Eric Amoako, a native of Ghana should live Nigerian alone. Why is he linking Nigeria and Nigerians to his ordeal if there is ever any. It is either this story is another make belief on the cheap, or that the Eric is one of those bent or ruining the image of Nigeria for reasons best known to people like him.

There are many natures of this scam. I am a single mother of four children and in my time of strife when I was down and in need, I fell for someone...and it ended up being a scam that ultimately even cost me thousands of dollars, my computer and even a trip to the sheriff's office for questioning as if I was the bad person.
There are many ways that people can get to you. The internet is not a safe place and parents need to guard their children.

I too fell for a scam originating from Nigeria. I purchased a t-cup yorkie from what I was told was a missionary stationed in Nigeria. I was aked to wire $500 to them to cover the transport of the puppy which I did and the day he was to fly out to us I received a call stating that the puppy was being held in customs because the dog needed certain vaccinations to transport back to the U.S. For this they asked for an additional $250.oo. At this time I became suspicious and asked for my money in return of which they said, they had already spent it on school supplies for the children in the mission. I then took it upon myself to contact the American embassy in Nigeria and they told me that nothing could be done that it was a common practice there and it seems that american people are the most targeted because we love our pets so much. he also told me that I was one of the lucky ones that had only lost $500.00 because he was hearing of people loosing thousands for these same type of scams. I have kept all my correspondence with them to remind me never to fall for this again. I was most angry because it was my daughter that was waiting for her new puppy. These people should be stopped.

Money is as money does. America needs the ranks of its idiots thinned out; it is getting impossible to live here with all the greed that permeates daily life. Taking dumb people for their ill-gotten cash is a good first start. Seems like they could use a leg up in Nigeria.

"Give a dog a bad name" Please, the guy Eric Amoako is sitting there making a fool of your knowledge about Africa and his Ghana citizenship. That is the funniest thing. Brian Ross check your facts before you allow some one take you on a scam while investigating a scam. lol. Next time get a Nigerian to identify just the voice. We have accents but, it is unique due to Africa's different languages.

I am Nigerian and these types of scams have been going on in Nigeria since the 80's the internet only made it easier to export overseas .

The scam is not pure robbery because it basically involves some element of GREED and an agreement by one or more persons to knowingly break the law.

Most Nigerians in Nigeria and Overseas have been 419'd (scammed)by other Nigerians at one time or the other .

THERE ONE RULE TO LIVE BY -
If it s too good to be true just RUN

THis eric guy is not a ghanaian..He is a nigerian posin as a ghanaian...You can tell a ghanaian accent from a nigerian..please....

This guy is not Ghanaian. I can tell from his accent he is not.He is still carrying on the scam by scamming you, abc. I hope you are not paying him for his story. Please verify his citizenship.This is a higher level of the nigerian 419 scam. WOW

That's groovy that Eric came clean and is helping you with your story now, but he is a criminal and should be in jail. As a responsible journalist did you report him to the police, FBI or immigration? If so, have they taken any action?

The Nigerian Scams are creating a bad name for Nigeria as a whole. I've receive the phishing scams for at least 5 years now, most are very creative and others are simply stupid.
Once I received one and used by technology experience to help the Canadian and United States Governments track down a few of the members of one of the scam groups and they were arrested and jailed. I received a confirmation message from the police saying so.

I blame the Nigerian Government for letting this take place and not informing their people, well enough, of the impact this kind of issue has on International Relations.

hello america
there is no one to blame but yourself.we have done alol we can let the public know opf these scams.it all boileds down to greed.get rich quick,without doing the work.

I do not feel sorry for the people that fall for this scam or any of the other scams that show up in my email inbox including the "Your email address has won the Lottery" and promises of money through my email. If it is too good to be true then it is not true and the idea that I won something simply by having an email address is suspicious to begin with. Also, the State and Federal governments do not contact you via email they contact you via snail mail to your home mailing address.

I am also amazed at the number of educated people that fall for this scam. Book smarts are obviously no replacement for common sense. If you are so naive to fall for these scams you deserve what may happen as a result. Maybe your greed and/or lack of common sense will teach you a thing or two about yourself and you will learn something from losing a few hundred or even thousands of dollars.

