PROCESS SOFTWARE EXPOSES THE NIGERIAN EMAIL SCAM

Framingham, MA, (March 20, 2006) - Process Software LLC, a HALO Technology Holding company and premier supplier of networking and messaging software solutions to mission-critical environments, announced they have published a series of articles documenting the infamous Nigerian email scam. They include how it works, who is behind it, and why it has been so successful at defrauding money from victims for over a decade.

Nigerian email schemes are very crude financial scams that begin with the intended victim receiving an email message from an alleged official at a foreign bank, corporation, or government agency. Scammers will attempt to gain the victim’s trust, and then convince the victim to send them money. Most of the scammers live in Nigeria, so this type of scam is called a “419 scam” after the section of the Nigerian penal code that deals with fraud.

“Process Software conducted this research to illustrate to email users the financial scams behind spam email messages, which in some instances have been tied to organized crime,” said Brian McDonald, Process Software President and CEO. He added, “The risks can be reduced through user education and an effective spam filter such as our PreciseMail Anti-Spam Gateway.”

The research is based on a Process Software email security expert’s interaction with scammers. There are several variations of the Nigerian scam, but the common thread is that the victim pays a relatively small amount of money up front (usually several thousand dollars) in order to gain access to a very large amount of money (usually several million dollars) in the near future.

While there are several different forms of the scam, the most common (and successful) one involves a fictional transfer of funds into the victim’s bank account. This scheme begins with the scammer sending an email message to a large number of potential victims, whose addresses usually come from professional directories, trade journals, and website guest books. Out of the thousands of initial messages that scammers send, there are typically only 2 or 3 responses. A scammer will claim to be a senior official at a foreign bank or government agency who is looking for a trustworthy foreigner to help them get funds out of the country. One reason often given for this request is that there is a pending disbursement of money from a will. There is a large amount of money involved, usually between $10 million and $75 million to appeal to the potential victim’s sense of greed.

Scammers will first attempt to establish a rapport with potential victims to determine whether they are interested in participating in the get rich scheme. The need for secrecy is a common theme in email messages to potential victims. Scammers also impose artificial deadlines to give the entire transaction a sense of urgency. This way the potential victim will not have time to realize that this may be a scam.

The real con begins once scammers establish a sense of trust with their potential victims. Usually, scammers begin by requesting a relatively small amount of money (around $1000) to cover “legal fees” required by the transfer of funds. Forged documents and invoices are often used to support these claims. If a potential victim provides the initial requested investment, the scammer will begin to request additional sums of money to cover bogus fees and taxes. Victims will often continue to pay additional fees to avoid losing their investment. Scammers will invent reasons for their victims to send more money until they have no more money to send.

In some cases, scammers have induced their victims to travel to Europe or Africa to meet them so the transaction can be conducted face-to-face. At least one US citizen has been murdered in Nigeria by a 419 scammer and/or an associate, and many others have been reported missing under similar circumstances.

Process Software develops PreciseMail Anti-Spam Gateway, an enterprise software solution that stops 98% of spam at the Internet gateway or mail server without filtering legitimate messages. To read the series of articles titled “Exposing Nigerian Email Scams,” visit www.process.com/nigerian.

Process Software (http://www.process.com) is a premier provider of communications software to mission critical environments. With over 20 years in business, Process Software serves thousands of customers, including many Global 2000 and Fortune 1000 companies. The Process Software product portfolio includes a suite of TCP/IP applications and service for HP systems running OpenVMS, PMDF Messaging Server, and PreciseMail Anti-Spam Gateway.

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