Today’s Scam of the day is just another version of the Nigerian email scam that continues to plague the Internet although this one appears to have originated in the Ivory Coast.   Although it may seem that the Nigerian email scam began in the era of the Internet, the basis of the scam actually goes back to 1588 when it was known as the Spanish Prisoner Scam.  In those days, a letter was sent to the victim purportedly from someone on behalf of a wealthy aristocrat who was imprisoned in Spain under a false name.  The identity of the nobleman was not revealed for security reasons, but the victim was asked to provide money to obtain the release of the aristocrat, who, it was promised would reward the money-contributing  victim with a vast reward that included, in some circumstances, the Spanish prisoner’s beautiful daughter in marriage.
In the various versions of this scam circulating on the Internet today, you are promised great sums of money if you assist a Nigerian in his effort to transfer money out of his country.  Variations include the movement of embezzled funds by corrupt officials, a dying gentleman who wants to make charitable gifts or a minor bank official trying to move the money of deceased foreigners out of his bank without the government taking it.  The example below of the email I received involves a shady consignment deal.  Although you are told initially that you do not need to contribute anything financially to the endeavor, you soon learn that it is necessary for you to contribute continuing large amounts of money for various reasons, such as fees, bribes, insurance or taxes before you can get anything.  Of course, the victim ends up contributing money to the scammer, but never receives anything in return.
Here is a copy of the email presently being circulated:
GOOD DAY
MY NAME IS MRS.LINDA SMITH JENKINS, WIFE OF LATE JAMAICA DIPLOMAT TO IVORY COAST, PLEASE I WANT YOU TO REPLY ME BACK AS SOON AS YOU READ THIS MESSAGE BECAUSE I WANT TO DISCUSS SOMETHING VERY IMPORTANT WITH YOU,,I AM ACANCER PATIENT WITH A VERY SHORT TIME TO LIVE AND I AM CONTACTING YOU BECAUSEI WANT TO ENTRUST THE SUM OF (USD$12.7 MILLION) TO YOUR HAND AS A DONATION FOR CHARITY WORK., TO HELP THE ORPHANAGES, WIDOWS, AND MOTHERLESS CHILDREN AROUND YOU,
THIS MONEY WAS DEPOSITED BY MY LATE HUSBAND IN ONE OF THE SECURITY COMPANY HERE IN ABIDJAN AND OUR PLAN WAS TO USE IT FOR INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT BEFORE THE DEATH OF MY HUSBAND, AND CONSIDERING MY PRESENT BAD HEALTH CONDITION WHICH MY LAST DATE HAVE BEEN CONFIRMED BY MY DOCTORS , I HAVE DECIDED TO ENTRUST THIS FUND TO YOUR HAND FOR CHARITY WORK, ,I AM WAITING YOUR URGENT REPLY FOR MORE INSTRUCTION AND INFORMATION ABOUT THIS FUND,
I AM WAITING YOUR URGENT REPLY FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THIS FUND
REGARDS
MRS.LINDA SMITH JENKINS
TIPS
This is a simple scam to avoid.  It preys upon people whose greed overcomes their good sense.  The first thing you should ask yourself is why would you be singled out to be so lucky to be asked to participate in this arrangement.  Since there is no good answer to that question, you should merely hit delete and be happy that you avoided a scam.  As with many such scams, which are originating outside of the United States, the punctuation and grammar are often not good.
Many people wonder why cybercriminals and scammers send out such ridiculously obvious scam letters that anyone with an ounce of sense would recognize as a scam, but that may be intentional on the part of the scammer because if someone responds to such an obvious scam, they are more likely to fall prey to the scam without much effort by the scammers.