Spam emails from Nigeria: The damage they do!

[Konovalov]

When I get these spam emails whilst at work from Nigeria I tend to laugh and say something like, "surely no one could possibly fall for this junk mail?" Obviously I was wrong.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6163700.stm

Financial crime in the UK stemming from Nigeria involves "billions of pounds" but not enough is being done to stop it, a report has concluded.

Internet scams, credit card fraud and money laundering are going unchecked by governments in both countries, research group Chatham House says.

Does this sound familiar? :hmm:

This involves sending emails or faxes to potential victims around the world, offering a highly attractive but false financial deal.

Commonly the criminal says they need help in getting money out of the country with promises to share the rewards with the victim.

And the result of an individual falling for such a scam:

These style of incidents alone cost the UK economy £150m a year - with the average victim losing £31,000 the report said.

I was not aware of just how big and wide ranging these kind of scams are nor did I realise the impact of such scams on those that fall victim to them.