Exclusive: The Secret Behind the ‘Black Money’ Scam
EmailThe "black money" scam is one of the most ingenious tricks pulled off by Internet con artists. Victims receive an e-mail saying they’ve inherited millions of dollars but that the money has been coated in black ink in order to smuggle it out of Nigeria. They are then told they have to buy a special, very expensive chemical that can clean the black money so it can be used. Dr. Tim Sloan, a California heart surgeon, said a con man posing as a diplomat named Davidson used the special chemical to turn samples of black money into real $100 bills. Click Here for Photos of the "Black Money" Scam. Sloan eventually lost his life savings before he realized the suitcase full of black money that he was told was worth $3.8 million was little more than black construction paper. "I don’t like being a fool," Dr. Sloan told ABC News. But after 20/20 was able to catch "Davidson" in the act, he decided to come clean and give us a rare, inside look at how the black money scam is performed. Click Here for Full Blotter Coverage. "Davidson" is actually a native of Ghana named Eric, who worked as the U.S. representative for a group of con men based in Nigeria. Eric said the trick involves first cutting thousands of currency-sized pieces from black construction paper and putting them in a box or suitcase. But he also takes a few real $100 bills, coats them with a protective layer of glue and then dyes them black with tincture of iodine. These are the bills that will later be cleaned with the expensive "magic chemical" that is really just water mixed with crushed Vitamin C tablets. Eric said he can sell this solution to a greedy victim "even for a $1 million." When he performs the black money demonstration, Eric asks his mark to randomly select several of the pieces of black construction paper from the suitcase. He then distracts the victim’s attention and does a quick switch, pulling out the pre-treated blackened $100 bills. Before the victim’s amazed eyes, Eric then uses his "magic solution" to clean off the black coating, and presto, genuine $100 bills emerge. Eric said he gives these bills to the victim and tells him he can spend them to prove they are for real. Eric said he had successfully used the black money trick to scam over 20 victims out of more than $100,000. According to Eric, "The first time it amazed me. And money started coming from it, and I couldn’t stop it."
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Wow.
How did you catch him in the act?
Posted by: Simmons | March 9, 2007, 3:11 pm 3:11 pm
How can that be offensive? The money in question was black. Just another brilliant pearl of wisdom from the PC Police. Can we say or do anything anymore without offending someone?
Posted by: Lothar | March 9, 2007, 4:07 pm 4:07 pm
Anyone stupid enough to fall for the scam deserves to be cheated.
Ph.D. my foot.
Posted by: boris | March 9, 2007, 4:22 pm 4:22 pm
How can this guy say ‘greedy’? when its they who lie, cheat & steal (without any guilt) from the intended victim & its NOT just via email NOW they get to know a person in a workplace environment, for 8 months to a year & gain the trust of their victim, then propose a business venture which turns out to be a variation of the black money scam…the scammers are the lowest form of life & need to be punished severely & they should be made to pay back every single bit of money theyve stolen.
P.S these guys are so sick they even have a variation of this, when they date their victims! Also they are global now not just in USA! No tough punishment of the offences= more of this to come.
Posted by: scammed | March 9, 2007, 5:49 pm 5:49 pm
How is this an “exclusive”? This scam has been public for months. Dr. Sloan has explained how he was ripped off by this scam to other media before.
Posted by: Don | March 9, 2007, 7:00 pm 7:00 pm
I saw the original story. The “exclusive” is that this report actually explains the way the scammer tricks his victim into believing the black money is real. Very clever.
Posted by: frank | March 9, 2007, 11:35 pm 11:35 pm
A ‘most ingenious trick’? Now really… Anybody with an IQ above room temperature could see this was a scam. Dr. Tim Sloan, HEART SURGEON got scammed? Wow I hope ABC is making this story up…
Posted by: Bill | March 10, 2007, 12:28 am 12:28 am
I had this happen to me in 2003 but I was smart enough to not give up the money. In fact, I almost had the men give me money to find my millions. The scary part is when I contacted the real bank the account was drawn on they did not know of the men who contacted me. Then I received email from a bank employee who was real and tried to scam me. He even gave me his home telephone number, which I did call and began to cry making him believe that I was poor and really needed the money. I lost contact with these individuals which was a good thing because now I realize I could have probably been hurt. Then after a little further investigating and searching I found their lawyer was a fake and immediately reported the incident to our FBI. ssaved by not giving into temptation
Posted by: Deb | March 10, 2007, 1:53 am 1:53 am
Folks, this low-life, Eric Amaoka is not a Nigerian citizen but a Ghanaian. This black sheep from Ghana only wishes to tarnish the image of Nigeria hence should not be taken seriously. As a proffesional con man, Eric A maoka may have some other plans brewing therefore,he should kept under FBI radar screen. His conffesions is nothing but a pretext to further his stay in U.S. So I strongly suggest that he should be rounded up and get deported back to Ghana.
