The New York Times is reporting that the current economic crisis has led to a spoof of the classic 419 (aka Nigeria) spam scam. Everyone who has an email address has received at least one 419 spam. Named after the number given to the section of the Nigerian criminal code dealing with fraud, these emails claim to come from a desperate foreign national or lawyer who needs your bank account info-and promises millions in return. People who fall for it find their bank accounts emptied. The spoof reads in part:

           Dear American:

I need to ask you to support an urgent secret business relationship with a transfer of funds of great magnitude.

I am Ministry of the Treasury of the Republic of America. My country has had crisis that has caused the need for large transfer of funds of 800 billion dollars US. If you would assist me in this transfer, it would be most profitable to you.

I am working with Mr. Phil Gram, lobbyist for UBS, who will be my replacement as Ministry of the Treasury in January. As a Senator, you may know him as the leader of the American banking deregulation movement in the 1990s. This transactin is 100% safe.

This is a matter of great urgency. We need a blank check. We need the funds as quickly as possible. We cannot directly transfer these funds in the names of our close friends because we are constantly under surveillance. My family lawyer advised me that I should look for a reliable and trustworthy person who will act as a next of kin so the funds can be transferred.

It then goes on to request the recipient’s bank and IRA account numbers as well as those of their children and grandchildren. The sender is listed as Henry Paulson and the email address is “wallstreetbailout@treasury.gov. Most people will realize that it’s meant to be a spoof but you just know there’ll be at least one person who thinks it’s serious! Thankfully the email is fake so any personal info sent would just bounce back.