419 scammers crackdown

Nigeria cracks down on e-mail scams
The 'yahoo-yahoo boys' who are behind the country's infamous export
have few job prospects.
By Abraham McLaughlin | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

LAGOS, NIGERIA - In the heart of sub-Saharan Africa's most-crowded
metropolis, in a dimly lit Internet café thumping with Nigerian music,
clusters of two and three teenage boys hover around aging computer
screens. They use their Nike T-shirts and baggy jeans to wipe sweat off
their brows and palms as they intently craft deceptive e-mails and
scour the Web for foreign e-mail addresses.

These are Nigeria's "yahoo-yahoo boys" - purveyors of their country's
most infamous export: scam e-mails sent en masse daily to in-boxes
around the world. They represent the lowest rung of powerful,
politically connected gangs that aim to swindle gullible, greedy
foreigners - especially Americans - out of millions of dollars.

Nigeria's government is now cracking down harder on e-mail fraud, in
part to repair damage the scams have done to the country's global
reputation. But the boys and their bosses may be difficult to stop.
Many are motivated not just by greed, but a desire to leave their
country - or retaliate against Westerners for perceived injustices.

"You have no idea where Nigeria even is - you're just greedy and want
the money," says Sonny, a former yahoo-yahoo boy who became a middle
manager in a scam ring, speaking of the foreigners he targeted. He
singles out Americans for special disdain. Canadians or Europeans tend
to be cautious, but when Americans get e-mails promising millions, if
only they'll pay a small up-front fee, "They just say, 'Send the money
quickly,' " he says laughing.

Indeed, a strong undercurrent of sticking it to Westerners -
particularly white Americans - pervades the yahoo-yahoo culture, also
known as "419 fraud" after the section of Nigerian law it violates.

The scammers' anthem is a popular song called, "I Go Chop Your Dollar."
A tongue-in-cheek comedian and singer named Osofia belts out, in local
slang, a song that translates to, "419 is just a game. You are the
loser, I am the winner. White people greedy.... I take your money and
disappear.... You be the fool, I be the master."

It's payback, people here say, for everything from legions of West
Africans once taken by Westerners as slaves, to millions of barrels of
Nigerian oil now consumed yearly by rich nations.

It's channeled, Sonny and others explain, into the basic workings of
the scam industry. Young yahoo-yahoo boys typically work on commission.
They use programs like "Email Extractor 1.4" to create lists of
recipients. They carefully craft letters, using shreds of truth to
entice. One recent e-mail cites the real fact that Nigeria's First
Lady, Stella Obasanjo, recently died after a botched tummy-tuck. The
missive is supposedly an aide who wants to move the boss's ill-gotten
gains out of the country - and needs to borrow your bank account for a
few days. Join in and you'll be richly rewarded.

The yahoo-yahoos send thousands of messages out - and only get a few
replies, which are forwarded to experienced conmen in their
organization, who subtly reel in the foreigners. Some organizations
reportedly even have US-based partners to verify the setup - or add
pressure if the victim gets cold feet.

"The first fees are not huge - maybe $1,000," Sonny explains. "But then
the stakes will be raised." Suddenly, the foreigner must wire money for
"lawyers' fees" or bribes to get a government minister to approve a
transaction.

There are few hard numbers about the industry. But the US Secret
Service, which investigates and monitors these crimes, says they gross
"hundreds of millions of dollars annually and the losses are continuing
to escalate."

But not if Nigerian authorities have their way. A new Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is targeting "not just the scammer,
but the ring around him," says Osita Nwajah, a spokesman. This includes
banks, owners of cyber cafés, even café-building landlords.
Eventually, "Everyone will become a sort of cyber-guard" to prevent
e-mail crime, he says, perhaps optimistically.

The EFCC also prosecutes swindlers - and repays victims. It locked up
crooks who swindled $242 million from a Brazilian bank - and have
repaid the bank an initial $17 million. "We are getting them to vomit
what they've swallowed," says Mr. Nwajah. The EFCC also recently repaid
an elderly Hong Kong victim $4.4 million.

The efforts appear to be having some deterrent effect. "People are
scared now," says Sonny.

But the larger issue is societal: Why do so many bright young Nigerian
men pour such creativity and initiative into this type of criminality?

In a country with high unemployment, few computer firms, and many
technical schools that teach computer skills, there are few other
options, explains Chris Ola, head of the national police fraud squad.

