't know if is because we explain to you our situation will made you to talk to us in this way why??, Is it because of what happen in the world or what??? please let me know the reason why you will call me and my sisiter scam people because we seek your assistance to transfer our money to your account so that you will send us money to come over your country. Please we are from christan family and I will not be happy. To receive this kind of mail from you please for God sake. I gave you the contact of the bank and advice you to contact them. well the day I visited the bank Mr Mike Tagbo made me to understand that our father deposit the money in suspend / coded account that the money will not be touch if not for only bulk remmitance. So Please I have made up my mind to send you the only documents we have at hand which we took to the bank and the bank manager confirm the money to us and that is the reason why we need you to forward you ban,k account so that they will transfer the money. My father was a soldier. He has the rank of General in the army in 1997 and he is the special acting General Manager of the Sieria Leone Diamond mining coperation before he was assasinated. He was 53 years before his death. He was assasinated in his official residence in Freetown Sierra- Leone. He was born in Kanema District of Sierra-Leone. He plays golf and one of his hobbies is reading. His full name is Alexander Kirio Biros. My mother was 48 years before her death. She was born in Koindu Sierra Leone. My parents are together for 30 years. Aunty I shed tears when I remember all these sad memories that we are no longer with our loved parents. We hope that you will wipe away our tears. Her full name is Theresa Onome Biros. I attach our family photo photo in this mail. Please I will like you to forward the account information so that the bank will made the transfer to your account. Uncle, please do everything you can to see that this money is transfer to your account next week. No expenses you make is a waste because we rely on you. Please keep everything secret as you have been doing for our onw security, your own security and the money please. May God bless and reward you for everything. Please try to call me so that we can discause to enable me know the kind of business you are doing in your country. So please is very important that you call me with this number.+225 0750 5109. I will wait for your mail and your call also. Best regards. Billy/Maria Biros ___________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? -- Une adresse @yahoo.fr gratuite et en frangais ! Yahoo! Mail : http://fr.mail.yahoo.com

I don't want to scare him away, so I keep the dream alive:

Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2003 09:28:56 -0400 (EDT) From: James Thomas <jimbo@titan.shafe.com> To: billy biros <billy_maria2002@yahoo.fr> Subject: Re: Go throgh the bank web site and get back to us:www.rtbsltd.com. Hi Billy, Okay, let's go ahead and do this. Let us proceed by using PayPal. How does that sound to you? Thanks, James

Date: Sat, 21 Jun 2003 11:00:06 +0200 (CEST) From: billy biros <billy_maria2002@yahoo.fr> To: jimbo@titan.shafe.com Subject: please read this mail carefully and it is written from the bottom of our heart . Dear Uncle James, We thank you so much for your mail and as you want to take us as your children. We have read your mail and we trust that you will take care of us very well. We like you to contact the bank, because we don't know what is PayPal, and we suggest you open any account with the bank since you don't trust us to give us your account. We like what you want to do for us and the account you want to open. But Aunty, we would have loved if you do everything in your name. You know because of our age and situation, we dont want to risk the money which is our only hope and that is why we will like the account to be in your name. We have no doubt in our mind that you will be honest to us and that you will not cheat us because of what you believe that do unto others as you would have them and as we have taken you as our mother and put everything in your hand. If there is any thing that you will for this transfer to be made please try to do it soon because the political problem here in this country is get worse every day and which may be very harmful to our lives. The name of the bank official who is handling this transaction is Mr Mike Tagbo who is the director of international remittance of the bank and we have further collected the full contact address and contact of the bank and will forward everything to you as this: ROYAL TRUST BANK AND SECURITIES LIMITED SIEGE SOCIAL 7-8 AVE. JOSEPH ANOMA, PLATEAU, 01 BP 4927, ABIDJAN,01 - RCI (Republic of Cote d Ivoire) Telefon : +225 07 680241 Fax : +225 212 40447 http://www.rtbsltd.com Email :rtbs.info@execs.com THE NAME OF THE PERSON WHO IS INCHARGE OF OUR MONEY IS,MR MIKE TAGBO We need our freedom and we want you to show us love when we arrive their in your country, please do everything legal for our safety and of this fund which is all that we have. Please you are not only an uncle to us but a father and also an adviser. God bless you and keep you till we meet you in Country soonest. Thanks and best regards, Billy and Maria. ___________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? -- Une adresse @yahoo.fr gratuite et en frangais ! Yahoo! Mail : http://fr.mail.yahoo.com

Now I'm starting to get cocky...

