The Nigerian Internet Fraud Schemes: Beware

The Nigerian Internet Email Fraud Schemes or commonly called the “419” scams (for violation of section 419 of the Nigerian Criminal Code) appear in various shapes and sizes in the cyber space.

These scams sometimes appear in the form of strange, unsolicited business proposals persuading the victim about large sums of money moving in or out of Nigeria or they may appear in the online dating websites.

Whether Nigerian Email Scams, Nigerian Dating Scams or Nigerian Money Scams; the motive behind all is draining the victim of his or her finances.

Nigerian Dating Scams

The Nigerian internet dating fraud includes the following steps;

• The victim is approached by someone claiming to be working abroad usually Nigeria, but also quite often countries like Ivory Coast, Ghana or other West African countries
  
• Overtime trust is built
  
• The scammer expresses his need for money convincing the victim’s feasibility for sending the money
  
• After the money is sent, the scammer disappears.

The whole process involves nothing but a drain on the part of the victim; emotional as well as financial.
The scammer may be identified and the loss prevented by paying attention and being aware of the following things;

• The person’s profile is written in poor English
  
• The photograph would be too good to be real
  
• The scammer would express desire to move straight from on site messaging to instant messaging or email correspondence
  
• The person would be claiming to be of a developed first world country but working in Nigeria or other West African country.

Nigerian Email or Letter Scams

Also called the Advanced Fee Fraud, the scammer offers the recipient through email, letter or fax, the opportunity to share in a percentage of millions of dollars that the author, a self-proclaimed government official, is trying to transfer illegally out of Nigeria.

The recipient is encouraged to send information to the author, such as blank letterhead stationery, bank name and account numbers and other identifying information.

Payment of taxes, bribes to government officials, and legal fees are often described in great detail with the promise that all expenses will be reimbursed as soon as the funds are spirited out of Nigeria. Once the victim stops sending the amount, the personal information is used to incur further loss and drainage.

Where to file a complaint?

If you are a victim or are aware of a person being victimized by the Nigerian Internet Frauds then any of the following three agencies should be contacted;

Local FBI Office or the IC3

• U.S Postal Inspection Service
  
• Federal Trade Commission’s Consumer Sentinel

The account information should be guarded very carefully, and one should be sceptical about individuals claiming to be Nigerian government officials and the promises of large sums of money for cooperation.