What a responsibility when you invite from Nigeria. “Nigerian letters. Who are scumbitters

Nigerian letters of happiness - Frequent fraud, the impetus for the development of which was the spread of email and related spam. Nigerian letters got their name thanks to the country in which this type of fraud has become the most popular.

The heyday of the newsletter nigerian letters came in the mid-80s of the last century, even before the appearance of the World Wide Web in Nigeria, when such letters of “happiness” reached the addressee thanks to the usual postal service. In addition, letters of “happiness” are sent from other countries of the African continent, as well as from cities with a large Nigerian diaspora, such as, for example, Amsterdam, London, Dubai, Madrid. The prevalence of Nigerian letters is evidenced by the fact that in 2005 spammers from Nigeria were awarded the so-called "Shnobel" literature prize, which is the opposite of the Nobel Prize.

The total amount of "earned" money nigerian spammers from letters of “happiness” on all continents amounted to approximately 10 billion dollars. US citizens gave half the amount to fraudsters. And Australians, for example, enrich spammers with $ 36 million annually. Even a businessman from Belarus in 2007 fell into the trap of crooks and “shared” 200 thousand dollars with them.

What is a nigerian letter of happiness? Usually this is a letter in which crooks ask for help in large cash transactions, promising a considerable share of the amount in case of a successful resolution of the problem situation. If the addressee agrees to participate in this business, they are slowly pulling out large amounts of money supposedly for paying fees, processing transactions, all kinds of fines and other unexpected needs.

Variety of plots nigerian letters even seasoned science fiction will envy. A favorite hero of scammers who sends letters of happiness is some former president, disgraced king, important official, or a runaway millionaire. He simply urgently needs your help in obtaining an inheritance, transferring money from Nigeria abroad or in other financial matters, allegedly taxed or difficult because of the persecution that he is subjected to in his homeland.

There were cases when Nigerian letters of happiness came for Russian-speaking victims, allegedly on behalf of Secretary Mikhail Khodorkovsky. In his letters, he asked for help from his boss in opening accounts in which he wanted to transfer billions of dollars hidden from the investigation in Swiss banks. And for the promotion of people promised good fees.

Another popular option nigerian letters of happiness - a message from an official or bank employee who learned about the death of a rich person with the same surname as the addressee. In the letter, the sender offers his help in obtaining a tidy sum from the bank account of this namesake.

The criminal scheme of tearing gullible people through nigerian letters of happiness very simple. First, hundreds of thousands of emails are sent to Internet addresses with various tempting and compassionate texts inside. The bulk of those who receive such a newsletter delete it without reading it. However, there is always a small percentage of people who are tempted by "free" money.

Amounts that scammers refer to nigerian letters of happiness, rather big: from several thousand dollars and above. At the same time, the recipient of the “happy” letter is given a unique case: if the business burns out, he is entitled to a solid jackpot - sometimes up to 40% of the sum of money. A tempting offer - isn't it? The fish easily comes across such a tidbit. In addition, the addressee’s vigilance is dulled due to the professional organization of the fraudulent operation: crooks have their own front organizations with sites, offices, telephones and faxes, lawyers, secretaries and accountants. Often, the gang of scammers are real banking or government officials in Nigeria. Therefore, when the recipient of the Nigerian letter of happiness, to finally verify the veracity of the message, begins his own investigation, then in the end he does not find any contradictions in the legend sent to him.

If the intended victim gives the fraudsters an answer, they are sent a couple of documents that use real seals and forms of reputable government organizations and firms. Next, a person who has pecked at the hook is asked for funds for all kinds of fees, gradually increasing their amounts in order to cash out or give a bribe to officials. There were cases when a victim was offered an illegal visa-free trip to Nigeria, allegedly for a secret meeting with an influential official. Upon arrival in an African country, the victim of a Nigerian letter was abducted or arrested for illegally staying in a foreign country. And relatives of the hostage extorted large sums for release.

Often, crooks apply psychological pressure on the victim, convincing that the Nigerian side has pledged all its savings to pay fees. Of course, the cheated never receive the promised fees and interest, because they simply do not exist.

Here are some common options. nigerian letters of happiness:

◦ A letter is allegedly sent to a person from a lawyer of a distant relative living abroad. The lawyer writes that the brother-in-law suddenly died and left a large inheritance to the addressee. To receive it, the addressee is asked to help with money in processing various certificates, paying taxes, etc. For instance, .

◦ If you posted a resume on job sites with an e-mail, then you may receive a letter about a tempting job abroad. However, before leaving, you need to pay a work and residence permit.

◦ You can send a letter with pleas for cash assistance for a seriously ill child with his biography, photographs and other attributes. A child may be very real and really sick, but scammers can take advantage of his grief for personal enrichment.

◦ A letter of “happiness” is sent to the person about an unprecedented win in the lottery. But the recipient must pre-pay tax in order to receive your winnings. In such cases of fraud, crooks even organize a site that looks like a site of a real bank like two drops of water. In it, the "lucky" open an account to which the money won is transferred. But in order to use it, the account must first be activated by transferring a certain amount of money in the name of an individual.

◦ A person is offered to use a profitable loan without a down payment and collateral. It is only necessary to pay a fee for the bank's costs of credit processing, to cover commissions.

Find scammers making money with nigerian letters of happiness, very difficult. During the whole time of Nigerian spammers, only a few small fry from huge criminal gangs appeared before the court.

