Newsroom

OFT and Nigerian financial crime squad join forces to combat spam fraud

210/05    4 November 2005

The OFT and its law enforcement partners in Nigeria are warning consumers to be wary of unsolicited emails asking for help in moving large sums of money in exchange for a share of the spoils.

The emails often appear to come from a respected official,such as a bank manager or a government agency. They explain that they have discovered secret funds that must be moved out of their country and ask for your help to move them to the UK. They will offer to deposit large sums in your bank account temporarily and in exchange you will get a share. They will have elaborate explanations about why they need to use your bank account. There are many variations but they all seek to con victims out of their money. The OFT advises recipients not to reply, to report it and then delete the email (see note 1). 

These scams are nicknamed '419' scams after the relevant section of the Nigerian Criminal Code. Many, but not all, originate from Nigeria and West Africa. Classic 419 scam scenarios include being contacted by:

• a Nigerian bank official wanting help in transferring millions from the account of a deceased individual before the bank freezes the funds
• an employee of a large corporation, often an oil company, needing outside help to spirit away company funds generated by over-invoicing contractors.

New and innovative scenarios are always emerging and are often topical, such as:

• a war reporter who has unearthed Saddam's missing millions and needs to deposit them in your account in return for a share
• a young person orphaned by the tsunami disaster asking for help in moving their parents millions out of an overseas bank
• some new versions mention Hurricane Katrina and the 7 July London bombings.

All the scams share a common theme. The victims are ultimately asked to pay money in advance, to cover eventualities like, taxes, insurance, legal fees, handling fees and bribes that amount to thousands of pounds.

Christine Wade, Director of Consumer Regulation Enforcement said:

'If you are targeted, recognise the 419 for what it is - an attempt to defraud you. Do not reply and do not give your personal details out. You are not about to become rich. These scams bear the hallmarks of professional criminals - use your common sense and don't become their next victim.'

Nuhu Ribadu, the Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) of Nigeria, the law enforcement agency collaborating with the OFT to stop '419' scams at source said:

'419 and other Nigerian variants of cyber crime, have done unquantifiable damage to Nigeria's image and credibility. The government has resolved to deal a fatal blow to the cyber crime networks operating from Nigeria and the West African sub region'.

The EFCC is taking action on a range of measures to combat '419' scams, such as monitoring activity at cyber cafes in Nigeria, signing a memorandum of understanding with Microsoft to tackle cyber crime and taking on a significant number of cases against fraudsters based in Nigeria.

As a supporter of the London Action Plan (LAP) on spam which is holding a summit in London at present, Nigeria has agreed to work with the other 26 member countries to fight cross border spam.

NOTES

1. If you receive a 419 scam by email you should send the email to the Internet Service Provider (ISP) from where the scam email originated. These emails should be addressed in the following way (depending on the ISP) abuse@the ISP name, for example abuse@yahoo.com. The ISPs can then close any accounts that abuse their systems. If you have lost money to this scam please report it to your local police station.

2. The LAP is a partnership of government agencies and private sector organisations from around the world that have agreed to work together to tackle spam. The signatories agreed the London Action Plan on Spam in October 2004 (see press release 168/04). The LAP is currently holding a spam summit in London (see press release 208/05)

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