Ok is this a new take on an old scam ?

Dear Friend,

With a very desperate need for assistance,I have summoned up courage to contact you.I am presently in Iraq with the USA marine platoon;I found your contact particulars in an Address journal.I am seeking your assistance to evacuate the sum of $500,000.00(Five hundred thousand dollars)to you,as far as I can be assured that it will be safe in your care until I complete my service here.This is no stolen money,and there are no dangers involved.

SOURCE OF MONEY:
some money in various currencies was discovered concealed in barrels with piles of weapons and ammunitions at a location near one of Saddam's old palaces during a rescue operation,and it was agreed by all party present that the money be shared amongst us,this was quite an illegal thing to do,but I tell you what?

No compensation can make up for the risks we have taken with our lives in this hell hole.
The above figure was given to me as my share,and to conceal this kind of money became a problem for me,so with the help of a German contact working here,and his office enjoys some immunity,I was able to get the package out to a safe location entirely out of trouble spot.He does not know the real contents of the package,and believes that it belongs to an Asian American who died in an air aid,and before giving up,trusted me to hand over the package to his family.There is a secured way of getting the package out to a safer country for you to pick up,and i will discuss this with you when I am sure that you are willing to assist me.One passionate appeal I will make to you is not to discuss this matter with a third party,should you have reasons to reject this offer.please destroy this mail as any leakage of this information will be too bad for us.

I do not know for how long we will remain here but hopefully and before the year runs out,I have survived 2 suicide bomb attacks by the special grace of God,this and other reasons I will mention later has prompted me to reach out for help.

Please you can reach me on my personal e-mail address below for more information.

E-mail: jamtaxa11@msn.com

Respectfully,

That is a variation of the Nigerian scam which actually started as early as the 1920's, read about it here: http://www.snopes.com/crime/fraud/nigeri...

and here:
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer...

So far I've collected and researched close to 170 spam, scam and malware sites which were posted by YA users... Report Abuse

Yes, it's a scam. He'll eventually ask for money from you, and if you send the money, he'll either disappear or come up with more excuses for more money.