Scam Watch

The pitch: Your new ATM card from the Central Bank of Nigeria is ready.

The scam: The fact that this e-mail came from the “Central Bank of Nigeria” made it instantly suspect, given that country’s infamous record as the birthplace of so many worldwide scams. Not to mention that the return address was from Hotmail, a free e-mail provider that no legitimate bank would use. The message, promising a loaded ATM card in exchange for personal financial information, was indeed a fraud.

The reality: There really is a Central Bank of Nigeria, founded in 1959, that oversees that country’s monetary and currency exchange policies. But the bank’s name has been invoked in so many fraud schemes that it has posted warnings on its website. Just make sure you get to its real site. Scammers have gone so far as to create fake versions of the bank’s site, complete with false documents, to make their schemes look real.

Info: The only legitimate online address for the bank is www.cenbank.org. Samples of scam e-mails can be found at the bank’s discussion forum at www.cenbank.org/forum/topic.asp?is=456.

Advice: If you don’t do business with the Central Bank of Nigeria, delete any personal e-mail that appears to have come from it.

--David Colker