I received this email this morning.
Dear Sir/Madam,
My name is Sophia Armstrong; I work with the Finders
international probate genealogists, Finders is a professional firm of
international probate genealogists. We trace missing beneficiaries,
identify and locate heirs to estates. Typically a lawyer will have
encountered problems in trying to find beneficiaries and contacted us
to assist as we are experienced experts in this specialist field with
the often formidable task of identifying and tracing heirs and locating
missing or unknown beneficiaries.
We apply our proven methodical and
diligent approach to each and every case we handle and, coupled with a
thorough understanding of the considerable technological and historical
sources currently available, successful enquiries can often be
guaranteed.
The importance of this communication with you is to
request that you provide us information on these inquiries:
1-Are you
aware of any relative / associate whose contactable information is
missing--------(Yes or No)
2-Are you aware of any investment of
considerable value made by such a person at the HSBC Bank?
--------------(Yes or No)
3- Do you want us to send you more
information about this investigation? --------------(Yes or No)
It is
relevant that you inform us as soon as possible whether or not you are
familiar with such personality that we may put an end to this
investigation.
You must appreciate that we are constrained from
providing you with lot of detailed information at this point. PLEASE
RESPOND BACK TO MY DIRECT EMAIL ADDRESS: sophia_armstrong@consultant.
com to afford us the opportunity to close our investigation.
Thank you
for accommodating our inquiry.
Yours sincerely,
Sophia Armstrong
Senior General Manager
Finders international probate genealogists
Since I responded, I received this other email.
Dear
I am S. T. Gulliver, Group Managing Director; HSBC Private Banking. A staff of
Finders Investigations for HSBC Bank PLC contacted you earlier concerning Mr. Felix Maloney
and an investment placed under our bank management. I would respectfully request that you keep
the contents of this mail confidential and respect the integrity of the information you come by as a
result of this mail. I contact you independently of our investigation and no one is informed of this
communication. I would like to intimate you with certain facts that I believe would be of interest
to you. In 2003, the subject matter, Mr. Felix Maloney came to our bank to engage in business
discussions with our private banking division, which is HSBC Private Bank Ltd. He informed us
that he had a financial portfolio of Eighteen million four hundred and fifty thousand Great Britain
Pounds (£18,450,000.00GBP), which he wished to have us turn over (invest) on his behalf.
I was the officer assigned to his case; I made numerous suggestions in line with my duties as the
de-facto chief executive officer of the newly formed private banking sector, given the volume of
funds he wished to put into our bank. We met on numerous occasions prior to any investments
being placed. I encouraged him to consider various growth funds with prime ratings. The favored
route in my advice to customers is to start by assessing data on 6000 traditional stocks and bond
managers and 2000 managers of alternative investments. Based on my advice, we spun the
money around various opportunities and made attractive margins for our first few months of
operation, the accrued profit and interest stood at this point at over 10 million Great Britain
Pounds, this margin was not the full potential of the fund but he desired low risk guaranteed
returns on investments. In mid 2006, he asked that the money be liquidated because he needed to
make an urgent investment requiring cash payments in Antwerp, Belgium. He directed that I
liquidate the funds and had it deposited with a firm in Spain. I informed him that HSBC would
have to make special arrangements to have this done and in order not to circumvent due process,
the bank would have to make a 9.5 % deduction from the funds to cater for banking and statutory
charges. He complained about the charges but later came around when I explained to him the
complexities of the task he was asking of us. A cash movement across boarders has become
especially strict since the incidents of 9/11. I contacted my affiliate in Spain and had the funds
available in main land Europe. I undertook all the processes and made sure I followed his precise
instructions to the letter and had the funds deposited with a Spanish based security consultancy
firm, which is an especially private firm that accepts deposits from high net worth individuals and
blue chip corporations that handle valuable products or undertake transactions that need
immediate access to cash. This small and highly private organization is familiar especially to the
highly placed and well-connected organizations. In line with instructions, the money was
deposited.
Mr. Felix Maloney told me he wanted the money there in anticipation of his arrival from Norway
later that week. This was the last communication we had, this transpired around 20th December,
2006. In June last year, we got a call from the Security Consultancy firm informing us of the
inactivity of that particular portfolio. This was an astounding position as far as I was concerned,
given the fact that I managed the private banking sector I was the only one who knew about the
deposit at the Security Consultancy firm, and I could not understand why Mr. Felix Maloney had
not come forward to claim his deposit. I made futile efforts to locate Mr. Felix Maloney.
I immediately passed the task of locating him to the internal investigations department of HSBC.
One week later, information started to trickle in; apparently Mr. Felix Maloney was dead. We
were soon enough able to identify the body and cause of death was confirmed. The bank
immediately launched an investigation into possible surviving next of kin to alert about the
situation and also to come forward to claim his estate. If you are familiar with private banking
affairs, those who patronize our services usually prefer anonymity, but also some levels of
detachment from conventional processes. In his bio-data form, he listed no next of kin. In the
field of private banking, opening an account with us means no one will know of its existence,
accounts are rarely held under a name; depositors use numbers and codes to make the accounts
anonymous. This bank even gives the choice to depositors of having their mail sent to them or
held at the bank itself, ensuring that there are no traces of the account and as I said, rarely do they
nominate next of kin. Private banking clients apart from not nominating next of kin also usually
in most cases leave wills in our care, in this case; Mr. Felix Maloney died intestate.
