A common scam that has come to be known as the Nigerian letter scam involves an email that you receive that initially appears to offer a large amount of money under various pretenses, such as an inheritance or a bank official who needs your help to move money.  At first the email does not ask for anything from you, but once you respond to the initial communication, more and more money is required from you in order to get the “free” money that was initially promised you.  Many of these scams originate in Nigeria, however, they come from many other places as well.  Here is a copy of one that was in my email today:

“I am David Ellis Head of Inspection Unit United Nations Inspection Agency in Harts field-Jackson International Airport Atlanta, Georgia.  During our investigation, I discovered An abandoned shipment through a Diplomat from United Kingdom which was transferred from JF Kennedy Airport To our facility here in Atlanta, and when scanned it revealed an undisclosed sum of money in 2 Metal Trunk Boxes weighing approximately 110kg each.

The consignment was abandoned because the Content was not properly declared by the consignee as money rather it was declared as personal Effect/classified document to either avoid diversion by the Shipping Agent or confiscation by the relevant authorities. The diplomat’s inability to payfor Non Inspection fees among other things are the reason why the consignment is delayed and abandoned.  By my assessment, each of the boxes contains about $4M or more.They are still left in the airport storage facility till today. The Consignments likeI said are two metal trunk boxes weighing about 110kg each (Internal dimension: W61 x H156 x D73 (cm) effectiveCapacity: 680 L) Approximately.

The details of the consignment including your name and email on the official document from United Nations’ office inLondon where the shipment was tagged as personal effects/classified document is still available with us. As it stands now, you have to reconfirm your Full name, Phone Number, full address so I can cross-check and see if it corresponds with the one on the official documents. It is now left to you to decide if you still need the consignment or allow us repatriate it back to UK (place of origin) as we were instructed.  Like I did say again, the shipper abandoned it and ran away most importantly because he gave a false declaration, he could not pay for the yellow tag, hecould not secure a valid non inspection document(s), etc. I am ready to assist you in any way I can for you to get back this packages provided you will also give me something out of it (financial gratification).  You can either come in person, or you engage the services of a secure shipping/delivery Company/agent that will provide the necessary securityThat is required to deliver the package to your doorstep or the destination of your choice. I need all the guarantee that I can get from you before I can get involved in this project.

Best Regards,

David Ellis INSPECTION OFFICER”

TIPS

This particular Nigerian letter has actually been circulated since 2012.  Greedy people have been falling for it and paying money to scam artists who never provide anything in return.  Anyone receiving such an email knows that they have not actually been involved in such a shipment so their name cannot be legitimately involved in it.  This particular letter is also an example of “too good to be true.”  The shear size of this something for nothing proposition should be enough to let you know that it is a scam.  Finally, by Googling David Ellis Inspection Officer it will be confirmed that this is nothing but a scam.