The Federal Bureau of Investigation is warning Hawai'i residents that scam e-mails purportedly from the FBI are flooding into the state from Nigeria.

FBI Special Agent Tom Simon said the bureau has received dozens of complaints about the e-mails in recent months. He said that probably means hundreds or thousands of other e-mail users have also received the fake messages.

The scam e-mails tell recipients they have won money and that the FBI is trying to verify the recipient's identity. It includes a picture of a U.S. citizen's passport and a fake FBI agent's name.

Special Agent-in-Charge Charlene Thornton of the FBI's Honolulu office said the e-mails are probably an "advance fee scheme" in which recipients are asked to send money to later get a larger sum.