Nigerian scam warning issued

Law enforcement officials are warning Tri-parish residents to beware of letters and e-mails from a sender in Africa promising money in exchange for citizen’s private information.

The offer n tons of money in exchange for a lesser amount of cash or a social security number n is literally too good to be true, Lafourche Parish Sheriff Craig Webre warned in a release.

The sheriff said his office continues to receive calls about the scam, which has been circulating in the area for months.

“We have been seeing an increase in this,” said Lt. Chad Shelby of the LPSO Criminal Investigation Division.

Shelby said the scam artists most commonly use the Internet to contact potential victims. “(The victims) are convinced to either wire money to Africa or they receive traveler’s checks with the instructions to cash it at their bank and send a percentage back to the sender in Africa,” he said. Later, the victim learns the traveler’s check, money order, postal order or document is counterfeit. Once the document is cashed at the bank, the victim is responsible for insufficient charges, he said.

Stopping international scams has been difficult for law enforcement agents, Webre said. As a general rule of thumb, he warns citizens to keep in mind “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”

The sheriff said copies of the bogus e-mails or letters can be dropped off at any of the LPSO offices; the documents will be turned over to Federal authorities.

“Please don’t be taken in by these scam artists,” Webre said. “Many people have lost their life savings falling for these ‘get rich quick’ schemes.”