Internet scams persist: dumb and dumber

[SOurce: Wikimedia Commons http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Africansting.jpg]

Here's an email that I received as recently as September 20th:

Dear Friend,

Greetings to you & your Family, I did not forgot your past efforts and attempts to assist me, now I’m happy to inform you that I have succeeded in getting those funds transferred into my new partner's account. Now Contact my secretary ask him for US$1.200, 000.00 (In Certified Draft) being your compensation. His Name is : Mr. Paul Flink. his contact information is as given below.

E-mail: (mr.paulflink1@hotmail.com)
Phone: +229-991-356-38

Also proceed to reconfirm your personal information as below:

You’re full Name: __________________

Delivery address: __________________

Mobile Telephone __________________

Age: _____________________________

Sex: ______________________________

Occupation: ________________________

Regards
Mrs Grace Kader

Who is dumb enough to respond to this stuff? Well, someone must be, or they wouldn't keep coming.

The FBI offers this cautionary guidance:

http://www.fbi.gov/scams-safety/fraud

Other useful information can be found on these sites:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advance-fee_fraud

http://www.datingnmore.com/fraud/scam_database.htm

Here's a typical story, one that crossed my desk at the university where I work, a couple of years ago:

One of the university's Chinese MBA students came to see me. She had been sharing a rented townhouse with her husband, their baby, and the husband's mom and dad. They had returned to China. She was completing her final semester. She ran an ad on Craig's List, seeking someone to sublet from her. She received an inquiry via email from someone claiming to be a New York designer finishing a project in Nairobi and planning to return home. When the student expressed interest, the "designer" sent her American Express money orders sufficient for the security deposit and first month's rent. The student deposited these.

A few days later, the "designer" sent another email, this time asking if the student could send here back a couple of thousand dollars, so that she could settle some bills before departing Nairobi. Having deposited the money orders, the student wired the fund from her account... only to learn later that the money orders were forgeries and she had wired the "designer" money she could never recover... not from the bank and certainly not from the scammer.

My advice is a whole lot simpler than the FBI's. It's simply this: If it seems too good to be true, it is!