Nigerian Spam » Consequences

Consequences

Some investors have hired private investigators in Nigeria or have personally travelled to Nigeria, without ever retrieving their money. One American was murdered in Nigeria while pursuing his lost money. In February 2003, a scam victim from the Czech Republic shot and killed an official at the Nigerian embassy.

Victims of 419 Advance Fee Fraud have little recourse. Since 1995, the United States Secret Service has been (somewhat) involved in combatting these schemes, however they will not investigate unless the monetary loss is in excess of 50,000 US Dollars. Very few arrests and prosecutions have been made due to the international aspect of this crime.

A better track record is held by the South African Police Services. Inspector Rian Visser has enlisted the help of scam baiters to identify and track down scammers that operate from South Africa and to inform the public about advance fee fraud. So far there have been in excess of 100 arrests made (February 2005).

Apparently, the scams, while usually performed by Nigerians, do not always originate in Nigeria. In 2004, 52 suspects were arrested in Amsterdam after an extensive raid. An Internet service provider had noticed the increased email traffic. However, out of these 52 none has been jailed or fined to date, due to lack of evidence. They were released in the week of July 12, 2004.

If you have been scammed, it is not advised that you attempt to retrieve your lost money, since the chances of any money being found, or returned, is extremely remote. Also, the inherent dangers of continued contact with these criminals are very great.

Recently, a new tier of scam-artists has arisen, those that target previous victims of 419 Advance Fee fraud by posing as Nigerian police, "Anti-Fraud Investigators" or "Fraud Recovery Experts".