Fraudulent Solicitation with Illegal Use of Central Bank Name

Published: Thursday July 26th, 2007

It has come to the attention of the Central Bank of The Bahamas that solicitations via email have been issued which purport that Michael Lightbourne, Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of The Bahamas, is offering to channel unclaimed funds to persons who submit their account information. Central Bank wishes to make clear that these solicitations do not emanate from and are not connected in any way to Mr. Lightbourne or the Central Bank.

The text of the particular circular under investigation is as follows:

[Central Bank Logo] The Central Bank of The Bahamas

DEAR SIR/MADAM

I KNOW THIS MAY COME AS A SUPRISE BUT WHAT I TELL YOU IS TO BE STRICLTLY CONFIDENTIAL. I AM THE DEPUTY GOVERNOR OF THE CENTRAL BANK OF THE BAHAMAS WITH TOTAL ACCESS TO ALL DEPARTMENTS OF THE CENTRAL BANK BRANCHES.

OVER THE YEARS I HAVE DISCOVERED HUGE SUMS OF FUNDS THAT HAVE BEEN LEFT IN OUR BANKS WITHOUT CLAIMS DUE TO DEATH OF THOSE PERSONS. THESE ACCOUNT WILL BE TURN OVER TO THE BAHAMAS TREASURY IF NO ONE CLAIMS THEM WITHIN THE AMOUNT OF TIME GIVEN WHICH IS FIVE YEARS (BYRES).

I HAVE A NUMBER OF ACCOUNTS TO BE WRITTEN OFF AND TRANSFERED TO THE TREASURY WITHIN THIS YEAR. I AM WILLING TO GIVE YOU A 50% OF THESE FUNDS WHICH AMOUNT TO ALMOST MILLIONS OF DOLLARS AND THE OTHER HALF WILL BE GIVEN TO ME AFTER THE TRANSACTION ARE SAFELY INTO YOUR ACCOUNT OF YOUR CHOICE. I PROMISE YOU THERE ARE NO RISK INVOLVE ALL YOU NEED IS TO HAVE A LAST NAME TITLE THAT I CAN MATCH ANY OF THE NAMED ACCOUNTS WITH AND I WILL GIVE ALL THE INFORMATION TO FILL OUT THE RELEASE FORM.

THESE FUNDS CAN BE IN YOUR ACCOUNT WITHIN FIVE WORKING DAYS.IF YOU AGREE TO HELP ME PLEASE RESPOND BACK TO THIS E-MAIL ADDRESS micheallightbourne@[email protected].

God bless mike

This type of fraud is typical of "phishing" schemes where criminals create emails, logos and websites which mimic those of legitimate agencies, in order to entice personal information from those who respond by providing bank account numbers and credit card details.

Members of the public should exercise due caution when giving personal information over the internet, and should verify the legitimacy of any significant communication. Any such approach which raises concern should be reported to the address below.

The Legal Unit Central Bank of The Bahamas P.O. Box N-4868 Nassau, Bahamas Tel.: (242) 302-2611 Fax: (242) 323-7795 Email: [email protected]