Scams are so disappointing!

I have never been part of an internet scam before but i guess i just have been! And it was interesting to watch my reactions ranging through excitement at the possibility presented, to intrigue then disappointment. If you would like to see why, you might like to read through the email transcripts, plus my reactions.


October 2009: This email arrived through the SCEV website: danieldoherty44@yahoo.com: My name is Daniel Doherty.I have lung cancer which is of a terminal nature,because of this situation,my investments can not be managed efficiently.In this circumstances, i want to help build a unique and sustainable community network by assisting people in need before the inevitable happens.

If you are interested,do get in touch with me as soon as you can to enable me give you more information of what is to be done.

LP: Oh my gosh, this is amazing!



19/10/09: Dear Daniel

I don’t think i have ever opened an email that within 30 seconds had such an effect on me:

prickly on my skin, eyes glued to reading and rereading your email, sick to my stomach, overwhelmed by your courage, tears in my eyes, absolute wonder and intrigue, altered heart rhythm.

We have similar goals! Below i have sent you two things. My latest blog on some land that i believe to be PERFECT for a unique and sustainable community and an information sheet on the project. I hope this is not too overwhelming for you and i will look forward to hearing from you back xL



22/10/09: Dear Lyndall Parris,

How are you and your family doing?I appreciate your heart felt understanding of my situation and your detailed response,which is very much straight to the point.I am seriously interested in developing a self-reliant,sustaining and people-friendly philanthropy network where we can create a multiplier effect in helping other people not directly involved.Thereby making a positive impact on lives universally.This something that your project is well suited for.I would want you to inform me in details about your intended community current budget,project cost and estimates(land purchase and development cost).I know it's a long term project but the earlier it begins the better.Posterity would judge us for the effort.

As regards my person,i am from the old school,served in the Merchant Navy, the Army and, as a practical person and international businessman. I hold myself to a higher standard than others.I was educated in England and South Africa. During the 1939/1945 war I was an evacuee, my sister and I spent 5 years with our cousin in Johannesburg,South Africa.After school,I joined a shipping company as a ledger clerk,transferred to their sea staff and became a Purser, sailed up and down Europe and the East Coast of USA.

In 1961,I was conscripted into the Army, served time in Cyprus,became married in 1965,promoted and discharged from the Army (1968) into the reserves for 7 years. I was a specialist, a MMG commander.

In 1968,i settled in London,United Kingdom.In 1973 I entered into corporate investment in Agriculture with significant investment farm holdings in Zimbabwe primarily Tobacco cultivation and exportation employing over 200 agents over the time. In 1995 I resigned and became an International Financier, which is my present occupation.I basically spent my whole life on building my investments,not until this time have i had the inspiration to be involved in community work.I really wish to see some purpose to my life after all this years.Hence,i would count myself worthy of being involved in building such a unique community,which i see would be a practical model to show how we all should live around the world.

I will request you get Yahoo Messenger on your computer to increase communication between us as well as your contact telephone numbers.Also,do inform me about yourself(educational,occupation and work experience).When i hear from you,we would then proceed as required.I appreciate your time and i will expect your next contact. Best Regards Daniel Doherty

LP: OK all this makes sense. He has obviously made a lot of money during his lifetime. Maybe he didn’t have any children or many close people to leave his wealth too. Yes, he could leave money to large organisations but so much gets eaten up in administration and bureaucracy and if he has a passion for something eg sustainable community then why not do a internet search, find a project in the world that is building such a community, contact the people and then if their response sounds plausible and heartfelt, back that project. Hmmmm i’m in wonder and cautious yet this is great. Emily believes in miracles and so do i.



23/10/09: Dear Daniel, Thanks for your email, information about your background and insight into your heart’s desire. How are you and your family doing? We are doing really well. I have a great husband of about 35 years, three amazing children ranging in age from 31 to 23 - happy, healthy, partnered up, in jobs and who all contribute, support and encourage me with my little project.....how does it get better that that?

I would want you to inform me in details about your intended community current budget,project cost and estimates(land purchase and development cost). The land that we have our eye on north of Sydney has just been revalued by the NSW State Government. It has approvals for approximately 120 dwellings and we have been told the sale price will be around $7M (before the ‘economic crisis’ it’s valuation was $9.65M)

We understand that the costs of development will be approx $50k per dwelling. We would want to develop a diversity of housing from studio apartments, through attached townhouses to single family detached homes. I have talked generally to a couple of developers who feel that the project ‘stacks up’ especially as with our database of 500 people we possibly have ‘presales’ of say 30 – 40, and that is having done no outreach and marketing as yet.

