Millions of Limpopo or Nigerian letters. Nigerian Letters Nigerian Chain Letters

24.10.2022

gg. In 2005, Nigerian spammers were awarded the Anti-Nobel Prize in Literature.

As a rule, scammers ask the recipient of the letter for help in multi-million dollar transactions, promising solid interest on the amounts. If the recipient agrees to participate, large sums of money are gradually lured away from him, allegedly for processing transactions, paying fees, bribes to officials, and then fines.

Description of the scam

The plots of fraud are quite diverse.

Most often, letters are sent on behalf of a former king, president, high-ranking official or millionaire asking for help in banking transactions related to transferring money from Nigeria or another country abroad, receiving an inheritance, etc., allegedly heavily taxed or difficult to cause of persecution in their home country. Nigerian letters were sent, in particular, on behalf of Khodorkovsky's personal secretary.

Another common option is letters, allegedly from a bank employee or from an official who learned about the recent death of a very rich person “with the same last name” as the recipient of the letter, with an offer to assist in obtaining money from this person’s bank account.

The letters are usually about millions of dollars, and the recipient is promised a considerable percentage of the amounts - sometimes up to 40%. The fraud is professionally organized: the fraudsters have offices, a working fax machine, their own websites, often the fraudsters are associated with government organizations, and the attempt of the recipient of the letter to conduct an independent investigation does not reveal contradictions in the legend.

If the recipient of the letter responds to the scammers, several documents are sent to him. In this case, genuine seals and letterheads of large firms and government organizations are used. Often real Nigerian government or banking officials were involved in the scams. Then the victim is asked for money to collect, gradually increasing the amount of fees for cashing out, or for bribes to officials, or they may, for example, be required to deposit 100 thousand dollars in a Nigerian bank, justifying on behalf of bank employees that otherwise the transfer of money is prohibited. In some variants, the victim is offered to go semi-legally to Nigeria, ostensibly for a secret meeting with a high-ranking official (without a visa), where he is kidnapped or arrested for illegally entering the country and money is extorted from him for release. In the worst cases, he may even be brutally killed.

Often, in the course of extortion, scammers use psychological pressure, assuring that the Nigerian side, in order to pay the fees, sold all its property, mortgaged the house, etc.

Of course, in any case, the victim does not receive the promised money: they simply do not exist.

Although the mechanism of fraud has been explained in detail in the media for many years, the mass distribution leads to the fact that more and more victims are found who give large sums of money to fraudsters.

A significant role in the distribution of Nigerian letters was played by young students or graduates of Nigerian universities who did not find proper work. Later, the genre spread to other countries.

Recently, the police of many countries and the Nigerian authorities began to take tough measures to investigate and suppress the distribution of Nigerian letters, but the mailings did not stop.

Relatively recently, Russian analogues of the “Nigerian letters” have also appeared, in which the correspondence is conducted on behalf of a non-existent “Russian businessman”, who allegedly needs the addressee’s help in transferring his huge fortune from Russia to another country (of course, for a generous reward).

Some options

A letter allegedly from the daughter of a politician killed by rebels, who is allegedly in a refugee camp and asks for help to get her out of there, which again requires banking operations.

A letter about a vacancy abroad, but before leaving, you must pay for a residence and work permit.

A victim selling an expensive item (for example, from an online auction) is offered such a deal under some pretext: the buyer sends a check for an amount exceeding the value of the item, and then the seller returns the difference. In another variant, the amount on the receipt is “accidentally” greater than the cost of the goods. The seller sends the item, returns the difference in money, and then the check turns out to be fake. Most banks, in the case of a fake check, cancel the transfer of money and take it back.

The victim is offered to donate money to a defunct church or charity in West Africa. Although no benefit is promised to the victim in this case, the same people who send the Nigerian letters are involved in this scam.

On dating sites, a letter comes allegedly from an African girl (or a young man, depending on the gender of the victim), who appears to be the crown princess of a small country or the heiress of a large fortune. She is allegedly in a refugee camp in Somalia, as there was a coup in her homeland. The girl offers the victim to marry and inherit a large fortune - and for this she needs money to return to her homeland, where the political situation has stabilized.

The victim is offered to take a decent loan for the business, without requiring any collateral or start-up fee. All that is required is just to pay the bank's costs for obtaining a loan, to cover bank commissions, as well as funds to pay for the costs of preparing project documentation and for examinations a fixed amount. Known Facts USD 60,000 or EUR 80,000.

