It is indeed unfortunate that the scammers are targeting churches. Using religion is not a new trick for them. For many years they have invoked the name of God in their scams. If one is to look at some of the archived scam letters, you will see how these criminals can work by trying to pull the heartstrings of people. With a rather dishearting frequency, these scammers pretend to be orphans, widows, or refugees fleeing from a conflict. They are trying to gain your sympathy and your pity so that they can try to talk you out of your money. In all cases, the person sending the mail is a common criminal.

How stupid and/or greedy would you have to be to fall for this old scam? $41,000,000 for nothing? No wonder these idiot bible thumpers keep Jimmy Swaggart, Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson in business.

If you are dumb enough to believe in angels, resurections and the divine right of kings, you are capable of being sucked into any scheme. A fool and his money are soon parted.

How could there be a more fitting target than churches to scam money from?

After all, churches and evangelists have built their entire empires on the backs of poor, hard-working people by scamming them with the idea that somehow donating money will send them to heaven quicker.

Religion itself is the biggest scam in human history, used for power and control by the elites, so it is very funny to me that they are getting scammed by others for a change.

Nigerians are just now getting around to scamming the credulous? It only proves they're slow learners -- our own televangelists and Republicans have been doing it for years.

These scams have been going on for 10 years. All I have to see is the word "Nigeria" and I go directly to my delete button.

These Christian dupes need to pull their heads out of their Bibles and get a clue about these e-mail frauds.

This scam is as old as the web. Dummies got what they deserved.

John's got it so upsidebackwards, I'm afraid, and no offense. But these scams don't play on anyone's sympathy for others - they play on greed, the base, all-too-human wish to get a lot, REALLY a lot, for nothing. These Christians are people, after all, and just as venal and greedy as anyone else is. There's no surprise in some of them taking this bait. It's exactly the same as when any grifter in Las Vegas tries to fill an inside straight. They both know better at bottom, but persuade themselves thattheir special magic is changing the world around just for them.

And then they both invoke the name of their creator when they lose, lose, lose.

If there's anything to be learned from this footnote to Nigerian scams, it is, as we all ought to know already, that religious people are no different in any respect from the rest of us. It is foolish to expect different results for these folks just because they claim to have invisible friends. It's foolish to expect different behavior from them, too.

Cheers!

Yes it is a shame. But isn't this similar to what Hagee & Hind do on a regular basis to little old ladies on fixed incomes?

Hey these preachers won't like new flim-flam artists beating them to the loot one bit will they?

Well, considering that organized religion has been bilking the gullible out of money for thousands of years, I find this quite amusing.

The church and the accountant had a responsibility of reasonable due diligence in deciding if this was legitimate or not. If all these Nigerians had to do was "confess Jesus as Lord", then it's time for the church to hire a new accountant.

No, Mr. Premo, it wasn't "absolutely brilliant". You're just a moron.

Churches have been scamming the entire human race for centuries. How come that never makes the headlines?

Can't somone start an EDUCATION campaign to educate all the gullible types out there to email scams? They seem so obvious yet so many people fall for them!!!

Well, considering that organized religion has been bilking the gullible out of money for thousands of years, I find this quite amusing.

The church and the accountant had a responsibility of reasonable due diligence in deciding if this was legitimate or not. If all these Nigerians had to do was "confess Jesus as Lord", then it's time for the church to hire a new accountant.

No, Mr. Premo, it wasn't "absolutely brilliant". You're just a moron.

All religion is a scam.

Greedy Christians?
How could this be possible?

i found myself being solicited by nigerians and they madr a tranfer of money to my account that was legitimate until, i pulled out the money and closed my account. Ha Hs! They cried by email for weeks that they had been cheated. their scheme was to say that the money went to the wrong account after I had wired it back to nigeria. my bank backed me up and I got the last laugh

Interesting report but you're kind of late on scamming the scammers.

Genius.

