LA Times Article on Nigerian fraud: "I will eat your dollars"

FESTAC, Nigeria — As patient as fishermen, the young men toil day and night, trawling for replies to the e-mails they shoot to strangers half a world away.

Most recipients hit delete, delete, delete, delete without ever opening the messages that urge them to claim the untold riches of a long-lost deceased second cousin, and the messages that offer millions of dollars to help smuggle loot stolen by a corrupt Nigerian official into a U.S. account.

Read the complete story here

'They have started- The Scammers have started again'

Is it not enough that patriotic Nigerians are mourning at the moment? Is it not enough that many families are directly concerned, having lost one of their dearest? Yet, some disgruntled elements have chosen to see the other side of this and continue to perpetrate their act. In just less than 72hrs after the death of the Nigerian first lady, these scammers have decided to launch their attack using the unfortunate demise of the first lady as a tool. The first lady definitely deserves a good rest in peace and not the pains that these bad elements may want to launch on their targets. Please beware of the mail below.

I have copied it unedited. It is fake.

"From: Iyeke & Associate Subject:

Breaking News!!! Date: Mon, 24 Oct 2005 05:06:15 +0200

I am Barrister Iyeke Nicholas, private attorney to the Late Mrs Stella Obasanjo, wife of the Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo,Who died yesterday Sunday the 23 of October 2005 at a hospital in Spain. She had traveled to Spain to undergo surgery and died from complications resulting from that surgery. As the personal attorney to the deceased, I handle every of her affairs, mostly properties and funds both domestic and in overseas. In this case my clients who left huge amount of million GB Pounds Sterling and so many investment with my signatures abroad. Very soon my client`s family will call me to account for my client`s properties and fund offshores.

At this juncture, I seek your consent to present you as the benefactor to my client`s fund deposited in Europe which I will disclose to you, since I have all the documents regarding the depositing of the funds will procure all necessary legal documentation that can be used to back up any claim we might make. All I require is your honest co-operation to enable us seeing this Deal through guarantee that this will be executed under a legitimate arrangement that will protect you from any breach of the law, I promise that you and I can Share the money 50/50%. Also call me if it's possible for you to call +2348038361642

I believed my letter received a favorable consideration from you as I await your respond as soon as able possible. On your reply I will attach my copy International Passport for proper proof of my indenting.

Best regards Bar. Iyeke Nicholas(ease.)

Iyeke Nicholas & Associate

123 Alaska muse way,

abuse FACT,"

nigerian-scammers-time-for-sober

AROJINLE

Nigerian scammers - A time for sober reflection

May be I should start by congratulating all those that constitute the 'Nigerian scammers' and are locally referred to as ' Yahoo Boys' for winning the 2005 Ig® Nobel Prize for literature http://www.improb.com/ig/ig-pastwinners.html. This just goes to show the extent to which the attention of the whole world has been drawn to the actions of these people.
I just wonder why christening the act 'yahoo,yahoo'. One, may be the perpetrators saw a comparison between their act and the exemplary feat of the founders of yahoo. That seem to have been rewarded with their award. The other reason is just the fact that they make use of Yahoo mails andIMs to perpetrate their awful act.

Let me give you the bad and the good news.

The bad news is that your actions and inactions are not doing justice to the millions of dollars Nigeria is spending to repair her international image. Legitimate mails emanating from Nigeria are being scrutinized and given a second thought. Have you also paused to think of the damage done to the person you are defrauding?

The good news, however, is that the presidential committee set up to look this case, The Nigerian Cybercrime Working Group (NCWG) has come up with a draft of the "COMPUTER SECURITY AND CRITICAL INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE PROTECTION BILL 2005". As soon as the bill is passed, and all effort has been put in place to ensure its accelerated passage before the end of the year, it will be extremely difficult to engage in the act successfully and go free.

One good thing about the proposed bill is that it has gone beyond providing a legal framework for prosecuting the perpetrators to putting in place all measure that will protect intellectual properties transmitted electronically.

The growth in the telecoms sector in Nigeria, with particularr reference to GSM, has proven that things can work in Nigeria if all necessary machineries are put in place. One of the right step in the right direction is the proposed bill. Its advantages are just too numerous.

Nigerian Scammers, please reflect.

It could have been me. What about you?

11 year old boy burnt alive in Lagos!

(Please click the link above to read the full, pathetic story of an 11 year old boy that was burnt alive in Lagos.)

It is a known fact now that all it takes to get anybody killed on the street of Lagos now is just for somebody to shout, 'thief, thief'. And before you know it, hundreds of people (probably those who are more 'criminal' than the suspect) will surround you, give you the beating of your life, give you a 'necklace' ( that's a used tyre on your neck) , pour petrol on you and then... just a strike and ...(you can imagine the rest)

Such was the case of the the young boy above. I don't want to bother writing about it again as Edward has done a good job on that. The striking thing about the incident to me is what could have been termed 'a child theft'. There are lots of instances where many things happen and we just don't get the correct picture. Then anybody gives it a different meaning.

In 2004, I did my internship with an ISP in Victoria Island, Lagos. You know those kind of V/I jobs that you have to leave your house by 5.30 am so you can make the 8.00 am resumption time. And you close 'officially' at 5.30 pm (more often than not, there are things that will keep you in office till 6.30 pm). On this day, I closed early and joined other tired workers in struggling to catch an early bus back home in Obalende. And just as we were struggling to board the bus, my hands touched the breast pocket of a man who was also struggling to board the bus and what next? The man turned back and started cursing me that I wanted to steal the money in his breast pocket and mentioned that people like that get burnt. Hear him,

"Shege, barawo, dem dey burn people like you" ( Thief, they burn people like you)

I was very tired that I just didn't have enough strength to argue with the man. I tried explaining but he just continued his abuses. Then the miracle happened. HE JUST LEFT.

You don't believe that's a miracle? Ok, what if the man had gathered people around me like they did for Samuel? All they will just want me to say is that I touched his pocket and that will suffice an evidence of 'stealing'. But a miracle happened.

Anytime I remember the case of Samuel, I am forced to think it could have been me. And I know it could have been you. You don't have to be guilty.