You've probably had an email from a Nigerian Prince offering to share his cash with you, on the one condition that you pay some 'taxes' or other fees associated with the megabucks. Seriously, go and check you spam folder, I'll bet you there's one there. See?
Well, one man who is allegedly responsible for sending these phishing emails has allegedly been caught and I'm going to shock you now...he wasn't a Nigerian Prince at all. I know, what a bastard, eh?
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Michael Neu, 67, from Slidell, Louisiana has been arrested following an 18-month investigation by Slidell Police Department into phishing scams. The Slidell PD shared the news on its Facebook page, alongside a mugshot of Neu.
Slidell Police Chief Randy Fandal issued a warning for people following the arrest, he said: "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
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"Never give out personal information over the phone, through e-mail, cash checks for other individuals, or wire large amounts of money to someone you don't know - 99.9 percent of the time, it's a scam."
You probably think you'd have to be stupid to fall for something like this but not everyone grew up online - it's often older and vulnerable people who get sucked in by these scammers.
The Federal Trade Commission has a whole page about this particular scam, which reads: "These messages are the butt of late night jokes, but people still respond to them. The people behind these messages claim to be officials, business people, or the surviving spouses of former government honchos in Nigeria or another country whose money is tied up temporarily.
Credit: Facebook/Slidell Police Department
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"They offer to transfer lots of money into your bank account if you will pay the fees or 'taxes' they need to get their money. If you respond to the initial offer, you may receive documents that look 'official'.
"They may even encourage you to travel to the country in question, or a neighbouring country, to complete the transaction. Some fraudsters have produced trunks of dyed or stamped money to try to verify their claims."
So if you get one of these emails, the best thing you can do is delete it.
Featured Image Credit: Facebook/Slidell Police Department