Scamicide
  • Scam of the Day
  • Coronavirus Scams
  • Speaker Request
  • Contact Us
  • About Steve
  • Scams
    • List of Scams
    • Scam of the Day
    • Trending Scams
    • Coronavirus Scams
    • FTC Scam Refunds
    • Identity Theft
  • Books
  • Videos
  • Reviews
Select Page
  • Home
  • About Steve
  • Scams
    • List of Scams
    • Scam of the Day
    • Trending Scams
    • Coronavirus Scams
    • FTC Scam Refunds
    • Identity Theft
  • Books
  • Videos
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Reviews

Scam of the day – July 11, 2022 – The Nigerian Email Scam is Alive and Well

by Steven Weisman, Esq. | Jul 10, 2022 | Scam of the day

Today’s Scam of the day comes from a regular Scamicide reader and is another version of the Nigerian email scam that continues to plague the online community. Although it may seem that the Nigerian email scam began in the era of the Internet, the origin 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 scam victim with a vast reward that included, in some circumstances, the Spanish prisoner’s beautiful daughter in marriage.

In the most common versions of this scam circulating on the Internet today, you are promised great sums of money if you assist a Nigerian or someone elsewhere in his effort to transfer money out of his country.  While we refer to this type of scam as the Nigerian Email Scam, as indicated in the email below, not all versions of this scam have a connection to Nigeria as indicated in the email copied below.  Common variations of the scam include the movement of embezzled funds by corrupt officials, a dying man who wants to make charitable gifts, a minor bank official trying to move the money of deceased foreigners out of his bank without the government taking it or, as in this case, abandoned funds.

In most variations of this scam, 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 increasingly 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 paying money to the scammer, but never receives anything in return.

Here is a copy of the email presently circulating.  I have deleted the email address used to send the email and the email address of the recipient. It is interesting to note that the “hook” in this particular Nigerian Email scam is that you are being compensated for your being a scam victim who has lost $1,800,000.

From: “Investigations Department”
To:
Sent: Fri, Apr 1, 2022 at 1:39 AM
Subject: Your Compensation payment

U.S INTERPOL Washington

U.S. National Central Bureau
Washington, DC 20530-0001
Attention:
Foremost, we introduce this commission, The INTERPOL. We fight global crime including internet fraud and money laundering. Our commission has rounded-up well over 27,000 fraudsters and we are still battling these nefarious individuals. We are aware that quite a lot of people have been conned into parting with huge amounts.The United Nation has vowed to combat these crimes. As such due to their efforts and contributions, we have been able to recover over Twenty Eight million Three Hundred Thousand United States Dollars(USD$28.3 Million Dollars ) till date.Amongst the details yours was found to include your email. Our aim is to return all lost assets including funds to legitimate individuals identified.After a mandated investigation of the apprehended persons, the United Nations has approved the total sum of one million eight hundred thousand United States Dollars only ($1,800,000.00 usd), as compensation to the funds you lost. This amount will be paid to you in the oncoming days with your co-operation as we commence to conclude the investigation on your case. Please we want to confirm if you are dead or alive, because one woman Mrs Juliana Adenson came to our office three day back to claim your compensation  fund of one million eight hundred thousand United States Dollars only ( $1,800,000.00 usd) with your death certificate that you are no more alive and she related to you is that true? There will be a series of questions we will ask to aid us in rounding-up your case file. Please respond with your full names and address, country of origin,your valid identification card company’s name and position (if any), current occupation, daytime mobile (phone) number for easy communication for ratification and to redeem your fund.We await your swift response to this notification.through this email address: ( investigationsdepartment11@gmail.com )
Regards Deputy Director
W. Salzgaber

TIPS

This is a simple scam to avoid.  It preys upon people whose greed overcomes their good sense.  If you receive such an email, the first thing you should ask yourself is how does this possibly relate to you and 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 either question, you should merely hit delete and be happy that you avoided a scam.
Often as with this email, the emails are sent from an email address that has no relation to the purported sender which is an indication that the email is being sent through a botnet of hacked computers. The email address of the sender of this email has absolutely no relation to the purported sender of the email. In addition, it is important to note that nowhere in this particular version of the scam email is your name mentioned.   The scam email is obviously being sent out as a mass mailing.
Finally, it is interesting to note that in some instances, the scammers sending these emails intentionally make them completely outrageous such as this one is in order to weed out people who are not the most gullible and greedy so they can focus their attention on those people who  are more likely to respond and fall victim to such obviously ridiculous emails.

If you are not a subscriber to Scamicide.com and would like to receive  free daily emails with the Scam of the day, all you need to do is to go to the bottom of the initial page of http://www.scamicide.com and type in your email address in the tab that states “Sign up for this blog.”

Search Scams

  • Categories

Archives

  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • September 2011

SIGN UP FOR OUR BLOG

Join 3,834 other subscribers
Copyright ©2019 Scamicide. All Rights Reserved.