Scammers Cite Huffington Story of Lost Japanese Riches to Dupe Victims

“Nigerian” scammers are citing media outlets such as The Huffington Post to lend credit to their enrichment promises. A new wave of bogus messages is flooding inboxes with the temptation of gaining deposit funds from a developer allegedly killed in the 2011 tsunami and earthquake in Japan.

“Hello Dear, I am Kokoschki Zwang. I worked as the Documents Caretaker to late JACOBOWSKY BLASCHKO who was an International Businessman and real estate developer here in Fukushima,” the spam e-mail reads. “He met his death during the Tsunami earthquake disaster here in Japan. Late JACOBOWSKY BLASCHKO has a safe deposit funds with a Vault House Abroad.”

To make the e-mail look credible, “Nigerian” scammers” most of whom are not actually Nigerian – ask users to check out the details in a Huffington Post article from 2011, which described the humongous amount of “tansu yoking” or money that the Japanese who died in the tsunami disaster had stashed at home.

Scammers then invite users to be their partners in getting the safe deposit funds that remained unclaimed after the earthquake.

Nigerian scams are some of the oldest tricks spreading in inboxes worldwide, but non-savvy users still seem to often fall for them. In addition, the more ridiculous the Nigerian scam, the more likely it is to succeed, according to a Microsoft study. Cyber-crooks say they are Nigerian and need help to transfer millions of dollars as a sort of gullibility filter that helps them weed out the suspicious majority and focus on the easy targets.

At the beginning of the year, Nigerian, or 419, scams also hit LinkedIn. A fake profile created in the name of the CEO of a petrochemical company in Kuwait was inviting users to assist in receiving an investment in their country.

For more information about Nigerian scams you can also check 10 things about Nigerian scams that you might not know.

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