Ksenia Balashevich

A little more than a week ago, I registered on the site "Exchange Gospreypreimstam". I must say that I am attracted to original trips, without tour operators, hotels, and so, on their own, trains, hostels, stopping at ordinary residents. True, I haven’t traveled like that yet, but I’m going to, and the Hospitality club was one of the first steps. What does a welcome exchange mean?
Hospitality network is a community of people who offer other members of this community to stay at home. As a rule, we are talking about stopping for a few days. Arrive on arrival most often through specialized sites. In addition to universal networks, there are networks focused on specific groups of people: cyclists, Esperantists, etc.
So, the account has been created, I received the first letter from a girl from Berlin!

hi, how are you today? I am Rhaxma. i will be happy to communicate with you because i love your posting here. can you please get back to me to my email ( [email protected]) so that we can exchange views. i just have some things to share with you and it is urgent. have a blessed day.
Rhaxma.

[email protected]

(Hello, how are you? My name is Rham. I will be happy to chat with you because I liked your profile. You can return to my email so we can exchange views. I have something important that I must tell you. may the blessing be given to them. Rhama)

Well, I think, hooray. The girl gathered in Krasnodar. Of course, I can’t offer housing, but at least I’ll talk. Unfortunately, I didn’t notice that the girl’s name is actually Vika Haruna. However, after all, a similar photo is enough:

After all, I even started a mailbox specially on Yahoo!

And then I received a letter:
Hello my lovely one,
May the blessing of God flourish in all your endeavors .Thank you in anticipation of your co-operation. I have choose to reach you through Internet because it is the fastest, surest and most secured medium of communication, however, this Correspondence is private, and it should be treated as such. I will like to tell you about my life story, am hoping this confidence I "m about to repose in you will be respected for our collective good, please, please, please confidentiality is very important to me, keep this secret to your self just as I "m keeping it to my self over here too, I mean don" t allow a third party to have knowledge about it, please. It will be worthy knowing by you that I write to you this piece in tears, you will understand me better as you read through my thread.

Once more, My real names are Miss Rhaxma Adow, aged 21, I hailed from Somalia, I am the only child to late Ibrahim Hassan Adow (rest his soul) prior to his death, he was the Higher Education Minister in my country, him including some other people, where killed by a suicide bomber, on the 3RD of December, 2009, while attending medical school graduation ceremony in Mogadishu. You can read more about the news as it was aired by CNN (http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa/12/03/somalia.attacks/index.html).

After the burial of my father, my uncle started to maltreat me, he sold my father "s estate, leaving nothing for me. One faithful morning, I opened my father" s briefcase and found a statement of account which his bankers sent to him , some days earlier before his death, moreover, before then he has always told me that he has planned a future for me by making huge deposits in the foreign bank, having me as a next of kin / inheritor. Immediately after I got this vital document together with my father "s death certificate, I traveled here in Senegal which is the only country, I deemed safe among other countries within the neighborhood countries, due to the presence of the United Nations Refugee Agency, location here .. But my initial thought to have a good life here was ruined by the law of this country on asylum seekers, it is not palatable at all, sufferings was all I met because I left my country with no enough cash at hand to sustain my self, now I suffer worse that someone in prison.

After, I arrived here, I communicated to the holding Bank of my inheritance about my wish to claim the fund, they told me that my father "s instruction to them was that the money be released to me only when I am married or present a trustee who will help me and invest the money wisely, in the overseas. Now I "m writing to you from the office of the Rev.father who is in charge of the United Nations Refugee Accredited Agency (the camp here I stay in Senegal) . He has been a very good man to me but I "m yet to tell him about this money, for the reason as I have stated above, I have it as my secret & not willing to inform any other person about it save you. You can call the reverend to speak to me, when you call tell him that you want to speak to Miss Rhasma the refugee girl from Somalia, he will send for me in the hostel to answer your call. His number is, +221 777280608.

Now, I am in search of an honest and reliable person who will help me and stand as my trustee, so that I will present him to the Bank for transfer of the money to his bank account, overseas. I have chosen to contact you after my prayers and I believe that you will not betray my trust on you. The amount is US $ 2,600,000 (Two million, and six hundred thousand united states dollars). You will also help me to place the money in a profitable business venture in your Country or else where better. If you will be competent to help me, I will be ready to offer you 25% of fund as compensation and will equally map out another 5% for you to use cover any expenses you might make during the process of the transfer, if at all there will be. My promise to you, I will be of my best to you both in deed and in kind, I am waiting for your urgent reply so that we can proceed.

Note, I have no known relation again, because my mother died some few days after given birth to me, so I knew and was having only my father as a single parent, because he (my father did not remarry after my mother "s death )

Send to me your complete contact details:

Full Name: .....................................
Address: .........................................
Occupation: .....................................
Age: ..............................................
Telephone number: .......................

Upon receiving this information from you, I will then draft a mail to the bank to present you as my partner after which I will equally give you their contact details, so that when you contact them they will honor your application.

God bless you
Yours new friend
Miss rhaxma

(It is written here something like this: God bless you, I am writing to you on the Internet, because this is the most convenient way. Our connection should remain a secret !!! I will tell you my life story. Actually, my name is Miss Rham Edou, I am 21, I was born in Somalia. Mom died, Dad was the Minister of Education, but deposed him. He died. She lived with my uncle, he mocked me. I emigrated to Senegal, to the refugee camp, but it was hell. Once I found a letter in my father’s briefcase with the bill for primilillion he bequeathed to me, but in order to use the money, I must either get married or pay $ 2,600,000, but I don’t have that kind of money. You have to help. Get 25 percent. God bless you)

A little prettified, I sent this letter to the real Vika Haruna, in the hope that we would have correspondence with her about this, and in the future I would have an appointment in Berlin for five people. And the Nigerian letter itself made me very happy. Do I really get the impression that I have 2 million dollars ?!)))))))))

