419 Scam Blow-by-Blow

timbos writes "Check out this six-page dissection of a 419 scam at The Register. In particular, the fake banking site that the fraudsters set up is interesting..."

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Re:H.S.B.C.## STANDARD CLAIMS ENQUIRY?

[Azrael Newtype]

To the moderator: This massage[sic] is funny. Please mod accordingly. Aren't most 'funny massages' illegal (through most of the United States at least)?

Triborough Bridge Commission to be privatized

[John Murdoch]

Hey--Rookie, baby!

I'm sorry if I sound too informal--but you're the Rook Cameron in the 1977 pledge class of the Beta Pi chapter of Pi Kappa Alpha, right? I'm sure it's got to be you, man--long time: long, long time.

So what are you up to? I went off to Wall Street with Dave Scott and Paul Emerich (did you hear that Paul died in the Bahamas last year?). Dave is still selling securities, still running marathons, and is still totally PW'd by Sarah. I did the stock broker thing for a while, but got caught up on some, um, complexities with the Justice Department. Not a big deal--but had to find a new career direction.

Nowadays I'm kind of working "off Wall Street" (sort of the same way that some plays are produced "Off Broadway" to avoid paying union wages). I'm part of a small group that packages deals, finds investors to participate, and does big deals. Right now I'm working on a hush-hush kind of project that has some major potential.

Hey--would you be interested in getting involved in something like this? My partners typically work with a very select group of investors--but they owe me, BIG TIME, for solving a little problem that threatened our last big deal. I'm sure I could get you into this, if you really wanted to make a big score. If you want in--this is a terrific opportunity, but because it's an election year, YOU HAVE TO AGREE THAT YOU WILL NOT TELL ANYBODY--FOR ANY REASON--ABOUT THIS DEAL.

Here's the deal: the state of New York is facing a budget crisis. The governor's budget people completely underestimated tax receipts, and they're desperately trying to avoid a major cash shortfall. Here's what they're going to do: privatize the Triborough Bridge Commission. They're going to sell the commission's assets (bridges and tunnels) as well as capitalize a portion of the commission's continuing toll revenue over the next twenty years. We anticipate an IPO on the order of $8-12 billion (with a "B") dollars--it will be the biggest IPO in the U.S. in the past four years.

But there's a catch: the commission is full of political hacks and their cronies. They'll scream bloody murder if the deal is done in public, especially in an election year. So the governor's office is looking to quietly handle the sale through a third-party proxy: we set up a shell corporation to register for the IPO, we "technically" acquire the assets on consignment, we price the IPO, and we make the sale. We will have to price the IPO at a point that ensures that we can grease any potential problems with "friends and family" shares--but our take will be .5 percent of the IPO. That might sound like chump change--but one-half of one percent of $8 billion is $40 million dollars. If that's chump change, I wanna be a chump, right?

If you're interested, let me know. We have to put up a small amount of cash to create the partnership that will buy a shell corporation that actually registers the IPO. I'm sure I can get my partners to let you into this (you'll have to demonstrate liquidity to keep them happy, and the feds off our backs)--but you'll make out like a bandit. It'll be great to do something crazy with you--like old times, right?

But hey--if you're not interested, that's entirely cool. (Or if you're not the same Rook Cameron--geez, then I'm totally sorry for ranting at you like this.) But if you do want into this, let me know. We can make a killing.

Keep smilin',

Ray Atley