It’s possibly one of the oldest and least plausible scams out there, but the infamous Nigerian scam is still a popular method used by cybercriminals as they look to that advantage of would-be victims online.
What was once an email-based scam has since taken to Skype, where one of our colleagues recently received the following (and strangely worded) message via the communication service:
As you can see, they tell you that a victim of an Indonesian earthquake has died, leaving behind a princely sum of $7.5 million in a bank account. Luckily for our colleague, his surname, Fernández, is the same as the victim’s. This is a sufficient a link as needed for the earthquake victim’s friend to get in touch with his generous offer.
What the scammer proposes is that the sum of money stored in the bank account be shared equally between both parties, although the operation must be done under utmost secrecy and without anyone else knowing about it. In order or the deal to be carried out and for more details on how the transfer will be done, our Nigerian friend needs our colleague to get in touch with him.
It’s blatantly obvious that there is no money to be exchanged in all of this, and that there was never any earthquake victim to begin with. These scammers simply contact us with the hope of getting our private information and to try access our bank accounts.
So there you have it – never give out your personal information online and never carry out banking transactions that are related to prizes, inheritances, or lotteries.
Panda Security specializes in the development of endpoint security products and is part of the WatchGuard portfolio of IT security solutions. Initially focused on the development of antivirus software, the company has since expanded its line of business to advanced cyber-security services with technology for preventing cyber-crime.