Sample letter

An example of a Nigerian letter purporting to be from the wife of former Zaire dictator Mobutu (with abbreviations):

dear friend,
I am Mrs. Sese-seko widow of late President Mobutu Sese-seko of Zaire, now known as Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). I am moved to write you this letter. This was in confidence considering my present circumstance and situation. I escaped along with my husband and two of our sons Alfred and Basher out of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to Abidjan, Cote d'ivoire where my family and I settled, while we later moved to settled in Morroco where my husband later died of cancer disease.
I have deposited the sum Eighteen Million United State Dollars (US$18,000,000.00.) With a security company for safe keeping. What I want you to do is to indicate your interest that you can assist us in receiving the money on our behalf, so that I can introduce you to my son (Alfred) who has the out modalities for the claim of the said funds. I want you to assist in investing this money, but I will not want my identity revealed. I will also want to acquire real/landed properties and stock in multi-national companies and to engage in other safe and non-speculative investments as advise by your good self.
yours sincerely,
Mrs. Mariam M. Seseseko.

The classic Nigerian scheme is as follows. First, scammers carry out routine work to find a client. Have you received any letters from the Nigerian royal house? Maybe you'll get it soon. After all, hundreds of thousands of such letters are sent by mail and over the Internet. They describe heartbreaking stories of how members of the royal family, concerned about the allocation of their capital, are looking for honest partners to use their accounts to transfer money abroad.

The same book describes what excessive trust in the authors of the "Nigerian letters" can lead to.

One of the most exciting Nigerian letters with a Russia-related plot is this:

My name is Bakare Tunde and I am the brother of the first Nigerian astronaut, Nigerian Air Force Major Abaka Tunde. My brother became the first African cosmonaut to go on a secret mission to the Soviet Salyut-6 station back in 1979. Later, he took part in the flight of the Soviet Soyuz T-16Z to the secret Soviet space station Salyut-8T. In 1990, when the USSR fell, he was at the station. All Russian crew members managed to return to land, but my brother did not have enough space in the ship. From then until today, it has been forced to stay in orbit, and only rare Progress cargo ships supply it with what it needs. Despite everything, my brother does not lose his presence of mind, but he longs to return home to his native Nigeria. During the long years that he spent in space, his gradually accumulating salary amounted to 15,000,000 US dollars. At the moment, this amount is stored in a bank in Lagos. If we manage to get access to the money, we will be able to pay the required amount to Roskosmos and organize a flight to Earth for my brother. The amount requested by Roscosmos is 3,000,000 US dollars. However, in order to receive the amount, we need your help, as we, as Nigerian civil servants, are prohibited from all transactions with foreign accounts. Yours forever, Dr. Bakare Tunde, Leading Astronautical Specialist.

Humor

Notes

"Nigerian Letters"

"Nigerian Letters"- view fraud , which received the greatest development with the advent of mass mailings viae-mail(spam) . ABOUT special distribution the kind of scam got in Nigeria , moreover e m still e before advent of the internet when such letters were distributed by regular mail. In addition to Nigeria, such letters come to addressees from other African countries (Angola, Benin, Gabon, Gambia, Liberia, Somalia, Togo, South Africa, etc.). In Belarus "Nigerian letters» appeared in the early 2000s gg .

WITH scheme of criminal activity using "Nigerian letters" is as follows . At the first stage V On the Internet, hundreds of thousands of e-mails with various proposals for cooperation are distributed over the network. Of course, most of those who receive such letters delete them. But there always remains a small percentage of gullible citizens who are ready to earn some money.

Right at the moment when scammers receive from the addressee a response letter with questions about what and how to do, in case enter no longer just poor English-speaking Africans, but high quality scammers . They then enter into a dialogue with addressee, trying to get from him all the necessary data: information about accounts, personal numbers, passwords, etc.

Such correspondence can last for months until destination not "ripe" to send money abroad. As a rule, the account to which you want to transfer certain amount, located in European banks, That's why the situation may not cause any fears among the victims.

After the first transfer of money the correspondence may continue (if the “client” is ready to pay more), or it may end abruptly. The account to which the money was transferred is immediately closed.

Despite the existence of schemes with "Nigerian letters" , fraud continues to flourish, including among Belarusian Internet users.

