Iowa State University

Inside Iowa State
September 8, 2000

Beware of scam

by Diana Pounds

Thus begin some of the scam letters that have been showing up increasingly in e-mail, U.S. mail and fax machines around the Iowa State campus and throughout the country.

The letters solicit assistance in fund transfers out of Nigeria and promise those who help with the transfers a share of the funds -- often in the millions of dollars.

Legal services director Paul Tanaka and public safety director Loras Jaeger advise those who receive the letters not to respond, other than to forward them to ISUs public safety office.

"While no one at Iowa State appears to have been taken in by the scam," Tanaka said, "it apparently has been successful, because it continues and the Better Business Bureau indicates that persons in other countries are now using similar schemes.

The solicitations take a variety of forms, Tanaka said. They may include, for example, requests to officials in a foreign jurisdiction for help in transferring funds out of the country, a persecuted widow seeking similar assistance, or vague references to purchasing transactions.

Generally, those who respond are requested to provide business stationery and bank account numbers, Tanaka said. Next comes a request for fees or expenses to free funds. Finally, participants may be invited to the country, where they are subject to demands for money.

Those who receive suspicious e-mail should forward it to Jaeger at lajaege@iastate.edu. Other mail can be sent to him at 43 Armory Building.

"Don't write back on university or business stationery; dont provide bank numbers, personal or business information; and dont accept an invitation to travel somewhere to receive payment," Jaeger said.

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