The Nigerian scam will begin with an email, usually from Africa, claiming to be offering you a large sum of money through a confidential transaction.
The email will claim that someone(ex-president, ex-army general, ex-businessman, ex-superrichnutter) has died and left a ridiculous ($40m or so) sum of money to the next of kin.
Of course, it is easy for you to become this next of kin and they trust you because they know you are a person of high standing. (I had never realised low limit poker pro's had such high moral and social standing but that's fine by me).
To become next of kin of course, you need to give your bank account details, and some other ID, like drivers license, passport info, etc.
At this point, the scammer simply cleans out your bank account and runs away.
Doesn't seem very fair does it?