Many respond to "Nigerian» letters just out of curiosity. This is not recommended because athe address from which at least some answer came, spammers-scammers immediately include in my base and can sell to "colleagues". At least spam will come much more. As much as possible, except for a harmless letter- spam, they can send a dangerous virus in order to take over personal data, with the help of which it will not be difficult for criminals to gain access toAnkowski m accounts orconfidential information. This is especially true for people who shop online.

Currently, the most common are the following "scenarios" of fraudulent schemes using "Nigerian letters".

1. To the addressee a letter is sent supposedly on behalf of the lawyer of a distant relative of the victim. It is reported that a relative died in a car or plane crash, and the victim is entitled to a substantial inheritance. To transfer the inheritance, scammers require you to provide information about your borrowed from a bank account.

2. To the addressee reported winning the lottery. The recipient of the letter must pay to receive their winnings. Usually,are asked to pay tax on the winnings, which, according to Nigerian laws, is paid in advance.

3. A letter allegedly from the daughter of a politician killed by rebels, who is allegedly in a refugee camp and asks for help to get her out of there, for which it is necessary to make certain Bank operations.

4. A letter about a vacancy abroad, but before leaving, you must pay for a residence and work permit.

5. To the addressee selling an expensive item (for example, from an online auction),under some pretext, such a deal is proposed: the buyer sends a check for an amount exceeding the cost of the thing, and then the seller returns the difference.

6. To the addressee offer to donate money to a defunct church or charity in West Africa.

7. P offer to give puppies in good hands or kittens of elite breeds, for the transfer of which to the country of destination it is necessary to pay.

8. On dating sites, a letter comes allegedly from an African girl (or a young man, depending on the gender of the victim), who appears to be the crown princess of a small country or the heiress of a large fortune. She is allegedly in a refugee camp in Somalia, as there was a coup in her homeland. The girl offers the victim to marry and inherit a large fortune- and for this she needs money to return to her homeland, where the political situation has stabilized.

9. To the addressee offered to take out a loan for doing business without requiring any deposit or entry fee. All it takes- only pay the bank's costs for obtaining a loan, to cover bank commissions, as well as funds to pay for the costs of preparing project documentation and for examinations a fixed amount.

10. A certain rich man is turning or his chargé d'affaires who wants to purchase paintings from the destination artist to decorate their home.

Summarizing all of the above, the following are the most common signs of fraud using "Nigerian" letters:

1. The letter contains astronomical sums of money.

2. Personal information is required from you: full name, address, phone number, etc.

3. The sender's address and the return address (the one where your reply letter will go) usually do not match. The sender address may be the real address of a respected organization, and the return address is registered on a public free mail server.

4. There is no mention in the letter itself that you have to pay for something. You are only offered huge sums of money. In extreme cases, we are talking about small amounts for a transfer or bank services.

5. As a rule, you are asked to maintain confidentiality and not disclose the contents of the letter to anyone.

6. Writing in English or very broken Russian language.

The presence of these signs will indicate that the letter you received is a fraudulent scheme. To protect yourself, we can recommend the following:

1. Do not send personal information or copies of any documents and bank account numbers at the request of organizations that you have not contacted.

2. If you participate in Internet forums, create a separate mailbox for this with a separate password.

3. Enjoy programs And - filters And , which filter the mail entering the mailbox and, upon receiving "Nigerian letters", recommend that the user delete such letters.

In addition, we should dwell separately on the use of the concept of "Nigerian letters" for the purpose of illegal migration to the territory of a foreign state. H Igerian citizens often use contacts with Belarusian business partners as schemes for illegal migration to the Republic of Belarus or neighboring countries. To do this, commercial offers or proposals for cooperation are sent, which for the most part promise considerable benefits to Belarusian companies in the event that their products are sold to Nigeria, and a request is made for the need for employees of a Nigerian company to visit the Republic of Belarus in order to get acquainted with the production process or sign contracts for supply of goods. As a rule, a Belarusian company that has received such an offer shows interest in it and applies to the Embassy of the Republic of Belarus in Nigeria with a request to check the existence of this Nigerian company and, if it exists, to issue an entry business visa to visit the Republic of Belarus.

