The 'Nigerian' letter
Many New Zealanders have received emails like this. Here at NetSafe we get on average two per week. They always follow a similar theme - an urgent appeal to move very large amounts of money. You are promised a hefty percentage of the money for your assistance. All they need is your bank account number or your credit card number. It might be nice if it was that simple to earn hundreds of thousands of dollars, but it's not. It is instead an easy way to get fleeced.
Here is a sample:
SIR, MY NAME IS MR. ---------- I AM THE ACCOUNTANT TO PRESIDENT MUGABE OF ZIMBABWE, AS YOU KNOW WE ARE UNDER HIGH TENSION AND A LOT OF OUR ACCOUNTS FROZEN IN EUROPE. WE ARE CURRENTLY UNDER HOUSE ARREST AND UNABLE TO TRAVEL. DUE TO OUR PRESENT CIRCUMSTANCES, WE WANT TO SECRETLY MOVE US$15 MILLION DOLLARS IN CASH, HARD CURRENCIES TO YOU. THIS MONEY IS LEGAL AND CLEAN THERE IS NO RISK INVOLVED, WE WILL USE DIPLOMATIC MEANS. EVERYTHING WILL BE HANDLED WITH TOTAL CONFIDENTIALITY. IF YOU ARE CAPABLE OF ASSISTING US CONTACT ME ON MY SECURE EMAIL: ___________ I HAVE SPOKEN TO HIS EXCELLENCY AND HE WILL GIVE YOU 40% OF THE TOTAL AMOUNT FOR YOUR ASSISTANCE. YOU MUST HURRY BECAUSE WE JUST WON THE ELECTIONS. WAITING FOR YOUR POSITIVE REPLY!
If you receive one of these appeals (this is a particularly inane one), just delete. Don't answer. There's no need to send it on to law enforcement, often times they receive the same offers.
Such emails are spam (online junk mail). You can look at installing a spam filter (click here for more info) if they get too annoying. Above all, don't reply.
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