419 - WHAT IS IT? Advance Fee Fraud, otherwise known as 419 in Nigeria simply means the demand for and pay ment of an advance fee in form of tax brokerage, bribe, etc under the pretence that such is needed to consummate a business deal whether the business in itself is genuine or not. the term 419 derives from section 419 of the Nigeria Criminal Code which dealt with this offence before the promulgation of the Advance Fee Fraud Decree No 13 in 1995. Advance Fee Fraud is Introduced to Intended victims through scam letters containing faise in- formation on:- Millions of Dollars from over invoiced contracts in Nigeria. A Millions of Dollars from funds left by deceased persons. Contracts for the purchase of vehicles, computers and accessories, medical equip- ment etc all running into millions of Dollars. The sale of crude oil. Requests are Initially simply and easily accom- plished by unsuspecting minds, and are a natural extension of scam letters which contain the sort of information mentioned above. These letters are tempting as they tend to show the ease with which money can accrue to the addressees. Thus when items such as particulars of bankers, Company letter head sta+ionaries and blank Com- pany proforma invoices are asked for, they are usually received. Writers of fraudulent (scam) letters often purport to be persons of social distinction giving them- selves bogus prefixes such as Alhaji, Doctor, Prince, Engineer, Chief, HRH (His Royal Highness) etc. They also lay claim to positions of high status as in being Chief Executive Officers, Chairmen, Execu- tive Directors etc. These positions are claimed to be held in Government offices such as the Fed- eral Ministry of Finance (FMF), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigeria National Petroleum Cor- poration (NNPC)/ Nigeria Security Printing 8c Mint-, ing Company (NSPMC), Nigeria Telecommunica- tions (NITEL), Nigeria Postal Services (NIPOST), Ministry of Defence (MOD), otc. The purported advantages of such proposals lies in the making of huge monetary gains minima! effort or input. In the case of transfer of funds. there is the inducement of a commission of be- tween thirty to forty percent of the total amount invoived to the benefit of the adressee. Advance Fee Fraud demands surface soon af- ter a link with a would be victim has been made, and normal course of communication established. Series of demands for money are made under serveral guises, one demand metamorphosing to the other until the victim is unwilling to make further payments in the apparent realisation of deceit in the whole transaction. Such guises includ request for;- Remittance fee Legal charges Job completion Certificate charges National Economic Recovery Fund Tax Inheritance tax (in the case of funds supposedly emanating from Wills), and Vaiue Added Tax (VA T) Reven ue Tax among est others. * Note that these demands do not exist in nor- mal and actual Government contracts. They are a part of the usual ploy to extort money from unsuspecting victims. The victims targeted by Advance Fee Fraudsters are in the main foreign national who are invited to the country by fraudulent letters, and investors who having arrived the country for genuine business are schemed into fraudulent and frivo- lous transactions ostensibly to defraud them. in- formation about such foreigners are easily and usually obtained from catalogues of foreign companies. WHAT TO DO Upon the receipt of any letter suggesting the inference that it could be fraudulent going by the above analysis, take any of the following actions as applicable:- Report immediately to the Local Police Au- thorities nearest you. Report to the Nigerian Mission in your coun- tty. If you must respond, reply negatively and terminate communication. Send back the scam letter to any of the fol- lowing adresses in Nigeria (a) The Assist. Inspr-GeneraS of Police, "D" Department, The Nigeria Police, Alagbon Close, Ikoyi - Lagos. (b) The Commissioner of Police, Special Fraud Unit, D Department, 13 Milverton Road, Ikoyi - Lagos. Tel Nos. 234 01 2692728 234 01 2691675 Fax No. 2o4 01 2691095 (c) National Intelligence Agency, P.M.B. 213, Gorki - Abula. Where you find yourself in Nigeria and probably unware of the fraudulent nature of the transac- tion you are pursuing, promptly report your pres- ence giving details of flight, hotel accommoda- tion and other relevant information to any of the officer listed above, or the nearest Police Station or your Embassy for security reasons. WHAT NOT TO DO Do not respond to the scam letter either by mail, fax or telephone. Do not agree to any proposed meeting-wh ether it is to take place in your country, another country or Nigeria. Do not part with your money under any cir- cumstances. Do not reveal or give out your bank account number you could be duped. Do not be convinced by documents carry- ing the insignia/logo of Federal Government of Nigeria, Central Bank of Nigeria, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, or any other Nigeria GovernmetAgency. Such documents are faked or foged. Do not accept proposals for remittance of money into your bank account. There is no money to be remitted. Ensure security of your vital documents relat- ing to Bank accounts. International Passports, identity cards, fax/telephone numbers. Insur- ance certificates, company letter head pa- pers, contractual agreements etc. Do not prolong communication as this may convince and lure you into an avoidable mess. Do not give out documents or other informa- tion about yourself or business especially bank passport particulars as this may serve as the basis for fraud. LATEST GOVERNMENT MEASURES AGAINST ADVANCE FEE FRAUD Closure by Nigeria Telecommunication (NITEL) of all telephone business centres all over Nigeria. This was necessitated by the fact that an over-whelming percentage of communication between fraudsters and their victims were through these centres. Withdrawal of the International Direct Dialling (IDD) facilities from the public. Enlightenment programmes through adverts by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and other Government agenda. Collation of telephone numbers subscribed to by fraudsters (as in the attached (1st), and subsequent investigation of their activities by the Police. Commencement of trials of fraudsters In the Miscellaneous Offences Tribunal, as opposed to the regular Courts. The approval of the use of Police as pros- ecutors in the above mentioned Tribunal.