On advance fee fraud
On advance fee fraud
The Nigerian Ambassador to Indonesia Saidu Mohammed at a press
conference held on July 22 in Jakarta addressed the business
community and the media on efforts being made by the Nigerian
government to stamp out the Advance Fee Fraud, a crime which has
eroded investors' confidence in Nigeria.
The Ambassador said the initiators usually present attractive
business proposals to potential victims under any of the
following headings: Transfer of funds from over invoiced or
failed contracts; award of contract and supplies; contract for
sale of crude oil below market price; inheritance to charitable
organization or religious body; request for a foreign bank
account to lodge money and a reward of a certain percentage.
After a favorable response to the proposal, the initiator
demands an advance payment of a tax, bribe, processing fees under
the pretext that the payment is required to actualize the
propertied business deals.
Advance Feed Fraud, a transnational crime and by-product of
Information Technology (IT) has resulted in the loss of huge sums
of money by the government of Nigeria, its agencies, the general
public and the international community.
The initiator in a phone conversation or facsimile claims to
be a high-ranking official of the federal government of Nigeria
with access to vital documents needed for the purported business
deals. The unsuspecting victim who finds such proposals and
presentations convincing and irresistible makes contract and
commences the deal. The initiator sends fake documents to the
victim intimating him with rigorous procedures and protocol
required.
The victim is advised to make a certain payment to hasten the
processing; the gullible victims out of greed meet the demands of
the initiator without confirming the genuineness of the
transaction with the embassy or the chamber of commerce.
Several demands are made over a period of time and the
transaction is never sealed. When the anxious and expectant
victim realizes that he or she has remitted huge sums of money an
alarm is raised and the mission is contacted. The mission carries
out an investigation and the victim is now told that he/she has
been swindled.
To redeem the image of the country, the Nigerian government
introduced the following measures, promulgation of Advance Fee
Fraud Decree No. 12 of 1996, creation of special courts,
tribunals to handle these and other financial crimes;
interception of correspondence; international awareness campaign,
promulgation of money laundering decree in 1995; the confiscation
agreement between Nigeria and the United Kingdom to settle the
proceeds of crime involving her citizens.
S.A.O. EGURUBE
Nigerian Embassy
Jakarta