Microsoft teams with Nigeria to fight scammers

I learned something new today. Okay, I learn something new every day. However, one of my favorite things is knowing the back story of a situation. In this case the email that reads:

“I’m the former wife / employee / son / attorney of a deposed / deported / deceased official of the department of treasury / banking. I need your help in recovering ELEVENTY MILLION, TWELVITY HUNDRED THOUSAND dollars / pounds / kruggerands which were seized when my husband / employer / father / client was removed from office / removed from the country / vaporized by a toilet seat from a space station. I cannot reach these funds without outside assistance as they must be moved to a neutral country, blah, blah, blah”.

These scams promise recovering riches from an individual which can only be retrieved with your help. They involve your calling or writing someone, and at one point, you’re asked for your credit card: more than once (from what I hear).

Seems Nigeria has had enough of these “419” scams (named after the section of the Nigerian penal code which addresses fraud schemes); they’ve been around since the early 1980s in one form or another. News.com: “Nigeria enlists Microsoft to fight spam scammers”.

• More sites dealing with this problem:
• Nigarian Frauds Website, hosted by the Freeman institute. Has a history of the scams. v.interesting.
• 419 Coalition Web Site
• http://www.419scams.com/

These are always false and always a scam. If you get one you think is compelling, check out the sites. If you still think it’s the real deal, call or write me, and I’ll help you research it.