Mastermind who claimed to be Nigerian Prince for well-known email phishing scam 'finally arrested'

Michael Neu is accused of claiming to be a Nigerian Prince to scam money out of unsuspecting people (Image: Facebook)

 

A man suspected of pretending to be a 'Nigerian Prince' to scam people in a notorious email phishing scam has been arrested.
Michael Neu, 67, has been charged with 269 counts of wire fraud and money laundering after an 18 month investigation by the Slidell Police Department in Louisiana.

It is believed he set up hundreds of scam email accounts and scammed thousands of dollars out of unassuming recipients.

Slidell Police Department 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.

Neu has been charged with 269 counts of wire fraud and money laundering (Image: Facebook)

"The investigation is on-going, but is extremely difficult as many leads have led to individuals who live outside of the United States," the statement added.

The Nigerian Prince phishing scam is well-known around the world.
Emails will be sent to people by a man claiming to be member of royalty, who will inform you that you are named as a beneficiary in a will, or are set to inherit an estate worth millions of pounds.

They will then ask you for your financial details to 'prove your identity' and speed up the process of the transfer of money.

But while many people will ignore the email, some inevitably do respond.