However, the history of Nigerian letters is much sadder than the history of the girl of Rham.

Nigerian letters - a common type of fraud, which has received the most development with the advent of mass mailings by e-mail (spam). The letters were named so because this type of fraud was especially widespread in Nigeria, and even before the spread of the Internet, when such letters were distributed by regular mail. However, Nigerian letters come from other African countries, as well as from cities with a large Nigerian diaspora (London, Amsterdam, Madrid, Dubai). Mailing began in the mid-1980s. In 2005, the Nigerian spammers were awarded the anti-Nobel (Shnobel) literature prize.

Typically, scammers ask the recipient of the letter of assistance in multi-million dollar money transactions, promising substantial interest on the amounts. If the recipient agrees to participate, large sums of money are allegedly being deceived from him, supposedly to complete transactions, pay fees, bribes to officials, and then fines.
Fraud Description

Plots of fraud are quite diverse.

Most often, letters are sent on behalf of a former king, president, senior official or millionaire asking for help in banking operations related to transferring money from Nigeria or another country abroad, receiving an inheritance, etc., ostensibly taxed or difficult for cause of persecution in his native country. Nigerian letters were sent, in particular, on behalf of Khodorkovsky’s personal secretary.

Another common option is a letter, allegedly from a bank employee or from an official who found out about the recent death of a very rich person “with the same surname” as the recipient of the letter, with a proposal to assist in obtaining money from this person’s bank account.

The letters in question usually refer to amounts of millions of dollars, and the recipient is promised a considerable percentage of the amounts - sometimes up to 40%. Fraud is professionally organized: fraudsters have offices, a fax machine, fraudsters are often associated with government organizations, and the recipient’s attempt to conduct an independent investigation does not reveal contradictions in the legend.

If the recipient of the letter responds to scammers, several documents are sent to him. At the same time, genuine seals and letterheads of large firms and government organizations are used. Often real government or banking officials in Nigeria participated in scams. Then the victim is asked for money for fees, gradually increasing the amount of fees for cashing out, or for bribes to officials, or may, for example, require you to put 100 thousand dollars in a Nigerian bank, motivating on behalf of the bank's employees that otherwise the transfer of money is prohibited. In some cases, the victim is offered to go semi-legally to Nigeria, allegedly for a secret meeting with a high-ranking official (without a visa), where he is kidnapped or arrested for illegal entry into the country and extorted money for his release. In the worst cases, he can even be brutally killed.

Often in the course of extortion, fraudsters use psychological pressure, assuring that the Nigerian side, in order to pay fees, has sold all its property, mortgaged the house, etc.

Of course, the victim does not receive the promised money in any case: it simply does not exist.

Although the mechanism of fraud has been explained in detail in the media for many years, the mass mailing leads to the fact that there are more and more victims who give large amounts of money to fraudsters.

A significant role in the distribution of Nigerian letters was played by young students or graduates of Nigerian universities who did not find proper work. Later, the genre spread to other countries.

Recently, the police of many countries and the authorities of Nigeria began to take harsh measures to investigate and suppress the distribution of Nigerian letters, but the distribution did not stop.

More recently, Russian counterparts of “Nigerian letters” have appeared, in which correspondence is conducted on behalf of a non-existent “Russian businessman” who allegedly needs the help of an addressee in transferring his huge fortune from Russia to another country (of course, for a generous reward).
[edit] Some options

* A letter allegedly from the daughter of a politician killed by rebels, who is allegedly in a refugee camp and asks to help her get out of there, which again requires banking operations.

* A letter about the vacancy abroad, but before leaving you need to pay a residence permit and work.

* A letter is sent to the victim allegedly on behalf of the lawyer of the victim’s distant relative. It is reported that a relative died in a car accident or plane crash, and the victim is entitled to a substantial inheritance. To transfer the inheritance, scammers require you to provide information about your bank account.

* The victim is informed about winning the lottery. The recipient of the letter must pay in order to receive his winnings.

* For a victim selling an expensive thing (for example, from a network auction), under some pretext, the following transaction is offered: the buyer sends a check for an amount exceeding the value of the thing, and then the seller returns the difference. In another embodiment, the amount on the check is “randomly” greater than the value of the goods. The seller sends the item, returns the difference in money, and then the check turns out to be fake. In the case of a fake check, most banks cancel the money transfer and return it.

* The victim is offered to donate money to a defunct church or charitable organization in West Africa. Although no benefit is promised to the victim in this case, the fraudsters are the same people who send out Nigerian letters.

* On dating sites - a letter arrives allegedly from an African girl (or youth, depending on the gender of the victim), who appears to be the crown princess of a small country or the heiress of a large fortune. She allegedly is in a refugee camp in Somalia, since there was a coup in her homeland. The girl offers the victim to marry and inherit a great fortune - and for this she needs money to return to her homeland, where the political situation has stabilized.

Interview with a Nigerian scammer

Now you can learn first-hand what is behind the Nigerian Letters.

We cannot verify and vouch for the accuracy of the information obtained during the interview with the former Nigerian scammer. He is currently studying in the UK, and a conversation with him took place on a voluntary and anonymous basis. We called him the pseudonym "John." We also do not know whether our contacts with John will continue and whether this interview will continue.

Scam-Detective: Thank you for agreeing to talk with us about your “work” as a scammer in Lagos, Nigeria. Tell me a little about yourself to begin with.

John: I'm 23 years old now, and I was released from a Nigeria prison last October, after serving two years for fraud. I am currently studying a business course at a UK college student exchange program. My rehabilitation course also includes working with the EFCC (Economic and Financial Crimes Commission) of Nigeria - I help them understand how gangs work. Fraud is no longer involved.

