If you have communicated with several Internet scammers, read many forums, articles and are sure that you know everything about scammers, I hasten to upset you, you do not even know half.
A Nigerian scammer revealed details of his business. According to a crime pro, 9-10 out of a thousand addressees respond positively to the bait. One out of twenty such answers can ultimately bring real income. Fraudsters receive an average of $7.5 thousand from each victim, with a ceiling of $25 thousand. The interlocutor himself earned about $75 thousand over the last year of his dubious career. And there are many such “careerists” in Nigeria – mostly young people, and not all of them are professional fraudsters.
Experienced “Nigerians” are good psychologists. After all, it is not uncommon for those who like to lead the scammers by the nose to enter into correspondence with them. The narrator assured that he could immediately recognize the catch. According to him, the potential victim immediately provides the required information, and the anti-scammer begins to tell tales about his own life, inventing thousands of reasons why he cannot immediately transfer money.
Fraudulent groups often collaborate with each other, passing hand-to-hand contact with an elusive but promising victim. But competition is also strong. The interviewee recalled a case when his mailbox was hacked by members of a rival group and all contacts were stolen.
A few words about the author of such remarkable revelations. He is 23 years old, was caught red-handed during a police raid on an Internet cafe in Lagos. In exchange for the names of the members of the group, he received two years in prison instead of five years. He is currently attending college and advising the Nigerian Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) through a rehabilitation program.
Nigerian spammers. Inside look
Here are the recommendations of the participant of the “Nigerian” schemes for those who want to avoid the intrigues of malefactors:
- never reply to tempting emails from strangers, delete them immediately; any your answer will confirm the activity of your account, the address will be entered into the appropriate lists and will be used later, if not by “Nigerians”, then by phishers or distributors of banking Trojans;
- if you nevertheless entered into correspondence, but suspect forgery, stop answering: your ill-wisher does not like to waste time and will quickly switch to more promising targets;
- less publish your address on the network: “Nigerian” assistants regularly visit guest books, forums, and message boards to replenish their lists; some groups are armed with special programs for collecting addresses on the Internet.
