Are there any nice Nigerians out there???!!

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Posted: Sun Nov 08, 2009 8:36 pm

Hello Everyone
Like many people I get the usual Nigerian scam mails all the time, so I tend to think that ALL Nigerians are potentially suspect...
However, with this one I can't tell and would appreciate any advice or similar experiences -
I have a business for sale in France, advertised on Businessesforsale.com - imagine my surprise Smile

when I get an email from someone purporting to be the Managing Director of a Nigerian company who want to diversify into tourism (thats what my business is...)
If they had wanted bank details or anything else remotely personal I would have smelled a rat and seen one too! - but nothing so far, despite a few emails to and fro. The interesting thing is that they have asked me to send a letter of invitation to view my business to the French Embassy in Lagos (its legit - I checked the addresses and fax numbers) so that they can get a visa to enter France (that's a legit requirement too..) - all this to fly to France (from the UK where they are at the moment) and see my business. So, does this mean I finally get to meet face to face with a Nigerian scammer? Am I being too suspicious? After all, the purchase would have to go through a French notaire (a very legal state-employee) with all sorts of checks on funds and release delays etc. etc. so if it got to that stage I'd be very pleased!
I'd like to think that there ARE some legitimate business in Nigeria, but a nagging doubt tells me to ask for advice...

Any responses/experiences/advice greatfully received!

p.s. am definately not, ever, never giving out my bank details!
p.p.s - have posted this on www.scam.com - sorry for duplications

Posted: Sun Nov 08, 2009 11:31 pm

According to the CIA Factbook, the population of Nigeria in July of 2009 was just above 149 million. And, according to an apologetic Nigerian official (sorry, I've forgotten his name), only about 1% to 2% of Nigerians are involved in 419 scamming. One might interpret this to mean there are about 146.8 million Nigerians NOT involved in 419, and about 2.2 million who are.

So arguably, most Nigerians are nice people. But prudence dictates exercising caution when a Nigerian emails with a proposal that seems too good to be true.

Sorry, this doesn't answer your real question. You'd know far better than I would about the proposal to purchase your business. It very well could be legitimate.

Posted: Mon Nov 09, 2009 10:28 am

If they are in the UK already, they do not need a visa to go to France (Schengen country, i.e. once you have been admitted to one Schengen country (UK), you can travel to any other Schengen country (France) without having to apply for a visa). So that's fishy for a start.

Posted: Mon Nov 09, 2009 11:37 am

yep - as fishy as Padstow Harbour after Rick Stein's kitchen have had a clear out Very Happy

I have replied to them and told them I have received an offer at the asking price, so if they come back with a hugely inflated counter offer or say they can complete in some ludicrous timeframe, then I guess I'll have discovered there really aren't any nice Nigerians after all Sad

!!

regards

Paul

Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2009 10:12 am

Yes, there are nice and totally honest Nigerians, but usually they are not sitting at PCs writing emails to strangers!

One version of Property Scams is indeed to fake interest in a house or business that you have for sale: so you are certainly justified in being suspicious about this. The scammer may be prepared to be very patient and to move the scam along very slowly, and in a realistic manner. This can include somebody coming to view a property: this may be a locally-based friend of the scammer.

The aim of the scammer is to continue this fake intention to buy until it gets to the point where he needs to pay for something, or supply some sort of documentation. Then he is likely to invent some kind of difficulty regarding doing this, and ask you to help with some necessary fees, or make some other sort of payment yourself.

Alternatively, he might send you a fake cheque or even appear to transfer some money to your bank account - and require you to send that on to an individual or named company (which is likely to be an accomplice of his, or himself using another false name), and/or send the remainder back to him. When the cheque proves to be fake (which will take some weeks: a 'cleared' cheque is not as 'cleared' as you'd think!), or the money that seemed to appear in your bank account disappears again, you are left out of pocket: he has got your money.

You might like to post this over at www.scamwarners.com where you can receive more advice about this.

Also: the headers of the emails you are receiving are likely to show you where your correspondent is actually writing from - Nigeria, or the UK, as he claims.