Your life sounds interesting and full, where are you living now?

As regard my person, i turned 60 this year, was formally educated (school and university) in Sydney, married David and moved from the city to the country, where we bought and ran a sheep property and raised our three children. I also taught economics and geography at the local high school and Dave worked as an electrical engineer. I later went back to university and studied accountancy. I am a CPA and not working in the industry at all now just taking forward or perhaps ‘holding’ this beautiful and important life project of mine - to develop an environmentally, socially and economically sustainable demonstration village. David works in renewable energy, developing wind farms and hopefully solar as the economics improve. Over the years we travelled internationally with our children and for the past 10 years or so have had a travel focus on visiting places that feed and inform our vision. I now live in Sydney with my husband and younger son.

My home/office phone number as below is +6129953 6699 and i have a mobile 0419279711.

Daniel, I will ask someone about Yahoo Messenger and look into that. Of course my favourite option is for us to get face to face.....and i look forward to hearing from you again and wish you as much health as possible.



23/10/09: Dear Lyndall, It's nice to hear back from you and i more than impressed by your experience, diligence,dedication and motivation you have displayed with your initiatives and activities.I want you know that i have little or no experience with charity work,that is why i am getting into this.I intend to assist in developing your project so that you can use your discretion to assist others.I am not in a good shape physically and healthwise as things have changed,I am about to undergo a surgery and i am making good my time on this earth.

I am not that conversant with computer technology apart from email applications.I live in London,here in England.I would want suggestions from you on how we could meet in the near future.I would be willing to assist you in develop this project inorder to donate to charity, under your experienced supervision.I will be making an all out donation to this cause,i would need to you to give me an accurate estimate(total figure) of what is to be done.Also email my lawyer Mr.John Child with the details jfchild@gmail.com .Let hear from you at your earliest convenience. Best Regards Daniel Doherty

LP: All sound pretty good, actually great but i wonder why his solicitor’s email address is a ‘gmail’account – i would have thought the name of a firm eg Parris, Parris and Child??



24/10/09: Dear Daniel

I am sorry to hear that you need some surgery but if it relieves your suffering, pain, discomfort then let it go forward quickly and easily and allow you more time and quality of life. It sounds to me that you have more good things to put in place before you leave your physical body.



Thanks for your email yesterday. There is nothing i would like more than to welcome you off a plane at Sydney airport but sadly that’s not to happen at the moment. I will get to London sometime but right now our budget does not permit. London time is 10 hours behind Sydney with our daylight saving programme. If you would like to ring me (or send me your phone number and i will call you?) you could call me your Saturday night between 9 and 10pm and i could make sure that i am home (bet 7 – 8am Sun morning, 28th Oct) to take your call. [+61299536699]



I too do not have much experience with charity work and i must make it clear to you that this is not what our project is about. I am very much into ‘user pays’ and sustainability - environmentally, socially and economically. More like teaching fishing rather that feeding people fish. However, the vision encompasses a broad range of housing to provide multiple points of financial entry to this project, including lower cost, affordable housing. We have had feedback from a few consultants that the financial viability of the community project ‘stacks up/has legs’ i.e. at the end of the day we hope it will be successful and pay for itself. My vision is for this village to provide a socially richer life, live more gently on the earth with built in technologies and processes and at the same time be economically sustainable too. Much of which i feel is a life that we have perhaps forgotten about and which now has it’s time to be reborn again using new technology, awareness, information and discoveries to help us. Then, for this place to be an inspiration to show, teach, remind others about another slant, still very much within the main stream, to live life.



So what would i really like? I would like some way of securing this amazing parcel of land near Sydney, enough cash to pay a deposit through our Incorporated Association, either in the form of a donation or perhaps a 5 year interest free loan, possibly a million dollars (£566,031.66!) that’s pretty big, so any contribution at all would be gratefully welcomed.



Once we have secured the land and can get some basic approvals from the local government then we can really start to muster people and raise more funds from potential residents to take the development forward. Remember you are the entrepreneur and good businessman, i am a woman with fire in her belly over one small project that i am hopeful may have a positive, ripple effect.