Scam-Detective: How did you get involved in online fraud?

John: I'm from a poor family in Lagos. We had little money and it is very difficult to find a good job. I started working for one criminal authority at the age of 15, because at school I learned English very well and knew how to use computers. This authority suggested that I make good money, and I took it as a chance to help my family.

Scam-Detective: Did you know that your teachers at school will give news of your success to a criminal priority?

John: Yes. Nigeria is a very corrupt country and gangs pay well for finding people with good knowledge of English for fraudulent work.

Scam-Detective: What exactly did you do as a scammer?

John: Mostly by deception, when we informed people about the death of a person who left several million in the bank account or cell, and we need help to get this money out of the country. This is the most successful type of fraud, but I also "moonlighted" with phishing, trying to steal user names (logins) and passwords for online bank accounts from people.

Scam-Detective: How did you find the victims of your fraud?

John: First you need to understand how a group of scammers generally works. At the bottom of the hierarchy are the "foot soldiers" who spend all their time online, collecting email addresses and sending out the first letter in order to interest people. If they receive an answer, the victim is passed down the chain to someone who knows English better so that he can get copies of the documents of the potential victim - a passport or a driver’s license. Then, when they are ready to ask for money, the victim is transferred to people who are still a step higher - they play the role of a lawyer or agent, explaining to the victim that she needs to pay a certain amount or give a bribe to the right person so that the money can be withdrawn outside the country . When the money is transferred, the authority takes it back at the Western Union office using fake documents, copies of which he received from another victim of fraud.

Scam-Detective: Where do foot soldiers get email addresses?

John: A lot of people leave their comments in guest books, forums and websites, and indicate their real e-mail addresses. Scammers have special programs that automatically collect emails from the Internet, and then use them for fraud.

Scam-Detective: And what is the percentage of people who responded to these letters?

John: Maybe nine or ten out of a few thousand. And at the second stage - about one in twenty - this is a person who is ready to give his money.

Scam-Detective: And how much money can you get from the victim?

John: On average, about $ 7.5 thousand, the largest amount I know was about $ 25 thousand. Money is lured in small parts, starting with several hundred, but there are "problems" with the withdrawal of the promised millions, and we need large amounts to complete the "transaction". People start to pay, because their costs are small compared to the amount they hope to receive, they believe in it.

Scam-Detective: How much money did you get from deceived people yourself?

John: In the year before my arrest, I made about $ 75,000 for my family. For my family I bought a nice house and a BMW car. I had mobile phones, laptops, and all this because I had enough money. And I lost all this when I was arrested, and my family was forced to leave Lagos, because I gave the names of my police bosses to mitigate the punishment. My family is now in great danger, and I am very worried about them. And what bothers me is who I became, and now I understand that I had to do not this, but honest, respected work, and not deceive good people.
Part two.

In the first part of the interview, the former Nigerian scammer “John” told his story so that our readers would be warned of the danger when they receive emails asking them for help in conducting cash transactions.

Scam-Detective: You said you got into a gang at age 15 and was convicted of fraud in less than two years after spending another two years in prison. You also said that you are now working with the Nigerian authorities to expose other scammers, as well as learning how to do business in college.

John: It is. Now I am doing the right thing with the help of God and my family.

Scam-Detective: Our readers ask if you met with your victims face-to-face or did all communication take place via email only?

John: I never met deceived people, but I was a member of several Wash-Wash scams.

Scam-Detective: Wash-Wash? What it is? (Wash - Wash, Wash)

John: We told the victim that we have a suitcase full of money, several million dollars. One of the victims met with my “colleagues” at the Amsterdam hotel, where he was shown a box full of black paper. The victim was told that it was money that was painted black to be taken through customs, and that money could be cleaned with special chemicals, but it was very expensive. My "colleagues" showed how this works with the help of a 100 dollar bill, which was at the very top, and liquid to remove black ink. Of course, all the other “money” in this suitcase was plain black paper, but the victim decided that it was real money. He paid more than $ 27 thousand for chemicals, and he was offered to return to the hotel on the same day, but a little later and to collect the money. Of course, when he returned, there was already no one there. He could not tell anyone what had happened, since he himself was going to break the law, and he himself would have been in trouble.

Scam-Detective: Okay, now let's talk about how you made your victims trust you. Even legal firms can find it very difficult to persuade a client to buy their products, but you could convince people to part with their money, convince them that that they will receive money that never existed, and sometimes even make an international flight, which is also not cheap.

John: I once spent some time with the "infantryman." I acted as a lawyer, agent or representative of the bank. At first I had a supervisor who read my mail and offered answers, but this time I had to do everything myself. I had many different documents that I could use to convince the victim that everything was true - including photographs of an official at his workplace, fake ID cards, bank statements where there was supposedly money - I used everything to convince the victim of reality the existence of millions. I slowly and gradually rubbed confidence in them, so that they would not be scared, I did not immediately ask for large amounts of money.

Scam-Detective: What did you do if the victim had already sent money and could not send more or “frozen” the relationship?

John: I used the “need more money” tactic anyway. I sent fake letters and documents that could make the victims believe that the account could be opened by the bank or seized by the state at any time, and that money is needed very urgently to remove the last obstacles to getting millions. I convinced them to take a loan or a loan from friends, I warned them not to tell anyone about our transaction, so that there was no leakage of information. I promised that all expenses would be reimbursed to them in excess of the promised share.

Scam-Detective: So you didn’t really care where the money came from, how it could be received - the main thing is that everyone sends it to you?

John: Part of the blame lies with the victims. They were too greedy and wanted a lot of money. I often received emails in which they said that they wanted more money than I offered, because they incurred significant costs. They could afford to lose this money.

