A Brooklyn court has charged four men - three of whom are Nigerian nationals - in connection with several instances of online fraud, popularly known as the Nigerian or 419 scam. Three were named as, while the fourth is an unnamed fugitive. According to the Justice Department, Nnamdi Chizuba Anisiobi, Anthony Friday Ehis and Kesandu Egwuonwu and a fourth, unnamed fugitive, were responsible of defrauding New Yorkers to the sum of $1.2 million. If found guilty, they could face up to 5 years for conspiracy, 20 years for mail and wire fraud and 30 years for bank fraud.
Dutch police in Amsterdam and Zaandam originally arrested the men this February in raids specifically targeting 419 scammers. A total of 12 men were detained, and the four principal suspects, who were the men charged this Wednesday, are currently awaiting extradition from the Netherlands. Dutch police claimed at the time of the arrests that the gang's total criminal gains exceeded $2 million. They also confiscated €25,000 along with computer equipment, bank statements and forged documents.
Nigerian scams, also known as 419 scams (after the relevant section of the Nigerian Criminal Code) are one of the most popular types of online scam, 419 scams have been around since the very beginnings of the Internet, and were even used in less technological times, when bait letters were sent by fax or telex. The scam consists of sending thousands of spam emails to potential victims in the hope that the promise of a large financial windfall will tempt some to respond. The scammers then ask the victim to pay a sum upfront to cover “administrative costs” or bribes to “release” a non existent fortune from a bank or government officials.
Governments across the world have warned consumers about the dangers of this particular scam, but people are still falling victim to it. It is unknown how much money has been lost over the years, but it is estimated to be hundreds of millions of dollars. One famous victim, according to his son, is Louis Gottschalk, a prominent US psychiatrist, who may have been defrauded of up to $3 million.
Although originally most scammers were based in Nigeria itself, nowadays they tend to operate from all over Africa and even from European cities such as Amsterdam or London, which have large Nigerian populations. Police in the Netherlands have been particularly aware of the fact that 419 scammers operate out of the country and over the past few years have conducted several successful raids. Nigeria itself has also stepped up its fight against this scam, particularly given the fact that it has done so much to tarnish the country's image across the world. New initiatives with Microsoft and officials from Western countries have also been implemented and are showing results.