The scammers are whatever you choose to describe them,I call them basic lowlife scumbags. If they can be exposed and arrested like Brian did -excellent.
The so called 'victims' need to do some soul-searching themselves.When an e-mail devoid of even the most minuscule of gumption comes into an e-mail box ladened with promises only the most gullible and greedy will fall for,then the crooked recipient must bear the consequences. Why should I feel sorry for the leader of a church that is ready to do things that he cannot preach from his pulpit on a Sunday morning.
Let's assume that the content of the e-mail was true,wouldn't the church be boasting of an extraordinary 'miracle'- when in actual fact they would have duped a very poor state. Brian did mention that the average pay is 1 dollar a week!
There are two sides to every story.I really will like Brian to do a follow-up report on the criminally minded 'victims' who sacrifice common sense on the alter of participating in the 'loot' of these criminals.

On the other hand, these churches are probably just seeing dollar signs, like usual. And besides, many of them scam money out of people every Sunday (every day of the week on the television). What goes around comes around.

I can't believe the boys I say are my adolpted sons.One fron Lagos,two are in Accra,Ghana
I have sent some money,although I'm in a wheelchair and don't have lots.
Anyway I could find out if they are scammers?
Ann Gillikin

It's about time someone does a story on this!

Hey, no fair! We scam, we don't get scammed.

My son, a UT graduate who has large loans, fell for the Nigerean enticement...but he somehow found out it was a fraud right away and notified his bank. The cancelled his account and told him he could never have a bank account with them again. Even though he was the one that notified them right away and saved them the loss!!!

I have also been getting these same type of emails out of Britain. Maybe this should be your next targets to expose.

Good Job!

You mean there is someone left on earth that still falls for the Nigerian email scam?

A post above says it all -

"No, Mr. Premo, it wasn't "absolutely brilliant". You're just a moron."

I have always followed the advice "If it sounds to good to be true, then it probably is." Who could be stupid enough to fall for those "Wo is me" pitches? And their pitches are so lame on top of that. So hard to believe that they can't possibly be true. These scams have been around for years and have been noted on the news. And people are still falling for these scams? As the guy above said. "A fool and his money are soon parted!" If someone is that greedy or stupid well then they deserve what they get. I am glad the Nigerian's are starting to get their dollars chopped! I received many of those emails in the past. But never fell for them and now I have spam/scam blocker so emails like that do not even reach my inbox or junk mail anymore.

One week I won the international lottery, found out a long lost relative left me millions, and had 3 deposed rulers try to give me their hidden assets! If anyone falls for these scams it is because they were all trying to get something for nothing.

LOL.... the Bard himself could not have crafted a more perfect tale of irony, blood, betrayal, and POETIC JUSTICE.

Scammers from Africa using faith to steal from the people who used faith to put George W Bush in office so he could use faith to steal oil and gas from Iraq's secular government.

These Churches, along with everyone who supported Bush in 2000 and 2004, deserve to lose every penny. I hope the scammers find a new approach so they can keep taking back what's been stolen from the world's colored people by Americans of "faith".

Looks like Christians have been duped yet again! The last scammers name was GW Bush.

I only WISH I had the gall of men like L.Ron Hubbard, Jimmy Swaggart, Oral Roberts, and the plucky lil' Nigerians! All were made wealthy by the shear stupidity of a decent % of the populice. We are surrounded by morons.. is it really that immoral to fleece them?? Please so no so I can put together a plan.

Like no atheist has ever fallen for one of these. Lot of hatred and bigotry shown here towards religious people and republicans. Shows that many democrats/atheists are a an intolerant people.

Why do people fall for these scams?

In a nutshell, it is human nature, and scammers who are very good at what they do. Scammers prey upon a victim's lack of expertise coupled with a willingness to believe. It's impossible for most of us to be an expert on everything from international banking laws to lottery regulations to legal documents to the role of a diplomatic courier. We make a habit of deferring judgment to those who seem better qualified, such as the doctor who dignoses your illness or the mechanic who fixes your transmission. When a scammer who claims to be a barrister, banker or diplomat confidently presents what appear to be genuine legal documents and arguments, it can be very convincing.

I

HAHAHAHAHA

OK, had to get that out of my system. This way to the Great Egress, of your wallet that is. Silly christians. Karma sure is rough when it comes back around.

What a bunch of mean-spirited posters. Is this what NOT going to church produces? At least the church-goers are trying to improve themselves.