Difficulty indicated oh schemes thing is In most cases the wrongful intentions of such Nigerian false businessmen are visible only upon their arrival on the territory of the Republic of Belarus and often after their disappearance from the field of view of the Belarusian partner. Prior to arrival in the Republic of Belarus, these persons provide to the Embassy all necessary information about their companies that is legally correct and in accordance with Nigerian law.

In order to prevent Nigerian citizens from using illegal migration schemes, we propose business entities of the Republic of Belarus at the initial stage of cooperation, conclude contracts with Nigerian business partners for the supply of a trial batch of products using the Internet and postal services and only if paid in advance.

According to the Embassy, issuing invitations to Nigerian business partners to obtain entry visas to the Republic of Belarus is possible only if there is successful bilateral cooperation with the relevant Belarusian companies and subject to the expediency of the personal presence of Nigerian partners in the Republic of Belarus.

Not so long ago, companies and private clients began to receive letters from distant Nigeria, in which a certain high-ranking official of this country offers to become a commercial partner of the national oil corporation and receive commissions for this. Usually 99% of people laugh at such proposals, sending them to the trash, but there will always be someone who decides to check what's the matter.

After all, all you need to do is provide a bank account number, suddenly some money will get there. It is this one percent that is the clientele of the Nigerian crime syndicate, which has been spinning a major criminal scam around the world for decades. This scam has been dubbed "Scheme 419" after the article number of the Nigerian Penal Code.

After the client gets in touch with the senders, a flurry of activity begins in preparation for sending money to his account. This is evidenced by numerous faxes from Africa with a bunch of state seals. And now, when the money is almost received, it turns out that it is necessary to pay tax for transferring funds abroad.

The amount of tax is quite small compared to the expected sum, so entrepreneurs usually don't hesitate to transfer some 10 thousand dollars to Nigeria. Further - more, now you have to pay a bank commission in the amount of 20 thousand. It becomes clear to many that they are hooked, but they cannot stop, because the desired goal is close.

This is followed by fees, account opening fees, bribes, state fees, etc. The businessman will pay and pay until he realizes his cruel mistake or until the funds run out. The worst option would be to go personally to Africa to find out everything on the spot. After all, defeat in the game on a foreign field is guaranteed. The businessman will be welcomed with open arms and will have meetings with high-ranking "officials". Only there is only one goal - to receive money from a foreigner, there are even cases of murders in Nigeria related to the "Scheme 419".

This type of fraud itself originated in the mid-80s. The fact is that Nigeria has not only the largest population on the mainland, but also significant reserves of oil and gas. However, after gaining independence in the 60s, the country cannot realize its potential and gain political stability. This led to the emergence and spread of organized crime, implementing their schemes. And the collapse in oil prices in the 80s led to the release of a group of educated and highly paid specialists, who formed the backbone of Scheme 419.

Today, the scale of the crime syndicate's activities is amazing, and with the advent of the Internet, they have increased even more. Letters from Nigeria are now distributed around the world by the millions. Although such a scheme will seem ridiculous to many, only in the United States, according to police estimates, about one hundred million dollars are harvested annually by fraudsters, while there is a clear upward trend. Today, Russians are among the recipients, on a global scale, the bill goes to hundreds of millions a year.

The calculation of criminals is simple - greed drowns out the voice of reason. Some experts even estimate that Scheme 419 is the third largest item in Nigeria's economy. Here is one example. An accountant at a small law firm, Ann Poet, received a letter from Dr. Mbuso Nelson, who represented the mining industry in South Africa.

Over the course of eight months in 2002, Ann transferred a total of $2.1 million to accounts in South Africa, expecting to receive $4.5 million of her commissions. Of course, she did not receive any money, but she will most likely receive a prison term. The law firm is unsuccessfully trying to get their funds back, arguing that their accountant had no right to transfer money.

There are several hundreds, if not thousands, of such letters. Some of them can be considered real literary masterpieces, as tears well up when reading them. These are letters from the unfortunate general's widow, who needs your help to withdraw money, and a letter about winning a large amount of money in the lottery. A fresh version of the scam on this topic was called "Black Money".

In this case, millions of dollars in cash were taken from Nigeria to the United States, and for safety they were subjected to a chemical treatment, due to which the bills turned completely black. The client is offered to buy an expensive reagent to return the money to a normal look, and for persuasiveness, it is demonstrated how the last 2-3 remaining drops of the magic liquid make a full-fledged hundred-dollar bill out of black paper. Needless to say, that a gullible client will end up with a bunch of obscure papers and an unknown liquid?

