The Top Five E-Mail Scams (4)

by Joshua Fruhlinger on April 13, 2007 at 01:32 PM

Scam #4: Nigerian Letter Scam

The Come-On
The "419 letter," named for the Nigerian penal code that addresses crime schemes, shows up as an e-mail from someone looking for your help in a seemingly desperate yet worthy cause, usually someone looking to give money away in his or her final days. An excerpt from a particularly desperate one follows:

"...before my late husband died he was a major oil tycoon,and deposited the sum of 25 million dollars ( Twenty five million dollars) in one of the Spanish bank in Madrid,Spain. some years ago,thats all i have left now,i need you to collect this funds and distribute it according to the God wishes and for charity . so that when i die my soul can rest in peace.the funds will be entirely in hands and management. i hope God gives you the wisdom to touch very many lives,that is my main concern. 20% of this money will be for your time and effort,while 80% goes to charity. So if you know you can assist me then forward to me immediately the following informations.
1) NAMES AND ADDRESS
2) PHONE AND FAX NUMBERS
3) YOUR NATIONALITY
4) OCCUPATION
5) AGE and your Marital Startus.
Please reply back to me on this email: jennydiaz@mail.vu."

The Scam
In exchange for your personal information like bank accounts and routing numbers, the sender promises a large lump sum for your help. You never get the money, of course, and the e-mail sender is across the world impersonating you, creating an alternate version of you with credit cards and bank accounts until your credit goes so bad that you will spend years trying to fix it.

You will even often get official-looking documents to get you to pony up for shipping and documentation fees, making the whole thing look legitimate.

What You Can Do
Carols says: "Free money from Nigeria offered in an e-mail from a princess in distress or a diplomatic prisoner? Fat chance. These scams have been plaguing consumers for years, with variations on the dramatic set-up, but the bottom line is the same: Getting involved with these scams can be more than just a waste of your time. They can also be dangerous and life-threatening."

For more information, 419eater.com has a great FAQ that even documents some of the cases as well as some citizens fighting back against the scammers. Warning: Some of these accounts are for mature audiences only.

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Comments

129

KaylaMay 5th 2007 12:04PM

Neutral

I had ads for my pups online, and would get emails from people wanting
to buy my pups using "cheques and money orders". I always reply and
tell them I only accept cash for my pups adoption fees and my pups
can only go to local homes. I will not ship my pets. Usually I never
hear back from the scammers.

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eveMay 8th 2007 12:34AM

Neutral

some guy from england tried to get personal info from me by sendind me an e-mail telling me i won a toyota?he wanted my name, address, bank acc#,phone#.i never entered any contest to win a toyota.and i'm no fool.i delated the message quickly.i'm not stupid.what next?

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vony2May 7th 2007 3:20PM

Neutral

IT IS THE LOVE FOR MONEY THAT CAUSES SO MANY PEOPLE TO LOSE THEIR GOOD JUDGMENT. I FIND IT AMAZINGLY STUPID!! WHY WOULD YOU EVEN CONSIDER GIVING OUT SUCH PERSONAL INFORMATION TO A COMPLETE STRANGER? HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF "DELETE"? THAT'S WHAT I DO WHEN I RECEIVE THESE TYPE OF EMAILS. I SAW THE SAME NIGERIAN SCAN ON 20/20. I COULDN'T BELIEVE IT!! THESE PEOPLE GIVING UP ALL THEIR SAVINGS, AND GAINING NOTHING.

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jonasJul 23rd 2007 4:03PM

Neutral

There are scamers in the car busines too, I listed a car in the local paper for sale, and the next day got a phone call froma guy who said my asking price is way too cheap, and If I let him advertise it online he will get $500.00 more guarnteed, and all it will cost me is $100.00, if no sale within 2 weeks I'll get my $100.00 back, he gave me a web address where I could check on the progress, my wife said "do it" so i done it, never heard from the dude or his web address again. so watch it scamers seem to be everywhere. Jm.

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BillSep 17th 2007 8:56AM

Neutral

I dont know about the rest of you all, but thses so call schemes have paid off for me. I have sent money to the Nigerian puppy deal and the rich long lost uncle in tibet. So far I ve banked enough to quite my job as an corporate attorney. Most of these are legitimate deals and these people that really want to give you money. Remember if it sounds too good to be true it probably isn't.

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LenaSep 8th 2007 4:26PM

Neutral

My brother in law fell for this scam , He was sent a check for 100,000 and deposited into his account against our advice , Anyway they bank whom he has been with for 20 yrs credited his account for 20,000 right away and about a week later he went to get money only to find out his account had been frozen ! The bank has taken everything he had in the bank and says he still owes them something like 16,000 in fees .

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Rusty WilliamsOct 4th 2007 1:45PM

Neutral

I get so many from Nigeria that I used to respond that they could simply forward the money to my church. I tell them that I can't be burdened with money. I believe it to be evil just as they are.

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MichaelOct 9th 2007 5:12PM

Neutral

Paul,

Try asking your questions of the State Attourney General's offices of the two states you mentioned. They both will have a consumer protection division that will give you advice and handle this kind of stuff, and may even take over investigating. You can also look at the FDIC website, which also has a lot of information on how to proceed when the victim of a scam. (www.FDIC.gov)

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WolfOct 22nd 2007 4:17PM

Neutral

I have more "Rich Oil Relatives" die in Nigera in the last 2 years than I can count or even knew I had!

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