Yes, these people are naive, but be careful. I'm sure that there are many stupid things that we all do - we're just fortunate that they aren't all so public.

its a sad thing that these scammers are using the innovative mass use of computers in nigeria for scam. but however this criminals count for less than a percent of the nigerian 150 million population. they are all a result of the economic breakdown, if this abc reportes are brilliant i suggest they ask the efcc in nigeia to contact the internet corporations in nigeria for phishing out these scammers. the succeful scammers have their own computers in their house. these ones in the cybercafe are newbies.

You know people fall on hard times, offers that seem to good to be true usually are. Churches have always been places people have felt you can go to for help, help of all different kinds dependent upon your religion.

The scammer or 419'rs of Nigerian descent feel it is their right in most cases to steal from stupid americans, yes thats what they think we are.

Greed or thinking that they have just won some incredible luck in their lives is what draws them into the scam.

It is not a racial thing at all, it is that the nigerian government is as crooked at the thieves that sit in internet cafe's and pray on the unsuspecting.

I joined a group 7 months ago, that go after scammers in a big way, yes we get them arrested, yes we track them down and have them prosecuted. The Nigerians are heartless and it can happen to anyone, your church, your Doctor, your Mother, your Father, your Best Freind, so before you ultimately judge why someone fell for it.... Just think, it could have been you.

Ann Gillikin, you should probably try to give money to a credible organization, not just random strangers. You could be funding criminals. Please reconsider your donations. Especially with your limited funds and being in a wheelchair.

Her princes have judged for bribes: and her priests have taught for hire, and her prophets divined for money: and they leaned upon the Lord, saying: Is not the Lord in the midst of us? no evil shall come among us.
Micah 3:11

I probably got more than a 100 of these emails. I didn't believe the first one. I deleted right away. To say that this is "brilliant" is dumb. This is not brilliant at all. I feel sorry for the accountant and the church as they'll have other problems in life.

Well, I am glad that some people realize that only a thief will allow themselves to be caught in this kind of act. If someone tells you of a huge amount of money that you did not work for is waiting to be claimed in a place you are not sure of what does this mean to you? However, you are interested in, is that not enough to say wait a minute who has this money. It is unfortunate that this story will receive alot of attention because the church is invloved. But, oh well, there are scammers everywhere. It is only sad that this gives Nigerians a bad name. There are people from all over the world that go to Nigeria to scam them of their wealth, who will report that.

I believe these scams are so popular now that it seems unfair to single out a particular group of people and term them "scammers". People ranging from Europeans to Africans (not just Nigerians) now see this as a great way to make money. I am a Nigerian and it saddens me that being a Nigerian is now synonymous with being a conman. About a month ago, CNN did a similar report where she effectively termed all Nigerians 'scammers'.
Come to think about it, how greedy can you be to take millions out of a country that is still trying to get itself together knowing fully well that if there was any such money, it was stolen?
My advice, be content with what you have and look for legitimate ways to make money. These e-mails have been around long enough for people to have caught on by now.

Hello Ann Gilliken. Assuming your message was genuine, here's your answer:

YES, YOU ARE BEING SCAMMED. Stop sending money now. No, right now! Tell your 'sons' you've become permanently broke and watch how quickly they vanish once they believe you.

All I see on these comments are attacks on Christianity, not much else.

As soon as the country of Nigeria was mentioned I would ceased talking to these hyena's. Serves the churches right. God is not about greed. It's a tough lessson, suck it up.

I agree with everything that hsing lee | Dec 6, 2006 7:50:08 PM said except they need to give me the money, not some Nigerians.

I'm surprised that ABC News allows the bigoted remarks about so-called "greedy Christians" to be published.

It seems that a lot of hate-filled, angry, intolerant people took comfort in other people's suffering.

Can you tell me what George Bush, Iraq and people of faith have to do with Nigerian scammers? Mr. Lee, you are just as much a moron as Mr. Premo to try to use such a fallacious argument to justify the losses of anyone who falls for these scams. Surely, intelligence plays a part, but none of the other things you mention have anything to do with anything...and if George Bush were so good at "stealing oil from Iraq's secular government" do you think the cost of gasoline at the pump would be a bit less expensive?

I cannot beleive someone duped a religious person.

lol, this is the funniest thing I've seen all day!! Serves the churches right, what goes around comes around & all. & anyone who actually gives money to a person who has emailed them from Nigeria. I mean, oops!

