If a suspicious e-mail shows up in your inbox with a warning that a Nigerian hit man has been hired to kill you unless you pay up, it's no reason to panic.

Rather, it's another offshore scam designed to take your money, not your life.

Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem's office said Friday that they'd investigated these e-mails - received by numerous North Dakota residents -and found the threat to be benign.

The e-mails attempt to scam their recipients by offering to put a halt on the hit if the recipient responds and agrees to pay an unspecified amount.

"Consumers receiving one of these e-mails should never provide bank account, credit card account or other financial or personal confidential information," Stenehjem said in a press release.

The e-mails should simply be deleted, he said.

- Jonathan Rivoli