Scam-Detective: John, you were honest enough with me and don’t stop now. You, and I, we know that greed was not always the motivation of the victims. I saw many letters where a woman needed money to treat a dying husband, or people who wanted to spend this money to help those in need and charity, or from young people who were in refugee camps and wanted to get out of there. You yourself acted like greedy businessmen? You didn’t care, could your victims afford it, right?

John: Oh, Kay, you're right. I'm not proud of it, but I had to feed my family.

Scam-Detective: Yes, and buy BMW, mobile phones and laptops, let's not forget about it. When the victim ran out of money and she could not send you more, was that the end? Or did you come back to her later?

John: We had one such method, which we called "restoring the approach." A few months later, we contacted the victim on behalf of the FBI or the Nigerian authorities. We informed the victim that the fraudsters had been caught, and thanks to the captured data, it was possible to identify the victims, and there was an opportunity to return the money. For a refund you must pay a certain fee. And the victims very often paid again, hoping to get their money back.

Scam-Detective: So, when your victim had time to realize his mistakes, you again used their trust and broke everything? The more I talk to you, John, the less I like you.

John: I know, I know. Do not be mad at me. I am not proud of what I did and I am very ashamed of those people who sent us money. If I could bring everything back - I would return.

Scam-Detective: But only if they sent you a thousand dollars first? Okay, forget it. Tell us about corruption in Nigeria. Did you bribe officials or employees of the company where you received the money?

John: That's what I can’t say, I have to be careful. I can only say that a lot of people make such fraud in Nigeria, and not all of them are scammers. Each has its own reasons.

At this point, I interrupted the interview because I was angry with John's answers and decided not to continue. "John" suggested contacting him later. I left my contact with him, but I’m not sure that we will learn more than John already said and is unlikely to be useful to readers. I don’t want him to feel better, confessing his sins, and feeling like a kind of consultant. I believe that he should feel guilty for his affairs until the end of his life.

Each month, Kaspersky Lab filters catch several tens of thousands of letters from scammers in different languages.

Newcomers who have recently started using the World Wide Web and therefore either are not familiar with security tips or simply naive enough and ready to take seriously the tempting scam promises are most at risk of becoming a victim of intruders.

Kaspersky Lab expert Maria Rubinstein in her article talks about one of the most common types of fraud - the so-called "Nigerian letters."

They got this name because they first appeared in Nigeria in the 1980s. The essence of the fraudulent scheme is simple.

Initially, attackers wrote letters, usually on behalf of the widows of disgraced Nigerian officials / dictators, and asked for help in taking their millionth fortune abroad. The recipient of the letter was promised a substantial reward for this service.

For a successful operation, the addressee was required to pay overhead costs, spending a small amount compared to the promised profits. Having received them, the inconsolable rich widow disappeared.

Over time, the arsenal of scammers replenished with new stories. Now the legend may vary.

For example, swindlers lure the victim with a message about the inheritance left by an unknown rich relative or write on behalf of the military, who found in some "hot" point of the treasure of the murdered terrorist.

But even in this case, having entered into correspondence, the gullible recipient of the letter learns that in order to receive the promised amount, you must either pay to open an account, or pay the services of intermediaries, or incur some other expenses - completely insignificant compared to the future cash.

After receiving the money, the widow, the lawyer of the deceased relative or an American soldier stops responding to letters, and it is no longer possible to find them.

An example of a “Nigerian” spam email compiled with an automatic translator

Expensive,

I am Paul Coffey (CAT), I am writing to you in connection with my late client Late Mr.PACergeev, who passed away on April 21, 2003 with his entire family.I tried to find any of his family members to assist in the repartrating fund, which he USD $ 10.5million of funding is stored at home.

Please I would like to contact me through my personal email address. [email protected] so that I can give details regarding the lawsuit.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

God bless you.

Regards,

Barr.koffi Paul (S.A.T)
**********@hotmail.com

“If in a letter a stranger promises you millions in inheritance, as a gift or as a reward for mediation, think carefully before answering.

Only scammers send such messages, Maria Rubinstein warns. - And if as a proof of his honesty a stranger sends scanned copies of documents, do not rush to believe him.

With fraudulent documents fraudsters usually have no problems. If you received a letter with a tempting offer from an unknown sender, the safest thing is to simply delete it. "

The plots of fraud with "Nigerian letters" are quite diverse.

Most often letters are sent on behalf of a former king, president, senior official or millionaire asking for help in banking operations related to transferring money from Nigeria or another country abroad, receiving an inheritance, etc., allegedly taxed or difficult for cause of persecution in his native country. Nigerian letters were sent, in particular, on behalf of Khodorkovsky’s personal secretary.

Another common option is a letter, allegedly from a bank employee or from an official who found out about the recent death of a very rich person “with the same surname” as the recipient of the letter, with a proposal to assist in obtaining money from this person’s bank account.

The letters in question usually refer to amounts of millions of dollars, and the recipient is promised a considerable percentage of the amounts - sometimes up to 40%.

Fraud is professionally organized: fraudsters have offices, a working fax, their own sites, often fraudsters are associated with government organizations, and the recipient’s attempt to conduct an independent investigation does not reveal contradictions in the legend.

If the recipient of the letter responds to scammers, several documents are sent to him. At the same time, genuine seals and letterheads of large firms and government organizations are used. Often real government or banking officials in Nigeria participated in scams.

Then the victim is asked for money for fees, gradually increasing the amount of fees for cashing out, or for bribes to officials, or may, for example, demand to put $ 100 thousand in a Nigerian bank, motivating on behalf of bank employees, that otherwise the transfer of money is prohibited.