There's no social safety net and so much corruption that "You can't
actualize" - become financially secure - "by working within the
system," he explains. "Even straight people end up going wrong." When
yahoo-yahoos graduate from school, they can't get a real job - and
dream of going to America for one. "They're smart, so they have to do
something to survive," Mr. Ola says. That's why, "In any cyber café,
you see people plotting their way out of Nigeria."

Political corruption under fire, too

Is corruption really being curtailed in one of the world's most
graft-ridden nations? Consider:

· A powerful governor of an oil-rich state is speedily impeached,
arrested, and faces extradition to Britain on money-laundering charges.

· The federal police department's inspector general is convicted and
fined $30,000 for corruption, including accepting kickbacks - and
jailed for six months.

· In 2005, Nigeria moved to the sixth-most-corrupt nation spot in
Transparency International's corruption-perceptions index, from
second-most corrupt in 2004.

Indeed, Nigeria is in the midst of an anti-corruption campaign, powered
mostly by the country's tough-talking president, Olesegun Obasanjo. In
a nation where nearly all politicians are assumed to be corrupt,
critics say he's using graft-busting as a way to pick off his political
enemies. Yet there's a growing sense here that graft is on the agenda
in a new way.

Most important, the powerful governors of the country's 39 states felt
the pinch when one of their own was impeached and arrested. It's the
first time a governor has been impeached in many years. Governors are
used to hiding behind constitutional immunity from prosecution. "But
they're all scared now, because they're all in the same business," says
Annette Edo, a political reporter for Newswatch, a Lagos newspaper.

It started in September, when Gov. Diepreye Alamieyeseigha was arrested
by British authorities, who found about $3 million in his London home
and charged him with money laundering. He was let out on bail - and
escaped the country, reportedly dressed in women's clothes, using a
fake passport. But the ensuing uproar led to his impeachment and
arrest.

Mr. Alamieyeseigha is allied with the vice president, who is in a
very-public power struggle with the president. Critics say
Alamieyeseigha's woes are a symbol of political games at the top. But
others argue his arrest sends an entirely different signal. "No matter
how big you are," says anti-corruption commission spokesman Osita
Nwajah, "the law will catch you."

Only people who are greedy of "big" money without any effort would be victims. Don't put all the
blame on them.

"none" wrote in message
oups.com...
Nigeria cracks down on e-mail scams
The 'yahoo-yahoo boys' who are behind the country's infamous export
have few job prospects.
By Abraham McLaughlin | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

LAGOS, NIGERIA - In the heart of sub-Saharan Africa's most-crowded
metropolis, in a dimly lit Internet café thumping with Nigerian music,
clusters of two and three teenage boys hover around aging computer
screens. They use their Nike T-shirts and baggy jeans to wipe sweat off
their brows and palms as they intently craft deceptive e-mails and
scour the Web for foreign e-mail addresses.

These are Nigeria's "yahoo-yahoo boys" - purveyors of their country's
most infamous export: scam e-mails sent en masse daily to in-boxes
around the world. They represent the lowest rung of powerful,
politically connected gangs that aim to swindle gullible, greedy
foreigners - especially Americans - out of millions of dollars.

Nigeria's government is now cracking down harder on e-mail fraud, in
part to repair damage the scams have done to the country's global
reputation. But the boys and their bosses may be difficult to stop.
Many are motivated not just by greed, but a desire to leave their
country - or retaliate against Westerners for perceived injustices.

"You have no idea where Nigeria even is - you're just greedy and want
the money," says Sonny, a former yahoo-yahoo boy who became a middle
manager in a scam ring, speaking of the foreigners he targeted. He
singles out Americans for special disdain. Canadians or Europeans tend
to be cautious, but when Americans get e-mails promising millions, if
only they'll pay a small up-front fee, "They just say, 'Send the money
quickly,' " he says laughing.

Indeed, a strong undercurrent of sticking it to Westerners -
particularly white Americans - pervades the yahoo-yahoo culture, also
known as "419 fraud" after the section of Nigerian law it violates.

The scammers' anthem is a popular song called, "I Go Chop Your Dollar."
A tongue-in-cheek comedian and singer named Osofia belts out, in local
slang, a song that translates to, "419 is just a game. You are the
loser, I am the winner. White people greedy.... I take your money and
disappear.... You be the fool, I be the master."

It's payback, people here say, for everything from legions of West
Africans once taken by Westerners as slaves, to millions of barrels of
Nigerian oil now consumed yearly by rich nations.

