The ‘Nigerian Scam’

I must be going up in the world – I’ve received my first ever ‘Nigerian Scam’ email, so called because this scam was first recorded from Nigeria. This is what it says:

My name is Dr. Williams Biko, and I work in the International Operation Department in a Bank here in South Africa. On a routine inspection I discovered a dormant domiciliary account with a BAL. Of (36,000,000.00 (Thirty Six Million USD) on further discreet investigation, I also discovered that the account holder has long since passed away (dead) leaving no beneficiary to the account. The bank will approve this money to any foreigner because the former operator of the a/c is a foreigner from Iraq in particular and he is dead, and nobody will come again for the claim of this money A foreigner can only claim this money with legal claims to the account Holder, therefore I need your cooperation in this transaction. I will provide the necessary information needed in order to claim this money, But you will need to open an account where this can be transferred, any account of your choice wil do. If interested send your private Telephone No. And Fax number including full details of the account to be used for the Deposit. I wish for utmost confidentiality in handling this transaction as my job and the future of my family would be jeopardized if it were breached. I want to assure you that the transaction is without risk if due process is followed accordingly. Finally, I will give you 30% for your corporation. Contact me immediately for more information with this E. Fax Number +15093557121.

Reply with this email or E. Fax:

williamsbiko@123mal.cl
williamsbiko4@yahoo.com

Dr. Williams Biko.

Wow! 30% of 36 million dollars, just for having an email address!!

Read more about the ‘Nigerian Scam’ from Fraudwatch International.

It’s not recommended to answer them, as they may be run by criminal gangs. Also, if you answer them, they know your email address is valid. But here are some funny stories of people taking on the ‘Nigerian scammers’:

PC builder takes 419ers for £171 | The Register

Savannah Says | The Kizombe Correspondence

I hate to turn down 12 million dollars, but I think this time I’ll pass…

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 20th, 2007 at 8:52 am and is filed under Scams, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.