A few days ago, I received a desperate e-mail from a woman with a terrible story. Apparently, her family was brutally murdered in the midst of war in Baghdad. In an attempt to collect funds her husband deposited before his untimely death, she requested my help in securing the money. In return for my help, she would give me 30% of her money – a cool $9,480,000 for me. Here is the e-mail in its entirety, exactly as I received it:

Greetings,
It is indeed my pleasure to write you this letter, which I believe will be a surprise to you as we have never met before, and I am deeply sorry if I have in any manner disturbed your privacy. Please forgive this unusual manner of contacting you, but this particular letter is of exceptional and very private nature. There is absolutely going to be a great doubt and distrust in your heart in respect of this email, coupled with the fact that, so many individuals have taken possession of the Internet to facilitate their nefarious deeds, thereby making it extremely difficult for genuine and legitimate business class persons to get attention and recognition. There is no way for me to know whether I will be properly understood, but it is my duty to write and reach out to you.

My name is Mrs.Vivian Salem, wife of late Salem Nasim in Iraq, some years ago, I lost my husband Nasim and three children -Husam, 15 years old,Wasim, 12 years old and Merna, 6years old, this Happened when a Combatant Military Tank shelled our car as my family attempted to flee heavy fighting in Baghdad, View the Website below for detailed Story of how I losted my family .

https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/ deleted /04/vivians_story/html/1.stm

Before my husband and my Children was killed, he Deposited the sum of $31.6 million ( Thirty one million six hundred thousand Dollars ) with a Security & Finance company in Europe. I had contacted a Diplomat who was attached to the United Nation Peace keeping forces in Europe and had assured me of assisting me to move the Boxes through Diplomatic Cargo,ONLY if I had a PARTNER to receive it on my behalf .

All I need from you is to receive the Fund as my husband's business Associates and Invest the fund into any Lucrative Investment in your country.I will remunerate you with 30 % at the end,but most of all is that I solicit your trust in this transaction and will not want you to betray me at the end Please in your reply to this my private email ( vi.salem deleted tmail.co.uk ), include your Mobile number ,Home telephone number and your residential or company address for easy Communication.

Thank you,
Mrs.Vivian Salem

Although some may believe that letters like these are obvious attempts at fraud, not everyone understands the danger they pose. A recent news story on a local station proved that to be true. An older couple was taken in by a similar e-mail, sending several thousand dollars to a mysterious person who promised to reimburse them millions of dollars.

This e-mail and others like them are clever attempts to swindle money from you. The wording may vary, the names may changes, but the attempts are the same. You should never reply to these e-mails! Don’t send any information to them, because even the slightest bit of info will allow them to target you further.

...and don't click any links in those e-mails either!