Posted on 09/01/2003 5:27:50 PM PDT by Pharmboy
Nigerian Embassy officials have expressed "deep concern" over the negative effects the "419," or advance fee, scams have had on their country.
"The government of Nigeria roundly condemns these assaults on our national image," Nigerian Embassy officials in Washington, D.C., said in a prepared statement detailing the measures their country has taken in its "war against the 419 scams."
"The (perpetrators) have, through their actions, given the country a very bad image ... and have negatively imparted on government efforts to attract investment into the country," the embassy explains.
Repeated phone calls to Enaruna E. Imohe, minister of the Economic Section in Embassy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria seeking further information on the country's efforts to stop the international scams, were not returned.
According to the statement on the embassy's Web site, the government blames the growing problem on mass unemployment, extended family systems, a get-rich-quick syndrome and, especially, the greed of foreigners.
To combat the problem, Nigerian embassy officials say they have sent out warning advisories in the international media rebuking the scams.
The government says it closed all business/Internet cafes when many were found to be havens through which 419 scam proposals were e-mailed or faxed abroad, officials say.
The Nigeria government has also organized international seminars -- most notably one in New York last September -- explaining the scams. The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria and Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation officials attended because writers of the Nigerian letters often identify themselves as officials of the Central Bank of Nigeria or the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation.
In addition to worldwide conferences and the closing of Nigerian Internet cafes, the country's officials say they have instituted an anti-terrorism economic and financial crimes and allied matters law in response to the 419 scams.
The law -- instituted by the National Assembly of Nigeria last December -- provides for the establishment of a commission known as the Anti-terrorism, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, whose primary responsibility is to confront the 419 scams.
The law itself reportedly allows for harsh punishment for convicted offenders, which includes confiscation of the properties and passport of convicted offenders and long jail terms.
According to the embassy, the commission has since tracked down and charged perpetrators of 419 scams, and it has published a directory of telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail addresses used by scam perpetrators.
Names and nationalities of those arrested in connection with the scams have been published on various Internet Web sites, along with the circumstances that led to the perpetrators' arrests.
Not all con artists are Nigerians, which is why Wyoming Special Assistant Attorney General Mark Moran says people should keep the origin of the scams in perspective and not blame the country itself.
"This isn't about a country and this isn't about a nationality of people. Everybody calls them Nigerian scams, but it's just really about criminals -- criminals all across the world," he says.
And adds that if you send in $600 now, you will be able to collect 1 million dollars once the perpetrators are brought to justice.
The Clintons were in Nigeria?
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