Digital blackface may be a real thing after all.

A 67-year-old Slidell, Louisana, man was arrested and charged with 269 counts of wire fraud and money laundering after running an elaborate Nigerian prince email scam.

The man identified as Michael Neu was in charge of a scam stealing money from unsuspecting individuals and funneling it to his accomplices. Some of his cohorts were indeed Nigerian but Neu clearly isn't. For 18 months, police investigated Neu and his co-conspirators to bring them to justice.

According to WGNO, the scam was simple and straight to the point. An email is usually sent to an unsuspecting recipient the scammers claim has been named the beneficiary of a will. The email is designed to collect personal information that is then used to steal the money from the recipients and their identities online.

Slidell Police has estimated that the scheme has brought in millions of dollars annually. But ultimately, it has been hard to track since many of the participants operate outside of the United States.

“If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” Slidell Police Chief Randy Fandal said. “Never give out personal information over the phone, through e-mail, cash checks for other individuals, or wire large amounts of money to someone you don’t know. 99.9 percent of the time, it’s a scam.”

The scam has also been altered in some cases to mimic emails from utility companies and law enforcement.

What's shocking is that this scheme is as old as email and people are still falling for it in 2017?

Michael Neu

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