I received the Nigerian Prince text message below today. The aim of the scam is to trick potential victims into calling the telephone number in it. The telephone number connects potential victims to scammers, who usually operate call centers.
The Nigerian Prince Scam Text
Hello how are you doing? I'm Gordon Lee from Arizona and I'm 71 years old and I'm a Business man but my pastor preached to us on this week Sunday about helping the needy, and it really touched, so that's why I'm here to help other for a little out of what I have, I'm you to see if you need some money to payoff bills or do some other things. Kindly reply me back on here [phone number removed] I will be glad to help you out ...Your happiness is my priority, God bless America...
If contacted, the scammers will attempt to gain potential victims' trust and promise them thousands dollars.
After gaining their trust, the scammers will ask them to send money, which they will claim is for fees or taxes for the thousands or millions they will received. But, if the requested money is sent by potential victims, the scammers will take it and disappear. While the victims will not get the money they were promised and lose the money they sent to the scammers. Therefore, recipients of the Nigerian prince scam text messages like the one above or similar, should not follow the instructions in them.