First of all, Nigeria is not in the middle east, it is in sub Saharan Africa. It is not a desert.

Second, I do know people who are westerners who work and live in Nigeria for oil extraction companies. Nigeria does have alot of oil.

That said, this is obviously a scam. Although I have heard that that this scam is operated out of Holland. Seeing how youd think, Nigeria is a poor country, where would the common scam artist get a computer?

Nigeria isnt the only country used, Ive seen scams claiming they were a general from South Africa, the King of Lesotho, a burocrat from the Ivory Coast, ect ect ect. Im surprised Ethipoia hasnt sent me a message.

So, usually send them fake information or the name and number to someone I hate to further contact.

I think, that scammers based in well situated countries are just always get caught, they may have little chance to do their job for long time. E.g. recently an Aussie was caught in Sydney, and is in jail. Of course, he had no money or business, just plain scamming. If there are real businesses around the world, they are not publicised, and forums do not write anything about them, because they are kept secret between the partners. But the 419 scamming done by black guys, and even the authorities claim that it is in Nigeria. They can do just whatever they want, because the Nigerian government is already involved, and any other government will not rush to help a victim, if his/her life is in danger, they can hardly do anything about that. This is why, Nigeria is definately a good place for scamming, whether it is a poor, or rich country.

Oh, btw, I told this guy I wouldn't be coming because he had told me he wanted to get my travel documents and he would put money for me in an offshore acount, a classic case of Nigerian fraud.

Also, Nigeria recently arrested a whole bunch of scammers, thats good to know.

I read about that too. Groups of five to fifteen people are getting caoght constantly. There was a case where the victim traveled to Nigeria and shot down the offender. Scamming is a tough thing, not only the victim the only loser. The Nigerian government is nowdays trying the best to halt the 419 scamming, because it gives Nigeria a very bad reputation worlwide, already. This is a serious problem, but they also say that there are far bigger problems, than scamming.

God!! I'm glad you didn't go, god knows what would have happened to you!!

I was open to a scam when I tried to sell my car over an internet ad. I got quite a few replies.. and they all offered an outragous amount of money for my #box.. all I had to do was send some of it back to "X" for the cost of shipping the car out of the country.

:O

Many people wrote on other websites, that a business like this is always about the money you send to the offender. They usually do the scam with more people stimultaneously, and they use special software to find rich businessmen over the net. It makes the scamming easier, because those, to who money means nothing, release small amounts much easier.

Still, flying there is always a very dangerous thing to do, as there is nobody to protect you. And there meeting a criminal is the most sure way to get killed.

jsobecky is correct...Do not even repond to this scam.

It is an international scam and has caught many people in South Africa and elsewhere.

It is interesting to me, the way some people try to earn money. And it is working very well. I get to start thinking, that Nigerian scammers are not to be blamed for what they are doing, they are only doing their jobs:-) As the 419 scamming is based on an international network, probably the members have to see their victims suffer in order to achieve their goals, which is to expand as possible.

Yeah, I recieved a scam in the form of an email once, my first and only one. In this scam they told me that someone with my same last name had died in Nigeria, that the person was rich and that I could claim the money and only had to go there.....

When i read the first two paragraphs i realized what it was. I contacted the FBI sending them the email and some other information I gathered, althou I knew the FBI wouldn't do a lot about it, but at least i tried to do something. I am sure there are people who fall for these scams unfortunately, and as some members have said people have been killed, mostly victims, or held for ransom.

There are plenty of variants on the net, once you expose your E-mail address, the verty first thing will be that scammers find you. After you send the twentieth scam to the FBI, they will get really tired of you. Though, the scammers will never stop. Usually mailing is done by software, scammers do not have to worry of clicking ten thousand mails a day. Of course, only a few victims are baited each day, but that is far enough to earn huge money for them.

For the scammers it is worth it being fooled, because they make a lot of money, and keeping the contact with the reciever always means money. If they are fooled, they mainly get to know that at the very end of the conversations with the partner. Still they keep doing it, and they will always be fooled by some, but it can fit into their life, because the scammers recieve lots of money anyway.