Nigerian Email Scams: Nigerian 419 Advanced Fee Fraud

The advent of Internet has made global commerce possible. To quote a often repeated phrase, communication, transaction and information exchange can be done at a click of a button. Early critics of the Internet had frowned upon this free flow of information - free or otherwise - and rightly so. The internet has been used, or more so, abused for frauds and illegal activities, all ranging from economical offenses, to the more serious criminal offenses.

Simply put, the Internet is no less than a battlefield, where only you are the person whom you can trust completely. Though the Internet has been cleaned up a lot since its first avatar, there are yet some scams and frauds prevalent on the internet, one of the most successful being the Nigerian Email Scam.

The Nigerian Email Scam for some years was the second largest export from Nigeria. The amount of fraud due to these scams have been so immense that the United States Federal Trade Commission has issued a consumer alert about such scams.

As obvious by its name, the Nigerian Scam originated in Nigeria. The modus operandi of such a scam is simple, and it is surprising how many people fall for this scam. Though there is a huge variety of details and other procedures in a Nigerian Scam, the basic premise of the scam has been same since around some twenty years.

A person is first informed about a large amount of money languishing in some bank account in a remote country. This first contact is made via phone calls, fax and now, through e-mails. They are then told that the amount has to be transferred into the country, and asked whether they would let them use his or her bank account. Once a person agrees to such a transaction, they are then informed of delays due to government red tape. Finally, they are asked for a loan to pay off some bribes to government officials.

After months of paying off small and large amounts, it finally transpires that there was never any money, gold or any other valuables that were first described in the original e-mail. mail. The person therefore stands to lose vast amounts of money. In some cases, people have also provided their bank passwords, only to have their entire accounts cleaned out.

There are a number of variations to this basic operandi. For example, the e-mail may speak of money known only to deposed or killed people of high authority in the country, for example a minister or even a dictator. This kind of scams are very professionally organized and common background checks will surprisingly prove that all is well and genuine. Sometimes, the person may be contacted about a lottery that they have won, though the happenings after the first contact are the same.

Frankly, the scams are very simple to understand once everything falls in place. However, there are some factors which are recognizable at first glance. Here are some of them:

• The e-mail will be written in almost illiterate language. This caters to a dual need, one, the language is used to pass the various spam guards of email programs, second, it also creates a psychological and emotional background for the reader
• The amounts will be such that people will just try to take a risk on the transaction, even if it is sometimes clearly stated that it may be a white-collar crime. This is done to ensure that the recipient does not inform officials
• The premises of the situation will be in far-flung areas, like Nigeria, Africa or other such places. This is comfortable to the scamsters, as not many would risk a physical background check before investing

Other than the above, one should just imply some logic, and keep in mind that if it too true good to be true, it is not. Many organizations, institutions and even individuals have tried to inform the people about such Nigerian frauds, but in the end, it is a person who makes their own decisions.