The costs of this crime

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Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2009 5:34 pm

That made me think a little:

"the scammers who are Nigerians have created a reputation problem for their countrymen. They've made it more difficult for legitimate Nigerian bussine people to do business, especially internationally. This is a cost of crime that isn't often mentioned. J.D. Abolins"

at: http://jabolins.20six.co.uk/jabolins/art/21627646/419-Scammers-Get-Scammed-by-ScamBaiters

What do you think of that?

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Besides that matter, does anyone have updated statistics about the losses caused by scams?

Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2009 5:43 pm

I think it is definitely a factor.

I don't think it disqualifies legitimate Nigerian businesses neccessarily, but it certainly casts them under a greater degree of scrutiny. But that isn't solely credited to 419 scammers I think.

I believe that any country with an unstable/corrupt government, horrific economic status, and a thriving criminal element (of any kind) is going to have problems.

Columbia is a loose example. And how many 419'ers are there in that country?

Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2009 6:14 pm

I agree with you, blah;

You mentioned those countries and I remembered what I read once. It seems that the governments of those poor countries (not Colombia, more like Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Ivory Coast) do not care much about those crimes. After all, they bring money to the economy, which is already fragile, so the fiscalization is null.

Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2009 7:34 pm

I believe in using Colombia as an example, blah was trying to make the point that any form of criminal activity that is connected with a particular country - and seems to be "overlooked" by the government in power (drugs, for example, or terrorism) will color the general perception of the country as a whole.

If 2% of the population of Nigeria is engaged in internet fraud (as has been stated - although how anyone came by that number is baffling), that means that 98% are NOT scammers. The law-abiding percentage gets tarred by the same brush as the criminals because most people in the world only hear of Nigeria in relation to scamming.

Posted: Fri May 01, 2009 3:58 am

It's a problem. I know for sure that Nigeria and Africa in general is a big market for satellite antennas because of the 2010 FIFA world cup coming up and so many people wanting to get in downlinks and TVROs, but it's such a problem doing business there that the bank won't run our usual invoice financing program there. I think a good agent in the area would be useful, because I'm very wary indeed of getting into that market.