In some cases, the victim is offered to go semi-legally to Nigeria, allegedly for a secret meeting with a high-ranking official (without a visa), where he is kidnapped or arrested for illegal entry into the country and extorted money for his release. In the worst cases, he can even be brutally killed.

Often in the course of extortion, fraudsters use psychological pressure, assuring that the Nigerian side, in order to pay fees, has sold all its property, mortgaged the house, etc.

Of course, the victim does not receive the promised money in any case: it simply does not exist.

Although the mechanism of fraud has been explained in detail in the media for many years, the mass mailing leads to the fact that there are more and more victims who give large amounts of money to fraudsters.

A significant role in the distribution of Nigerian letters was played by young students or graduates of Nigerian universities who did not find proper work. Later, the genre spread to other countries.

Recently, the police of many countries and the authorities of Nigeria began to take harsh measures to investigate and suppress the distribution of Nigerian letters, but the distribution did not stop.

More recently, Russian counterparts of “Nigerian letters” have appeared, in which correspondence is conducted on behalf of a non-existent “Russian businessman” who allegedly needs the help of an addressee in transferring his huge fortune from Russia to another country (of course, for a generous reward).

See also .

(Login to clean the page.) Nigerian letters - the type of fraud that has received the most development with the advent of spam. It is called so because letters were especially popular in Nigeria, and even before the Internet was distributed, they were distributed by regular mail, starting in the mid-1980s.

Nigeria has a sad reputation as one of the most corrupt in the world. In terms of revenue from foreign exchange transactions, fraud is currently in fourth place in Nigeria. With the advent of the Internet, “Nigerian letters” have become a household word.

As a rule, the recipient of the letter is asked for help in multimillion-dollar operations, promising substantial interest on the amounts. If the recipient agrees, he will be lured away with increasing amounts of money for fees, bribes, etc. In the worst cases, the victim is invited to semi-legally arrive in Nigeria, where he is either arrested for illegal arrival in the country and extorted money for release, or stolen from the purpose of obtaining a ransom.

Letters are sent on behalf of a former king, president, senior official or millionaire asking for help in banking operations related to transferring money from Nigeria or another country abroad, receiving an inheritance, etc., allegedly taxed or difficult due to prosecution in his native country. Nigerian letters were sent, in particular, on behalf of secretaries, treasurers, and even Khodorkovsky’s wife.

Dear Friend, Greetings to you and your family. I have a profiling amount in an access of US $ 423M, which I seek your partnership in accommodating for me. you will be rewarded with 4% of the total sum for your partnership. Can you be my partner on this? INTRODUCTION OF MY SELF: I am Mrs. Danijela Djuric a Yugoslavian and personal secretary to Mikhail Khodorkovsky (MK) the richest man in Russia and owner of the following companies: Chairman CEO: YUKOS OIL (Russian Most Largest Oil Company) Chairman CEO: Menatep SBP Bank (A well reputable financial institution with its branches all over the world) SOURCE OF FUNDS: The documents of the above funds in question was handed over to me to be used in payment of an American oil merchant for his last oil deal with my boss Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Already the funds have been deposited with Bank Menatep Russia where the final crediting is expected to be carried out. While I was on the process, My Boss got arrested for his involvement on politics in financing the leading and opposing political parties (the Union of Right Forces, led by Boris Nemtsov, and Yabloko, a liberal / social democratic party led by Gregor yavlinsky) which poses treat to President Vladimir Putin second tenure as Russian president. You can catch more of the story on this http://newsfromrussia.com/main/2003/1 1/13 / 51215.html YOUR ROLE: All I need from you is to stand as the eneficiary of the above quoted sum and I will arrange for the documentation which will enable Bank Menatep Russia transfer the sum to you.I am assuring you that this transaction is hundred percent risk free . I have decided to use this sum to relocate to American continent and never to be connected to any of Mikhail Khodorkovsky conglomerates. The transaction has to be concluded in 1 week before Mikhail Khodorkovsky is out on bail. As soon as I Confirm your readiness to conclude the transaction with me. Please reply this mail I look forward to it. Danijela Djuric.

Another letter was signed by a certain “Larisa Sosnitskaya”, who calls herself the personal treasurer of Khodorkovsky. She is trying to take out the same amount of money with the goal of “moving to the American continent and breaking all ties with any of Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s conglomerates”. Some spam emails are also sent on behalf of Bruce Misamore, a former financial director of Yukos.

And there is also Benson Evans:

Another common option is letters allegedly from a bank employee or from an official who found out about the recent death of a very rich person “with the same surname” as the recipient of the letter with a proposal to assist in obtaining money from this person’s bank account. The letters in question usually refer to amounts of millions of dollars, and the recipient is promised a considerable percentage of the amounts - sometimes up to 40%.

Fraud is professionally organized: fraudsters have offices, a fax machine, fraudsters are often associated with government organizations, and the recipient’s attempt to conduct an independent investigation does not reveal contradictions in the legend. The deal is presented as a “harmless” white-collar crime, which prevents the victim from contacting the authorities. Of course, the victim does not receive the promised money in any case: it simply does not exist.

Although for many years almost every day in the media the mechanism of fraud has been explained in detail, the mass mailing leads to the fact that there are more and more victims who give large amounts of money to fraudsters. A significant role in the distribution of Nigerian letters was played by young students or graduates of Nigerian universities who did not find proper work. Later, the genre spread to other countries. Recently, police in many countries and the authorities in Nigeria have begun to take harsh measures to investigate and suppress the dissemination of Nigerian letters.