The accountant was t best though, "it was absolutely brilliant", I asked them if they believed in Jesus & they told me what I needed to hear to give them the money. How could anyone not fall for that complex trickery.

Basically Jeff my friend, you could win awards for idiocy. Only in America could someone like you actually have a responsible job.

Waaa? Someone exploiting Christianity for their own capital gain? Who woulda thunk it?

Ha Ha!!!!
So all you have to do to scam $350,000 out of those churchy idiots is "confess Jesus as Lord" ?
I knew Christians were stupid but I didn't think they were THAT stupid.
For what it is worth, I think any church that falls for this deserves what they get for their greed and stupidity.
All religion is a scam on gullible morons.

Religion is a pre-filter for scammers.

If you are gullible enough to believe in a magic man in the sky, you are gullible enough for any scam, including trickle down economics, WMDs in Iraq, and Nigerian money scams.

God Bless you all! We are all human and we all make mistakes. It has nothing to do with who believes in God and who doesnt. It just comes down to we are all human and it just so happens that there are some stupid ones out there trying to get your money out from behind you. The only things that God desires of you is a pure heart towards him. May God bless you all! Monetarily and spiritually!

It should come as no surprise that those most willing to laugh at the misfortunes of the weak are not Christians. Have fun in hell, with Darwin.

It's not only churches who get targeted. The scammers scour directories of professional organizations for e-mail addresses. I would have thought that by now most people are aware of these Nigerian scams. Apparently not, if the scammers are still able to cheat people out of billions as the report says.

There are lots of other scams that Brian could investigate next. One is the so-called international lottery scam where people keep winning millions almost every day. That alone should be a red flag. Another scam wants people to be a representative of some company doing business here, collect and transfer money and keep a hefty commission.

Rich hunting grounds for Brian's investigative prowess!

"Have fun in hell, with Darwin."
Bwahahahaha!!! Those of us who are educated are apparently going to hell. Thats Great!!! Thanks "Child of God" I needed a good laugh. I shouldn't be suprised that morons like you still exist. I mean, somebody had to vote for Bush.

I kinda laugh at these folks being scammed. These Christian scam artists have been duping their flock for years and this is just retribution.

Well I do not wonder why Christianity in America has such a poor reputation, but I am a little stunned by the bile being poured out against Christians.
As with any profession (business, faith, or hobby) there are those that make others that profess the same thing look badly. However not all Christians are the same, or even believe the same thing. For all those that think that Christians are different, or know a Christian that believes they are different from non-believers, don't believe it. I am speaking as a Christian (Eastern Orthodox Christian). I sin as others do. I lust, I have greed, I envy, I am at times a glutton, etc.
Christians (mostly Protestant-based, but certainly others) in America have such a superiority complex that puts so many people off, yet they don't see it. I came from agnosticism and converted to Orthodox Christianity partly because of this strange identity that the protestants I knew had.
The danger is to ignore Christianity because of what some/many of its adherents proclaim. Much of Christianity (which I believe Orthodox Christianity has kept) is about our relationships with other humans as much as our relationship with G-d. It is sad to see people who bash Christianity without knowing what can be gained by understanding its tenents. Many people see control and fraud where there doesn't have to be. In Orthodox Christianity there are aspects of control and fraud, simply because we are human and have human tendencies. Our whole life is to fight against these tendencies. Some succeed, some fail, some vacillate, all sin; all fall short.
Freedom and enjoyment of life are found by bashing others beliefs, but in helping them overcome the hardship of life. Orthodox Christianity help me greatly in this, and I in turn hope to help others, not by converting them, but by loving them.

Why is the United States government not doing anything about all these scams? I think the US government should make it a policy to break diplomatic relations with any country that scams US citizens

Dear Sir, i saw your report on the scammers in Nigeria, And feel that it is a bad situation. However, there are lots of scammer in Ghana too. I have been scammed from there. Today i got a email from someone that is saying that they are a sec. of one of the minister of the South African government, and there is a sum of money that they want to send to me. So they can come to the united states to get it. they did not ask for any money yet. I wish i could send it to you. So yopu can follow this one up too.

