Embassy News and Announcements

News And Announcements

Scam Warnings For Nigerians And Filipinos From The Embassy
By Nigerian Embassy Staff	Wednesday, December 01, 2004

The Embassy wishes to alert Nigerians and Filipinos on recent variants of scams being directed at victims both Nigerians and Filipinos by fraudsters with the sole aim of collecting "advance fees" . The common strategies being directed at Filipinos by these fraudsters are : 1. Offer of "bogus business / contract proposals" and "payment of overdue contract funds" with the request that the transaction be kept secret by the would-be victim. The scam letter usually promises to transfer huge sums of money, usually in US dollars, purported to be part proceeds of certain contracts, to the addressee's bank account, to be shared in some proportion between the parties. A would-be victim who replies to the letter will be given excuses why the funds can not be easily transferred with subsequent requests for proportionate sharing of payments for various processing "taxes" and "fees" supposedly to facilitate the remittance of the alleged funds. The use of fake Government documents especially those of the Central Bank of Nigeria and Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation is a common practice. However, the collection of these "processing fees" is actually the real aim of the fraudsters. 2. Offer of Bogus inheritance under a Will primarily directed at individuals, charitable organizations, and religious bodies. 3. Outrageous Internet job / employment offers especially in oil companies and non existent educational institutions in Nigeria. Watch out for communications from the following email addresses which were referred to the Embassy by some victims: recruitment@howardnigeria.com howardnigeria@yahoo.com peakrelocation@yahoo.co.uk 4. Offer of millions of dollar lottery star prizes purported to have been won in Nigeria by their victims. 5. Offer to use chemicals to transform ordinary paper into United States dollar bills, which would be subsequently shared by the parties. 6. Internet dating and relationships. With the advent of the Internet and the oppurtunities it offers for entering into relationships online,these frausters have taken advantage of it to rip-off their victims. This is also a strategy to which both Filipinos and Nigerians have fallen victim and have lost money to fraudsters through direct Western Union Money Transfers to their proposed partners (husbands especially). Such victims have had to make international trips to meet their so-called proposed partners, only to be disappointed with the final outcome. The Federal Government of Nigeria is fully aware of these notorious offers perpetrated by few fraudulent individuals using fake documents, names and forged signatures of private establishments, federal government institutions and parastatals without their knowledge and are actvely assisted by international collaborators. The Federal Government of Nigeria has therefore instituted several drastic measures to curb these heinous crimes. One of such measure is to alert and sensitize the public and businesses in the Philippines of the activities and Modus Operandi of the fraudsters. The Embassy wishes to earnestly appeal to those who receive such communications from Nigeria to ask for the advice of the Mission before going into further negotiations. Also Nigerians wishing to travel to the Philippines on the basis of "section 6" above should first seek advice of the mission. The Embassy would be ready to assist at all times.
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