I want to share with you as today’s “scam of the day” a scam email that was sent to me a couple of days ago.  It is the latest variation of the Nigerian letter scam.  We are all familiar with the Nigerian letter scam in which under various pretexts you are told that you can receive a large sum of money without any risk and without having to do anything of substance.  It may appeal to our greed and desire for easy riches, but it also should make alarms go off in our heads that this offer is obviously bogus and too good to be true.  This particular incarnation of the letter has a number of red flags that should make you skeptical of similar letters that you may receive.  First is the poor grammar.   Many of these emails originate in foreign countries such as Nigeria where English is a second language, but where official letters still should contain better grammar.  This particular letter never indicates why I should be receiving funds from a murdered family in Syria.   Also interesting is the asking about my profession, particularly because one would think that there would be a screening process for any legitimate offer.    As with all of these types of scams, if you respond, you will be told that some funds are needed for administrative costs, legal fees, bribes or whatever and the amount keeps increasing once you pay them anything.  Ultimately, you receive nothing and lose any money you send to the scammer.  These Nigerian letters still are common because they still work. Don’t be one of their victims.

Here is a copy of the email I received.

 “VERY URGENT AND CONFIDENTIAL