Amsterdam police said on the last Thursday they had arrest ed52people in the Dutch capital in connection with an email scam designed to defraud the gullible with get －rich －quick schemes.

　　Police said the group was suspected of sending some100,000email messages to addresses in Japan and the Unit ed States.

　　The emails claim to be from a well －known individual or the individual＇s relative and promise the recipient a percentage payment from a sum of up to 20million for help in transferring frozen funds to an accessible place.

　　In such scams———made infamous by West African fraudsters———once the victim is hooked, he or she is usually asked to put up hefty sums for air fares or other pretences.

　　″It is surprising that despite repeated reports about this people continue to be so naive as to take part in these proposals,″ the statement said.

　　A police spokesman declined to say whether those arrested were Dutch citizens or foreign nationals.

　　The suspects were seized in raids on23locations around Amsterdam, along with a number of personal computers, mobile phones, false documents and a total of50,000euros 62,340 in cash.