Nigeria makes more profit from online scams than from the sale of its oil. There is practically no area of human life in which Nigerians would not operate.
Their good old Nigerian letters of inheritance of millions of dollars or winning a nonexistent lottery has long been archaism. Of course, they still do this, but only absolutely uneducated people in undeveloped countries are caught in such a divorce nowadays.
Nigerian scammers are an organized criminal network that has been operating practically all over the world since the beginning of the 80s of the XX century and that hunts with financial fraud associated with money laundering from people.
How to recognize a scam on a dating site?
Nigerian scams have reached a whole new level. But we won’t talk about all kinds, because our site is dedicated specifically to scammers on dating sites and social networks, the so-called romance scams. And first of all, this applies to Slavic women. Recently, they have been constantly attacked by Nigerian scammers. Surely Russian men will be sentenced too, but they rarely complain, like all men in the world in general, are simply embarrassed to admit that they were divorced, therefore it is more difficult to trace the statistics. But women often complain and are not shy. Women between the ages of 35 and above are precisely those Nigerians are hunting for.
Each country has its own specifics. For example, the methods of fraud that Nigerians come up with for American, English, and German women are somewhat different from the methods they use in Russians, Chinese women, or Filipinos. And this is natural, different national characteristics and different incomes.
How to avoid becoming a victim of scam on dating sites and social networks
Key Features of Nigerian Fraud
- Firstly, Nigerians always pretend to be white men from the States and England, less often from other countries, but it happens. Why less often, because they don’t speak languages other than English, and it’s more difficult for them to pretend to be a German, they can be caught ignorant of the language. But many Nigerians live in Spain and pretend to be Spaniards. In doing so, they avoid contact with those who speak Spanish so that they are not disclosed.
Scammers may be represented by residents of these countries
- Secondly, Nigerians never, under any circumstances, admit that they are in fact black Africans. Even when they are caught in the hot, they will always find some kind of fable to justify why the white man ended up in Nigeria, and at the same time sits on a dating site and writes to women of Balzac age.
From this main conclusion, please remember this:
The white man in Nigeria or Ghana that you met on the dating site is a scammer and is actually a black Nigerian! There are no exceptions. The same applies to white girls in Nigeria or Ghana. There was NO EXCEPTION !!! If you meet a white man or girl on the Internet and suddenly pops up Nigeria or Ghana sideways, then stop chatting!
In which countries do the scammers live?
As a rule, they are widowers with a small child, with some kind of tragic story, the wife died in a disaster, they put pressure on pity and motherly feelings, the child is often used in a scam, he writes letters like, calls him “mother”, etc. Note that photographs of attractive men are far from always used. Sometimes quite ordinary photographs, although the age is often not appropriate – as a rule – is too high. The photo clearly shows a young 35-year-old man, and the profile says that he is 45-50. Nigerians are not very versed in the age and attractiveness of white men. If men sit, then girls are usually similar to models, and so it is – these are all photos stolen from adult models from webcam sites. All these American and English young beauties on dating sites are Nigerians.
How to recognize a scammer by profile photo?
Types of Nigerian Scam Fraud
- Classic scam
Scammer lingers on communication for many weeks or months, and when, in his opinion, a certain affection and love on the part of the victim is achieved, something happens to him and he simply asks for money. The child goes to the hospital, or he himself, or he is robbed. This usually happens on the same day that he is on his way to you. He is already flying to you to meet with you. You already meet him at the airport, but he did not arrive. And then you get a message that something terrible happened there, he broke his leg, he was detained at customs, his passport was stolen, etc. But I must admit that they often stockpile this kind of scam for American women, English women, etc. They are not fools, and they understand that an ordinary Slavic woman will not go and send them 500-1000 bucks.
Therefore, for women from countries with more modest incomes, they have other options for cheating.
- Parcel stuck at customs
They supposedly send you a present. The gift is very cool (remember, they usually all pose as very wealthy people). There, as a rule, either a laptop, or an iPad, or some other sophisticated electronics, or designer clothes or cosmetics, a gift usually costing several thousand dollars. You are shown the official registry with a list of contents on the form. They send them by special courier mail so that it does not disappear. You rejoiced, wait, wait – nothing comes. You worry he’s also kind of worried. Then he gives you the coordinates of the courier service – their website, phone, email, tracking number. You contact this service and it turns out that the parcel arrived but got stuck somewhere at the customs (there are options where it could be stuck), but in order to get it (cleared) you need to pay some amount (100-300 dollars). But then you will receive goods for many thousands. It is clear that there was no parcel and there was not, and the courier service is the scammers themselves and his accomplices, and their website is fake. Remember – free cheese only in a mousetrap!
