The Federal Trade Commission is warning people about a scam which begins when you get a letter from a law firm informing you that they are probating an estate in which they have not been able to locate an heir, however, they then inform you that you are the heir to the million dollar estate.  The letter then offers to split the value of the estate with you, some charities and their law firm.  If you respond to the letter, you will be asked to provide personal and financial information including your Social Security number and to pay a fee.  If this sounds vaguely familiar it is because it is just a variation 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, 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.