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Victim
solicitation was once pretty much limited to North American
businesses, but because this fraud has proven to be so lucrative,
these proposals eventually became common throughout Western
Europe. In recent years these spurious offers have been
showing up in Latin America, Australia, New Zealand, Eastern Europe
and many Asian countries. Recent versions have even targeted
citizens of other African nations.
In addition to expanding their geographical target area, the
Nigerian fraudsters have become more creative and now also zero in
on individuals who belong to specific trade groups, engage in
certain professions or occupations, or practice a particular
religion. For instance, one version of the initial
communication was directed to veterinarians, another was
specifically aimed at accountants employed at small village
councils, and still another targeted persons of the Mormon faith.
Another reason for the growth of this scam is the increased
availability of free or low cost communications thanks to free
e-mail accounts and broadcast fax services. These advances in
technology couldn't have come at a better time for these fraudsters,
since their traditional reliance on counterfeit stamps was being
seriously imperiled due to the increased vigilance of Postal Service
employees. (U.S. Postal Inspectors are intercepting the scam
letters on a weekly basis. According to Frank Umoski, USPS
Operations Manager at the JFK facility, "Eight
out of ten bags of mail received from Nigeria contain fraudulent
letters." )
While it is difficult to estimate what this scam actually pulls down
worldwide, or even from those victimized in the Americas, in
addition to the broadening base of targets, losses per incident seem
to be increasing. One estimate puts the current losses to
residents of the United States at over $1 million per day. The
Secret Service receives approximately 100 phone calls and 300-500
pieces of correspondence a day
Reportedly in the past three years, close to 80,000 of these letters
have been received by prospective victims in Great Britain resulting
in about £450 million in losses over that period.
Since we have seen versions of this scam sent to prospective victims
in such diverse venues as Australia, Scotland, Russia, Mexico,
Japan, South Africa and Romania, and since rural dwellers are no
longer ignored by these fraudsters, it seems likely that $1 billion
a year may well be a conservative worldwide loss estimate.
Due to the success of this scam, it seems obvious that the Nigerian
criminals are now substantially better financed than the law
enforcement agencies of that country.
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