For US law enforcement agencies, Nigerian organized crime has become a real headache. In America, in general, there is a rather large Nigerian diaspora, numbering about 100 thousand people, it is not surprising that these people use a variety of schemes, and not just send out attractive letters. Thus, intellectual fraud associated with credit cards, bank accounts, etc. is often used.

In 2002, Philip Cummings, an employee of a telecommunications company, was charged with selling customer data (names, account numbers, credit history, etc.) to criminals for $60 per set. As a result, on behalf of the client, the bank received a letter about the change of address, a new credit card, checkbook was issued to a new fake address, a credit line was opened. The number of victims was more than 30 thousand, and the total amount of damage reached almost 3 million.

In the United States, there is even a special state program to combat Nigerian crime, within which the work of various services and bodies is coordinated. So far, there has not been much success, only those who work directly in the United States can be detained. More often than not, criminals operate directly in Nigeria, and the Americans have not established ties with the justice of this country.

The authorities of the African country even issued special press releases stating that the state does not bear any responsibility for the activities of fraudsters. As a result, Nigeria ended up on a kind of "black list" as a state that does not properly fight financial crime.

However, not everything is so sad in the fight against fraudsters, a breakthrough was made in 2002 by law enforcement agencies of South Africa, who arrested several people at once from Nigeria, Cameroon and South Africa, who are suspected of committing this kind of fraud. Some of them have already been convicted and are serving impressive prison terms. During the arrest, the swindlers were found with disks with lists of addresses of firms in the US and England, samples of Nigerian letters, as well as several dozen phones and SIM cards for them.

It is not known for certain whether Scheme 419 has a single think tank, or whether it is a folk craft. It is said that in any Internet cafe in West Africa there are a few people who are industrious in sending out tempting offers. The secret services fail to infiltrate these criminal schemes, because they are often built on tribal relations, where outsiders are simply not allowed.

Nigerian chain letters is a common scam that was fueled by the spread of e-mail and its accompanying spam. Nigerian letters got their name due to the country in which this type of fraud has become most popular.

The heyday of mailing Nigerian letters occurred in the mid-80s of the last century, even before the advent of the World Wide Web in Nigeria, when such letters of “happiness” reached the addressee thanks to the regular postal service. In addition, “happiness” letters are also sent from other countries of the African continent, as well as from cities with a large Nigerian diaspora, such as, for example, Amsterdam, London, Dubai, Madrid. The prevalence of Nigerian letters is evidenced by the fact that in 2005 spammers from Nigeria were awarded the so-called "Ig Nobel" Prize for Literature, which is the opposite of the Nobel Prize.

The total amount of "earned" money Nigerian spammers from letters of "happiness" on all continents amounted to approximately 10 billion dollars. US citizens gave half of this amount to scammers. And Australians, for example, enrich spammers by 36 million dollars annually. Even a businessman from Belarus in 2007 fell for the bait of crooks and "shared" 200 thousand dollars with them.

What does it represent nigerian happiness letter? Usually this is a letter in which crooks ask for help in large financial transactions, promising a considerable share of the amount in case of a successful resolution of the problem situation. If the addressee agrees to participate in this case, little by little large sums of money are pulled out of him, supposedly for paying fees, processing transactions, all kinds of fines and other unexpected needs.

Variety of plots Nigerian letters even seasoned science fiction writers will envy. The scammers' favorite lucky letter hero is some former president, a disgraced king, an important official, or a runaway millionaire. He simply desperately needs your help in obtaining an inheritance, transferring money from Nigeria abroad, or in other financial matters that are allegedly heavily taxed or difficult due to the persecution that he is subjected to in his homeland.

There have been cases where Nigerian chain letters were sent to Russian-speaking victims, allegedly on behalf of Mikhail Khodorkovsky's secretary. In his letters, he asked to help his boss in opening accounts to which he wanted to transfer billions of dollars hidden from the investigation in Swiss banks. And for helping people promised good fees.

Another popular option nigerian chain letter- a message from an official or bank employee who learned about the death of a wealthy person with the same last name as the addressee. In the letter, the sender offers his assistance in obtaining a tidy sum from the bank account of this namesake.

