An offer you could refuse

A "trusted aide" in former Iraqi President Saddam Hussain's palace in Tikrit is seeking a "reliable person", who can help transfer $20 million (ill-begotten) into "safe-banking and profitable investment".

Abudul Tafiq, who can be reached by e-mail at abudtafiq@rediffmail.com, claims the money stems from oil sales "permitted by the United Nations for the purchase of humanitarian supplies during the dictatorship of Saddam Hussain".

In his letter, Abudul Tafiq confesses - "in strictest confidence" - that he had managed to flee Iraq to a neighbouring country with "five metal boxes containing $20 millon".

Each of the metal boxes, he explains, contain $4 million, and the coalition forces have already found 164 such boxes, in addition to " a cache of $112 million that was discovered in a row of dog kennels…" and "$700 million in makeshift vaults in the gated complex on the western bank of the Tigris River…"

In the midst of the controversies surrounding the U.S.-led war on Iraq, it is not wholly unexpected that scammers would attempt to cash in on the ambiguities over the fate of Saddam - and his fortune - with dubious business offers.

This type of scam, which was made famous by Nigerian con artists, involves a letter sent by fax or e-mail. The writer usually presents himself as a close aide or relative of a deposed African monarch, or assassinated dictator, who had large sums of money, stashed away in a bank somewhere.

In flowery language, he details a complex plan he has hatched to spirit the money out of the bank and into sound investments, which would yield enormous profits for him - and you.

Abudul Tafiq, for example, proposes the following arrangement: "You will be allowed to draw 20 per cent to your favour, while the remaining 70 per cent will be invested meaningfully for our future, if possible in your area of business and deterrents sector of the economy in your country, which are dividends yielding."

Moreover, he explains that he obtained your coordinates from a "reliable source" and beseeches you to assist him, first by providing your banking information and next, by covering the processing charges, which pale in comparison to the grand prize.

In an attempt to appease your concerns about his bonafides, he divulges the following sensitive information: "Saddam Hussain has large cash reserves hidden in the global electronic financial network and invested in legitimate corporations from which he can afford the luxury of maintaining a loyal military and security apparatus and which he can use to continue developing chemical and biological weapons…"

Abudul Tawfiq ends his letter on a personal note.

"I expect you to be trustworthy and kind enough to respond to this distress call to save my life and that of my relatives who are dependent on me, and from a hopeless future…" he writes.

"Whatever your decision is, please reach me immediately through my e-mail address and keep this letter tight secret in the interest of my family."

As ludicrous as it may sound, numerous businessmen, with a taste for risky ventures, have fallen for such hoaxes. But this is the first time the former Iraqi leader has been used as bait.