Date: Tue, 15 Jul 2003 08:57:09 -0400 (EDT) From: James Thomas <jimbo@titan.shafe.com> To: billy biros <billy_maria2002@yahoo.fr> Subject: Re: please read this mail carefully and it is written from the bottom of our heart . Dear Billy, How are things going for you? Sorry I haven't gotten back to you, I was on vacation in Spain, enjoying the good life there. Are things going well for you in your country, or has the warfare gotten out of hand? Please let me know so we can deposit the monies into my account and get you out of there! Cheers, Master James

A response! Ha these guys never give up! Notice how he changes his e-mail address in this one!

Date: Tue, 15 Jul 2003 07:39:05 -0700 (PDT) From: BILLY BIROS <billy_biros@yahoo.com> To: jimbo@titan.shafe.com Subject: I am so happy to hear from. Dear Uncle James, We so happy to hear from today, Infcat I may God take golry in everthing. how was the vacation we know you enjoy it very. please I don't wan't to west our time again beacuse of the political carsise that is still going every day a lots of people has die because of this political problem but may God take golry for our life today. I have a good for you about our fund in the bank here due to the carise and the rable enter into the country the bank call us and exeplin to us that all there costmer that have big amount with there bank there fund should transfer to there O.C.C office in spain for the collation of the bank draft. before I will give the contact of the O.C.C office I wan't you to assure us that you wan't betray us after vissiting there office in spain to sign the bank draft on our behalf. As soon I received your reply and you assure me that you will help me no matter what it may cost you I will give you the O.C.C office contact in spain, I also need your telephone/fax number to enable submit to the bank to enable them reach. My sister Maria was seek over two weeks now due to the carise we have no bod to assist me to buy drugs for her even to feed we find it difficuilt here now so I don't know if it will possiblem for to send us $200.00 for our feeding as you do this God will bless for us. I am waiting for your urgent mail or you can please give me a call with this tel:+225 075 051 09 Best regards, Billy. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? SBC Yahoo! DSL - Now only $29.95 per month! http://sbc.yahoo.com

OK, it's time to get serious bad here. See how long it takes for him to crack.

Date: Mon, 21 Jul 2003 15:23:57 -0400 (EDT) From: James Thomas <jimbo@titan.shafe.com> To: BILLY BIROS <billy_biros@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: I am so happy to hear from. Hey Billy, Good to hear from you again! I just came back from a weekend in Washington, DC, for my father's birthday. We had 3 pound lobsters and ate so much I almost threw up! Boy, was it tasty. I do love America, and I'm sure you will enjoy it here: the land of opportunity, and lobsters! Right now I'm at work, but all I really want to do is go home and drink a lot of booze. I'm kind of like a chocoholic, except for booze! I just can't get enough of that stuff. Beer, whiskey, rum, vodka--everything! This is how I want to proceed though. I'm going to call your bank and get the deal. Then I will send them my bank account information (I opened a fresh account for you!), so they can deposit the monies. Then we can have lobster together when you arrive in the States. However, there is one thing I demand: please call me Master James. I don't really like Uncle James as much as I do Master. My children and servants call me Master, so I think it's only appropriate. How are things going for you and Maria? Wherever you are: please go and get some Lobster! It's so good this time of the year. Delicious! Cheers, Master James

A response comes within a couple of hours! Amazing how fast they can respond to e-mail but can barely feed themselves.

Date: Mon, 21 Jul 2003 13:07:22 -0700 (PDT) From: BILLY BIROS <billy_biros@yahoo.com> To: jimbo@titan.shafe.com Subject: What you will do for us now. Dear Master James, I received your mail and thank you you are welcome back, we are worried about you we have been thinking about I was telling my sister two day that if we have means we could have call you on phone. We are all fine as at today our only problem now is that we find it difficults to feed our self here in this country that is why we wan't you to do everything as soon as possible with the bank so that they bank will transfer the money into your account. PLease when to you plan to call the bank, I suggest you send them your bank details as well, please in the name of God try to send us $USD200.00 for our feeding as we have nothing at hand we only hope on this transaction and they bank told us that we can take out money from the account due to our father deposited the money in codede account with ther bank so money can only transfer when we get all the needed documents. I will like you to send us the money through western union money transfer to Abidjan Cote D'Ivore with the name of our church pastor:Rev Nwachukwu Victor Chinedu we will receive through that way urgently. please try to give us your telephone number to enable us cll you or you can call us with this number:+225 075 051 09. We are waiting to hear from urgently. Best regards, Billy/Maria Biros __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? SBC Yahoo! DSL - Now only $29.95 per month! http://sbc.yahoo.com