There is no way this guy is from Ghana. I know most Nigerians acquire Ghanaian passports to enable them travel since their own passports immediately raises a red flag. If this guy is really baring it all, then i guess he should be investigated and deported and this is only where you will know whether he is a Nigerian or a Ghanaian.Citizens of both countries have unique features and this guy does not look anything Ghanaian. Nigerians are known for their scam and so he should not tag Ghana along.he is only talking now because i guarante he had not had his fair share of a booty. Ghanaians do not use the word (mugus). It is a Nigerian jargon.
I have personnally received over twenty emails from these fools and yes if you are not smart they will scam you big time. They are crafty and very convincing. which nigerian as i know them to be will need someones help from another country to move millions of dollars. These guys think they are smarter than any other race on this planet.yes the US is cracking down on thwm and more needs to be done for their tentacles spread far and wide.

Does this mean I'm not going to receive the 2.6 million helping a politically persecuted family whose father was murdered by the currupt government and is now simply trying to escape the dictatorship of their homeland by moving their oil earned assets to an honest American that they never met?

Internet scams originating in/going through Nigera are pretty common knowledge... I don't think anyone is "picking on" the entire country and ruining it's image. What does the fact the guy was born in Ghana have anything to do with the internet scams? People from other countries can go to Nigera, too, you know.

this guy should be locked up, just like the people i am meeting very soon. they plan to show me there little red dye presentation and i cant wait! hey did that doctor ever get his money back? or was he just made to look like a fool on tv and still out his hard earned cash?

I work for an international shipping company and I hear about these scams all the time from my customers who have sent money to people they don't know. Also I've heard of scammers going on oline dating services to bait loney women to resend stolen items to not just Nigeria but Gambia, Ghana, Togo and Liberia, so watch out all.

I met someone on e-Harmony that turned out to be a Nigerian scam artist. You should do a show just on these dating website scams. Luckily I was smart enough to see MANY inconsistencies in his story and realized what he was doing - the last straw was when he asked me to wire him $300 because he needed to buy blood for a 13 year old boy he had accidentially run over on his way to the airport. What an idiot! I can laugh about it now. If Nigeria is mentioned in any way, shape or form - I suggest you RUN the other way.

Is this scammer truly a citizen of Ghana or a Nigerian? Please check that fact. Since this is a crime, is there going to be a due process? Or how is he going to be held accountable for his actions?

Nigerian or Ghanaian scam,which is it,or is it a combination of both?
Once a time,some people in Florida use to send out junk mails informing you that you have $10million but you need to send a specify amount of money to claim your once in a life time winning.Is that not a scam!

I was almost part of this nigerian scam too. An investment banker claimed that a distant relative left a large sum of money in a bank account and we are the only relatives he has been able to locate. Well, thank god i was smart enough to question him and sense something fishy. He's still trying to contact me and if he trys again, he better expect a few choice words for him and his croonies.

I thank the man who came forward and will hopefully save alot of people who may have gotten caught up in this mess.

I'm just glad I don't need Dr. Sloan to perform heart surgery on me. I am just a simple homemaker, living below the poverty level in North Carolina. I have received at least 100 of the e-mails from Nigeria, among other places and as desperate as I am to be able to support my son, and live a decent lifestyle, it all comes down to remembering one thing I heard a long long time ago. "If it sounds too good to be tru, it probably is"

I have stayed in Ghana for some years and have friends from that country. There is no way that scammer is from Ghana. I love ABC but, very disappointed for being scammed again. If ABC is really concern about its viewers opinions, Brian Ross should reinvestigate to establish the true citizenship the that man?

I cannot tell you how good it made me feel to see someone like Eric Amoako not only feel sorry for his actions but repent. If you would, please convey to him that I would like to work on a legitimate project with him. I a fully aware that skeptics abound, but being a religious man, he will appreciate what I mean when I say that even King Manassas repented. And thanks to you all for a wonderful evening of great stories.

It's hard to believe that people actually fall for this crap.

Nigerians are clever. I worked for a major credit card issuer in from 1990 to 1994 and we were fully are of the Nigerians being the orginators of "Identity Theft". Some of the actual phone calls I got were from the perpetrators themselves trying to disguise themselves as the actual cardholder to obtain the pin number of the card. During the early 90's the credit card industry treated this largely growing problem as a hush-hush issue which didn't need to be publisized. Uthe problem has now grown to what it is today, but orginally imported from Nigeria.

The effects of capitalism and western greed, trying to get ahead isnt easy so dont fall for such stupid scams

I think i am in the middle of a scam like this one how do i exposed the scam and or scammers.

Good story, but this man is obviously not from Ghana, just a man from Nigeria who is trying to save his hide. Why don't you tell about the romance scams that they are running too?