Posted by: Uche | March 10, 2007, 2:08 am 2:08 am
When will people realise that in life you very rarely get something for nothing and further, if it sounds too good to be true, almost always, it is.
At the same time, these conmen are evil and usually target the weak and most needy. I think international authorities should do more to catch them and where caught, they should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
Yousef
Posted by: Yousef | March 10, 2007, 2:47 am 2:47 am
I HAVE SEEN THAT ON MY COMPUTER I EMAIL ONE OF THEM THEY TOLD ME IT NOT A SCAM I KNOW BETTER THEN THAT I,M NOT A FOOL IF ANYONE FALL FOR SCAMMER IT THERE ON FAULT
Posted by: CHARLOTTE | March 10, 2007, 7:57 am 7:57 am
I have little sympathy for people that are scammed by these “get rich quick” schemes. Seriuosly, if it sounds too good to be true…it is!! I like how Dr. Sloan says, “I don’t like being a fool.” Haha!! He should have thought about that when he was giving away his life savings in a venture of greediness! What an idiot!!
Posted by: Jarock | March 10, 2007, 9:10 am 9:10 am
I dont feel pity for these guys.for the fact that the scammer confessed to his crimes,he has to jailed for life.not only do these guys do the black money business only, they have also infested the dating sites,tell you all kinds of stories about how much they love you and want to start a family with you etc.once you fall for him,they start asking for money and sending fake money orders to be cashed, etc.I would also like for brian ross to catch these scams of romance in nigeria.
Posted by: myra | March 10, 2007, 9:56 am 9:56 am
So why do these scammers sell these black coated $100 bills? WOuldn’t they just be better off and wealthier to clean them with their magic formula themselves?
Why do they need to just sell the magic potion?
Ooops oh yeah.. it’s a scam…
Stupid is as stupid does my momma always told me!
Posted by: Richard | March 10, 2007, 11:12 am 11:12 am
With regard to Mr. Ross, great reporting; great to inform people of such scammers and trickster on line or in life.
As for the victims — I can only extend both empathy and great disdain. Sure, the victim is dooped out of money (this is tragic and sad), but the victim also allowed greed to get the best of him or her. “There’s a sucker born every minute . . .” I believe an American once that.
Posted by: jose | March 10, 2007, 12:54 pm 12:54 pm
to who it may concern I agree with myra that the dating sites are rittled with scammers. I for one was on Match.com and I have been scammed by a nigerian scammer. He took a very long time to know me and we chatted for days and weeks and then all of a sudden he wanted money. He had me so conviced who he was and had all kinds of pictures. I would like to see Brian Ross investigate this. I would personally like to talk to him myself and show the emails and im’s I have from the scammer. I have his email, IM, and probably his real name. You want to talk you have my email.
Thank you.
Diana
Posted by: Diana | March 10, 2007, 1:01 pm 1:01 pm
GET REAL ppl & stop being so petty minded! It’s called black money scam b/c the $ is colored BLACK, nothing racist about that. No different then the red card scam (3-card molly), which we don’t hear Native Americans complaining about. Plays all over the world are made on Americans b/c the U.S has a rep for being greedy, materialistic & powerful. You are to them as the ever-so-invincible Microsoft is to hackers, they like to test their skills on a good, competive challenge.
Posted by: by an EX CON/THIEF | March 10, 2007, 1:06 pm 1:06 pm
Thin-skinned are the ones calling ABC a racist! It WAS a black-money scam! They didn’t make it up. The construction paper WAS black. The money WAS dyed black! I’m not saying we don’t have racial issues we have to deal with in our country. But not everything is racist. I’m just as offended when someone tries to make something a racist issue when it isn’t.
