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The Prince is Back and He Still Needs Your Help Moving Some Money, Old Scams are New Scams
Posted March 15, 2021
by Jeff Laughlin
An old internet scam from the 1990’s is reemerging. You may be familiar with the Nigerian Prince emails which have become an almost cliché example of internet base fraud in our culture. By breaking down this scam in terms of how it functions and what can happen if you are a victim, there is plenty to learn in avoiding current and more sophisticated scams.
"Nigerian Prince" or "419" scams are named from the country and the criminal code that addresses the scam, Nigeria 419, that the scam originated years ago. The scam is intended to get, at the very least, personal information but is open to directly robbing the victim of small to large amounts of money via fake fees and bank drafts. Here is a recent example of the scam email received by staff at SIUE:
From: Brenda J. Gonzalez
Sent: Monday, February 8, 2021 2:53 PM
Subject: URGENT !!
Assalamu'alaikum!
This is Brenda J. Gonzalez (LTC) of the U.S Army Special Operations Command (USASOC), 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Air Force Base – Afghanistan
Please I need your urgent assistance in securing a consignment (two trunk boxes) containing ($20,000,000), the funds are surpluses of several contracts executed by my department during a supply of MH (Military Hardware).
The consignment is presently in Amsterdam Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands, via a U.S Military Air & Surface Transportation Company (ADM Europa LLC). My desire and purpose is to have the (ADM Europa LLC) to deliver the funds to you for safe-keeping until I return back to the U.S mid-next year after my deployment.
If you receive this message please e-mail me immediately with a delivery address and your full contact information; the deal is 60/40 split (60% for me and 40% for you); I am not a greedy woman and I hope you will not double cross a struggling uniform single mother with 3 teenage children?
Once you receive the consignment ($20,000,000) take out your 40% ($8,000,000) and save my 60% ($12,000,000) for me until I return back to the U.S mid-next year after my deployment.
May God bless you as you extend your helping hand to the needy!
Please REPLY!
Respectfully,
Lt. Col. Brenda J. Gonzalez (Mrs.)
U.S. Army 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne)
Air Force Base – Afghanistan
If you were to respond to this email you would likely be contacted by con-artists who now have some personal information you provided. That is already of some value to them, but it is unlikely to end there. They might then ask for personal bank account access to withdraw or deposit money or both. Usually, the scammers will ask you to pay fees as part of the administration of moving the larger sum of money promised. They'll either remain in contact in an attempt to siphon as much money as they can from you, or they may disappear after the first transaction. Either way you'll have less money than you had before dealing with them and will never get the millions from the original solicitation. This scam can go on for months of withdrawals for unwary victims.
There are several items to note that warn you against such scams that are common in other scams. This recent example stresses urgency encouraging you to quickly follow through with the proposition without stopping to think about the situation, only to just help launder some money to a needy cause. Scams often prey on your empathy, greed, or a sense of emergency in that inaction will cause you harm or to miss out. These emails are almost always unsolicited, but can be targeted if scammers have access to personal information. If you do contact them, another warning sign is that you will be immediately asked for money upfront to cover fees. Besides your personal information, this is really the heart of the grift. How often they contact you and how much money they request will depend on how much the scammers think they can get away with. When these scams work the average loss per person affected is around $2000 and accounts for $700,000 lost per year nationwide.
A little common sense goes a long way. Unsolicited and unfamiliar offers or requests for personal information via email, text, mail, or phone are always interested in separating you from your money. If you get a solicitation like this feel free to consult SIUE ITS and forward any suspicious communications to phishing@siue.edu. SIUE faculty, staff, and students are the first line in the defense of SIUE against grifters and hackers. Familiarize yourself with common attacks and methods to not only protect SIUE but also your own privacy.
Check out our ITS Information Security training course for lots more good information:
https://www.siue.edu/its/is/security-training.shtml
Jeff Laughlin
Chief Information Security Officer
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
