Fraud: Supply Prospect | Josephine Braimah of Transpacific Biochem Logistics Manager

I am Josephine Braimah of Transpacific Biochem Logistics Manager, under Ghana Health Ministry; I hope to explore a huge supply prospect with you involving our company.

Placeholder image for scam email

Complete Email

from: J. Braimah <direzione.sportiva@sslazio.it>
reply-to: transpacificlaboratoryghana@gmail.com
to: "J. Braimah" <marco.caruso@arnascivico.it>
subject: Supply Prospect
mailed-by: sslazio.it

Email Body

Very Good morning and happy new week to you Sir
Grateful to reach you here and now.

I am Josephine Braimah of Transpacific Biochem Logistics Manager, under Ghana Health Ministry; I hope to explore a huge supply prospect with you involving our company operations director as he plans to visit India soonest to find a reliable firm to undertake and reactivate Our 2-Year renewable Indian Raw-material Supply contract with Our Health Ministry here in Ghana; But if I can confide the details with you, we can explore it for much greater good.

I hope to find a reliable business front in India, with whom to secure this huge prospective contract and keep it wrapped up and also long-term between us. Let me know if we can work this out together in confidential trust, then send me your Contact Number in your email reply; so we can proceed in good faith.

Dr Josephine Braimah (Madam)
Materials logistics Manager @Transpacific BioChem-Gh
Thema Industrial Village, AgroBio- Allied Zone Box-7447, Gt 566 TA 00 Tema, Ghana


Red Flags

Red Flags Identified in the Email:

  1. Suspicious Email Addresses:

    • Sender's Email: direzione.sportiva@sslazio.it (an Italian football club domain, unrelated to Ghana Health Ministry)
    • Reply-to Email: transpacificlaboratoryghana@gmail.com (generic Gmail address, not an official government or business domain)
  2. Unsolicited Business Proposal:

    • The email proposes a large business deal out of the blue, which is a common tactic in scam emails.
  3. Request for Confidentiality and Personal Information:

    • The sender asks for your contact number and emphasizes confidentiality, which is typical in advance-fee frauds.
  4. Inconsistent and Unverifiable Details:

    • The sender claims to represent a Ghanaian government entity but uses unrelated or unverifiable contact information.
    • The use of multiple unrelated email addresses is suspicious.
  5. Emotional Manipulation and Urgency:

    • The email appeals to trust and confidentiality to pressure the recipient into responding quickly.
  6. Grammatical Errors and Unprofessional Language:

    • The message contains awkward phrasing and grammatical mistakes, which are common in scam emails.
  7. Lack of Professionalism:

    • No official documentation, letterhead, or verifiable credentials are provided.

Conclusion and Recommendations:

This email exhibits multiple red flags typical of business email compromise (BEC) or advance-fee fraud scams. It is advisable to:

  • Do Not Respond: Avoid replying or providing any personal or business information.
  • Do Not Click on Links or Download Attachments: There may be malicious content.
  • Report the Email: Mark as spam/phishing and report to your organization's IT/security team.
  • Delete the Email: Remove it to prevent accidental interaction.
  • Educate Your Team: Make others aware of such scams to prevent future incidents.

Additional Tips:

  • Verify Unsolicited Proposals: Always verify the sender and their claims through official channels.
  • Be Skeptical of Confidentiality Requests: Scammers often use secrecy to avoid scrutiny.
  • Stay Informed: Keep up to date with common scam tactics and educate your team.

Always exercise caution with unsolicited business proposals, especially those involving confidential information or large sums of money.