The Nigerian Scam has been around for
quite some time, but despite many warnings people
continue to get attracted towards it. What's more
- its no longer based in Nigeria but have proliferated
to countries in Western Africa, South Africa, South
East Asia and even Europe !!
Even more alarming, the advance fee scam
now comes in the disguise of agency agreement, letter
of credit, lucrative order and even fake bank drafts.
Indications are that the fraud grosses hundreds of
millions of dollars annually and the losses are continuing
to escalate.
The modus operandi of the original scam
is to sell ‘financial services’ with millions of USD
from dead ministers, uncles and cousins (10% is for
your efforts). The beginning of the scam is an e-mail,
fax or letter. The target receives an unsolicited
fax, email, or letter from Nigeria (and these days,
other countries) containing either a money laundering
or other illegal proposal or may even receive a legal
and legitimate business proposal by normal means.
Common variations of the scam include "over invoiced"
or "double invoiced" oil or other supply and service
contracts where the scam operators want to get the
overage out of their country. The variations are very
creative and virtually endless. You will be asked
to forward your bank details and office stationery
to the contact for preparing the legal documents for
money transfer.
For detailed account of how the scam
operates - please see an earlier issue of FAIDA (Vol
2, Issue 5; June 27' 2001). You will find all earlier
issues of FAIDA here.
The purpose of this article is to warn
exporters of such scam operators who are out to lure
you with lucrative offers / easy money. In addition
to original Nigerian scam of so called 'Financial
service' - nowadays it could even be an export order
on d/a, agency offer, diamond sale, gold ornament
import etc. etc. Please exercise your judgment before
making any payment.
These scam artists have perfected the
art of delusion. He may establish the credibility
of his contacts, and thereby his influence, by arranging
a meeting between the victim and "government officials"
in real or fake government offices. You may be reassured
of the authenticity of the arrangement by forged or
false documents bearing apparently official Nigerian
government letterhead, seals, as well as false letters
of credit, payment schedules and bank drafts.
Some indications of
the scam:
-
An unsolicited mail that tries to
delude you into thinking that you have been singled
out to participate in a very lucrative arrangement.
-
Big money, running into millions
of US Dollars
-
Easy money - you stand to gain enormous
amount for few easy simple tasks.
-
An element of secrecy
-
An element of rush - transaction
needs to be closed fast.
-
Advance payments on your part for
bribing officials, paying advance tax or simply
agent's fee.
-
An invitation to visit the country
(extremely dangerous - people have lost their
lives by doing so. Please see details in earlier
Faida article).
The good news is that hundreds of organizations
from all around the world have joined hands to fight
this menace. All you need is an awareness and alertness
to successfully fight these scamsters.
Links to Websites Fighting the Nigerian
Scam
http://home.rica.net/alphae/419coal/fighters.htm
