Nigerian Slain Over E-Mail Scam
http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,57760,00.html
By Michelle Delio
08:27 AM Feb. 21, 2003 PT
A notorious e-mail scam has resulted in the murder of a Nigerian diplomat in the Czech Republic.
Fifty-year-old Michael Lekara Wayid, Nigeria's consul in the Czech Republic, was shot dead by an unidentified 72-year-old Czech at the Nigerian Embassy in Prague on Wednesday.
According to police reports, the suspect was a victim of the 419 scam, a thriving industry that employs thousands of people around the world. The scammers successfully manage to extort money from thousands of victims by promising them compensation for assistance in moving funds from foreign countries to banks in the United States.
The criminals typically make their money by extracting ever-escalating sums of money for bribes, bank fees and the like from their "business partners," that is, the folks they scam. But according to early reports in Nigerian and Czech newspapers, the gunman's bank account was drained after he gave the account number and other personal details to someone posing as a senior Nigerian official.
It is not known whether the suspect was contacted by e-mail or other means. The 419 scams were carried out by postal mail until the advent of e-mail, but, according to FBI reports, most 419 scams are now conducted, at least in the early stages, by e-mail.
According Nigerian newspaper reports, the suspect arrived at the embassy and said he needed to discuss a business matter. He was referred to Wayid. Soon afterward, an embassy receptionist heard raised voices followed by shots and went to investigate.
The receptionist was then reportedly shot in the hand, but managed to flee and call embassy security, who detained the suspect until police arrived.
The suspect was arrested and is now hospitalized at Prague's Central Military Hospital after collapsing at the scene. The receptionist is also being treated at the same hospital. Both are expected to recover.
Nigerian newspaper This Day reports that the shooter had visited the embassy "regularly over the past year" in an attempt to recover the money he had lost.
"This is the first time such a thing has happened to Nigeria in any of our embassies abroad.... The Czech ambassador to Nigeria has been summoned," said Dubem Onyia, Nigeria’s minister of state for foreign affairs, in a statement.
Onyia said that in light of the incident, security at Nigeria’s foreign offices would be reviewed.