THE NIGERIAN letter fraud scam has taken a new twist with the advent of the internet as e-mail appeals have now started doing the rounds
Statistically from every 100 000 recipients of the letter, about 1 000 respond and ten get defrauded.
According to the TT Club this type of fraud was first associated with Nigeria but can now relate to a number of other West African countries. The term '419' is frequently associated with these letters, as it relates to the section of the Nigerian Penal Code which deals with advanced fee frauds.
The prime objective of the letter is to gain an advance fee payment. The author usually purports to be a person who has managed by some good fortune to generate a substantial sum of money which he needs to smuggle to another country. To enable him to do this, the recipient's help is sought in return for a percentage of the fund, usually between 10% and 30%.
Another objective of these letters is to obtain company and personal details so that the information may be used in the future to commit other types of fraud.
Once a response is received, the fraud is skilfully implemented to gain the confidence of the victims and to induce them to make an advanced fee payment. Once this has happened, further sums are sought and this will continue until the victim realises what has happened.
The circulation of these letters is a serious worldwide problem that has caused a number of countries to adopt a multi-agency approach to combat these frauds.
As unbelievable as these letters may seem, people and businesses are frequently deceived by them. It has been estimated that in 1999, some five million of these letters were sent worldwide.
For the record, the largest known individual fraud of this type is said to have happened in the USA and involved US$6 million. The largest known company fraud occurred in Germany involving US$23 million.
So concerned is the Central Bank of Nigeria about this type of fraud, that it has released an international press statement which appeared in over 80 national newspapers and magazines, written in twelve languages and covering 36 countries, exonerating themselves and the Nigerian government of any responsibility for the sophisticated crimes perpetrated by clever criminals who prey on the greed of the victims.
Greed is the prime ingredient of this type of scam which is designed to make the recipient less rather than more wealthy. The simple solution is not to respond to the letter for, if you do, it is the first step to offer these people a lucrative lifestyle.
If you should receive such a letter DO NOT REPLY. Just destroy it or enquire if your local law enforcement agency is interested in it.
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