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 Post subject: Nigerian Official wants to jail scam victims
PostPosted: Sun Aug 24, 2008 1:15 pm 
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People who fall for so-called "Nigerian scams" aren't victims at all—in fact, they're greedy and should be jailed, according to Nigerian high commissioner Sunday Olu Agbi. He said today that Nigeria has gained a bad reputation because of the scams perpetrated by a minuscule number of people, and that those who find themselves involved with the scams are equally as guilty as those running them.

"The Nigerian Government frowns very seriously on these scams... and every day tries to track down those who are involved," Olu Agbi told the Sydney Morning Herald in response to a previous article on Australians falling for Nigerian scams. "People who send their money are as guilty as those who are asking them to send the money."

Out of the 140 million people in Nigeria, Olu Agbi said that fewer than 0.1 percent were involved in Nigerian scams. The scams, also referred to as 419 scams or advance-fee fraud, predate the Internet, but have exploded in recent years thanks to the proliferation of e-mail and instant money transfers. Although the scams can take on many forms—from payments for products sold on eBay or Craigslist, to deposits on houses and purchases of plane tickets for "true love" on the other side of the ocean—they all follow the same general theme.

Scammers send huge checks to unsuspecting victims with some story attached to explain the overpayment, and the victim is expected to wire back the difference immediately. Eventually when the checks are deposited, they bounce and the victim is out a lot of money. Sometimes, victims are tricked into thinking they'll eventually be paid back and continue to participate in this endless cycle of sending money, especially if the scammer is wooing them romantically (which happens more commonly than one might think, to both men and women).

Although this kind of fraud originates from all over the world, it seems to have an unusually high concentration in Africa and, specifically, Nigeria. This has, unsurprisingly, cast Nigeria in a negative light. Olu Agbi said that Nigeria's reputation for being involved with the scams has even hurt the country's ability to land business deals. "[T]hose who want to transact business with us are always very suspicious," he told the newspaper.

Still, Olu Agbi's "blame the victim" mentality won't help Nigeria win any friends, but education on how to spot 419 scams and avoid falling for them can certainly go a long way in curbing their growth. After all, once victims stop blindly forking over cash, scammers will have to figure out some other way to make money.


http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20 ... mmers.html


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 Post subject: Re: Nigerian Official wants to jail scam victims
PostPosted: Sun Aug 24, 2008 7:54 pm 
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That article makes me so mad! So, would this same guy also think that if a girl is wearing a short skirt and flirting with a guy, that she cannot become upset if later on in the evening she becomes a victim of rape? It is that old "they were asking for it" mind set.

The other thing that makes me mad is this article makes it sound like all of the scams are 419/advance fee scams. There are so many differences between a 419 scam and an overpayment scam.

Initial Contact -
419 Scam
People are contacted out of the blue by the scammers.

Counterfeit Cashier's Check Scam
People have placed an ad somewhere on the internet to sell an item, so they are expecting to receive emails from people they do not know in response to this ad.

Personal Information -
419 Scam
The scammer asks for your bank account information in order to transfer a large amount of money out of the country and into your account.

Counterfeit Cashier's Check Scam
The scammer asks for your name and mailing address so that they can send you a cashier's check for payment and transportation of the item you are selling.

How you loose money -
419 Scam
Scammer tells you that there are fees that have to be paid before the money can be transferred and you are to pay them.

Counterfeit Cashier's Check Scam
When you get the check from the scammer and bring it to the bank they tell you that the check is good, or that it has cleared. Feeling assured by this information, you take the portion of the check that was supposed to be for transportation and wire it to the appropriate people. Then, days later the bank notifies you that the check was counterfeit and that you are liable for the money that you took out, even though the only reason you took it out was because they had assured you that the check was good.

Victims -
419 Scam
The victims do know that the situation that they are entering into is one is which they will receive a large amount of money for assisting someone else, and that it will not be a lot of work on their part.

Counterfeit Cashier's Check Scam
Innocent people who were just trying to sell items that they no longer want or need on the internet, and who trusted the word of their banks when they told them that the check was good, some of which are now facing criminal charges because not enough banks and law enforcement agencies are educated on this scam.

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 Post subject: Re: Nigerian Official wants to jail scam victims
PostPosted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 8:26 am 
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Joined: Mon Sep 10, 2007 10:50 am
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I was really upset when I read it too. The reason I posted it was to help show why it is so hard to prosecute the scammers and that the Nigerian government is of little to no help. Can you kind of see the Nigerian governments greed showing through this? It isn't hard to realize why civil war breaks out in any area that a high money export is found (I.e. oil and diamonds).


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 Post subject: Re: Nigerian Official wants to jail scam victims
PostPosted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 11:46 am 
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another point I would like to make to the guy quoted in this article is that if Nigeria will not go after the criminals, why the heck is he saying that the victims should be jailed?!?!?

I googled that guy's name, and ironically HIS NAME is used in many Nigerian scam emails I found posted on the web!

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Shawn Mosch
Co-Founder of http://ScamVictimsUnited.com
There is strength in numbers!

Share your story with the media and educate others about scams! Details here http://scamvictimsunited.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=6319
Sign our petition http://www.change.org/actions/view/crea ... s_programs
Follow our blog http://scamvictimsunited.wordpress.com/
Find us on Twitter, Facebook and more http://www.retaggr.com/page/ShawnMosch
_______________________________________________
Has this site helped you?
Buy us a coffee to say thanks ~ http://www.scamvictimsunited.com/donations.htm


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 Post subject: Re: Nigerian Official wants to jail scam victims
PostPosted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 1:47 pm 
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Joined: Mon Sep 10, 2007 10:50 am
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That is interesting about his name being used in the emails. I wonder if he gets a nice kickback.


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