Nigerian Scammers: How They Do It and What’s Stopping Them

By Claire Montgomery

In Lagos, Nigeria each day scammers head to the local cafe, sit down at their computers, and send thousands of emails congratulating the recipients of their lucky win of large sums of money in some online foreign lottery.[1] But this is not just one man’s job, there is an entire community that do this together each and everyday bonding over their successes and losses.[2]

The act of scamming can be defined as the “dishonest plan for making money or getting an advantage, especially one that involves tricking people.”[3] Scamming is not new, this act has been around for thousands of years, since 300 B.C. to be exact.[4] Perhaps one of the worst countries, or best if looking through the eyes of the beholder, is Nigeria.[5] In 2020, Nigeria accounted for 1,129 reported cases of scamming.[6] This resulted in a total loss of $16.8 million for the victims, or an average of $14,892 per each individual victim.[7]

 These fraudulent money scams are not new in Nigeria, in fact, they have been around since the 1970’s and each year there are up to tens of thousands of victims.[8] However, while technology advances, the fraudsters develop new schemes and new ways to defraud victims – This results in people remaining uninformed and especially vulnerable to these new sophisticated ways of attack.[9]

There are an abundance of ways these scams take place. One of the most common ways “involves someone allegedly in Nigeria who is in some sort of trouble, ranging from detention to extortion or hospitalization.  Inevitably, the sender is making an appeal for money.”[10] The victims are chosen using social media, finding their personal login information, changing their profile to make them appear as though they are in trouble, and then contacting their friends and family from there.[11]

Another type of scam in Nigeria is the adoption scam. Scammers pretend to be indigent parents seeking to find a good home for their children, the scammers then seek payment.[12] Even for those that are smart enough to recognize the scam and cut off the communication, it does not stop there.[13] The scammers will then send what looks to be an email or communication from the police investigating the scam and seeking to recover the victim’s lost money.[14] The scammers then ask for a refundable retainer type fee and are victim’s once again.[15]

Nigerian Scammers. Image courtesy of Renegade Expressions.

One last type of scam, although there are many others, is the advance-fee type scam. This scam begins with scammers pretending to be Nigerian officials, businessmen, or the surviving partners of government honchos.[16] These people in their respective roles offer to transfer millions of dollars to the inevitable victims in exchange for just a small price.[17] After that, the victims are sent official documents and in return send blank letterhead, bank account numbers, and a small amount of money to cover the transaction’s costs.[18] In addition, to add legitimacy, the scammers also recommend travelling to Nigeria to complete the transaction and even go so far as to print fake money.[19] Inevitably, the scammers vanish with the victim’s money.[20]

Nigeria’s Criminal Code contains an explicit provision for these scams, Section 419.[21] Section 419 outlaws obtaining any goods by false pretenses, or fraud.[22] Specifically, the act states “[a]ny person who by any false pretence, and with intent to defraud, obtains from any other person anything capable of being stolen, or induces any other person to deliver to any person anything capable of being stolen, is guilty of a felony, and is liable to imprisonment for three years.”[23] In fact, many of the scams outlined above are known as “419 scams” named after the provision that makes them unconstitutional.[24]

Following the corruption and military rule that was in place prior to 1999, and the rising unemployment rates of college graduates, scamming became an ever-appealing career choice.[25] Nuhu Ribadu, the head of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in Nigeria stated during this time “[Nigeria] reached a point when law enforcement and regulatory agencies seemed nonexistent.”[26] While progress has been made, including spam filters and other technological advancements, the scams are still taking place.[27]

Nigeria has failed to utilize the law to its fullest extent, hence the reason why the crime itself has taken over its name.[28] There are many reasons why scamming is hard to combat, but, Nigeria has a unique outlook on the situation. Surprisingly, Nigerian government officials are not even sympathetic to the victims of these scams.[29] It is against Nigerian law to remove funds from Nigeria in the way it is done in these scams.[30] The victim believes, although incorrectly, that there is real money headed to their bank account, and the victim sends money to Nigeria.[31] These types of money transfers are contrary to Nigerian law and so, Nigerian law actually does not provide compensation or recourse for the victims.[32]

