Nigerians make Interpol part of their latest scam

The Scotsman:

IT IS the world's leading criminal intelligence service renowned for helping track down fugitives on all five continents. But now Interpol is itself under attack from a team of West African con-men who are using the organisation as a cover for their fraud.

In the latest in a series of scams, e-mails bearing Interpol's name have been sent out across the globe.

In them, the author claims to be from the Lyon-based crime agency and claims the group need the individual's details to facilitate an investigation. But like all the other so-called 419 frauds - named after the statute in Nigerian law which covers such crimes - the claims are fraudulent.

Originating out of Nigeria, the crime has now spread throughout West Africa and is one of the most-lucrative types of scams in the world. They are carried out by organised gangs who set up "call centres" employing dozens of people with computers, phone books and electoral rolls.

They simply send out identical "begging" letters across the world, imploring the reader to provide their personal details in exchange for a large, one-off cash payment. Anyone replying to the e-mail and providing the details requested - bank account number, sort code and address - is likely to end up having all their savings stolen.

Sometimes the story will involve an individual needing to get money out of the country but being unable to do so personally because of financial restrictions, so they ask the recipient to help them by using their own account.

Other scams have seen people told they have won the Spanish Lottery or even invited over to West Africa to pick up their money in person only for them to be held to ransom and forced to hand over large sums of money. Yesterday, a spokesman for Interpol urged anyone receiving the e-mails to ignore them completely.

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This scam has become so notorious, that it is surprising that anyone ever responds. I am surprised that the law enforcement authorities have not figured out a way to run a sting against these people. If they did enough of them, the scam would certainly be less attractive.