SWEET HOME, Ore. -- A registered nurse is speaking out about how she got scammed to help others avoid the same mistake.

Janella Spears got an e-mail promising her millions if she would help out a long-lost relative identified as J.B. Spears. The e-mail said they needed a little money up front, $100. "That's what got me to believe it, "Spears told KATU-TV.

That request for money then starting going up. “I kept thinking it’s only a couple hundred dollars. I can get it back,” she said.

The scammers ran Spears through the whole program, sending her official-looking documents and certificates from banks and the United Nations. They said her payment was "guaranteed."

Then they wanted $8,300 and her payment would jump to $26.6 million.

Spears is not only a registered nurse, she also teaches CPR and is a reverend who marries couples. She speaks in sign language with her husband, who is hearing-impaired.

And she fell for this scam. She kept sending money.

When she started to doubt the scam, she got letters from the president of Nigeria, FBI Director Robert Mueller and President George W. Bush. All of the letters were fake, but Spears didn't know that.

She wiped our her husband's retirement account, mortgaged the house and took out a lien on their family car.

Spears said she kept sending the money because she was obsessed with getting paid.

The Oregon Department of Justice discovered what was going on when they were investigating a money laundering case. They found someone had wired $144,000 to Nigeria over the course of three weeks at a Western Union. That led investigators to Spears. Investigative reporter Anna Song said Spears was investigated, her house was searched, her emails were reviewed but Spears was not charged.

The so-called "Nigerian Scam" is familiar to almost everyone with an email address. It starts with an email from a long lost relative or government official that promises you millions if you'll help them. They always want money up front and it has to be sent from an untraceble wire service or you have to give your bank account information. Never do either.

As for Spears, it's still not over. A man from Texas called her as recently as Wednesday, she said, asking for another chance to “make things right.”