Yet another Nigerian scam

Here follows a message worth sharing:

I am an avid reader of your page in The Sunday Times and I have noticed that you have in the past warned readers about e-mail scams requesting money. The latest such e-mail scam originates from Nigeria.

BBC News Online warns e-mail users worldwide to watch out for a message titled "Please help the Athens Olympics." The plea, which is purportedly from representatives of the Olympic Organising Committee, is a request for help in disbursing funds for medical facilities at the Athens Games.

The result: you can be scammed out of your hard-earned money and possibly have had your identity stolen. According to the BBC, the message tells unwary e-mail users that too much money has been allocated for the Athens Games. You, as a trustworthy person, have been selected to nominate an account into which a transfer of $19 million can be made. It urges you not to tell anyone else about this for fear it will jeopardize the medical facilities at the Olympics from receiving the money. For your efforts, you will be rewarded with 20 per cent of the $19 million.

It not only appeals to human greed, but also the sense of wanting to help a good cause. Who receives an email similar to this should not respond or will risk losing money and his/her identity. (Austin Cachia)

I thank Mr Cachia for sharing the above with us. Indeed the Nigerians' imagination is boundless. The sad thing is that there are people who do fall for it and obviously, out of sheer embarrassment, it is only natural that when this happens one is not inclined to share the experience.

In any case we will continue highlighting the scam aspect of such letters.