Pete, drop everything and get over here as fast as you can!
We can make our fortunes in Nigeria. The call was from my lawyer. I am a geologist specializing in the analysis of oil exploration results. So at the smell of this oil rag, I was in my car zooming across town at a high rate of knots. I burst into his office and without a word he tossed a letter across the desk.
FROM: Mr. Ben Ahore
Central Bank of Nigeria
Lagos, Nigeria
Dear Sir:
I have been requested by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company to contact you for assistance in resolving a matter. The Nigerian National Petroleum Company has recently concluded a large number of contracts for oil exploration in the sub-Sahara region. The contracts have immediately produced moneys equaling US$40,000,000.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company is desirous of oil exploration in other parts of the world; however, because of certain regulations of the Nigerian Government, it is unable to move these funds to another region.
Your assistance is requested as a non-Nigerian citizen to assist the Nigerian National Petroleum Company, and also the Central Bank of Nigeria, in moving these funds out of Nigeria. Etc., etc., etc.
The only thing not suggested is taking a Cash Advance to pay for a ticket to Nigeria.
The Great Nigerian Scam
“Let’s examine the letter,” I say.
“What for? Let’s phone for tickets to Nigeria! Where exactly is it?”
The letter is pretty standard. The Nigerian scammers are consistent.
- There is a sense of urgency
- Travel to Nigeria or some other country is required.
- Blank letterheads and your bank account numbers are requested.
- There are a variety of processing fees (read bribes) which must be paid.
- The transaction must be kept confidential.
- A Nigerian residing in the US or the UK will act as an intermediary to close the transaction.
- There is a connection to someone of Nigerian royalty, often the “the son of the President of Nigeria”
Why we need you to help us
The reasons for outside help vary from time to time.
- My father left me $40 million in his will, but I have to bribe government officials to get it out.
- The Nigerian National Petroleum Company has discovered oil, and we as officials of that company want an insider acquire the land, but we need a US front man to purchase it first for us.
- We just sold a bunch of crude oil in Nigeria, but we have to bribe the banker to get it out.
- The Nigerian government overpaid on some contract, and they need a front man to get it out of the country before the government discovers its error.
How the scam gets money
The Nigerians try to make you think that you are going to scam the Nigerian Government, the Central Bank of Nigeria, etc., when in fact they are going to scam you out of what they are going to charge you to get in the scam, or what portion of the scam you are going to pay to make it work.
What you should do
- Rip up letter into small pieces.
- File scraps in nearest waste bin.
- Smile, you have just avoided being scammed.
Usually, when I get the e-mails describing unclaimed money, or oil reserves, whatever, I delete it right away. Trust me, there isn’t likely to be any unclaimed funds floating around anywhere – except maybe in Washington DC. It’s a scam. You’re better off earning money the old fashioned way, by working for it.