Wait...that was a scam?!?
I’ve been warning people about these since around 1996 or 97 when I first got one. Didn’t take me long at all to know it was a scam, and once I started working on computers for a living, I got calls now and then asking about this.
First thing to remember - if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Then think...why in the world would somebody in Nigeria (or wherever) pick little old you to have this huge sum of money? Why wouldn’t he or she want to get it to someone in his own family or a friend? Why contact someone halfway around the world he’s never met, doesn’t know a thing about...silly at best.
Never ever give your personal, much less financial information to anyone online. Even your bank and credit card company will write you a physical letter or call asking you to come in to the office if they need that info. They will not ever, ever ask for it online. Or by phone, unless you initiate the phone call. (for things like verifying a debit card balance, I do that all the time)
I don’t even respond to these scams at all, the only way they would ever get a penny from me is AFTER the $8 million check clears the bank...All they would get is my name and mailing address, period, mail me the check and wait, I’ll send you the money when it clears.
Yeah I’m sure I’d get that check...
You’ll also see some email scams trying to get your info, scammers are using a screenshot of a bank’s webpage to fool people into thinking it’s the real bank website. I use gmail and it simply doesn’t show pictures, dead giveaway, if you do see it, simply right click in the text area or a link and see if it has a “Save Image As” option. It’s a picture...