We are all familiar with the infamous Nigerian email scam in which you are promised great sums of money if you assist a Nigerian in his effort to transfer money out of his country. Variations of this scam 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. A common element in all of the versions of this scam is that 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 paying money to the scammer, but never receives anything in return.
I recently received the following email purportedly from a Canadian lawyer who lists his name oddly as Barr.Gilbert Howard offering me funds from an estate.
“Good day, My name is Barr. Gilbert Howard, I am a solicitor with Gilbert Howard Law office, Ontario, Canada. There is an unclaimed “Payable-on-Death” (“POD”) held by our deceased client. The policy holder was one of our clients, the late Mr. Rolf Klostermann, who secured this Life Insurance through us, but unfortunately died in a fatal accident here in Ontario, Canada about 12 years ago. Since his death all our efforts to locate his relatives have proved unsuccessful. However, the Insurance Policy contract stipulates that “Payable-on-Death” (“POD”) not claimed must be turned over to the abandoned property division of the state after 12 years, hence the reason I am contacting you. I am convinced that you are a trustworthy and reliable person to take care of a project of this volume (US$9,820,000). please respond to me for further details via email: barrgilberthoward@gmail.com Your earliest response to this matter would be highly appreciated. Have a pleasant day. Barr. Gilbert Howard (ESQ) Gilbert Howard Law office”
TIPS
This version of the Nigerian email scam is a bit more sophisticated than the usual version that still circulates on the Internet. The story is not so outrageously ridiculous as is commonly found in the more common versions of this scam. However, the common thread of something for nothing still appears in the scam and should make you immediately skeptical. In this case a little research will show that there is no lawyer in Canada named Barr.Gilbert Howard. This particular email scam has actually been circulating since 2024.
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