Hello and thank you for entrusting me to answer your question. My goal is to answer your question completely and thoroughly and to provide excellent service.

What you describe is a common advanced fee scam. While this political figure most likely exists, the person you are corresponding with is not that person but an impersonator and is sending out emails such as the one you received to hundreds of potential victims a day.

These scams have endless variations, but the essential facts that they all have in common are that the victim is contacted and informed of a large financial windfall of some kind. The victim is promised a large share of money, very often if he or she can help import money or gold into the country, but before the victim can receive their share, they must pay various advanced fees.

These fees are described as taxes, transfer fees, attorney fees, or something else, and their justification always seems very official. Do not be fooled. In this scam, there is no large sum of money and this is all a ploy to get you to send advanced payment.

See this warning from the United States Federal Trade Commission regarding this kind of scam, which frequently originates from Nigeria: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/alerts/alt117.shtm

Notably, the FTC states:

"If you're tempted to respond to an offer, the FTC suggests you stop and ask yourself two important questions: Why would a perfect stranger pick you — also a perfect stranger — to share a fortune with, and why would you share your personal or business information, including your bank account numbers or your company letterhead, with someone you don't know?"

These are the questions that an individual in your circumstance must pose to yourself. Of course, there are no good answers and the reason why is because this is a scam. Accordingly, you would be extremely wise to immediately cease contact with the person who sent you this email and decline any further involvement in the transfer of this money.

I sincerely XXXXX XXXXX this information helps you and I wish you the best.

If you do not have any further concerns, I would be very grateful if you would give my answer a positive rating and click submit, as this is the only way I will receive credit for assisting you. If you have any additional concerns that you would like me to address, please feel free to let me know by hitting the REPLY or CONTINUE CONVERSATION button and I will be more than happy to continue assisting you.

Finally, please bear in mind that none of the above constitutes legal advice nor is any attorney client relationship created between us.

Thank you and very kindest regards.

Paul,

These scammers are sophisticated and often target specific demographics with proposals that are seemingly tailored to their unique backgrounds.

The fact that this scammer has referenced the Vienna Convention makes it even more clear that this is a scam. Scammers from Nigeria and Ghana operating advanced fee scams of this kind often reference the Vienna Convention sections that address confiscation of proceeds from drugs and other criminal acts. Make no mistake--the mere fact that the Vienna Convention actually provides for these things does not make this particular offer legitimate.

As a fraud examiner here on Just Answer, I assist individuals several times a week who tell me they have been approached by "government officials," exactly as you have, and describe proposals identical to what you have described. Every single time, without exception, it has been a scam.

The longer you continue to communicate with these people, the more likely they are to get pushy and make threats. Accordingly, it would be extremely wise to immediately cease contact, as there is no doubt whatsoever that this is a fraud.

Again, I sincerely XXXXX XXXXX this information helps you and I wish you the best. If I have answered your question, I would be very grateful for a positive rating of my service so that I may receive credit for assisting you.41087.103924537