E MAILS offering large amounts of cash to residents willing to allow their bank accounts to be used to transfer embezzled dollars out of Nigeria are a scam, Richmond upon Thames Trading Standards officers have warned.

Traders and residents are being told not to respond to the emails which purport to be from members of the Nigerian government or their families.

In previous years similar bogus requests have been sent through the post.

Dave Smith, the council's Trading Standards manager said: "This particular type of scam emerges every year with various Nigerian government departments or relatives of deposed leaders supposedly wishing to launder funds through foreign business accounts.

"This year has seen that the latest twist in the scheme is to send the same message by email; a much faster mode of conveying the message with the added potential of spreading like wild-fire as people forward it on to friends and family.

"I strongly advice that people delete the email and ignore it whole-heartedly."

For more information about the issue call Trading Standards on 020 8891 7770.