- Cashing bank checks
They send a fake check, which they ask for cash. True, this scam does not work in Russia and Ukraine, because it is impossible in most cases to cash out a check, but maybe it will be read by Russian women living abroad, it will come in handy. They say that this check was sent to them by the employer, but in Nigeria, where he is at work, it is impossible to cash out, so he sends it to you and asks you to do it, send him Western Union money, of course, keeping a percentage for himself. A check is usually for several thousand dollars. And imagine, banks cannot immediately determine that a check is fake. There, in Nigeria, a whole office stamps such checks. Every year, the American postal service holds such checks for $ 600 million (think about this amount !!) And these are just delayed checks that have not reached the addressee! In short, the bank will give you the money. But in a few weeks, the check will return as fake. And this is a criminal liability! This money will be deducted from you, and you have already sent it to the scam if you are an honest person, but in this case, at least you have evidence that you were divorced. And if you are a dishonest person and you have left this money for yourself, this is immediately a prison. You already will not prove to anyone that you are not an accomplice of the scammer and you yourself did not print this check. Many victims of the scams have ended up in jail, and the Nigerians are sitting clean in their Nigeria and rejoice.
Another scam is closely connected with this scam, which is exactly what Nigerians often do to Russians.
- Shipment of stolen goods
They say that they ordered something in some online store, but no self-respecting store sends anything to Nigeria because of scams (this is just the truth). Therefore, they ask you to help – they ask for your address and say that the goods from the store will be sent to you, and you will send it to him. In gratitude, you can keep some of this premise for yourself (as a rule, this is expensive electronics). Remember – you think that you are helping not a black Nigerian, but a handsome white man, a widower who works in Africa, and the package is usually intended for his little son, and there are gifts for his birthday in it. The package really comes to you, you repack it all and send it to Africa. I think you yourself have guessed what the trick is – stolen goods bought with a stolen credit card. And the store’s coordinates are all yours, not the Nigerian’s. It turns out that you are buying goods on stolen credit cards. Therefore, criminal liability is on you. And if you still do not ship the goods to him in Africa, and leave everything to yourself from greed – even worse, see the script above.
If you come across this and the goods are still with you – immediately inform the store, they will help you return the goods to them, and then there will be no liability for you.
In such types of scams, as above, when the victim involuntarily helps the scammer (forwards stolen goods to him, cashes checks for him), the victim is called a “mule”. Such mules work for Nigerians around the world, especially in low-income countries, often not understanding what they are doing. For example, a scammer can tell you that a passport was stolen from him in a damned criminal Africa and now he cannot get Western Union money that his employer sent him, and he needs it desperately, he must pay workers this money, otherwise, people will be left without salaries. Since you have the dearest man in the world whom he trusts, can you get this money for him, and then send it to an accountant? There is no need to say that the “employer” is his other victim, whom for some reason he cannot say that he is in Africa, otherwise, he will not receive money, and the “accountant” is himself. You will serve as a “bridge” between the victim and the scammer, or simply a mule. A lot of options !!
Well, in conclusion, another type of scam, which is now the most common!
- Military scam
All dating sites are now awash with photographs of military officers in uniforms, usually in hot spots – Afghanistan, Iraq. No, this is not real military. This is again the Nigerians. What is this scam? There are 3 options:
They will try with your help to smuggle the “expropriated” goods from Afghanistan and Iraq for a generous percentage (this scam is for both genders) and of course, they need the help of housewives and other civilians to do this;
They will try with your financial assistance to acquire a special satellite connection in order to be able to communicate with you in video and audio mode at any time;
They will ask for a special dismissal from a hot spot to meet with you, but to get such a dismissal you need to make a special cash deposit.
In all three cases, their accomplices will communicate with you – such as their superiors, commanders, and all documents will go on the letterhead of the American and British Army. There is no need to say that the first and second and third are complete nonsense that does not exist in a real army. All real American and British military men in ranks receive a lot of money and have long been dismantled by local women, real military profiles can only be soldier boys looking for the same girls, and this is rare.
Of particular note are the Nigerians in Malaysia, there are a lot of them! They come there on student visas, but instead of studying, they go about their usual business – they surf the Internet and sit down. Therefore, the rule here is the same as in Nigeria – a white man from America or England (not a Malaysian) who allegedly works in Malaysia (in most cases – an engineer), and at the same time hunting for ladies on dating sites – this is a Nigerian scam. Suddenly, emerging Malaysia is the same alarming sign as Nigeria or Ghana.
How to protect yourself from scams? Indeed, in addition to the lost money, there is still lost time that could be spent on a real man, as well as a broken heart or a sense of disgust from the soul open to some stuffed animal.