I am honoured by your trusting phrase: ‘so that you can use your discretion to assist others’.

I have copied this email to Mr John Child and he can read below from our first correspondence to the present.

Maybe i might hear from you by phone next time Daniel but right now it’s off to sleep for me. xL



29/10/09: ATTENTION: Lydall Parris RE:Mr.Daniel Doherty

I do apologise for the situation,i have been mandated to inform you that Mr.Doherty is presently hospitalised.He requested me to discuss travel and hotel arrangements for you but as for now everything is on hold due to his condition and the fact that he wasn't able to make conclusive financial arrangements before he got admitted.He instructed me to inform you that you would nevertheless hear from his bank.I would be in touch with updates. Yours Sincerely John Child

LP: Now wait a minute, the language in this email from a English solicitor living in London is not quite right.



30/10/09: remittance@barclaysonlineservices.net Attn: Lyndall Parris, Greetings from Barclays Online Services.We are currently processing the funds release and transfer of funds valued at US $1M (One Million United States Dollars) to you.

We intend to provide you with our unparallelled services by maintaining the scope allocated to us in the transfer of this funds.

We are currently in the process of effecting all revelant documentation to this end. At this point, it becomes imperative to have an online account activated in your name (as the beneficiary) with Barclays Online Bank, which goes to complete all documentation procedures of the funds transfer.

To enable us set up an online account for you, we require you to furnish us with the following details.

1. Contact Mailing Address

2. Occupation

3. Date of Birth

3. A valid means of identification

Also, we require you to choose an account type from the various

online accounts tailored for international remittances. Your preference can be in any of the 3 different account types.



=========================================================================

Barclays Bank (Silver Account) For Foreign Remittance

Transfer Limit per transaction £50,000.00

Activation Fee £405.00 Pounds

==================================================== ===================

Barclays Bank (Gold Account) For Foreign Remittance

Transfer Limit per transaction £100,000.00

Activation Fee £475.00 Pounds

============================== ==========================================

Barclays Bank (Platinium Account)For Foreign Remittance

Transfer Limit per transaction £200,000.00

Activation Fee £505.00 Pounds

============================== ========================================

Upon your selection of your desired account type and the payment of your activation fee, an online account will be set up for you. An online id and a pin number will be sent to you together with a secured web link with which you can access the funds and make an online transfer of the funds to your local bank account. A weclome kit for your new account will also be mailed to you at the contact mailing address you supply to us. We look forward to hearing back from you. Should you need any clarifications whatsoever, do not hesitate to contact me directly. We look forward to hearing from you soonest.

Sincerely, Steve Francis.

Director, Foreign Remittance Dept,

Barclays Online Services,

Barclays Bank Plc,

Switch Board: (44) 700 594 2319

Direct Telephone (Mobile): (44) 704 578 1623

Fax: (44) 870 490 8506

LP: OK now i am on full alert: want a lot of my details and ‘payment of your activation fee’ and look at the poor language in the email.....sadly that’s it – it’s a scam wow whata scam!! and actually did find reference to Steve Francis and Barclay’s on the internet.



ATTENTION: LYNDALL PARRIS

RE:Mr.Daniel Doherty

Mr.Daniel Doherty has been asking about you all the time.He sends his regards and encouragement,i must say he is quite fond of you and your Sydney Coastal EcoVillage project .He told me to inform you that everything would be alright and you shouldn't be worried.I have to inform you that the situation is tense at the moment.Mr.Doherty is under Intensive Care and communication is infrequent as he is under sedatives and he needs alot of rest.I believe you have been contacted by his bank to sort out your donation.I will suggest you get over the process as soon as you can,so you can find a way in getting your travel arrangements worked out to come visit him as soon as you can.I will be in touch with updates as usual.Do acknowledge as soon as possible. Yours Sincerely John Child jfchild@gmail.com

LP: Now i am intrigued and fascinated by this scam, not to mention a bit disappointed.



13.11.09: ATTENTION: LYNDALL PARRIS RE:Mr.Daniel Doherty

Have you heard from Mr.Doherty's bank.I want to inform you that he is stable but communication is still infrequent.I will be in touch with updates as usual.

Yours Sincerely John Child

13.11.09: Sadly because we do not feel that our communication is bona fide, you won’t be hearing from me again. I wish it was otherwise. LP