SAVE YOUR EUROS, DOLLARS, and POUNDS.

Another variant of the so-called Nigerian scam e-mail is making the rounds again and fooling some genealogists. The e-mail may appear to be sent by a barrister, (attorney) representing the estate of some long-lost relative you never knew you had (your last name may be inserted into the e-mail message) who perished along with his family in a car or airplane accident recently.

The scammer will claim to have gone to a lot of trouble to find you in order to give you a share of the (usually) millions of dollars available if you'll just forward your bank account information to him or send him some money. He may claim to have found you through RootsWeb. Do not respond to such scams.

The country involved is not always Nigeria. Ghana, South Africa and other West African states are sometimes mentioned. Occasionally the scam operates from other countries, such as the Netherlands (Amsterdam), the United Kingdom (London), Spain (Madrid), or Canada (Toronto).

The United States Federal Trade Commission has issued a consumer alert about this Nigerian scam. Americans who receive an offer via e-mail from someone claiming to need your help getting money out of Nigeria -- or any other country, for that matter -- forward it to the FTC at spam@uce.gov

There are myriad variants of this scam -- including "winning notifications" from a lottery company, fake charities, and fake church scams. Ignore them all. Save your money for genealogical research.

ftc.gov/alerts/nigeralrt.htm

snopes.com fraud/nigeria.asp

FROM:-

RootsWeb Review: RootsWeb's Weekly E-zine
25 May 2005, Vol. 8, No. 21,
Circulation: 804,154+
(c) 1998-2005 RootsWeb.com, Inc
. http://www.rootsweb.com/

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