In line with our internal processes for account holders who have passed away, we instituted our
own investigations in good faith to determine who should have right to claim the estate. This
investigation has for the past months been unfruitful. We have scanned every continent and used
our private investigation affiliate companies to get to the root of the problem. It is this
investigation that resulted in my being furnished with your details as a possible relative of the
deceased. My official capacity then and now dictates that I am the only party to supervise the
investigation and the only party to receive the results of the investigation. You have unfortunately
being declared as having in no way affiliated with this individual. What this means, you being the
last batch of names we have considered, is that our dear late fellow died with no known or
identifiable family member. This leaves me as the only person with the full picture of what the
prevailing situation is in relation to the deposit and the late beneficiary of the deposit. According
to practice, the Security Consultancy firm will by the end of this year broadcast a request for
statements of claim to HSBC, failing to receive viable claims they will most probably revert the
deposit back to HSBC. This will result in the money entering the HSBC accounting system and
the portfolio will be out of my hands and out of the private banking division. This will not
happen if I have my way.
What I wish to relate to you will smack of unethical practice but I want you to understand
something. It is only an outsider to the banking world who finds the internal politics of the
banking world aberrational. The world of private banking especially is fraught with huge rewards
for those who sit upon certain chairs and oversee certain portfolios. You should have begun by
now to put together the general direction of what I propose. There is £18,450,000.00 deposited in
Spain, I alone have the deposit details and they will release the deposit to no one unless I instruct
them to do so. I alone know of the existence of this deposit for as far as HSBC is concerned, the
transaction with Mr. Felix Maloney concluded when I sent the funds to Spain, all outstanding
interactions in relation to the file are just customer services and due process. The Security
Consultancy firm has no single idea of whats the history or nature of the deposit. They are
simply awaiting instructions to release the deposit to any party that I may direct. This is the
situation. This bank has spent great amounts of money trying to track this mans family; they
have investigated for months and have found no family. The investigation has come to an end.
My proposal; you share similar details to the late fellow;
I am prepared to instruct the Security Consultancy firm to release the deposit to you as the closest
surviving relation. Upon receipt of the deposit, I am prepared to share the money with you in
half. That is: I will simply nominate you as the next of kin and have them release the deposit to
you. We share the proceeds 50/50.
I would have gone ahead to ask the funds be released to me, but that would have drawn a straight
line to me and my involvement with claiming the deposit. But on the other hand, you with the
same surname as the original depositor would easily pass as the beneficiary or next of kin with
right to claim. I assure you that I could have the deposit released to you within a few days. I will
simply inform the bank of the final closing of the file relating to Mr. Felix Maloney. I will then
officially communicate with the Security Consultancy firm and instruct them to release the
deposit to you. With these two things: all is done. The alternative would be for us to have the
Security Consultancy firm direct the funds to another bank with you as the account holder. This
way there will be no need for you to think of receiving the money from the Security Consultancy
firm as it is not a conventional financial institution; they accept deposits from only organizations
thus; what you hand over to them is what you get back. They do not have the means to process
the money. We can fine-tune this based on our interactions.
I am aware of the consequences of this proposal. I ask that if you find no interest in this project
that you should discard this mail. I ask that you do not be vindictive and destructive. If my offer is
of no appeal to you, delete this message and forget I ever contacted you. Do not destroy my career
because you do not approve of my proposal. You may not know this but people like me who have
made a tidy sum out of comparable situations run the whole private banking sector. I am not a
criminal and what I do, I do not find against good conscience, this may be hard for you to
understand, but the dynamics of my industry dictates that I make this move. Such opportunities
only come ones way once in a lifetime. I cannot let this chance pass me by, for once I find
myself in total control of my destiny. These chances wont pass me by. I ask that you do not
destroy my chance, if you will not work with me let me know and let me move on with my life
but do not destroy me. I am a family man and this is an opportunity to provide them with new and
much greater opportunities. There is a reward for this project and it is a task well worth
undertaking. I have evaluated the risks and the only risk I have here is from you refusing to work
with me and alerting my bank. I am the only one who know of this situation, good fortune has
blessed you with a name that has planted you into the center of relevance in my life. Lets share
the blessing.
If you find yourself able to work with me, contact me through this same email account. If you
give me positive signals, I will initiate this process towards a conclusion. I wish to inform you
that should you contact me via official channel; I will deny knowing you and about this project. I
repeat, I do not want you contacting me through my official phone lines nor do I want you
contacting me through my official email account. Contact me only through the numbers which I
will subsequently provide to you and also through this email address. I do not want any direct link
between you and me. My official lines are not secure lines as they are periodically monitored to
assess our level of customer care in line with our Total Quality Management Policy. I am aware
of this fact having once served as the Director of marketing and Communications. Please observe
this instruction religiously.
Please, again, note I am a family man; I have a wife and children. I send you this mail not without
a measure of fear as to what the consequences, but I know within me that nothing ventured is
nothing gained and that success and riches never come easy or on a platter of gold. This is the one
truth I have learned from my private banking clients.
Do not betray my confidence.
I await your response.
Truly yours,
S. T. Gulliver @
stevegulliver2@hotmail.co.uk
THEY MUST THINK I AM STUPID???????:P
