Each day new forms of e-crimes are
being invented. Once a particular method appear noticeable and common, the
perpetrators wills switch to a more unsuspecting method. The following are some of the
emerging e-crimes in Nigeria: Beneficiary
of a Will Scam: The criminals send e-mail to claim that the victim is the
named beneficiary in the will of an estranged relative and stands to inherit an
estate worth millions.4
Online Charity: Another aspect of e-crime common in Nigeria is where
fraudulent people host websites of charity organizations soliciting monetary
donations and materials to these organizations that do not exist.
Unfortunately, many unsuspecting people have been exploited through this means.
Fake Web Sites: Here the scammers open a fake online bank and direct
eh victims to the site which shows a multi-million dollar deposits when the
victim expresses doubts. Common in Nigeria are the cases of university
admission and visa scams where unsuspecting persons apply for university
admission through a fake web site and even make payments online. Thousands of
people have been defrauded over the internet through these means.
Next of Kin Scam: Collection of money from various bank and transfer
fees by tempting the victim to claim and inheritance of millions of dollars in
a Nigerian bank belonging to a lost relative.
The “Winning Ticket in Lottery you Never
Entered” Scam: The criminals use this
scheme to extort money from innocent individuals under the guise that the
victim has won lottery which he never even participated. In Nigeria, the
criminals have resorted to the use of mobile phone. Often you receive a text
message congratulating you for winning a lottery or some amounts of money.
These scams lately include the State Departments green Card lottery of USA5
Bogus Cashier’s Cheque: The victim advertises an item for sale on internet,
and is contacted by an interested buyer from Nigeria or another African
country. The scammer then sends the victim a cheque or money order for an
amount much larger than the asking price of the item. The victim is then asked
to deposit the difference back to the scammer. If the victim does not wait for
the bank to verify the check he can end up losing thousands of dollars.6
Lotteries: Some corporate organizations in Nigeria garner
millions of viewers to send text messages or to call in answers to a displayed
question on TV.7 The amount charged for
such calls or text messages from the viewers amounts to millions of Naira while
the amount to be won might just be N10.000
Donation Solicitations: The victim receives an e-mail requesting donations to
fight an evil government or dictatorship or any other cause in Africa. The
scammer requests that the victim provide bank account information so that the
donation can be directly withdrawn from the bank.
Reshipping: Many Nigerians have come up with ingenious schemes to
dupe Americans and other Western Counties into willingly co-operating with rip-offs.
Those schemes are known as “reshipping” and often start at a single chat
web-site. In a chat room, a scammer establishes a relationship with a potential
victim. He then persuades the victim to agree to receive merchandise that he
buys online, and then reship it to Nigeria. Once she agrees, the scammer uses
stolen credit card information to buy goods online and have them shipped to
America. The victim rewraps the merchandise and ships it to an address in
Nigeria.8
Computer/Internet Service Time Theft: Scammers in Nigeria aided by computer Whiz kids have
developed means of connecting cyber cafes to network of some ISPs in a way that
will not be detected by the ISPs and thereby allow the cafes to operate at no
cost. This scam has eaten led to mobile phone and laptop users. Today
in Nigeria Most Mobile Phone users and laptop users browse free of charge
courtesy of scammers who configure and hack into ISPs of mobile phone network
providers.
Impersonating Relatives/Acquaintances in
Distant Locations: Victims receive
phone calls from someone who claim to be a relative in a distant location like
the USA and UK, either requesting help, or the cost of shipping consignments to
them. At times these scammers mistakenly call victims who do not have relations
abroad. For instance, in the course of 2writing this work, this writer has
received several calls and SMS messages from a “fictitious uncle” in London
asking the whereabouts of his supposed victim.
Phreaking: This type of crime involves the theft of
telecommunication service, instances of which have involved using cereal box
toy whistles to imitate telephone call signals, and more recently cloning
mobile sim cards. Many homes in Nigeria are now connected to DSTV products
through a self made card, which when attached to a video player, has the
capability of connecting to several stations in DSTV or other cable
televisions.
4 The Story often look so real that
unsuspecting individual easily fall prey.
5 http://www.akamaiuniversity.
Us/PJST/htm visited June 29,
2011.
6 Balogun, v. & O.O. Obe (2010)
E-crime in Nigeria:
Trends, Tricks & Treatment, op. cit.
7 Ibid.
at 350.
8 Mickinley, E.D. 2005. “The Reshipping Scam” www.internetretailer.com visited
May 31, 2011
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