As mentioned, this type of scam may have a wide variety of variants, but all have one common underline – The writer claims to be in possession of millions of dollars and needs assistance from someone in transferring the funds to another country.

Below are some examples of the different variants of the scam:

1.    The dead family member
In this variant the writer will claim that a family member passed away. The writer inherited millions of dollars, which is being threatened by his/her government to be seized. The writer requires the assistance of someone in the transfer of the funds to another country.

2.    The corrupt Government official
In this letter the writer will claim to be a high positioned person within his government. He will state that he came across unused funds and wants to take the funds himself before someone else discovers the same. Again he would require the assistance of someone in transferring the funds to another country.

3.    The dying wish
Here the writer will claim to be a millionaire who is in the process of dying and have very little time left. The writer wants to transfer his millions to another country and wants to appoint someone to ensure that the millions are appropriated for goodwill.

4.    The well known family member
Here the offenders generally make use of real-life events and use the names of known dictators or government officials. In these letters the writer will claim that he is a family member of such person. He will claim that the known person requested him to transfer millions out of their country.

5.    The inheritance scam
Here the writer will claim to be a banker who discovered that one of his clients passed away. He will state that this client had millions deposited in the bank and no one claimed the funds. He will be looking for assistance from someone in transferring the funds to another country.

6.    The upcoming conference scam
This is a slight variation of the normal scam, where the offenders advertise a large upcoming international conference. Victims are misrepresented to stating that they were personally identified by a certain Government to attend the conference. Once a victim is interested the offenders will require that accommodation, transportation and conference fees be paid in advance. Once the funds are paid, the offenders will disappear.

7.    The lottery scam
This is yet another variant in which the email recipient is notified that his/her email address was drawn as winner of a multi-million dollar lottery. Once a victim replies to the winning notification and attempts to claim the funds, the same principals will apply. The victim will be asked to pay a number of advance fees before the winnings are paid out, but it will never be.

There are many more variants, but as stated, all have the same underlining deceitful lie of a person who is in possession of millions and wanting to transfer the funds to another country.