UAE businessmen warned against Iraq e-mail fraud

An Iraqi national who claims to be a close aide of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussain has sent e-mail messages to UAE businessmen requesting them to take care of $20 million belonging to Saddam in return for a slice of the cash.

To many in the UAE business community this sounds like an ingenious way to make money, but the fact that an e-mail message from an Iraqi individual claiming to be an aide of Saddam Hussain has put business houses on alert.

The Iraqi national who has identified himself as Al Abu Ibrahim in his e-mail, has stated that he has invested the entire amount in a European company which he refuses to name.

Abu Ibrahim claims to have taken part of the money from Saddam's palace when it was being raided by coalition forces.

Abu Ibrahim says he is willing to deliver the money to someone in the UAE in return for a fee of 20 per cent of the principal and five per cent of its interest income.

This is the catch, according to local businessmen. Abu Ibrahim, who claims to be seeking political asylum in a country neighbouring Iraq, refuses to reveal his identity or name the European company in which he has invested his money.

When contacted by Gulf News Dr Khalid Maniar, founding partner of AGNmak, said Iraq has joined a long list of countries from where such e-mail messages frequently emanate. Nigeria and several other African countries are notorious for these anonymous e-mails, according to Dr Maniar.

He has also received these messages from London, where someone claiming to have been bequeathed a substantial sum of money said he does not know what to do with it so he contacted him.

According to Maniar, the modus operandi is similar. In his first e-mail, the sender mentions a huge sum of cash. In subsequent messages the sender demands a payment in return for access to the funds.

According to Dr Maniar, one of his clients was contacted by e-mail from Nigeria. He failed to detect the trap and willingly sent the money to Nigeria. By the time he realised it was a gimmick he had sent nearly $25,000.

Describing the Iraqi e-mail, in which the sender claims to be a close aide of Saddam Hussain, as nothing but a fraud, Maniar advised the business community to beware of this trap.