Today’s “Scam of the day” comes directly from my own email inbox and is another example of what has come to be called the Nigerian letter whether or not the email originates in Nigeria or not.  A copy of the email is reproduced below.  The gist of these letters is always the same.  You are contacted by someone who tells you that under any of a number of different pretexts you can receive a large sum of money without having to do anything.  Unfortunately, the truth is that the email is just a trap.  Once you respond, you are then told that you must provide funds for processing, taxes, bribes or any other number of reasons.  Ultimately, you get nothing and you lose the money you have advanced.

“Good day to you.
I know that it will be a surprise to you to receive this message,I just arrive
in State this morning and I want to let you know that the Ministry trust fund
issue an Atm Visa Card worth of$2.5Million USD on your favor.Right now am in
Atlantic City  INT’L AIRPORT IN NEW JERSEY please do call me now with your
full contact details.My Email : ddiplomdaviddiplom@rocketmail.com
Phone: 862-234-6548.
Diplomat Agent Richard Peterson”

TIPS

As often is the case, many of these Nigerian letters originate either in Nigeria or some other foreign country where English is not the primary language, which may account for the poor grammar.  By the way, I Googled “Richard Peterson” and found that his name has been tied to similar Nigerian letters that have been circulating since at least 2011.  If one of these emails appears in your inbox the only thing you should do is immediately delete it.  Nothing good can come of any contact you might make with these scammers. And for those of you who wonder who might still be falling for these obvious scams, the answer is many people, as the amount of money lost to the Nigerian letter scams each year totals more than ten billion dollars.