A criminal scheme to rip off gullible people through Nigerian chain letters very simple. First, hundreds of thousands of e-mails are sent to Internet addresses with various tempting and compassionate texts inside. The majority of those who receive such mailings delete them without reading them. However, there is always a small percentage of people who are tempted by "free" money.

The amounts scammers refer to in Nigerian chain letters, rather big: from several thousand dollars and above. At the same time, the recipient of the “happy” letter is provided with a unique case: if the case works out, he is entitled to a solid jackpot - sometimes up to 40% of the amount of money. A tempting offer, isn't it? Fish easily fall for such a tasty bait. In addition, the vigilance of the addressee is blunted due to the professional organization of the fraudulent operation: the crooks have their own front organizations with websites, offices, telephones and faxes, lawyers, secretaries and accountants. Often, a gang of scammers consists of real banking or government officials in Nigeria. Therefore, when the recipient of the Nigerian letter of happiness, in order to finally ascertain the veracity of the message, begins his own investigation, then in the end he does not find any contradictions in the legend sent to him.

If the intended victim gives the scammers an answer, they are sent a couple of documents that use real seals and letterheads of reputable government organizations and firms. Further, the person who has pecked on the hook is asked for funds for all kinds of fees, gradually increasing their amounts in order to cash out the money or give a bribe to officials. There were cases when the victim was offered an illegal visa-free trip to Nigeria, ostensibly for a secret meeting with an influential official. Upon arrival in an African country, the victim of the Nigerian letter was kidnapped or arrested for illegally staying in a foreign state. And the relatives of the hostage were extorted large sums for the release.

It is not uncommon for scammers to use psychological pressure on the victim, convincing them that the Nigerian side has pledged all of their savings to pay the fees. Of course, the deceived never receive the promised fees and interest, because they simply do not exist.

Here are some more common options Nigerian chain letters:

◦ The person is sent a letter purporting to be from the lawyer of a distant relative living abroad. The lawyer writes that the brother-in-law suddenly died and left a large inheritance to the addressee. To receive it, the addressee is asked to help with money in preparing various certificates, paying taxes, etc. Eg, .

◦ If you posted a resume on job sites with an email address, then you may receive a letter about a tempting job abroad. However, before leaving, you need to pay for a work and residence permit.

◦ You may receive a letter pleading for financial assistance for a seriously ill child with their biography, photographs, and other attributes. A child may be quite real and really sick, but scammers may well take advantage of his grief for personal enrichment.

◦ A person is sent a “happiness” letter about an all-time lottery win. But the recipient must first pay the tax in order to receive their winnings. In such cases of fraud, scammers even organize a website that looks like two drops of water to the website of a real bank. In it, the “lucky one” opens an account to which the money won is transferred. But in order to use it, the account must first be activated by transferring a certain amount of money in the name of an individual.

◦ A person is offered to use a profitable loan without an initial fee and collateral. It is only necessary to pay a fee for the bank's costs for credit processing, to cover commissions.

Find scammers profiting from Nigerian chain letters, very difficult. In the entire existence of Nigerian spammers, only a few small fry from huge criminal gangs have appeared before the court.

Ksenia Balashevich

We continue the "Business" section and the "" subsection with an article. Of course, many have already heard about this way to make money. However, many are not all, so the writers of the letters still continue to receive their income fraudulently. Again, cheating refers to one of the most profitable businesses. On the other hand, you need to know the enemy in person 🙂

Beware, scam: Nigerian letters started appearing almost 40 years ago. Nigerian emails are a common type of scam that has been most developed with the advent of mass emails (spam). The letters are so named because this type of fraud was especially widespread in Nigeria, and even before the spread of the Internet, when such letters were distributed by regular mail. However, Nigerian letters also come from other African countries, as well as from cities with a large Nigerian diaspora (London, Amsterdam, Madrid, Dubai). The mailing of letters began in the mid-1980s.

That is, we will talk about, probably, the most large-scale and "long-playing" scam, the so-called "419 scam" (419 is the article number of the Criminal Code of Nigeria, "advance notification fraud"). Naturally, this topic has already been raised more than once - but repetition is the mother of learning, and based on the mistakes of others, which cannot but rejoice.