Spammers quickly respond to the situation in the world, tracking the centers of instability. Therefore, new varieties of “Nigerian” letters constantly appear - for example, “Kenyan” or “Filipino”. During the war in Iraq, spamming mailings of "Iraqi" spam were actively in progress. These are letters in which money is stolen during the military operations in Iraq. Authors of such letters are usually signed with the fictitious or real names of senior Iraqi officials. Often a letter is written on behalf of the wife or widow of an Iraqi official.

The vast majority of "Nigerian" spam is in English, but in 2004-2005. spammers began to actively explore the Runet. There was a "Nigerian" spam in Russian, exploiting the hot events of Russian political life. The attention of spammers was attracted by the sensational Yukos affair, and Runet users were invited to cash millions of Khodorkovsky. When the Yukos case became known in the West, spammers again switched to mailing in English. Obviously, foreign users "peck" at such a bait as interest for cashing out.

Among the "Nigerian" letters come across real masterpieces written by people who cannot be denied a sense of humor. Some copies of such letters disperse on the Web in thousands, and users themselves send them to each other as an example of funny text. An example of such a masterpiece is spam with a touching story about a Nigerian astronaut who has been in space at the secret Russian space station Salyut for 14 (fourteen !!!) years.

But now the Russians don’t want to take him back to Earth, because it's too expensive. All this time, his salary was regularly transferred to an account in a bank. And now the relatives of the astronaut are turning to everyone with ... yes, asking for help to cash this gigantic amount and to help return the astronaut to Earth. If you consider that the date of the initial mailing of this letter is April 2004 (April 12 is the day of cosmonautics in Russia), then a competent reader understands that this is a hoax. True, it is not known how spammers reacted to letters from those who decided to help the astronaut ...

Here is the text of this wonderful “Nigerian” message:

 

It might be useful to read:

• Legal form of enterprise, organization;
• What is a quote request?;
• Actual changes in the contract system for procurement participants;
• Guide to filling out the declaration of ownership of SMP for LLC and IP;
• Electronic Auction: Protocol Issues (Pratura O;
• Retrospective bonus program for wholesale customers. New explanatory and derivational dictionary of the Russian language, T;
• EDS for the electronic ots-tender platform From the procurement platform;
• Entry into the procurement plan of the start date of the procurement. Dates. Frequency of the planned procurement. How to fill in.;

 

