An e-mail circulating the Heartland is targeting people’s bank accounts by taking advantage of their patriotism.

Tammy Westhart, who lives in Auburn, Nebraska, received one of the email notes titled, “I Need Your Urgent Help.”

According to the e-mail, Air Force Sgt. Paul Wheeler recovered millions of dollars while serving in Iraq and needs help transferring the money to his lone surviving daughter.

Sgt. Wheeler is a highly decorated officer in the Air Force, but he did not send the e-mail.

The Better Business Bureau says the e-mail is the latest version of the Nigerian letter scam.

Jim Hegarty of the BBB. says, “Every month, every week, they get more and more sophisticated and more and more difficult to detect."

Westhart says she’s appalled the e-mail uses an airman as a cover. She once served in the Air Force herself.

"I can't even tell you how mad it made me to read it," Westhart says.

The best way to protect yourself from this scam is before taking any action on an e-mail request, let a friend, family member, or the BBB look it over.

The BBB says over the years it estimates Americans have lost close to a billion dollars to various version of the Nigerian letter scam.