|
There are many variations on the traditional Nigerian Fraud Letter, which are geared to legitimate and ethical businesses.
In some cases, the initial letter asks if a business would be interested in quoting on a job which is significantly larger than the jobs usually handled by the business. When the business responds in the affirmative, detailed specifications for a fictitious project may follow.
Subsequently, the business may be asked to send a representative to Nigeria to firm up the proposal. Regardless of the pretexts used, the bottom line is that somewhere, the business will be required to pay some type of advance fee--a bribe, a spurious tax, etc. and the originator of the letter will then disappear.
One deviation has been termed the "Suck and Sting." Here, the Nigerian, perhaps posing as a trader or broker, will make several minor legitimate purchases from a small company paying with valid checks. After "sucking" the victim into a relationship of trust, a large order comes along, usually showing the end user to be a government ministry or nationalized business. Once the large order been delivered, the Nigerian vanishes without a trace and with the goods.
In some cases, the fraud has gone farther with these legitimate-appearing deals, and businesses have sent representatives to Nigeria to finalize what they believe to be a bona fide contract.
In one case, a British businessman, L. Martin, was met at the Lagos Airport by uniformed soldiers and a military limo when he traveled there to close a sale to the Nigerian Department of Defense. His meeting with a Colonel in the high-rise Defense Ministry building was successful and he sold millions of dollars of equipment to the government. Full payment was to be made by government check within days. However, $60,000 in "commissions" was required before the check could be cut. Martin paid this on the spot and returned to England.
The government check, of course, never arrived. The alleged Colonel was a fake and the limousine and "soldiers" had been rented by the hour. The meeting had, in fact, taken place in the Defense Ministry building; in an office that was normally unoccupied. Access had presumably been facilitated by a bribed Defense Ministry employee.
Martin lost $60,000, but he was luckier than others who have been kidnapped or killed while in that country responding to one of the stings that started with the unsolicited Nigerian Letter.
In separate incidents, Robert Nichols, a Texas contractor and Patrick Hillman, an Englishman were kidnapped while visiting Lagos to close spurious sales contracts initiated by Nigerian Letter fraud deals. Nichols was assisted by two locals and was ultimately rescued by U.S. Embassy officials in a James Bond-like scenario. Hillman was rescued by Nigerian Police after his five amateurish kidnappers provided excessive information in their attempt to set up a ransom drop. Others, however, have been killed or simply disappeared.
At Loss Prevention Concepts, Ltd. we recommend that businesses view any unsolicited proposals from Nigeria or West Africa with skepticism and suspicion and not pursue any business ventures in that region without checking with U.S. Government officials and other sources.. A good starting point for such research is our Nigerian Fraud Web Sites links. From our home page go to Other Features of This Site, then click on Lynx, then click on Nigerian Fraud.
Detailed information, including sample letters, faxes and E-mail can also be found on our Web site by clicking on Nigerian Fraud Letter from the home page.
______________________________
|
|
