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Nigerian scams explained

By Jakob Jelling
http://www.sitetube.com

One of the defining features of the 21st century has been the rise of Internet as an integral part of modern life. We are increasingly becoming reliant on the World Wide Web for shopping, news, as substitute for television, as a resource repository and for meeting people. However the Internet of today also abound with scamsters who employ online anonymity to defraud unsuspecting victims. One of the biggest and longest running scams over the World Wide Web has been the Nigerian “Advance Fee Fraud”, also called the “419 Fraud”(after the section of Nigerian Criminal Code it befouls).

This particular scam has been running since 1989 and till date, it has been estimated; it has duped victims of above 5 billion dollars. While earlier it made use of regular or ‘snail’ mail or fax, with the advent of the Internet, scamsters use e-mail to lure unsuspecting people into this multi-stage fraud. It inaugurates when you receive e-mail, generally addressed to the CEO or President of the company. (These scamsters send out mass mails, they never single out specific individuals.)

It goes on to explain a complicated and convoluted financial situation out of which only you can extricate the sender from. The sender is usually a middling government employee or a high-ranking civil official. They wish to make use of your bank account to transfer funds out of Nigeria (this elaborate scheme is presented as a strategy to dupe the Nigerian Government of vast amounts of money). As a civil servant is forbidden to operate a foreign bank account, they desire your co-operation as an offshore, non-resident investor. What they usually require is a signed letterhead, details of your bank account and some personal information. In return, they promise vast amounts of money (to the tune of 20% to 25% of 40 to 50 million dollars).

Alternatively, they posed as a deposed political or military leader, or relatives of the same, hoping to flee from the country after yet another coup. They wish you to pose as a ‘next-of-kin’ so they can transfer money to your account, of which you are promised a share. The moment a target responds to these letters, the stage is set for an elaborate fraud. Slowly, but surely, they will persuade you to send increasing sums of money to either bribe, pay lawyers acting on your behalf, facilitate international money transfers or for the purposes of money laundering. Forged letters are used to gain a US visa using the victim’s forged letterhead. The bank account details are used to operate an elaborate check fraud scheme. Not only have people been duped of large sums of money, quite a few victims have lost their lives when they have attempted to trace their money.

About the author
Jakob Jelling is the founder of http://www.sitetube.com. Visit his website for the latest on planning, building, promoting and maintaining websites.

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