Advance Fee Fraud: Godwin Mahama

It's only ever so slightly presumptuous of me to label this one "advance fee fraud". The full spam text is posted at The 419 Files for your reference, and you'll note that there is none of the usual "I require your assistance in relocating millions of dollars" nonsense. No indeed -- this is an entirely different kettle of fish. Well, entirely different except for the fact that it's just as fishy.

In this case, a certain so-called Mr Godwin Mahama tells us he's "a licenced government contractor, sourcing/commission agent registered with the government of Ghana", and that "many foreign firms have gotten several contracts through my company's effort and lobbying." Great. Presumably if I contact him at his suspiciously unprofessional Yahoo! freemail address (godwin_mahama2006@yahoo.com), and tell him I'm in the fertiliser business (only a slight stretch, really), he'll respond by telling me that he thinks he can get the government to contract me -- if I'm willing to pay for his services as a lobbyist.

As an Internet Fertiliser expert, I call "bullshit" on this one.

There may or may not be a real "Mr Godwin Mahama" in Ghana who may or may not be some sort of consultant, but there's no reason to think that the identity is real based on the information given.