Ok, maybe they're getting a little better at this. But get real.
Law Professor Says He's Innocent Dupe in Nigerian Scam
The Associated Press
01-07-2005A University of Miami law professor says he's an innocent dupe in a complicated Internet scheme that allegedly resulted in $1.68 million being stolen from a major truck leasing company by scam artists in Nigeria.
[ . . . ]
Fernandez-Barros said he had received an unsolicited e-mail from someone supposedly with the Nigerian government asking him to do some legal work, primarily reviewing public works contracts and helping a Nigerian businessman receive $1.68 million from Penske for a stock sale. He would be paid $200,000 when the businessman received the Penske money.
The professor, who holds three doctorates, says that when the check arrived, he followed the Nigerians' instructions to deposit it in his account at University Credit Union, an independent firm that serves University of Miami employees and students. He says he then wire transferred the entire $1.68 million to the Nigerian government, the businessman and two of the businessman's associates in Maryland.
"I never altered the check, I never knew I was cashing an altered check, and I never took the money," Fernandez-Barros told The Miami Herald. "I'm 100 percent innocent. I've been used."
Unsolicited email. Nigerian "government." Promise of extravagant pay-off for transferring large sums of money from one bank account to another. Gee. No red flags there at all. I mean, it's not like I don't get a few of these offers every week -- or anything.
Well, not these offers, exactly. It appears that our "Nigerian" friends have learned some new tricks. Caveat!
