New twist on a classic email scam

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The Nigerian 419 scam is back with a new twist. An email circulating on Nov. 4 that originated in China advised recipients they are included in a list of people scammed. The email begins:

The British High Commission in Nigeria, Benin Republic, Ghana and Burkina, South Africa, Togo, Senegal In collaboration with UK (London) Anti-Crime Squad  received a report of scam against you and other British/US citizens and  Malaysia, etc. whom the country of Nigeria/Benin, Burkina, Ghana And UK (London) Anti-Crime Squad have recompensated you due to meeting held with Four countries  Government and the world high commissions against fraud activities by the Four  country Citizens.

Your name was among those scammed as listed by the Nigeria Financial Intelligent Unit (NFIU). Compensation has been issued out in ATM DEBIT CARD to all the affected victims and has been already in distribution to all the bearers. Your ATM CARD was among those that were reported undelivered as at last Friday and we wish to advise you to seek to the instructions of the Committee to make sure you receive your ATM CARD immediately for your usage.

The email goes on to urge recipients to contact an administrator at a provided email address to claim their $3 million compensation as a victim. Sadly, even though this scam is about as farfetched as they get, it will likely be quite successful. Here are three clues that this email is a fraud:

• There was no “To” address listed in the email. This should be a dead giveaway. If an email does not show a “To” address, be suspicious.
• The second paragraph indicates my name was listed as a victim, yet my name is not used anywhere in the email.
• It is riddled with poor grammar and typographical errors.

In addition to those three details, the compensation offered in the email is $3 million for a crime that typically costs victims a few thousand dollars. It should be obvious to recipients that this is a fraud, yet there will still be those who get taken by the scam.