It's channeled, Sonny and others explain, into the basic workings of
the scam industry. Young yahoo-yahoo boys typically work on commission.
They use programs like "Email Extractor 1.4" to create lists of
recipients. They carefully craft letters, using shreds of truth to
entice. One recent e-mail cites the real fact that Nigeria's First
Lady, Stella Obasanjo, recently died after a botched tummy-tuck. The
missive is supposedly an aide who wants to move the boss's ill-gotten
gains out of the country - and needs to borrow your bank account for a
few days. Join in and you'll be richly rewarded.

The yahoo-yahoos send thousands of messages out - and only get a few
replies, which are forwarded to experienced conmen in their
organization, who subtly reel in the foreigners. Some organizations
reportedly even have US-based partners to verify the setup - or add
pressure if the victim gets cold feet.

"The first fees are not huge - maybe $1,000," Sonny explains. "But then
the stakes will be raised." Suddenly, the foreigner must wire money for
"lawyers' fees" or bribes to get a government minister to approve a
transaction.

There are few hard numbers about the industry. But the US Secret
Service, which investigates and monitors these crimes, says they gross
"hundreds of millions of dollars annually and the losses are continuing
to escalate."

But not if Nigerian authorities have their way. A new Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is targeting "not just the scammer,
but the ring around him," says Osita Nwajah, a spokesman. This includes
banks, owners of cyber cafés, even café-building landlords.
Eventually, "Everyone will become a sort of cyber-guard" to prevent
e-mail crime, he says, perhaps optimistically.

The EFCC also prosecutes swindlers - and repays victims. It locked up
crooks who swindled $242 million from a Brazilian bank - and have
repaid the bank an initial $17 million. "We are getting them to vomit
what they've swallowed," says Mr. Nwajah. The EFCC also recently repaid
an elderly Hong Kong victim $4.4 million.

The efforts appear to be having some deterrent effect. "People are
scared now," says Sonny.

But the larger issue is societal: Why do so many bright young Nigerian
men pour such creativity and initiative into this type of criminality?

In a country with high unemployment, few computer firms, and many
technical schools that teach computer skills, there are few other
options, explains Chris Ola, head of the national police fraud squad.

There's no social safety net and so much corruption that "You can't
actualize" - become financially secure - "by working within the
system," he explains. "Even straight people end up going wrong." When
yahoo-yahoos graduate from school, they can't get a real job - and
dream of going to America for one. "They're smart, so they have to do
something to survive," Mr. Ola says. That's why, "In any cyber café,
you see people plotting their way out of Nigeria."

Political corruption under fire, too

Is corruption really being curtailed in one of the world's most
graft-ridden nations? Consider:

· A powerful governor of an oil-rich state is speedily impeached,
arrested, and faces extradition to Britain on money-laundering charges.

· The federal police department's inspector general is convicted and
fined $30,000 for corruption, including accepting kickbacks - and
jailed for six months.

· In 2005, Nigeria moved to the sixth-most-corrupt nation spot in
Transparency International's corruption-perceptions index, from
second-most corrupt in 2004.

Indeed, Nigeria is in the midst of an anti-corruption campaign, powered
mostly by the country's tough-talking president, Olesegun Obasanjo. In
a nation where nearly all politicians are assumed to be corrupt,
critics say he's using graft-busting as a way to pick off his political
enemies. Yet there's a growing sense here that graft is on the agenda
in a new way.

Most important, the powerful governors of the country's 39 states felt
the pinch when one of their own was impeached and arrested. It's the
first time a governor has been impeached in many years. Governors are
used to hiding behind constitutional immunity from prosecution. "But
they're all scared now, because they're all in the same business," says
Annette Edo, a political reporter for Newswatch, a Lagos newspaper.

It started in September, when Gov. Diepreye Alamieyeseigha was arrested
by British authorities, who found about $3 million in his London home
and charged him with money laundering. He was let out on bail - and
escaped the country, reportedly dressed in women's clothes, using a
fake passport. But the ensuing uproar led to his impeachment and
arrest.

Mr. Alamieyeseigha is allied with the vice president, who is in a
very-public power struggle with the president. Critics say
Alamieyeseigha's woes are a symbol of political games at the top. But
others argue his arrest sends an entirely different signal. "No matter
how big you are," says anti-corruption commission spokesman Osita
Nwajah, "the law will catch you."