Police in the United States of America have arrested a 67-year-old man after they say he helped swindle people out of thousands of dollars as a middleman in a “Nigerian prince” internet scam.
The New Orleans Advocate reports that Michael Neu, of Slidell, is facing 269 counts of wire fraud and one count of money laundering.
Records show that he is in custody in the St. Tammany Parish Jail in Louisiana. It was not immediately clear if he has an attorney.
The phishing scam involves getting an email from a Nigerian official who claims the recipient has been named a beneficiary in a will and will inherit at least $1 million. The victim is then asked to send personal information which is used to con them out of their money.
Neu has allegedly participated in hundreds of scams and has wired money to co-conspirators in Nigeria.
Slidell Police Department in Louisiana said in a statement: “After an 18-month investigation, Slidell Police arrested a ‘Nigerian Prince’ responsible for scamming people out of thousands of dollars.”
“Neu is suspected to have been the ‘middle man’, and participated in hundreds of financial transactions, involving phone and internet scams, designed to con money from victims across the United States.
“Some of the money obtained by Neu was subsequently wired to co-conspirators in the country of Nigeria.
“The investigation is on-going, but is extremely difficult as many leads have led to individuals who live outside of the United States.”
Neu’s arrest is serving as a reminder to people in the area not to fall prey to scams, explained Slidell Police Chief Randy Fandal.
“If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” Fandal said.
“Never give out personal information over the phone, through email, cash checks for other individuals or wire large amounts of money to someone you don’t know.”