I find it hard to fight off the welling schadenfreude in my black little soul (hee-hee), reading about this development. Why did I never think to pit the Nigerian email scammers against the churches before? They both operate on such similar principles - finding the little trick to take in people who *want to believe* in something. Want to believe, despite evidence to the contrary, despite common sense. Sure, who wouldn't *want* to believe that a) there's some superior being who will take care of you for eternity if you fulfill these abstract, oblique obligations / b) there's some huge windfall of money just waiting for you to fill out some paperwork and send some 'seed' money and then you'll be swimming in currency for the rest of your natural life - despite the fact that, what the eff have you actually done to deserve any of it? Either way?!?!

Sure, the Nigerian scammers are worse - they're base, greedy and looking out only for themselves, while at least Christians do incorporate memes of doing good works and helping out others less fortunate into their mythos - that's clear, and the church-folk certainly didn't do anything to deserve getting screwed. But it would do them well to look at their own motivations and their own weaknesses - of common sense, of falling prey to greed, of being so willing to toss good money after cheaply given faith - really, of believing so readily that the bare act of having faith in *any* old thing is somehow good in and of itself, thus setting the tripwire for anyone unscrupulous enough to dangle a false idol of generosity in front of them. Being a rube isn't virtuous.

Well, it not something new.Its a money making business.Everybody is using religion for their personl gains. Jesus on a bumper sticker, T-shirts, and other promotional stuff etc
we'll all burn in hell!

Wonders shall never end! Another form of "investigative journalism" that is nothing more than stereotyping! In a country of 150m people, ABC news has effectively succeeded in labelling us all scammers. I hear things like "Lagos being a crime infested and one of the most dangerous cities in the world"! The lagos i lived in for yrs and survived? Is Lagos any more dangerous than Johanesburg, New York, Baghdad? At least kids dont go shooting their mates in school in Lagos!
Someone talked about kidnaps and oil pipelines being blown up every week, at least the kidnapped men are released in good health, try being kidnapped in Iraq! which oil pipelines are blown every week? The ones on CNN?
As for the mugu song, i just heard it for the first time on ABC news and i lived 2002-2005 in that same Lagos!!! So much for the stereotypical mugus on ABC news!

One only has to read the posts contained on this one page to see the caliber of persons who are enlightened at ABC.

OK folks, stop the Christian bashing. This wasn't about Christianity, it was about greed and arrogance, pure and simple.

I don't know any Christian, priests, ministers, religious or lay people, who would be stupid enough to fall for this. They would have trashed that e-mail the moment they got it.

Any idiot who thinks that someone saying "Jesus is Lord" is good enough needs to read the bible - the demons knew who Jesus was.

For those of you who are trashing Christians, what's in your e-mail? These scammers have something waiting for you. Will you be smart enough to trash it?

Our happiness comes from God. We are always choosing happiness, therefore we are always choosing our God. These preachers obviously chose money. Thus money is a false idol for these preachers.

A truely spiritual person who is always choosing the One True God will never fall for this scheme because he will not choose money as a false idol. He will choose Love as the One True God.

The lesson to be learned here is for everyone to go directly to God. Do not go to the false prophets who tell you that you must go through them to reach God. But then I thought we were learning that from all the sexual abuse caused to children by those who proclaim you must go through them to find God.

To find the One True God, sit down and be quiet and still. meditate. close your eyes and feel LOVE and deep as possible. You are now in contact with the One True God who is inside of you. That feeling of Love is God and the feeling is inside of you. You are wonderful because you can experience God Love inside of you.

Obviously you need no one else to experience God inside of you. All organized religions are false idols because they do not teach you this simple truth.

The Nigerian scam gets virtually no traction in Canada yet STILL bilks people for millions in the U.S.

Why is the judgement of Americans proportionately more blinded, whether or not by faith?

Is it lack of education? Culture? Is Canada a nation of cynics?

I truly wonder.

"It should come as no surprise that those most willing to laugh at the misfortunes of the weak are not Christians. Have fun in hell, with Darwin."

imagine that, another self righteous christian passing judgement on the non-believers. I thought only God had that priviledge, but I thought wrong didn't I. I would have a grand time in hell if it actually existed, ignorance is bliss aint it horseonvich?? for the duped churches: what goes around comes around, maybe you should start selling indulgences again to make up for the losses?