	Dr. Bakare Tunde Astronautics Project Manager National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) Plot 555 Misau Street PMB 437 Garki, Abuja, FCT NIGERIA Dear Mr. Sir REQUEST FOR ASSISTANCE-STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL In January, Russian email recipients received offers to get hold of a few million dollars for free much more often than usual. We are talking about the world famous "Nigerian Post", or "Deception 419". If earlier on computers of any Russian company two or three emails were sent from deceivers a year, then only last week users received a dozen “business offers”. The Izvestia correspondent tried to get rich quickly, and at the same time find out the reasons for such a keen interest of deceivers from hot Africa to Russia. You didn’t have to fish out a letter from your email inbox with a cap: “Urgent. Strictly confidential. Need help”? For example, the unfortunate Bruno Guei from Benin tells how his father, a wealthy farmer from Côte d'Ivoire, was killed in September 2002 during a military conflict, and an orphan had a problem: it is necessary to withdraw $ 21 million from the country. If some kind of good will give his bank account for the transfer, then he will get a quarter of wealth. It is a pity to the widow Victoria Savimbi from Angola, to whom her husband died, leaving her $ 15 million in a Dutch investment fund. Money must be transferred to a safe place for a fee of 15 percent of the amount. We also received letters from the former chief accountant of the United Bank of West Africa, who pocketed 30 million greens, and from the former Nigerian Minister of Health Isama Obi, who combined charitable activities with the leadership of the Special Oil Fund and saved 18 million bucks. But perhaps the most reasonable proposal came from London from Mr. Denis Daniel, who proposed to scratch out 18 million Dr. Mbonghi, the former finance minister of Sierra Leone, from Freetown. Firstly, the letter was captivating by a detailed listing of laws of the African republic, according to which money could not be transferred in any way, except through our accounts. And secondly, not only a faceless email was given for feedback, but also a real London fax number (code 44-207). We pecked at this offer. An hour later, we were asked to send detailed accessories of a bank account through which the transfer will go. The only account I knew was the pension account of my mother-in-law in the Zelenograd branch of Sberbank. It remains only to add the SWIFT (international number) of Sberbank, which I was kindly prompted by phone. The bill completely satisfied Mr. Daniel. I have never seen so many official bank papers with eagles, lions and rhinos in logos in my life. I received all this by fax within two days. Papers with the beautiful names "affidevit" and "invoice" confirmed that I had to get 18 million into my mother-in-law’s account, leave 3 million to myself, and the rest should be transferred to the account of an offshore bank registered in the state of Antigua and Barbuda. The only thing I needed to do was to transfer $ 1000 for opening an account to these distant islands and another 2000 for the services of a lawyer. That's the whole scam. And the most amazing thing is that thousands of people fall into this simple deception. Nobody keeps statistics of those deceived by "Nigerian letters" in Russia. But in the USA, England, Canada and other countries, special organizations are working on this. According to Susan Grant, director of the American Internet Fraud Watch (Internet fraud control) program, last year 2600 people became victims of such schemes. Moreover, 16 Americans parted with 345 thousand dollars, two lost 70 thousand each. The total number of losses from the "Nigerian mail" for all the time of its operation in America amounted to $ 100 million. And this despite the fact that 5 million has been spent in the world to inform people about African swindlers! Until 1996, mail arrived in ordinary letters, in the last five years this garbage has filled the Internet, including the Russian one. As Internet provider Sergei Zakrevsky told us, in fact, in January, Nigerian letters began to get into the mailboxes of Russian Internet users hundreds of times more often than before. Our experts are trying to explain this fact by the fact that last year Russian email addresses became much more accessible for spamming machines (“electronic garbage”). But Western experts on the "Nigerian mail" have a different opinion on this. Another name for Nigerian Post is Deception 419, by the number of the corresponding article in the Nigerian Criminal Code. One of the organizations that are fighting against deceivers is called “Coalition 419”. Its executive director Martin Brewer believes that the transfer of the activity of deceivers to Russia is connected with the fact that no one is struggling with this phenomenon. And the seasonal upsurge of “Deception 419” on the Russian Internet is caused by the fact that on February 13 the FATF intergovernmental organization will consider the blacklist status of Nigeria and some other African countries, so there began a real fight against electronic fraudsters, and they are afraid to fool around Westerners who have something to complain about. Therefore, deceivers from the shores of Niger and Limpopo will look for fools on the banks of the Ob and Volga. What do you think they will find? Help from the author of the site The so-called "Scam 419" began in the early 80s of the last century. At that time, “Nigerian letters” came in ordinary envelopes or by fax, and its victims were primarily citizens of the United States of America. Along with the advent of the Internet and e-mail, "Nigerian" spam has also appeared. In the early 90s, African scammers "discovered" Russia. Nigeria is a potentially rich country. There is oil, many other valuable minerals, developed tropical agriculture, cheap labor, which makes this country an investment attractive. Therefore aboutthe main "income" crooks do not get from individuals, but from businessmen, who can be offered to buy Nigerian oil at a low price, some other no less “faithful” contract for tens of millions of dollars, huge commissions for mediation, etc. etc. Every month, thousands of such letters are sent from Nigeria around the world. Addresses and phone numbers of businessmen are taken from advertising booklets, obtained at embassies, and are copied from directories and phone books. A certain percentage of recipients swallows bait and enters into correspondence. Then the potential victim is invited to Nigeria for negotiations, during which she must personally, on the spot, verify the seriousness of the partner. Negotiations can even take place at the premises of the ministry, the Central Bank or the oil corporation. The performance is played as if with notes, with honed skill. There are many options. They may ask in advance to pay expenses for the services of officials, taxes on the transfer of funds, various fees or something like that. Having pumped from a client from several thousand to several millions, the partners disappear. There are cases when intractable people were intimidated, beaten and even killed. Often the victim is offered to come to Nigeria without a visa (the passport in this case is selected at the airport), enter through a neighboring country or not inform the embassy about his arrival. All these are sure signs of a swindle. The profit from this scam is simply fantastic: According to the US Embassy in Lagos, the annual "milkings" of international-class Nigerian scammers from Western businessmen - from Americans to Japanese, from Norwegians to Brazilians - reach several hundred billion (!) dollars (Business in Nigeria, Kommersant newspaper No. 127 from 11-07-95, but I think this is a typo - more real than "millions"). Investigations are conducted by organizations from the FBI to Interpol. But the thing is that the mere fact of sending a letter is not a crime. Everything else happens in Nigeria, where the ends are almost impossible to find. As Time magazine wrote in 2004, not a single dollar of the stolen millions was returned. The escort of picked up and frightened compatriots to the airport became one of the routine duties of Western diplomats. Increasingly, this has to be done by employees of the consular department of the Russian embassy. According to the Internet, these frauds are the third largest industry in Nigeria, and it has never been possible to scratch money stolen under scheme 419 from Nigerian banks. This suggests that the Scam 419 at some level enjoys administrative support. And by special decree No. 419, providing a substantial prison term for fraud, for all the years of its operation units were convicted. Interview with a Nigerian scammer (scammer) Part one.
"Nigerian con man" arrested in US Compulent, 12/26/2006 US authorities managed to arrest one of the Nigerian scammers in Texas. Thirty-five-year-old Femi Ikuopenikan confessed to helping his “colleagues” steal $ 115,000 from their two brothers. According to the FBI, Femi is part of the so-called "Nigerian spammers." In particular, in a particular episode, the scammers convinced one of the brothers that they would give him $ 6.7 million if he would transfer some money through the Internet to an account with a non-existent Hallmark Trust Financial bank. Interested in a tempting offer, his second brother soon joined in correspondence with spammers. The American authorities rarely have the opportunity to bring fraudsters to court, because they usually work abroad and carefully hide their identities. The sentence to Ikuopenikan will be pronounced in February. He faces up to five years in prison and a fine of $ 250,000.
BELARUS GIVEN 260 THOUSANDS. DOLL. FOR "NEEDED NIGERIAN PRINCE" Newspaper.ru, 04/29/2007 Employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus, together with colleagues from the UK and Nigeria, are searching for Internet scammers who stole more than 260 thousand dollars from a Belarusian businessman As Igor Chernenko, the head of the high-tech crime detection department of the Ministry of the Interior, told reporters, the attackers sent the so-called "Nigerian letters" to the businessman’s personal computer. In these messages, they asked the entrepreneur to transfer a certain amount of money to help certain Nigerian princes in distress, for which they promised a large reward in the future. To carry out the criminal plan, the scammers invited a Belarusian businessman to London, where they created a pseudo-office for him and stole a large amount of money from his account. Chernenko said that this was not the only victim of “Nigerian letters” in Belarus, saying that last year two “compassionate Minsk women” sent 20 thousand dollars to the accounts of Internet scammers for the same “needy Nigerian princes”. The head of the department warned that mailing lists on the search for millions of Saddam Hussein had already begun to appear on the Internet, and urged the population of Belarus to fall for the tricks of scammers who hunt online.