As already mentioned, this disaster began in the early 80s. When the Internet was not widespread, Nigerians sent to America and Europe the most ordinary paper letters and faxes, the content of which was exactly the same as now. This kind of mail and fax fraud was one of the most profitable businesses in Nigeria. E-mail, of course, greatly simplified everything. Various Western sources on the problems of Nigerian fraud claim that from the early eighties to the mid-nineties, African Ostaps earned more than $ 5 billion from this trick.

The plots of fraud are quite diverse. Most often, letters are sent on behalf of a former king, president, high-ranking official or millionaire asking for help in banking transactions related to transferring money from Nigeria or another country abroad, receiving an inheritance, etc., allegedly heavily taxed or difficult to cause of persecution in their home country. Nigerian letters were sent, in particular, on behalf of Khodorkovsky's personal secretary.

Another common option is letters allegedly from a bank employee or from an official who learned about the recent death of a very rich person “with the same last name” as the recipient of the letter, with an offer to assist in obtaining money from this person’s bank account.

Often, in the course of extortion, scammers use psychological pressure, assuring that the Nigerian side, in order to pay the fees, sold all its property, mortgaged the house, etc. Of course, the victim does not receive the promised money anyway: they simply do not exist.

Over the past 20+ years, many governments have changed in Nigeria, there have been several coups, but the “419 scam” is still alive and well, and all because it has become a kind of industry. The reason for this lies in the fact that many Nigerian government officials are themselves involved in fraud. In recent years, similar "business" has been actively engaged in other African countries - in Liberia, Togo, Ghana, etc. The American scammers began to use the method worked out over many years. Well, of course, ours are not far behind, the first Russian-language letters were recently noticed, which have a typically "Nigerian" content.

General features of Nigerian letters:

In almost every case, there is a sense of urgency. Force majeure circumstances are mentioned. Often in the subject line of the letter write "urgent, very urgent"
Most correspondence is sent by fax or email.
Various references are used to various kinds of documents, publications, legislative acts, designed to inspire the victim's confidence.
A certain elitism of the proposed relationship is emphasized in every possible way. That is why the proposal comes from supposedly high-ranking officials, widows of political leaders of various heirs, etc. Fraudsters present themselves to the recipient as a high-ranking official or a representative of a wealthy family that has fallen out of favor with the ruling regime.
Almost always, the amounts appearing in the letters range from 10 million to 80 million US dollars. The recipient is invited to work for a large percentage - up to 30% of the total amount.
Emphasis is placed on the confidential nature of the transaction, even some illegitimacy is emphasized. All this is necessary so that after a successful scam, the victim does not run to complain to the police for fear of being caught in illegal operations.
Another indispensable attribute of this game is the guarantee that the victim does not have to make much effort to fulfill the terms of the deal. This condition is one of the most important, since lovers of "freebies" most often turn out to be the main patients of these Basilio cats. Who doesn't want to bury a couple of coins, then shake off a whole bunch from a grown tree.

On Wikipedia, you can find a masterpiece, where the Nigerian-Soviet cosmonaut participates (a kind of masterpiece of the epistolary genre):

My name is Bakare Tunde and I am the brother of the first Nigerian astronaut, Nigerian Air Force Major Abaka Tunde. My brother became the first African cosmonaut to go on a secret mission to the Soviet Salyut-6 station back in 1979. Later, he took part in the flight of the Soviet Soyuz T-16Z to the secret Soviet space station Salyut-8T. In 1990, when the USSR fell, he was at the station. All Russian crew members managed to return to land, but my brother did not have enough space in the ship. From then until today, it has been forced to stay in orbit, and only rare Progress cargo ships supply it with what it needs. Despite everything, my brother does not lose his presence of mind, but he longs to return home to his native Nigeria. During the long years that he spent in space, his gradually accumulating salary amounted to 15,000,000 US dollars. At the moment, this amount is stored in a bank in Lagos. If we manage to get access to the money, we will be able to pay the required amount to Roskosmos and organize a flight to Earth for my brother. The amount requested by Roscosmos is 3,000,000 US dollars. However, in order to receive the amount, we need your help, as we, as Nigerian civil servants, are prohibited from all transactions with foreign accounts. Yours forever, Dr. Bakare Tunde, Leading Astronautical Specialist.

By the way, if you want to laugh even more, I suggest you the article http://cripo.com.ua/?sect_id=7&aid=5847, part of which was the basis for writing this article. Following the link you can find the correspondence of one of the fighters with swindlers, in fact, with a swindler. I laughed 🙂