THE TYPICAL NIGERIAN SCAM SCENARIOS

DEAD FOREIGNER.... A large sum of money has been left in an bank account by a visiting businessman in Nigeria, who tragically died in a car/plane wreck. Unfortunately, the lawyer/bank employee can find no heirs.... would you like a share in these funds by posing as the sole heir of the deceased's estate? Of course, some lawyer fees and estate taxes will need to be paid for first... but hurry, in a short time, the government will seize the funds and put them into their war fund!

OVER BILLED GOVERNMENT CONTRACT .... The National Petroleum Company (or another government agency) of Nigeria has been purposely and successfully over billed a large sum of money on a legitimate contract. Now all these fellows need is a helpful foreign company to make them dummy invoices so that the funds will be transferred. Wouldn't a minor investment to get some paperwork pushed through the Nigerian government bureaucracy be worth the millions of dollars that your share will bring... but hurry, the contract needs to be billed within a short period of time, or the payment will lapse!

ILL GOTTEN GAINS.... A large sum of money was left to the wife/son/daughter of a Nigerian Royal/Dictator/Opposition Party Member who has since been ousted/assassinated. Sadly, there is no way to safely get these funds out of the country without the help of an open-minded foreigner. Some minor out-pocket expenses will need to be paid, initially, of course, but imagine the rewards of having your share of the money... but hurry, the new government in power is trying to recover these funds!

FORTUNATE INVESTOR.... A wealthy (usually ex-royal, ex-government official) investor wants to invest in a large sum of money in a foreign country, but can't attend to the business personally. Wouldn't you care to do them the favor of overseeing the investment? Of course, some sort of formalities will need to be attended to first, after all, how can you be trusted with their millions without first having you meet them in Nigeria.... but hurry, this is a limited time offer, and the new government in power is closing in!

BELOW MARKET COMMODITIES....A fortunate Nigerian has gotten a large quantity of crude oil/gold/diamonds but cannot move them from their storage facility without the help of a foreigner investor. If you would only pay some "earnest money/fees/bribes" he will let you keep a very generous percentage of the commodities' market value once they have been sold.... but hurry, time is of the essence, the people in charge of storing it are getting suspicious!

LETTER OF CREDIT.... A Nigerian business places a relatively small (legitimate) order from your company, perhaps $1000 worth of goods. Shortly thereafter, another order is placed, for a slightly larger amount, again, paid in full. Suddenly, an urgent order and much larger is placed, but this one needs to be air freighted on the double! Your Nigerian partners have just received a lucrative government contract, and if this shipment arrives on time, it means many more large orders in the near future. Don't worry about waiting until the bank draft clears... after all, the order is from our friends in Nigeria, and they have always made good their payments before...

FAX O' DEATH.... I had never heard of this one, but the U.S. State Department's report on Nigerian Fraud (PDF file) has an actual reproduction (p.25) of one of these... Basically a wealthy executive gets a "pay or die" demand from a "professional assassinator organization"... hurry, if you don't pay, or if you tell anyone else, you will be killed by our observers! I'd laugh if it weren't so twisted...

THE HELPFUL POLICE OFFICIAL.... Another con that I learned from the U.S. State Department's report is the re-victimization scheme. If at any point, the victim decides to walk away from the deal, an individual posing as a government or police " task force official" will contact the victim and offer to "investigate" the scammers and attempt to recover the lost funds...of course, this sort of investigation requires the utmost privacy and discretion, and apparently that doesn't come cheap in Nigeria... but hurry, you have to start this investigation as soon as possible, or else "they" will get away! Ironically, more often than not, the same group of scammers is responsible for the "re-vic" con, and it has also been documented that con men often resell the "walk-aways" to other groups of con artists that specialize in the re-vic scam.