A Cullingworth businessman is warning others to be on their guard after he received an offer that was too good to be true.

Mike Wlock, the managing director of Office Interiors in Hewenden, is warning others not to be taken in by a scam that offers a massive cash incentive for holding onto a supposed sum of $18,300,000.

As soon as he received the e-mail from Lagos, alarm bells started ringing for Mike who immediately recognised the Nigerian scam as the same one uncovered by BBC investigative reporter Donal McIntyre.

The programme screened last year revealed how the international sting had swindled people in Britain out of sums up to £30,000.

Mike says: "I received the e-mail on Sunday night and when I read the contents I immediately thought back to the programme. I want to warn other people who may not have seen the show because people who have been conned by it have lost a lot of money.

"The vast majority of people would see straight through it, but some might still get conned. If you are struggling financially the amount of money they are offering could be very tempting."

The e-mail is from a man calling himself Dr Isibor Omoye BSc, MSc, PhD, MNIM, MCIA, who claims to be an engineer with the Nigerian Ministry of Works and Housing.

In the message, he states that a number of contracts from a consortium of multinationals have been deliberately over-invoiced to the tune of $18,300,000.

He goes on to say the contractors have already paid for the work commissioned and that the money has been approved.

The recipient of the e-mail is then offered a 30 per cent slice of the millions if the money can be transferred into his or her account. Dr Omoye states that as a civil servant he is prohibited from opening a foreign account in his own name and that the funds will be transferred to an account which the person in this country has no control over.

West Yorkshire Trading Standards officer Graham Hebblethwaite says: "We've had lots of complaints and queries about this for at least 10 years now, and they are all variations on the same thing.

"I think we can say that Yorkshire people might be more careful with their money. Basically, it is something you shouldn't touch with a barge pole."

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