I live in a society heavily burdened with notoriety -- advance fee fraud (419 – referring to a section of the criminal code relating to advance fee fraud), corruption, bad governance, human right abuse, child trafficking, drug trafficking, money laundering, cannibalism, female genital mutilation, armed robbery, ritual killings, religious riots, the list is endless. These negativities coupled with poor infrastructure, has deprived us of trust and respect from the international community.
The eradication of the enigma known as 419, which has eaten so deeply into the marrows of our society, and has caused us so much damage it requires more than just the efforts of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) to win this battle. The entire society, the lawmakers, the judiciary, the higher institutions, and the church, everyone needs to be involved in this war against advance fee fraud. We are paying too much a price from their criminal activities. It’s time we turn that resources around to fight them.
Every society has its fair share of societal ills. There always bad and good going side by side. Those who are perpetuating evil, afflicting the innocent, the unsuspecting and frail members of society with grief for their parochial and selffish pursuit of power and riches, do live amongst us. Thieves they say, steal from only people they know.
When a person you have never met suddenly sends you a business proposal involving large amount of money, be wary nine out of ten will turn out to be fraud. They come pretending to be a helpers, and in the process, you end up helping them with all you have sadly sometimes, some people pay with their lives.
I have learnt never to trust strangers, and I am careful in my dealings with them. This indeed is my first rule of life – ‘A stranger is not your neighbour to be loved as thy self.’ Perpetrators of this crime, go about collecting information about their potential victims.
My personal experience:
It is said that it is the greedy and careless that often fall victim of 419. That to some extent is true, but, the perpetrators of this crime are highly skilled, and they use modern communication gadgets. It is sometimes so convincing you are forced to believe their lies. In my case, they went as far a re-routing a call through Taiwan, and the number displayed on my phone, showed that the call is actually coming from Taiwan. They even spoke with Taiwanese accent.
Some of those who are involved in advance fee fraud are very rich and highly respected people in society. They are also well connected, and have collaborators even in EFCC. That is why we need to fight this scourge with all we have, so that we can regain the trust of the international community, which will make life easy for everyone once again.
The eradication of the enigma known as 419, which has eaten so deeply into the marrows of our society, and has caused us so much damage it requires more than just the efforts of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) to win this battle. The entire society, the lawmakers, the judiciary, the higher institutions, and the church, everyone needs to be involved in this war against advance fee fraud. We are paying too much a price from their criminal activities. It’s time we turn that resources around to fight them.
Every society has its fair share of societal ills. There always bad and good going side by side. Those who are perpetuating evil, afflicting the innocent, the unsuspecting and frail members of society with grief for their parochial and selffish pursuit of power and riches, do live amongst us. Thieves they say, steal from only people they know.
When a person you have never met suddenly sends you a business proposal involving large amount of money, be wary nine out of ten will turn out to be fraud. They come pretending to be a helpers, and in the process, you end up helping them with all you have sadly sometimes, some people pay with their lives.
I have learnt never to trust strangers, and I am careful in my dealings with them. This indeed is my first rule of life – ‘A stranger is not your neighbour to be loved as thy self.’ Perpetrators of this crime, go about collecting information about their potential victims.
My personal experience:
It all started with an email from someone who called himself Matthew Choung Lin, claiming to be a Rotarian from Taiwan. He said he got my name from the Rotary International Directory, and as a “fellow Rotarian” he prefers doing business with me.
He is the President of Export Solutions Inc. and is interested in buying garnet stones from a dealer in Nigeria. He has approached the Nigerian Embassy in Taiwan, and they gave him the contact information of a dealer in Abuja and helped with the initial contact to get him Mr. Lin a quote. But he prefers dealing with a ‘trust-worthy’ person such as myself, especially being that I am a Rotarian.
He then told me what he would want me to assist him with and gave me the contact name of the garnet dealer and his phone number. He wants me to
contact the dealer by the name of Emmanuel Okilo and to ascertain whether the products are available and to confirm the prices, which the Embassy in Taiwan helped to get. He offered paying all the expenses including phone and travel with additional 10% commission as their agent. Indeed, he said the board of his company have decided to appoint me as their representative if I offered to assist them with this purchase.
It looks acceptable to me at this point, so, I called up the Mr. Okilo, confirmed the product availability and actually got a price reduction and quickly pass the information to my ‘Fellow Rotarian’ and future business partner.
His reply was even more exciting, he offered to visit Nigeria in a week and make the purchase through me as their agent in Nigeria and Africa. All the legal papers will be signed when him and his team arrive Nigeria. After the signing, they will then release the money to me with which to purchase the garnet stones. To facilitate their travel, I should get from the dealer, International Exportation Code Number that they need to secure a visa. He requested for my contact information so that he can talk to me on phone, and I obliged.
Quickly again, I contact Mr. Okilo, who agreed to release the IECN, but said that it attracts a registration fee of $650 and my personal appearance in Abuja for sighting. But if business would not permit me to make the trip, I should send two passport photographs of myself through any of the night buses providing courier services. The money he said I can send through money transfer from a local Bank. At this point, he triggered my alertness.
Engineer Choung Lin kept calling to receive updates, and at one point, asked me if I am married and have children. I said yes and told him the number of children I have. He then offered to bring for my family some gifts when he arrives Nigeria. That evening, I sent him an email telling him what Mr. Okilo said, and asked what he would do?
He replied saying I should just get him the IECN if possible by that same evening, and reassured me that the company is willing to off-set all expenses on his arrival. But if I decide not to continue with this purchase, I should let him know so that he can ask his other contacts to assist with the purchase.
Now, I was expected to send the registration fee. The Mr. Okilo, the garnet dealer, kept calling. At this point, I knew I had to o something to stop them. And that is exactly what I did. I sent an email to Mr. Matthew Choung Lin requesting that he send me his Rotary ID number, club registration number and meeting venue. I also told him I have commenced a background investigation on Mr. Emmanuel Okilo to ascertain the genuineness of his operations. After that email, as if there was a power cut, they seized communicating with me.
It is said that it is the greedy and careless that often fall victim of 419. That to some extent is true, but, the perpetrators of this crime are highly skilled, and they use modern communication gadgets. It is sometimes so convincing you are forced to believe their lies. In my case, they went as far a re-routing a call through Taiwan, and the number displayed on my phone, showed that the call is actually coming from Taiwan. They even spoke with Taiwanese accent.
Some of those who are involved in advance fee fraud are very rich and highly respected people in society. They are also well connected, and have collaborators even in EFCC. That is why we need to fight this scourge with all we have, so that we can regain the trust of the international community, which will make life easy for everyone once again.
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