Posted by: MPNV | March 10, 2007, 2:28 pm 2:28 pm
Every time I get one of these emails, I send them a reply asking for a good faith payment of $25,000.00 USDollars in order to complete the “arrangement”. I have yet to get a reply from one.
Criminals are usually pretty stoopid, so I figure I’ll get my money one day…..
I’m not holding my breath…
Posted by: B S | March 11, 2007, 1:16 pm 1:16 pm
While I sympathize with the Victims many of whom have lost their life savings, It is my considered opinion that both the ‘scammers’ and the ‘scammed’ share something in common – an uncommon greed for money that verges on the criminal.
The purported pot of gold dangled before the victim is almost always proceed of criminal activity.
Posted by: Ted | March 11, 2007, 2:58 pm 2:58 pm
To B.S. and anyone who replies to unsolicited spam like those mentioned here, a reply alone is letting the spammer know that they have reached a valid email address, and hence your email address becomes a marketable item.
Posted by: Apple | March 11, 2007, 6:58 pm 6:58 pm
WHAT IS BEING DONE TO ERIC? IS HE GOING TO BE FREE JUST LIKE THAT?
Posted by: DAVE HILL | March 12, 2007, 9:19 am 9:19 am
Don’t even answer an email like this because then they have your valid email address, wich is worth money to them. Just trash can any emails like this with the scams built in, and don’t ever fall for this kind of scam. If it says you will get free money by responding then you can know that it is a fraud!
Posted by: Skip Baker | March 12, 2007, 9:34 am 9:34 am
I feel bad for the Dr. Sloan who lost his life savings. But I DON’T feel bad for the Dr. Sloan who, having accumulated a presumed fortune as a heart surgeon, was still not satisfied with being rich and wanted to get richer. How much is enough, for God’s sake?
Posted by: Evan G | March 12, 2007, 12:09 pm 12:09 pm
…the scams are occuring on single dating websites as well…fake pictures of a female…profile with grammatical construction which seems foreign. next thing you know they give you their email and if you contact them, someone in Nigeria will be contacting you very soon….
Posted by: Aaron C | March 12, 2007, 4:16 pm 4:16 pm
In response to Diana who wrote a comment on March 10th about match.com and a nigerian dating scammer. I dished out $7000 and have info and pictures and would like to see these people punished and shut down. Mr Ross, I will help you in any way I can to get these guys. Mary
Posted by: Mary | March 12, 2007, 5:30 pm 5:30 pm
To Apple…..
The mere fact that I had already recieved the email is reason to believe that my address is ALREADY on the spam market. If you recieve one piece of spam, you can assume your address had already been compromised. It takes only ONE contest, giveaway, Yahoo or MSN group, or mailing list to get your email address in the SPAM realm.
There is no reason for me to believe that if I replied to this guy, or not,that I would recieve any more or less email spam.
I figure it was worth at least as much of a gamble as my $10 I spent on the Mega-Millions Lottery last week.
Years ago (1990′s) I would have agreed with your statment without question. Nowadays, I just rely on a good anti-spam filter.
B.S.
Posted by: B S | March 13, 2007, 11:18 pm 11:18 pm
I heard a rumour that if you purchase a certain chemical from yours truely you can extract gold from sea water….Now just remeber that when you log on for a free offer and i’ll send you an email soon.
I use the same chemical to buy an email listing from some of your most reputable companies.
So please don’t use a spam filter and use your brain instead. It’s that more reliable.
Sunny
Posted by: sunny puck | March 16, 2007, 10:20 pm 10:20 pm
Folks, capitalism with it’s unfair trading and arm twisting relationship with the third world is equally a 419 scam…Both must be addressed.
Kwasi
Posted by: kwasi | March 17, 2007, 7:32 am 7:32 am
Stay aware and keep your eyes and ears open. Diana and Mary, okay, you shelled out money to a strange man and now trying to get angry about it!! What happened to your woman’s intuition?! My goodness. Unless I can find oil in my back yard or pull a leprechan out of my left nostril, I will be smarted than that. Come on now!
