With the recession in full swing in Nigeria more Nigerians seem desperate to find solutions to the pinch in their pockets. So much so that the voice of reason has been drowned by the din created by the latest rave to hit the Nigerian scene – MMM Nigeria. MMM is a ‘social financial network’ founded in 1989 by three Russians, with Sergei Mavrodi at the forefront. The network promises returns of 30 per cent to investors who ‘help’ members of the network by parting with some level of funds. While this sounds very attractive (I mean, no bank is paying up to 30 per cent interest, is there?) I have an arsenal of reasons why you should avoid MMM like the Black Plague. So allow me load my metaphorical revolver:
Tag Archives: fraud
Top 5 Scams Attempted Everyday in Nigeria (pt.2)
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2> The Mega prize sms: Whenever you receive a text message it’s very hard to resist opening it. Curiosity gets the better of you most of the time. Now imagine a situation where the text message supposedly from a popular network … Continue reading
Top 5 Scams Attempted Everyday in Nigeria
Nigeria is a lovely place to live in; great climate, abundant natural resources, amazing landscapes and beaches, and a whole bunch of amusing people. Unfortunately among us are a faction whom have pledged to wreak havoc on the finances of the unsuspecting victim. You can’t be in Nigeria and ignore the scams I’m about to list in this article. They’re as relevant today as they were over 20 years ago (a colleague of mine today confirmed that his mum was a victim of scam No. 5) Continue reading
Entry #50 – From Con artists to Terrorists?
There’s something about the suffix ‘ist‘ that just really leaves a bad taste in my mouth – words like Racist, Facist, Schauvinist, etc. But just as my country is desperately trying to bleach out the stubborn stain of corruption from its reputation some Nigerian decides to give America a reason to tag us ‘terrorists’.
First of all, the American government’s decision gives me cause to tag them ‘extremists’. But that aside history has shown that Nigeria and its indigines have shown more interest in making money. Subdivide that and then you have those who choose to make money legally and those who want to make (quick) money illegally. This second group are commonly known as fraudsters or con artists. In recent times they have been taking advantage of the technological age and all those who’ve been less fortunate to grasp it in its ever increasing pace. In Nigeria we have just as many victims as there are perpetrators of online fraud alone. Setting one’s pants/trousers on fire to detinate an explosive substance doesn’t quite appeal to the average Nigerian – I mean, what exactly is the pay off?
If I’m to be really objective about how possible it is for Nigerians to be branded ‘terrorists’ then I’d say that in the northern region of Nigeria there have been some acts of terror so to speak. Extremist muslims, or to put it mildly, religious fanatics who’ve taken their belief too far and decided to impose it on the rest of us – refusal to which you could (but not necessarily) expect a Jihad a.k.a certain death to the unbelievers…the sinners…the obstacles that separate them from their eternal paradise. Be it as it may the fact remains that these religious wars take place within Nigeria and may well take place anywhere else in the world. Perhaps all it takes is just one terrorist act committed by a non-citizen of a country and then that citizen’s country gets to be labelled a Terrorist. I didn’t come across that in anywhere in the American constitution or in any constitiution for that matter!
Probably the mere presence of the word ‘Terrorist‘ in this article and the recurrence of the word over 10times (and remember, straight from a computer located in Nigeria) is sending the American Intelligence into a frenzy. All I need to do now is google for cheap flight tickets to Yemen and I bet the CIA will be on red alert. Don’t forget my blog title, Nigerian Interrupted, is not helping matters either!
In ‘other news’, I want to make reference to one of the biggest con artists in Nigeria to have been exposed by the EFCC (Economic and Financial Crimes Commission – a Nigerian Govt organization). She is the former MD of Oceanic Bank, Cecilia Ibru, who embezzled bank funds and acquired…wait for it…N399bn worth of assets all around the world (www.thisdayonline.com). She has property, estates and shares mostly in fictitious company names and also in some of her relative’s names. Nigerian con artists have been in the game for as long as I can remember. I personally doubt that we’ll see another Nigerian terrorist plane bomber anytime in the next decade.