Aside from the obvious issue that the laws should not be read this way to preclude recovery, there is still more the Nigerian government should be doing to crack down and prevent the thousands of cases of fraud each year. The Nigerian government should oversee these operations more, especially when there are entire communities headed to the same internet cafes every day, it seems practical that this could be stopped by putting feed on the ground locally. In addition, efforts to lower the unemployment rate for college graduates would decrease the attractiveness of scamming as a career path. Scamming is something that has almost always been around and will continue to be – As technology advances and the schemes get more complex, regulations and prevention methods should too.

[1] Nigeria Cracks Down on E-Scams, but Scammers Keep on Coming, The Gainesville Sun (Aug. 7, 2005), https://www.gainesville.com/story/news/2005/08/07/nigeria-cracks-down-on-e-scams-but-scammers-keep-on-coming/31700345007/.

[2] Id.

[3] Scam, Cambridge Dictionary, https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/scam# (last visited Feb. 3, 2024).

[4] Brittani Johnson, The Evolution of Scams: A Brief History, Iris (Apr. 27, 2023), https://www.irisidentityprotection.com/blog/the-evolution-of-scams.

[5] Nigeria Ranks Second On Countries With Romance Scam with 1,129 Reports, $16.8 Million Fraud, Sahara Reporters (Sep. 7, 2021), https://saharareporters.com/2021/09/07/nigeria-ranks-second-countries-romance-scam-1129-reports-168million-fraud.

[6] Id.

[7] Id.

[8] Nigerian Fraud Scams, Georgia’s Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division, https://consumer.georgia.gov/consumer-topics/nigerian-fraud-scams#:~:text=These%20Nigerian%20fraud%20scams%20have,hundred%20of%20millions%20of%20dollars (last visited Feb. 4, 2024).

[9] Victoria Ticha, Cracking the Code: Why People Fall for Scams, UNSW (Sep. 20, 2023), https://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/business-law/cracking-code-why-people-fall-scams#:~:text=A%20lack%20of%20awareness%20regarding,to%20scams%20by%20staying%20uninformed.

[10] U.S. Mission Nigeria, Internet Financial Scams, U.S. Embassy (Jan. 27, 2018), https://ng.usembassy.gov/scams/.

[11] Id.

[12] Id.

[13] Id.

[14] Id.

[15] Id.

[16] Florida Attorney General’s Office, How to Protect Yourself: Nigerian 419,  https://www.myfloridalegal.com/consumer-protection/how-to-protect-yourself-nigerian-419#:~:text=Claiming%20to%20be%20Nigerian%20officials,receive%20“official%20looking”%20documents (last visited Feb. 4, 2024).

[17] Id.

[18] Id.

[19] Id.

[20] Id.

[21] 419 Fraud Explained by a Criminal Defense Lawyer in NY, Bukh Law Firm, https://nyccriminallawyer.com/fraud-charge/cross-border-fraud/419-fraud/ (last visited Feb. 3, 2024).

[22] Id.

[23] Id.

[24] Nigerian Money Transfer Scams, NC DOJ, https://ncdoj.gov/protecting-consumers/sweepstakes-and-prizes/nigerian-money-transfer-scams/ (last visited Feb. 4, 2024).

[25] Nigeria Cracks Down on E-Scams, but Scammers Keep on Coming, supra note 1.

[26] Id.

[27] Id.

[28] Toyin Falola, 4-1-9!, Premium Times (Apr. 18, 2023), https://www.premiumtimesng.com/opinion/593993-4-1-9-by-toyin-falola.html.

[29] Diganth Raj Sehgal, The Nigerian ‘419’ Scam: An Economic Crime, Pleaders (May 17, 2019), https://blog.ipleaders.in/nigerian-419-scam-economic-crime/.

[30] Id.

[31] Id.

[32] Id.