These types of scams are are known as the "419 advance fee fraud" - named after section 419 of the Nigerian criminal code where most of these scams originate. This has been going on for years - first through the mail, then fax machines and now through computers. Typically, they offer you huge sums of money - it can be from a widow of a dead political leader or cocoa merchant and they need your help to get the money out of the country. There are many other stories or scenarios that they use. The common thread to them all is that in order for you to get this money you have to send them money to expedite the process. They first try to get your trust and then the next thing you know, something has stopped the transfer of the money - such as government officials to be bribed, storage charges for the crate of money, anti-terrorist certificates, diplomatic insurance charges etc. The list goes on and on. Once you have sent them some money, there will be all kinds of things happening that will require more money from you. And they will always ask that the money be sent by Western Union. IT IS A SCAM. THERE IS NO MONEY TO BE SENT TO YOU. This is one of the largest industries in Western Africa and their governments are not too aggressive in trying to stop it (maybe because they are getting kickbacks). Thousands of people have lost hundreds of millions of dollars to this type of scam over the years.
Another similar scam is the lottery win. You are notified that you have won some international lottery. Same tactics - you will have to send them money to claim your prize. Once you have sent them money, something else will come up that requires more money from you.
Another scam that has surfaced recently is someone wanting to buy something you have advertised for sale on-line. They offer to buy your item - usually higher end items like cars, boats etc - for your advertised price - or more. They will even pay for shipping up front. The catch is that they will want to pay you with a cashiers cheque for more than the amount they are supposed to pay you. They tell you to go ahead and deposit the cheque and send them the difference by Western Union. The problem is that the cashiers cheques are very good forgeries and, contrary to what the bank may tell you, it can take a few weeks for the forgery to be discovered. You are now out the excess money you have sent the scammer and any of the funds from this cheque that you may have spent.
There are many more variations of these scams. If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.
No, I haven't been caught by this scam but, after getting many of the faxes and e-mails over the years, I did a little bit of research and found a lot of interesting stuff. For real good information - and some good laughs as the anti-scammers have fun toying with these criminals - check out this website.
www.scamorama.com.
Remember, as the sargeant in the old police show (can't remember the name) used to say - BE CAREFUL OUT THERE.