Nigerians Warned of Latest American Internet Scam

By Brooks Sherman

Published: November 30, 2009

ABUJA – The Nigerian government has issued a warning to its citizens, following a recent upsurge in email spam from overseas locations. Most of the internet traffic has been traced back to the United States of America, a troubled North American nation with a floundering economy. This revelation has been met with little comment, as Americans have long been stereotyped as hustlers peddling fraudulent business proposals, from the Brooklyn Bridge to affordable healthcare.

This latest scheme comes in the form of emails from dozens of individuals claiming to be executives at a prestigious financial firm. The subject line of such one such email reads “URGENT BUSINESS PROPOSAL.”

“My dearly beloved friend,” the email’s body begins, “You are being surprised to be read from me, but I great you with much pleasure and loving regards, and to ask for you attention to my generous offer. My name is Mr. Joshua Flinger, and I am being a senior vice president at Goldman Sachs in New York.”

The letter goes on to offer the better part of a sizable “bonus” to the recipient if they wire an advance payment to the email’s sender; “Mr. Joshua Flinger” claims that the money is rightfully his, but the American government is making efforts to seize it, thus violating his lawful contract.

Nigerians are no strangers to these ploys. “Not long ago, there was another company calling itself AIG that tried a similar scheme,” says Inspector Charles Agu, chief of Nigeria’s cyber-fraud unit. “This latest development should come as no surprise to any of us. After all, before the Americans got in on this business, it was the Dutch, the French, and the English.”

Indeed, European scams and pyramid schemes in Africa date as far back as the 16th and 17th centuries. “It’s hard to believe that people kept falling for them,” says Agu. “They would always use the same classic formula: ‘Get on the boat with all of your friends for an exciting vacation! Everyone’s a winner!’ ”

He shakes his head, smiling. “My own great-great-grandfather got caught up in the Amistad Cruise Sweepstakes of 1839, and we lost everything—including him.”