Nigeria to Battle Internet Scams That Taint Its Image

By Thomas Crampton
January 26, 2004




Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Nigerian finance minister who joined the cabinet of President Olusegun Obasanjo in May, said that a crackdown on the e-mail scam perpetrators must be a key part of reforms intended to build investor confidence in Nigeria.

Fed up with e-mail scams purportedly coming from Nigeria, the country's government will soon announce new plans to trap and prosecute cybercriminals.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Nigerian finance minister, said on Wednesday that she had led planning for a campaign against e-mail fraud that would enlist Nigerian law enforcement officials and include a global advertising campaign to warn potential victims.

As Nigeria's minister of finance, I am extremely angry at these people who conduct fraud by e-mail, Ngozi said in an interview at the World Economic Forum. We will no longer allow them to ruin our country's reputation.

Crackdown on Perpetrators

Ngozi, who joined the cabinet of President Olusegun Obasanjo in May, said that a crackdown on the e-mail scam perpetrators must be a key part of reforms intended to build investor confidence in Nigeria.
The schemes, known as advance fee fraud or 4-1-9 for the section of Nigeria's penal code that they contravene, promise e-mail recipients millions of dollars if they send in bank details and an advance payment.

Ngozi said she could not estimate the amount of money lost to such schemes, but she said she knew of cases of people losing as much as $100,000.

Bank Accounts Emptied

Once they get bank details, the amount lost goes well beyond the money originally requested, Ngozi said. They can empty entire bank accounts.
Ambassadors from Nigeria have been asked to raise the issue with governments around the world. In addition, Ngozi said, the police will be trained in combating cybercrime, a financial intelligence unit will be created, and legislation to curb money laundering will be pushed through Parliament within four months.

For all her anger at those behind the scheme, however, Ngozi said she had little sympathy for the victims. Those responding are driven by simple greed to join a criminal activity, Ngozi said. Most of the letters offer access to money supposedly stolen from the Nigerian government.

Lacking Common Sense


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