Posted by: Alicia | March 30, 2007, 3:36 pm 3:36 pm
Please lets not loose sight of the fact that there are scammers everywhere not just in African countries. There has been an attempt by an American to scam me right here in the US.We’re not saying scams are good but lets not label any one group as the experts. American history is rife with labels that were later deemed innappropriate or inhuman. Someone please check out how much fraud costs your healthcare system every year. Cheers
Posted by: odee | April 2, 2007, 12:52 am 12:52 am
You Americans took away everything from Africa so you can live a good life,give education to your children and live a happy life,but did you ever think about the damage you made to the continent called Africa,no l don’t think so but let me tell now that you are the cost of all this and no one is to be blamed for these but yourself.
You took away Gold,diamonds,timber and even humans as slaves and you think that was the right thing.And you think you were right no you are not you STOLE it and you are a thief much more than Eric Amaoka.
He is stealing money but you stole life from people and you went free were you judged or jailed.
Its pay time and just keep quiet and suffer forever.
Amen.
Posted by: kwame | September 19, 2007, 3:59 pm 3:59 pm
To Kwame: I have heard that kind of bs excuse for plain fraud before – the white man this the white man that…but these emails are not targeted at THE specific white man or men who you have issues with, they go to EVERY country on earth and target ALL races and ages. You think if these people found out the were robbing a rich nigerian man they’d give the money back? RIDICULOUS. I am a white scottish man married to a black south african woman and i get these emails- do i deserve MY money stolen?? I don’t think so – the crackdown on this type of crime is coming soon AND it’s going to be over the top – im glad my door isnt about to come crashing an d my living room or office filled with armed police. So good luck with that.
Posted by: the man | November 19, 2007, 10:02 pm 10:02 pm
To Kwame: I have heard that kind of bs excuse for plain fraud before – the white man this the white man that…but these emails are not targeted at THE specific white man or men who you have issues with, they go to EVERY country on earth and target ALL races and ages. You think if these people found out the were robbing a rich nigerian man they’d give the money back? RIDICULOUS. I am a white scottish man married to a black south african woman and i get these emails- do i deserve MY money stolen?? I don’t think so – the crackdown on this type of crime is coming soon AND it’s going to be over the top – im glad my door isnt about to come crashing an d my living room or office filled with armed police. So good luck with that.
Posted by: the man | November 19, 2007, 10:06 pm 10:06 pm
the email scams are terrible, but the american “victims” (and they arent victims, i call them co conspirators) are greedy, and in almost all cases they deserved to be scammed, because they were greedy, thats the whole point of the scam, to prey on greedy people, not innocent people, but greedy people.
we all knot that the ENRON SCAM carried out BY americans cost AMERICANS, over $500billion thats more email scams than can ever be carried out. and thats just ONE incident, the report made nigerians look so bad, while the idiotic americans who fall for this are made to look like victims. this doctor should have his licence revoked,. thats the difference with british press, they woudl make the greedy doc know he was a greedy fool, as well as exposing the scammers. you get what you pay for dont you?
Posted by: tobin | November 29, 2007, 1:07 am 1:07 am
I’ll like first to commend Brian Ross for his courage to embark on such a huge task. I think you should be given a Nobel Laureate for this. My advise for all who intend to get rich quick without inventing an ‘MS Windows’ or ‘Mac OS’ is that, if the offer is so good and there is so much money for them to gain, then let the request for the first $50,000 from the scammers as proof of the benefit. I think the line has to be drawn between ability and benefit especially when it has to do with offers/ideas that you did not originate.
Posted by: Ibisobo Fiberesima Tolos | February 2, 2008, 9:50 am 9:50 am
Sucker born every minute!
Posted by: John | March 21, 2008, 2:04 pm 2:04 pm
but why did u caught him? he has done northing wrong and it was just a black money.
Posted by: hill | April 14, 2008, 10:19 pm 10:19 pm
which chemical do they use
Posted by: john | October 18, 2008, 5:29 am 5:29 am
Why did the people whow were scammed in this black money thing think that this was money that was really somehow alotted to them. And why wouldn’t they wonder why the scammers wouldn’t just clean the money for themselves and leave them out of the loop. I still don’t see how anyone could fall for this one, unless Bernie was pushing it.
Posted by: Joe | April 2, 2009, 6:12 pm 6:12 pm
just check out if the black money was another department of Barnie’s financial network.
Posted by: Kris | April 4, 2009, 2:30 pm 2:30 pm