14 DAY TRIAL // 419 scams, or Nigerian scams, usually follow the same pattern. A wealthy bank manager or a prince from Nigeria is offering potential victims a large amount of money in return for their assistance in transferring some funds.
However, experts from Kaspersky have spotted a couple of scam emails in which the scammers actually tell recipients they will be awarded a large sum of money because at one point they’ve been targeted by fraudsters.
The first email, which has been doing the rounds for over a year, appears to come from FBI Director Robert Mueller.
“Records show that you are among one of the individuals and organizations who are yet to receive their overdue payment from overseas which includes those of Lottery/Gambling, Contract and Inheritance,” the bogus messages read.
“Through our Fraud Monitory Unit we have also noticed that over the past you have been transacting with some imposters and fraudsters and some imposters claiming to be The Federal Bureau of Investigation.”
The second type of email has been doing the rounds for only a month or so. In this scam, the crooks claim they represent a reverend that wants to help a former scammer redeem himself.
“I am Reverend Eugene doltin I am contacting you for a serious matter between you and Mr. Smith Walters. Mr. Smith Walters, made confessions on how he has sin and cause a lot of harm to People through sending out fake mails to them and end up taking money from them without giving them what he has offered to give to them,” the scam reads.
“I want you to contact me with the full amount of money that you were scammed of and the date and year it took place, explain more on how you were scammed.”
This last part is clever because it can help the fraudster evaluate his potential victim. If the email recipient fell victim to such a scam in the past, it’s likely that he/she will tend to trust the good reverend.
Beware! Never reply to such emails no matter how genuine the story sounds.
