A few weeks ago I was checking my email when I cam upon an email from a woman who claimed to be the daughter of an exiled african politician. She claimed that her father had a large amount of money deposited in the US but she needed people in the US to invest that money for her.

I was just wondering if anyone had heard of a scam like this becuase although it was obviously a scam I could not figure out the logistics of how it would make money.

Umm. Yeah.

This is the ever popular Nigerian scam.

The way it works is, in order for them to get the money to you, you have to give them money first.

If you send me $20, I'll explain it in more detail.

In Response to zamphir (#14413):

If you send me $20, I'll explain it in more detail.

Money is on the way. Do I get a Mini with that?

I was just wondering if anyone had heard of a scam like this becuase although it was obviously a scam I could not figure out the logistics of how it would make money.

Wow. Where have you been hiding your e-mail address? I've had one or two of these most days for the last couple of years.

The trick (for free, just to screw over Z-man) is that they either need "details of your bank account" which they then empty or more likely "a small deposit to pay some legal fees." Oh, and people have been killed over this scam.

Cheers,
Graham

In Response to albionsoft (#14415):

just to screw over Z-man

I feel so violated...

In Response to Oedipa_Maas (#14414):

Money is on the way. Do I get a Mini with that?

Yes.

But I'll need your SSN, a major credit card, and your bank account number in order to ensure that everything is properly licensed and titled for you.

But you won't get my Mini!

I highly suggest you make friends with Snopes [snopes.com].

At one point I read an article chronicling the author's email conversation with the scam artist, which stretched out over several months as the author played dumb and the scammer tried repeatedly to get his money, but now I can't find it...

In Response to zamphir (#14413):

Your ideas are intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.

Oh I see, I never actually got to the point where they asked for any information.

Instead, I just laughed to myself as I imagined someone in dire straits and then deleted the email.

Thanks for the info.

In Response to porcupine8 (#14431):

A little Googling turned up this page [geocities.com], where the author and his accomplices strung some scammers along to the point of trading webcam pix.

In Response to Robonun (#14453):

trading webcam pix

ONLINE NOW!!!

Nigerian Webcams!!

See PRINCES, MILITARY GENERALS, PRINCESSES, NEPHEWS OF INFLUENTIAL MEMBERS OF THE FORMER REGIME!!!

Raw, uncensored, and uncut!

This is Nigeria like you've never seen it before!

In Response to Yoshi (#14439):

Oh I see, I never actually got to the point where they asked for any information.

Probably because you only have $12 the last I checked.