NIGERIAN INTERNET SCAMMER JAILED
Millions of Nigerians are dollar-crazy. They can do anything for the dollars.
If there is a special Olympic Games for Internet Scams, Nigeria will come tops.
The incredible feats of these special breed of Nigerian criminals are to say the least mind-boggling. I mean the way many of them have succeeded to hoodwink and swindle their victims would make them the greatest magicians in the world.
They have so perfected their fraudulent practices that they now have branches overseas in several European countries. And they have expanded their network with tentacles in the Netherlands and Belgium.
There is no one on line on planet earth who has never received any of these annoying notorious Internet Scam letters promising you millions of dollars worth of contracts and others claiming to be refugees and victims of one predicament to another. In fact their list of "get rich- quick" schemes is endless. They have even beaten the Western masters in their own games. But, amazingly, the Nigerian masters are armless. Yet, they could wreck the business tycoons in America and Europe.
But, as the popular saying goes, "it takes two to tango". Because, only the equally criminal or greedy people have fallen for these criminal Internet Scams. They also wanted to conspire with these smart Alecs to swindle the Nigerian government and business enterprises and they ended up in the belly of the tiger. When they realize that they have been led astray and robbed in broad daylight, they now scream "blue murder" and run to the police and anti-financial crime force to help them to catch these Internet Scammers. And nemesis caught up with one of the most notorious Nigerian Internet Scammers, Amaka Anajemba. She was found guilty and jailed. But for only two and half years!?
I mean how could you give only a two and half years jail-term to a wicked crook and rogue who robbed her victims of over $242,000,000 (two hundred and forty-two million dollars.)? When such a diabolical thief should have been jailed for life and if possible throw away the key into the Atlantic ocean.
Here is the news report below.
Nigeria jails woman
in $242m email fraud case
LAGOS –– A Nigerian court has sentenced a woman to two and half years in jail after she pleaded guilty to fraud charges in the country's biggest e-mail scam case, the anti-fraud agency said on Saturday.
Amaka Anajemba, one of three suspects in a $242 million fraud involving a Brazilian bank, would return $48.5 million to the bank, hand over $5 million to the government and pay a fine of 2 million naira ($15,000), the agency said. Scams have become so successful in Nigeria that anti-sleaze campaigners say swindling is one of the country's main foreign exchange earners after oil, natural gas and cocoa.
Anajemba's sentencing by a Lagos High Court on Friday is the first major conviction since the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was established in 2003 to crack down on Nigeria's thriving networks of email fraudsters. The agency said in a statement that the judgment was "a landmark achievement by EFCC in the fight against advance fee fraud, corruption and other related crimes."
Typically fraudsters send out junk e-mails around the world promising recipients a share in a fortune in return for an advance fee. Those who pay never receive the promised windfall.
Anajemba, whose late husband masterminded the swindling of the Sao Paolo-based Banco Noroeste S.A. between 1995 and 1998, was charged along with Emmanuel Nwude and Nzeribe Okoli. The prosecution said the three accused obtained the $242 million by promising a member of the bank staff a commission for funding a non-existent contract to build an airport in Nigeria's capital Abuja. All three accused pleaded not guilty, but Anajemba later changed her mind to enter a guilty plea in order to receive a shorter sentence. Her prison term was backdated to start in January 2004 when she was first taken in custody.
The trial of the two others who maintained their not guilty pleas was adjourned to September. Ranked the world's second most corrupt country after Bangladesh by sleaze watchdog Transparency International, Nigeria has given new powers to the EFCC which is prosecuting about 200 fraud and corruption cases. The anti-fraud agency has arrested over 200 junk mail scam suspects since 2003. It says it has also confiscated property worth $200 million and secured 10 other convictions. ––
Reuters
Comments
One thing I observed though, is that the emails sent to potential victims looked very professional and the email address seems to come from the real website (for e.g. customerservice@ebay.com)
The all proof trick to prevent from being fool my these criminal is: You must at all times work for what you earn and avoid all get-rich-quick-schemes. Don't be greedy.
I am sorry for all those people who fall victim to these criminals. These criminals will continue to spread like cancer because the punishment given by law does not fit the crime. It is a slap on the hand. I always wonder why they flourish so well in Nigeria. I agree with you, they should be locked up for life and the key thrown in the Atlantic ocean.
The Scammers deserve more punishment. Life jail would do.
Also lonely people can be an easy prey. There was this very lonely deaf man who fell victim to a "love scam". He thought he had met a lovely lady on the internet and got bankrupt trying to help "her" when she said she was in financial trouble. The man ended up so depressed that he committed suicide.
When I think of Nigeria, I think about e-mail fraud. That is such a pity. These criminals are giving Nigeria a very bad name.
Kind regards, Monica Hamers, The Netherlands