Scam Letter: Nigerian Hard Drives

The scam letter is the principal form of scam communications from African countries such as Nigeria. The scam letter is usually sent through email. It can have a variety of themes such as the one here. This scam letter is unusual in that it comes from Nigeria but the amount of money in the fund is not mentioned. Also, it seems to be asking for bank information, possibly, bank account numbers which would open the door to identity theft as well as the check scam.

Your Urgent Responds Is Needed!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thursday, April 10, 2008 8:11 AM

From: "Miss Mercy Udo" Add sender to Contacts To: undisclosed-recipients

I am Miss Mercy Udo a computer scientist with central bank of Nigeria. I am 26 years old, just started work with C.B.N. I came across your file which was marked X and your released disk painted RED, I took time to study it and found out that you have paid VIRTUALLY all fees and certificate but the fund has not been release to you.

The most annoying thing is that they cannot tell you the truth that on no account will they ever release the fund to you, instead they let you spend money unnecessarily. I do not intend to work here all the days of my life, I can release this fund to you if you can certify me of my security, and how I can run away from this Nigeria if I do this, because if I don't run away from this country after i made the transfer, I will be seriously in trouble and my life will be in danger.

Please this is like a Mafia setting in Nigeria, you may not understand it because you are not a Nigerian. The only thing I will need to release this fund is a special HARD DISK we call it HD120 GIG.

I will buy two of it, recopy your information, destroy the previous one, punch the computer to reflect in your bank within 24 banking hours. I will clean up the tracer and destroy your file, after which I will run away from Nigeria to meet with you. If you are interested , do get in touch with me immediately on my E-MAIL:mis.mercy.udo@gmail.com You should send to me your convenient tell/fax numbers for easy communications and also re confirm your banking details, so that there won't be any mistake.

Regards,

Miss Mercy Udo.

Computer Scientist.

This sample scam letter is for demonstration purposes. Do not respond to this scam communication or any other type of scam letter. Report a scam to authorities such as the email service provider and the FBI. Scam letters such as these should be avoided once recognized. Sometimes, the scam letter might lead to other types of scams like the check scam or identity theft if special forms are filled out or sensitive information is given out over the telephone. In addition to their recurring themes and errors, scam letters can also be spotted by the request for confidentiality. The typical scam letter usually states a specific amount of money along with a percentage that the scam victim will receive. As in this case, the scam letter does not necessarily have to have this attribute.