If you think you have heard and seen the Nigerian scam then you are in for a big surprise, Nigerian email scammers have found out new ways to involve people in scams.

Nigerian email scams usually use barristers, bankers or so called rich relatives, who have left you money and if you help them to recover it you will be paid a generous reward or a percentage of the money. These were the traditional excuses and stories that were used to lure people into giving and sending out money. You may feel that there is no one to fall for these anymore, that maybe true but these Nigerian scammers are smart and they would use anyone or anything to tug at the hearts of readers. Some of the more recent Nigerian scams use the following, to deceive people, Hurricane victims, Families of soldiers fighting in Iraq or those who have lost a loved one to war, Tsunami, Bomb victims in India, Victims of Human right violations and Victims of abuse are some of the plots used for Nigerian scams, making it much harder to recognize.

Even though people are now more alert and informed on whom they should and should not send money to, the Nigerian scam artists have gone one step further to secure a middle man in the country. For instance if the scam is run in Australia there is a middle man in Australia with an Australian Address, telephone and an Australian bank account that will accept money. The victims do not suspect a thing as there is no Nigerian connection involved, until it's too late. There are instances where Nigerian email scams are involved in donating money to a worthy causes or a relief organisation that is busy collecting funds to help the homeless by the recently hit earth quake or flood. These relief organisations hardly notice that a sum of money is sent by scammers claiming that the accountant has made a mistake with the amount and that the correct amount should be the amount far less than what was donated. They then request that the excess be deposited to a bank account. While you do the excess payment however, the original cheque has not been realized.

Other Nigerian email scams are where scammers rent a home in another country, especially in the US and pay for it but later asks for a refund since their visa to the country has been declined.

The dating pages are also prey for Nigerian scammers, where men pose as women and women pose as men and ask for money from their lovers on the pretext of visiting them as they have no money to do so. Desperate lovers will do anything for love and therefore, send out money to these scammers. If you think you know everything there is to know about the Nigerian scam, watch out because you may be proven wrong and may end up being the next victim. These scams are being reviewed regularly by scammers and are made to sound more realistic, which is why a great many us would fall for it.