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History
For several years an advanced fee fraud, also known as Nigerian "419 letters", has been operated from West African countries. Recipients of the letters are not usually targeted, their particulars are taken from trade and telephone directories and membership lists of clubs and associations. However, foreign companies working in Nigeria are susceptible to being targeted by advanced fee fraudsters. The total number of letters intercepted in the UK since January 1998 is more than 1.5 million. A further 30-40 letters or faxes, and 50 e-mails are handed in to the authorities each day from companies and members of the public.
The reference to '419' comes from the section of the Nigerian penal code that refers to this crime. There are 'factories' in the Lagos area where letters are generated, but the letters are usually taken in bulk to neighbouring countries like Benin or Togo and posted there to disguise their origin. Approximately two thirds of 419 letters are posted with counterfeit stamps, causing additional loss to the world economy.
The letters generally purport to come from a high ranking officials in the Nigerian government, or other senior West African official, who needs to remove a huge sum of cash, often $US25 - 30 million, from his country. The money is said to have been obtained by over-invoicing of contracts or by some other illegal means. The recipient is asked for the use of their bank account to transfer the total amount into the UK banking system (i.e. laundering the money). In return, the recipient will receive a percentage of the money, normally around 20%. Of course, the alleged writer's status is a complete fraud and there is no money at all. Even if the money did exist, by taking part in the money laundering the recipient would become an accomplice in an international criminal act.
Could you be taken in by these scams? See for yourself - real examples of 419 letters sent to British businessmen can be viewed by following these links; the content is entirely as the letters were sent by fax, all that has been changed are the 'phone numbers:
Methods
The methods employed by the fraudsters are clever and plausible and people who engage with them can be defrauded of all the assets they possess. After initially using his own money to pay for 'unexpected taxes' or bribes, a victim may be coerced to borrow or embezzle money from other people, relations or business associates. This fraud can last over many years with the victim passed onto different organised crime groups, each time the new 'contact' promising that the victim will receive his money and explaining that his previous contacts were 'corrupt'.
If it appears to the fraudsters that the victim is starting to run out of assets, or is becoming suspicious, they will invite the victim to meet them in a different country, pretending that they will then finalise the deal. Non-UK victims are very often invited to London, in turn UK victims are asked to travel to Nigeria or a European country where language will be a problem and the victim will be disorientated and consequently at a disadvantage. Every day, there can be a number of overseas victims waiting in London hotels to meet fraudsters.
When the meeting takes place, a 'technicality' will arise and the money again will not be provided. One possible scenario is that the victim will be shown a suitcase or trunk full of banknote sized black paper pieces. They are told that in order to export the cash (generally alleged to be US$100 notes) past border guards it had been dyed black, yet changing the notes back to usable currency can be easily carried out by the application of certain chemicals. The 'black money' is in fact normal A4 paper run through a photocopier and carefully cut to the correct size. The fraudsters will tell the victim that they have only a small quantity of the required chemicals and more will be needed if the whole amount is to be changed. The victim will, of course, be expected to fund this purchase. At this stage, when the victim thinks that at last they are about to recover the money already paid out and make a handsome profit, they willingly hand over further sums, especially when a sample note is miraculously changed into a real $100 note. This is easily accomplished. The fraudster uses sleight of hand to substitute the fake note selected by the victim with a real note, which has been previously coated in an iodine based substance which has the effect of dyeing the note black. The real note is washed in an alkaline chemical, which restores its normal appearance, and then given to the victim as a sample for him to spend. As it is genuine, it is of course accepted. The fraud can continue on from there in different ways, for example, the victim continues to fund the purchase of further supplies of chemicals when told that the first batch did not work properly.
Examples
Despite the apparent criminality of the 419 letters, people still do take up the offer made by the fraudsters. Could this happen to you? Here are some real example cases:
- A Bradford businessman had already transferred £30,000 for the payment of "solicitor's fees" in Nigeria when he had suspicions that he had been defrauded. He then sought advice on how to recover his money. The chances of this actually occurring are almost negligible.
- An American businessman instructed to come to the UK on the pretext of completing the final transfer of the money into his account, tragically committed suicide in a London hotel when he finally realised that he had been defrauded. It is believed the victim's losses amounted to more than $50,000.
- Two Asian women involved in a long-running advanced fee case have lost £25 million.
- A Norwegian woman brought to the UK to complete a deal contacted the authorities on arriving in the UK and before meeting with the fraudsters. Unfortunately, she had already sold her home and transferred the proceeds of £120,000 to an account in Nigeria.
- An independent financial advisor based in Scotland responded to a request from Nigeria and supplied the fraudsters with his bank account and other details. It was only after the exchange of further correspondence which led to a request for a sum of US dollars be sent that he became suspicious. The individual was worried that the Nigerians knew a lot about him, including his home address and telephone number. He was scared of the possibility of physical violence towards him once he advised the fraudsters that he was not prepared to proceed with the arrangement.
Recent developments
There is an increasing trend for advanced fee fraud correspondence to be received via fax messages and e-mail. This makes interception more difficult and long term, may well lead to an increase in the number of people being defrauded. Unsolicited messages coming from overseas with a web based e-mail address such as Hotmail, Yahoo! or Mail.com should be treated with suspicion, particularly if they offer the recipient a financial proposal.
Recently, UK businesses including solicitors have been targeted by e-mail with offers to represent West Africans who wish to invest in the UK. The e-mails are an interesting variation on the advanced fee letters as they consist of only six lines of text rather than the several pages that is normal with a letter.
Churches and charities have also been targeted. They are informed they have been left a considerable amount of money in the will of a recently deceased person. The letter goes on to say that the deceased person had attended that particular church on a visit to the UK or had an interest in the charity. If followed up by the recipient then the requests begin for the payment of certain fees and the organisation is sucked into the fraud.
The family of deceased relatives who may have lived and worked in Nigeria are contacted and falsely advised that they have been left an inheritance. In order to benefit from the inheritance they are invited to provide bank details and pay an advanced fee to cover the professional fees of lawyers and any tax liability.
The story given by the frausters may also vary according to topical events. There is a trend which is moving away from a blatant invitation to assist in removing funds stolen from African governments' contracts, and towards topics such as the removal of a father's estate, placed in jeapoardy by the actions of governments in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Zimbabwe for example.
The National Criminal Intelligence Service has a small multi-agency West African Organised Crime Section (WAOCS) with the objective of reducing the effects of crime originating from West Africa. Close co-operation with the police and other agencies in the UK and abroad has enabled a concerted effort to be directed at the fraudsters. Subsequent police operations have resulted in the arrest of a number of suspects, followed by many prosecutions.
If you are UK resident and have received an e-mail which originates from these fraudsters, please forward it via e-mail to your local police force. You should include the full message headers with any forwarded message. Fraudulent letters received in the post also may be sent to your local police. The National Criminal Intelligence Service no longer wishes to receive routine notifications of fraudulent e-mail letters.
If you do not wish to seek the advice of the police, do consider making enquiries with the Embassy or the High Commission of the country concerned, or seek the advice of a solicitor.
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