…And one final point: if anyone wants to point the dreaded finger of blame at the muslim community, the American Airline, or the radicals in Yemen, then think hard about what role the parents played (or avoided) in nuturing Mullatab (talk about a Nigerian interrupted indeed) and monitoring his behaviour. I blame the parents, period.
Phishing: A seductive approach by fraudsters, **beware!**
Below is a copy of the email I received from someone I’ve never had contact with before but who obviously stumbled across my profile. This seemingly random act is known as Phishing and it is used by fraudsters to try tricking you into disclosing more info about yourself. Please take note below and do not fall victim… even if they send you beautiful photos!!! I’ll put comments in brackets to guide you through.
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Hello Dearest Heart (Obviously doesn’t know my name!)
I thank you very much for honoring my invitation,like i told you before age or distant can’t deny any good love,i hope that this my mail find you in good health dearest heart.
my name is miss Nina Jonson dabah from Liberia,i live my country because of the evil men that killed my father when he was about to have a dinner with his colleagues in abroad and he travel with some of his friends to a conference meeting
in united Kindom Belfast London;and they thought that the man will loose everything about his carear since that I’m the only daughter and also the only child in my family,my mum died in Spain when she was battling a sickness called heart failure
in the year 2005,while my late father died, he only gave my mother a year before he gave up the ghost,please dearest heart let this my life history touch your heart,that was how i became an orphan
in my life,i loose my parents and everything about my family is now a thing of the past,my late father was a good business man who has many investment in my country home Liberia,but I’m still a little girl who is about 22 years old now,
the enemies that killed my father is after my life and i rum away from my country to a near by country here called Senegal where I’m now as a refuge, (cue the violins, a tear falls down my cheek, oh so sad!)
i need a gentle man who can be sincere to me who will love me and be truthful to me,that was the reason why i came acrose to your profile and i was very much move by what i found in your profile,
and all my heart told me that you are a god fearing someone who can stand for the truth to show me a real love, (and I guess I’m that someone right?)
dearest heart i have a lot to tell you because what i found in you make me to be very much interested in you,i have all my father documents here with me,also his account in abroad,which is in London bank,i have all the documents that proof all this that I’m telling you now honey,
Please i have not told anyone except you and the Reverend about the existence of this and i will like you to please keep it secret to other people because since it is MONEY all eyes will be on it. Remember i trust you dearest heart that is why i am giving you all this information!
my love is for you and you alone. (Biatch, what’s love got to do with it?)
Now I have informed the bank about my plans to claim this money and the only thing they told me is to look for a foreign partner who will stand on my behalf due to my refugee status and the laws of this country.You will have 20% of the total money for helping me and the remaining money will be managed by you in any business of your choice while i go back to my studies (You don see mugun abi?). In this regards i will like you to contact the bank immediately with
the information i will give to you soon after you get back to me ,tell them that you are my foreign partner and that you want to know the possibilities of assisting me transfer my $9.7 million dollars deposited by my late father which i am the next of kin to your account in your country.(L & G, here’s the bait which is all mouth-wateringly delicious…to scrumptuous for the desperate and greedy to resist)
Then all i need now is your full contact information,such as number,country of origin and also your bank information if there is any. Am glad that God has brought you to see me out from this situation and i promise to be kind and will equally need you in every area of my life including investing this money since i am still too young to manage it.i am just 22yrs (This is the catch, well if you take the bait at this point you become ‘hooked’)
As i told you before,this camp is just like a prison and my prayers is to move out from here as soon as possible. Please make sure that you will help so that after the transfer of the money to your account, you can send some money from that money for me to prepare my traveling documents to meet with you in your country.I will send some more pictures latter when i know your mind about this. (This is more like putting the finishing touches to your work of art)
Also help me to pray and thank Father Reverend Daniel Jonathan whom i have been useing his computer to write this message to you since the other day, i will be sending to you his office telephone number on my next email so that you can call to speak with me because i really want to hear your voice. Dearest heart i am in love with you please be a gentle man and also a trustworthy person that can show me real love,take good care of yourself for me, i miss you
Yours belove one Nina (Wow! That was quite a show, very entertaining…really had me going, lol)
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..xTx..