Here are some instructions on how to find headers: you need to read the document relating to the email service that YOU are using:

http://forum.419eater.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=118787

If you post the headers here and/or at Scamwarners (use the Preview post facility and add a few returns amongst those long strings of letters until you've got it fitting nicely on the page, if you can!) somebody will be able to help with discovering which country the emails were sent from.

And make sure that you don't send your correspondent any money, or handle any money for him!

Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2009 8:29 pm

Ridiculous question - Nigeria has a huge population of very decent people, very friendly and by and large you would find most lads rather endearing if you met them in a pub too.

Do not confuse somebody's nationality with their criminality. Baiting is not about country or race - EVER.

Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2009 8:49 pm

Is it"endearing" when they swipe your wallet? My question was not a racist one - just that, from all the evidence I have seen - that is, all the scam mails I receive and all the posts on this forum and many others like it - Nigerians appear to have a disproportionate level of untrustworthiness and, it would appear, criminal intent. No doubt this is not helped by the corruption around them and the laissez-faire attitude/encouragement of the own institutions.
Still, I'm prepared to give them the benefit of the doubt - otherwise I would have dismissed the mail out of hand - and not asked the question on this forum. I'm not confusing nationality with criminality, just drawing logical corroborations.

404 Not Found! · Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2009 1:43 am

@ pez

I am terribly tempted to change the title of this thread from "Are there any nice Nigerians out there???!!" to "Are there any nice French business owners out there???!!", although you are posting from the UK.

It is not endearing when anyone swipes your wallet be they Nigerian, American or French. Your question while perhaps not a racist one came across as rather asshole-ist. If one were to judge the majority of your countrymen by the content of your posts, to what conclusion would they arrive?

Think carefully before you reply. Wink

Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2009 1:56 am

pez, while I appreciate your point of view, please bear in mind that people who have responded have done so on the basis of their experiences.

As an aside, I've been up the Eiffel tower and I know there are signs warning people to be wary of pickpockets but how do I know what a pickpocket looks like?

Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2009 2:45 am

Quote:

all the scam mails I receive and all the posts on this forum and many others like it

Then you need to read more.

Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2009 3:44 am

pez wrote:

Am I being too suspicious?

You are being superficial not suspicious.

pez wrote:

p.s. am definately not, ever, never giving out my bank details!

Scammers don't really care about your bank details. I know many ask but many ask for your phone number too. They want cash, not bank information.

pez wrote:

then I guess I'll have discovered there really aren't any nice Nigerians after all Sad

!!

Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2009 4:12 am

As I normally don't post outside of the "Fake Bank" section of the forum I felt motivated to post.

I would be weary of your comments for the sheer fact that they may not seem racist however they are. Don't make the assumption that because of your bad experiences that all people are the same. This is a logical fallacy and by continuing thinking this way you will harm yourself and others. Not directly, mind you, but by thinking such things you will have people make assumptions about you for such a comment. Ironic how it works isn't it? It's a sad irony though.

I seriously advise you research this independently for your own good. It will do you great things.

Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2009 7:48 am

some people in this thread dont know what they talking about when they say that if you have a visa for the UK you allowed to enter France or any other european country thats just not true the UK is not included....I am married with a not european....and when she get a Shengen Visa she allowed to enter many many country's but certainly not to the UK and by Uk i mean England...i dont know about Wales or Schotland so i not gone give my opinion over those country's but when we did try to v isit London last year it was a big NO and needed to aply for a Visa,those are facts so the Nigerian man could very well speak the truth here.....about the racist stuff,if i read this it looks to be a racist post...ofcourse most Nigerians are nice and honnest people so is most of the world poppulation nice and decent honnest people.....by some kind of weird situation the 419scams are assosiated with nigeria....so is Italy with the mafia is every Italian a Mafia...so is there some kind of rumour for every country but this certainly not means we can generalize this to an entire population.

I do understand you gone be very carefull with this transaction and if you use your brain and the right people to help you iam sure n othing bad can happen......

Mugu_eater

Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2009 4:12 pm

добро пожаловать (welcome) to Eater pez.

<hint of irony>

And all the Russian scammers are also Nigerians.

Wink

Might just as well ask "are there any nice mods?"

Laughing