Could you fall for a Nigerian advanced fee email scam?

Nigerian scam artists have conned ordinary Americans out of hundreds of millions of dollars over the past few decades. The good news: more awareness of this scam (also knows as 419 fraud) means less people are falling for it. The bad news: the fraudsters are getting smarter.

Pretty much anyone with email these days has received a letter from a foreigner requesting assistance with moving millions of dollars out of the country. While most of us delete the messages, more than $100 million a year is lost when people reply. Victims soon get tangled up in fake checks, wire transfers and even kidnapping.  This scam originated in Nigeria during the 1990's but the same type of con has been used around the world since the 1920's. Snopes.com posts a great summary of the fraud's history. 

The New Yorker has an in-depth profile of one Nigerian fraud victim that everyone should read in this week's issue. You can read it online here for free. John Worly doesn't fit most of our profiles of people who would fall for this scam. Worly was a Vietnam veteran, a psychologist and an ordained minister. He is now serving two years in jail and owes $600,000 in restitution for playing a part in a Nigerian advanced fee scam. His story serves as a stark reminder of how easy it can be to be taken by a fraudster.

Nigerian email scams are constantly evolving. I just a few weeks ago I nearly fell for a cleverly disguised version of this scam. I received an email from someone names Salaam K. Rashid in Jordan asking for help getting a personal loan. I receive hundreds of authentic emails just like this each month from readers of CreditBloggers.com and Credit.com. When I replied that he would need to work with a bank in Jordan to receive the loan he responded:

I have another concern that you can you can help me with: it is a humanitarian case which belong to my paralyzed American brother who live in Richmond VA. If you are ready to help me I will offer the cost of meeting.

Very sneaky! If someone who spends her days research identity theft can almost fall for one of these scams, it can happen to anyone. For more information about this scam, you can visit the Secret Service website. If you receive an email like this, forward it to spam@uce.gov before you permanently delete it.

Have you received a particularly tricky 419 scam email? Do you know someone who has fallen for this kind of fraud? Share your feedback in the comments section below.