|
|
|
Fighting Back at Nigerian 419 Advance Fee Fraud Scammers
Have
you ever received an e-mail from a foreigner you have never heard of asking for
your assistance in transferring loads of money out of the sender’s country?
And you’re going to be wealthy as a result of your help? Don’t get excited
or tell your boss to go to hell or start planning a round-the-world cruise –
it’s a scam. This
particular scam is called the Nigerian Advance Fee Fraud or “419 Fraud”
(after the relevant section of the Criminal Code of Nigeria). The scammers will
ask you to arrange a bank account in your name that will then be used to
transfer the millions of dollars they have available. For this simple service
they will promise you a percentage of the millions. The
crunch comes when some last minute hitch is thrown into the equation; money is
needed by the bank for setting up a new account, cash is needed by the lawyer to
draw up some papers or the security company holding the money puts in a last
minute request for demurrage or handling and administration fees. You are asked
to provide the money that, of course, will be refunded out of the huge amount
being transferred into your bank account. The
simple truth is that there is never a fund of millions of dollars – it only
exists in the scammer’s story to persuade you to part with your own money. A
conservative estimate from the USA is that Americans are defrauded of at least
$100 million every year. The
most common heartfelt pleas in circulation amongst these scammers are:- 1
A bank official writes to tell you that a European has died in tragic
circumstances and that no next of kin can be traced. Unless some foreigner comes
forward to claim the dead person’s money it will revert to the bank. 2
Due to a war or coup there are funds that have been put aside and they
need to be got out of the country to enable the writer to start a new life
overseas. 3
A senior civil servant will write to tell you that he and his colleagues
arranged that goods supplied to his ministry be over-invoiced. The contracting
company has now been paid out and he needs your assistance to set up an overseas
bank account for the residual balance. 4
A lottery company you have never heard of writes to tell you that you
have won a large amount of money in a Pan-European lottery. 5 Someone claiming to be suffering from a terminal illness wants you to receive their fortune and use it to benefit a charity or church. Most
of these scams have the following in common:- 1
THEY CAN’T SWITCH OFF THE CAPS LOCK. 2
They claim to be the wife, son, assistant, attaché or banker to some
famous (possibly dead) person. 3
The writer claims to be a Chief, Prince, Doctor, Minister, Barrister etc.
4
The sum of money is always millions of dollars and you will benefit from
a stake of at least 10%, simply for setting up an overseas bank account to
receive the funds. 5
The writer mentions God a lot. 6
Their e-mail address is always from a free internet mail service and it
may change frequently. 7
They are concerned that you will maintain total secrecy about the deal
and that you are an honest person. 8
The administration side of the transaction is quaintly called the
“modalities” In
the past I used to delete all the e-mails I received from scammers but then I
started replying to them for my own amusement and to waste the time and
resources that they could be using on anyone who might eventually be trapped by
their scams. Most
of the contacts appear to start in Nigeria but I’ve also received details from
Angola, Australia, Austria, Benin, Botswana, Burkino Faso, China, Congo, Dubai, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea,
Haiti, Holland, Iraq,
Italy, Ivory Coast,
Kenya, Kosovo, Kuwait, Liberia, Libya, Malaysia, Mauritius, Monaco, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Senegal, Sierra
Leone, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, UAE, Uganda, UK,
Western Sahara, Zambia, Zanzibar and Zimbabwe. It is likely that in all cases the perpetrators are
Nigerians. Some
of my replies have been short and sweet and some have been a bit more
adventurous with my new persona being developed along the way. I suppose it
depends to a large extent on the mood I’m in when I receive one of these
scams. One thing is certain – I have never been tempted by their hard luck
stories. These are professional liars with no scruples; they will ruthlessly
scam money from anyone who they think is weak, greedy or stupid.
The first scam e-mail that I replied to was received on March 18, 2003. Enjoy
the correspondence. (Scammers e-mails in black, my
replies in blue, comments in red) Anyone wishing to add comments can sign the Guest Book
|
