I write about federal agencies including the FBI, so the e-mail could have been plausible. It came "From the Desk of Agent Henry Shawn, Regional Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Intelligence Field Unit."
Then, in all caps, the believability of the e-mail went far, far south.
"WE HAVE JUST INTERCEPTED AND CONFISCATED TWO (2) TRUNK BOXES AT JFK AIRPORT IN NEW YORK, AND ARE ON THE VERGE OF MOVING IT TO OUR BUREAU HEAD QUARTERS.
WE HAVE SCANNED THE SAID BOXES, AND HAVE FOUND IT TO CONTAIN A TOTAL SUM OF 4.1M USD AND ALSO BACKUP DOCUMENT WHICH BEARS YOUR NAME AS THE RECEIVER OF THE MONEY CONTAINED IN THE BOXES. INVESTIGATIONS CARRIED OUT ON THE DIPLOMAT WHICH ACCOMPANIED THE BOXES INTO THE UNITED STATES HAS IT THAT HE WAS TO DELIVER THIS FUNDS TO YOUR RESIDENCE AS PAYMENT WHICH WAS DUE YOU FROM THE OFFICE OF GENERAL PETER OLU IN NIGERIA OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OF NIGERIA."
Really, did I need to read any more? An e-mail talking about boxes with cash, containing poor grammar and a reference to Nigeria?
Welcome to Scamville.
Of course, there is no Agent Henry Shawn. There are no boxes. It's all just a ruse to get me to send cash or credit information to crooks. So I sent it on to the real FBI.
"This isn't the first time they've tried to use the FBI on various scams," said Special Agent Steve Warfield, spokesman for the FBI's Minneapolis office. "Just because they say they are a public official or the FBI, people should still check it out."