I attend Church on a regular basis it's too bad he got duped out of the CHURCH'S money.As the Pastor of a church or Accountant; He should KNOW BETTER! But, he did not get ripped off. The Church Got ripped off. And the Congregation got ripped off! In all Fairness. The Pastor or Accountant should be held responsible for it. And he should Pay it back to his Church and Congregation. I think It was Mr Premo who ripped off the Church by his GREED to make money!

It really disturbs me that so many of you have the attitude you have about religion...could this be why the world is in the mess it is in? If you don't like the way you see some christians acting why don't you show everyone how a true christian should act. There is alot of hypocrisy in the church but religion is the ONLY thing that can save this world!

The vast majority of these comments posted seem to be coming from such intelligent , insightful individuals. And so gracious! Are you this harsh & intolerant with your own family & friends as well?

It's rather ironic that you have people in nigeria scamming people by professing faith in Jesus Christ. No one says, "see! This whole Christianity thing is a fake and Christians are just theves." But that's because we KNOW that the scammers aren't Christians. It's the same in America, we have several people claiming to have faith in Christ so that they can get rich.
Then you have people like me, a true Christian.
Don't judge Christians based on the actions of some "professing" christians. The scammers were professing Christians, however, you know better. Why is it that you don't know better when the "professing christians" are American.
Don't judge all Christian based on the actions of "professing" christians. Don't be so judgmental. If you ever meet a true Christian you'll know that there is a BIG difference between the fake and the true. You don't judge ALL Nigerians as scammers do you? I'm sorry that false Christians have dragged Jesus' name in the mud.

These comments were an educational read. Now I know that atheists are a bunch of arrogant, uncompassionate jerks. What a surprise.

Wow, there are a lot of hate-filled people laughing about the Christian Churches being dupped by Nigeira. Guess what? This could happen to anyone, not just Christians. They were caught in a moment of weakness where a sob story was told and they wanted to believe in the truth of the statements. This could happen to anyone. So stop laughing at the Church and stop making fun of Christians and stop calling them stupid or gullible. You are not any better then we are. I bet you have been dupped a time or two.

Someday we will all pay for our choices, and we all mess up. And educated people do not go to hell, SINNERS do!! God and satan are real, someday you will know that for all eternity. Do not be deceived, God will not be mocked. And yes, I voted for Bush. This is so sickening to read these emails about you who think you have it all together: money, education, etc. I double dare you to read the Bible and seek God and find a Bible believing Church and see how your life can change.

Common sense should dicate if someone you don't know send an e-mail asking for money, it's a scam. Add the word "We're from Nigeria" and it's a no-brainer. I've read about this scam for years, (an received e-mails and faxes from them as well) and I am always stunned that anyone would ever fall for these things, much less travel to a third world country to complete the transaction. Mr. Premo says he is an accountant, but I would seriously question anyone who thought e-mail's from a third world country asking for money were "absolutely brilliant".
He then traveled to Nigeria THREE times? It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure this one out, people!!!

I have very little sympathy for religious nut cases nowadays. Their hearts are in the right places *most* times, but the greed and competition for recognition in the religious community is driving them over the cliff like a bunch of lemmings. That's precisly why I'm agnostic.

I almost was duped too. # 1. I don't know a soul in the Ivory Coast. So that raised red flags. # 2. How in the world does someone in a Third World country, have millions to give to me. # 3. I live in New York City, where someone is trying to hustle, scam, & con you every day. Simple solutions to these scams, it's called an email blocks, spam filters, & last but not least, don't be so naive.

Bwahahahaha? those who laughs last laughs forever. Remember God is not Mocked, for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

All ya'll Christian Hate'rs out there shall one day reap your Hatered of Jesus and His Diciples.

To all those that have posted a message discrediting religion and the power of God, I challenge you to think of a time in the future when the doctors say, "There is nothing we can do for you. You have six months to live." Think of a time when your child or parent is on their death bed or critically ill. It is then when selfish people like yourselves will look for your christian "friends" or that "Magician" in the sky. Be thankful for the christians you know because they are the ones that will be there for you when all your atheist friends are looking out for themselves.

If I were a scammer with no moral hesitation about cheating someone, the religious would be the first to target. An individual that is very devoted to the belief of things that have no supporting evidence, is easily separated from their money.