Nigerian Govt is up in arms..

.... against the email scam

[vibgyor79]

Nigeria govt up in arms against e-mail scam
[ciol.com...]

The Nigerian President vows to step up measures against the notorious 419 junk-mail scam that has fooled people into parting with millions of dollars annually

[chris_f]

Not effect on my Junk Mail filters yet :(

btw, has anyone got a bank account a can £6m into ;)

[vibgyor79]

ALL REPLIES TO THIS THREAD MUST BE IN CAPS.

[chris_f]

ROFLMAO

[Fiver]

now wait a minute, I just got an email from the president of Nigeria... something here doesn't add up.

[jsinger]

Nigerian gov't has been saying that for 15 years, back when the scam employed regular mail. I'd get about one letter a year at work with the same text: "Greetings, I am
Prince Bugga Bugga son of the late..."

But how did 100,000s of identical letters clear the Legos post office run often by a succession of brutal military dictatorships? Many letters used counterfeit stamps according to websites.

No question in my mind these scams are authorized in high places there.

And why did the U.S. gov't continue to deliver those scam letters? The P.O. does have authority to halt delivery of fraudulent mail.

[PatrickDeese]

The Nigerian President vows to step up measures against the notorious 419 junk-mail scam that has fooled people into parting with millions of dollars annually.

All he needs is a modest amount of up-front money from a foreign investor to make it happen. ;)

--

But seriously - I have a page that has been tracking the $ amount I've been offered in the past 18 months or so. My "cut" would have been about 3% of Bill Gates' net worth so far.

[jsinger]

It's hard to get a handle on the scam's profitability. The figures I've seen are all over the place. Several web resources say the scam is one of Nigeria's top 5 sources of foreign revenue. If so, why don't crooks elsewhere copy the West Africans?

Examples:

"According to the FBI's 2001 Internet Fraud Report, about 2,600 people in the United States reported problems last year with the 419 scam, and of that number, 16 claimed financial losses totaling $345,000."

"According to a State Department report on the Nigerian advance-fee fraud, more than 25 murders of Americans have been directly linked to the 419 fraud.
--------

25 murders? I've found specifics on only one or two. $345,000 is pretty puny.

Maybe it's all a gimmick to sell computers to Nigerians?

[PatrickDeese]

> $345,000 is pretty puny.

"UK Citizens Lost Over £8.4 Million In Nigerian Fraud in 2002"

http*://www.scotlandonsunday.com/uk.cfm?id=258082003

"Law firm out $2.1 million in African fraud"

http:*//www.freep.com/news/locoak/checks21_20020921.htm

Its a bit more that $345,000 I'm afraid.