A number of people have received e-mails from individuals
claiming to be a “Prince Adamechi” of Nigeria, or a “Dr. Mark Kuku” from
Victoria Island, Lagos, or other similar names and places.
The e-mail is usually an offer to deposit a vast amount of money into your bank
account. The amount offered varies, from 20% - 30% of $15,000,000 to
$42,000,000. “Prince Adamechi” offers to make you an investment partner using
funds from “over-invoiced” (whatever that means???) contract amounts from oil
refinery construction work. In order to facilitate the deposit, you are asked to
provide the name and address of your bank and your bank account number along
with some other personal information.
“Dr. Mark Kuku” on the hand, claims to be a banker who has no heirs stepping
forward to claim an “abandoned” $15,000,000 that, as his story goes, belonged to
a family of husband, wife and two kids who died in an airplane crash in 1997.
This terrible tragedy has a happy ending though; since no one has stepped
forward in all these years to claim the money, you can be the lucky person to
share in this fortune by e-mailing your name, address, telephone number and bank
information.
These two “offers” are newly circulating electronic versions of an old scam.
Several years ago, it was called “Nigerian Letters” because they were sent
through snail mail.
Remember: you should never give your banking or other personal information to a
stranger.
The only thing coming into your account will be a lot of charges, fees, etc.
when your checks bounce because your own money has disappeared.
To learn more about this scam visit the National Consumer League’s National
Fraud Information Center and view their article about “Nigerian Money Offers”
at:
http://www.fraud.org/tips/internet/nigerian.htm.