Goodbye, Nigerian princess. So long, foreign lottery director. You've been replaced by a U.S. soldier in a war zone.

The latest e-mail scam -- seeking "a partner to handle the receiving of some funds" -- purports to be from an Army engineer stationed in Iraq. The come-on, which recently landed in the Star Tribune's in-box, contains strikingly similar terminology and tone, even the same broken English, as previous bogus efforts to part recipients and their money.

"Somebody has decided to play off the good nature of people and good standing that the military enjoys with the U.S. public," said Capt. John Donovan of the Minnesota National Guard.

Chris Veltsos, who teaches information security classes at Minnesota State University, Mankato, calls it "a social engineering ploy."

"People might be reluctant to trust a foreign national who's got a lot of money," he said. "They're playing on the trust we have of military men and women and getting us to lower our defense mechanisms."

The U.S. Army's Criminal Investigation Command warned of such solicitations last year. "These are not soldiers; they are thieves," spokesman Chris Grey said.

In such e-mail scams, gullible people who reply are typically asked to send money to the unknown sender with the expectation of getting much more money in return. They never do.

By the way, Donovan said there is help for real Minnesota soldiers who find themselves in financial difficulty. They include the Minnesota Family Foundation and the VFW's Unmet Needs program.

People who receive such e-mails can visit the Internet Crime Complaint Center. (www.ic3.gov) -- before or after they hit "delete."