E-MAIL SCAM ASKS FOR BANK NUMBERS

An e-mail scam seeking bank account numbers may not be out of Africa, but the Missouri attorney general's office said it's beyond belief.

At least two people in Southeast Missouri have reported receiving e-mail from people claiming to be from Nigeria or another West African country who are looking for help in a money-laundering scheme. The letters offer money in exchange for bank account numbers, which are supposed to be used to transfer millions of dollars from Africa.

"Most people recognize this instantly as a scam," said Scott Holste, spokesman for the attorney general, "but they work to some degree, otherwise they wouldn't be continuing."

Letters purportedly from businesses, bureaucrats and the chief accountant of the Nigerian Football Association have been circulating since the mid-1980s, Holste said. The scam is estimated to cost Americans at least $100 million a year.

Missouri victims

Two recent scam victims in Missouri have reported losing more than $90,000, Holste said.

Jane Nicholas of Jackson, Mo., received an e-mail request for help on Wednesday. The man said in the message that he was a bank manager holding $10 million of a deceased man's money on an account. He asked Nicholas to give him her bank account and bank address so he could transfer the money. For her assistance, Nicholas was being offered $2 million.

"Just the fact that he was a foreign person who would notify me, how would he get my e-mail address?" she asked. "He's wanting me to do something illegal."

Cape Girardeau police had received a complaint about a similar letter earlier this year, detective Trevor Pulley said, but because no money was lost, no investigation took place.

"Until you have a victim, you don't have a crime," Pulley said.

The attorney general's office thinks it filed the first felony charges in the United States in the long-running scam last week. The attorney general assisted in an investigation of two Canadian citizens who attempted to get money from a Polk County man before they were arrested last week.

Peter Kalu and Vincent Onyeka, naturalized Canadian citizens, were arrested by police in Toronto, Canada, while they were awaiting a money drop arranged with the Polk County man, who had given tips to law enforcement.

Authorities seized computers in Toronto containing address lists in the United States, including the address of a person who lost $3 million.

The letter scam has evolved over the years from using the mail, then faxes and now the Internet.

"It's become even more attractive because it allows them to save a lot of money on postage," Holste said.