Brian Ross: What ever happened to the old addage:"If it sounds too good to be true!" As this Nigerian Scammer said, it's Greed! The Have a lot people are never satisfied unless they have more. Here I don't have anything, living on Soc. Security Disability, and I don't fall for this stupid scam, I just forward the properties of these email scam's to the proper authorities as these people are the smart one's, not the Doctor's and Lawyers who are taken. These folks who are greedy do get what they desrve, Ripped Off. Old saying from where I come from, "Brain's of an ass, and twice as stupid.

I am trying to rent a room in my home and receive email daily from Nigerians who want to send me cashiers checks. It is always more money than the room rent and I am supposed to return the balance to an address in Lagos Nigeria. The women are all models, working for humaniarian purposes, but moving soon to the US and want to rent my room. I am disgusted by it all. We Americans must look like easy targets ready to be duped. I wish something could be done to stop this. It is giving Nigeria a very bad reputation.

I still believe that the romance scams should've been covered for more than 2 billion in US dollars is lost to them and it's flying under the radar due to the concentration on 419 scams, and the public is less sympathetic to people losing their money due to greed.

The public needs to be alerted to scammer profiles from areas like Texas and Virgina and surrounding areas, and especially the African American communities need to be alerted for we are romance scammers biggest targets, but won't fess up to have being scammed due to pride or whatever...

As i sat on the couch watching this i thought to myself "what idiot would actually fall for this??". That dr. deserves to be robbed and lose a ton of money for being such an idiot, as do all the other people who fall for such stupid stuff. Shows the lack of common sense in america if you ask me.

unfortunately, Eric is just a little representation of a large Nigerian scams. i am sorry, but i was stupid and fell for a American girl that was supposedly stuck in Nigeria. she kept at it long enough to make me believe her and eventually sent her money to help her out. it started w/ 100 then at last $500 so she can get back to the States. there are plenty of girls on the net who would tell you that they need your help and they are all stuck in Nigeria, with both parents deceased, and alone in the world. beware !!!

Here's a comment for Ohkay: Considering the number of Nigerians who do get arrested for criminal activity, and there have been several in my town, Nigerians do a good job themselves of ruining Nigeria's reputation. And anyone who knows anything about international news and politics knows that the Nigerian government is, most certainly, one of the MOST corrupt governments on the planet and probably tops the list. Also, I've meet far too many dishonest Nigerians to accept what you say.

Fools and their money are soon parted & it serves them right. It's greed.
Why not use your pc for study, learn something new and use that to EARN money.
That's the only way I've ever got money & I don't see it changing.

I worked for a relay company that normally helped the hearing impaired communicate with the hearing. Anyways even though we knew the calls coming from Lagos Nigeria we were to continue the calls anyways. It was so hear wrenching to have to call up tire companies, cell phone companies, pharmacies and try to buy hundreds of thousands of dollars of merchandise. The thing that got me was that these were legitimate companies we were calling. Once the person using the tele-typerwriter would provide many different cards until one the credit card numbers went through you would think that would raise a red flag and the hopefully the people would hang up. Nope they would continue the call and next thing you know we are on the line with fedex or dhl setting up the delivery. This scam is a lot deeper than the so called black money scam. I receive those emails and they even go on myspace looking for victims. I just ignore it. There is no easy money you really have to work for it nothing in life is free.

Do not be tricked by this Eric. The truth is this, he is from Nigeria and not Ghana.
As A Nigerian living in the US, I feel bad when ugly news emanate form my country. Why that guy is not sitting in jail is still a mystery to me.
Another issue is this: US government should track all funds emanating from Nigeria. Nigerian Government Officials steal public funds bank them in US, UK, Swiss and other places thereby leaving the poor masses unattended to.
Thank You.

I am shocked and suprized SO many people can isolate the motivating factor for being taken for a 'ride' by these Scammers, Yet, NONE of Them are willing to "look in Their Own" Backyard!

I agree, for the most part, Those scammed are suffering from greed, But yet some are just plain desperate!

My point being, We, As Americans, NEED to STOP laying blame on Other Countries UNTIL We CORRECT the Problems We have in Our OWN Country: I believe in the saying "If it sounds too good to be true... It probably is" Yet We so conviently forget this one: "Lead by Example"!

I am delighted to finally see the news media beginning to cover what has amounted to a crime spree on any and every Internet dating site or chat room you can name.

In working with victims of this crime, primarily out of Nigeria as well as Ghana, for over a year the Victim Resource Center, as well as numerous other Internet anit-scamming groups, have been doing their utmost to try and educate the media as well as the legal community regarding this tragedy.

Unfortunately, too many times the victim is brought into the legal system as the criminal, when their only crime was in trusting someone they were led to believe loved them, and were trying to help out of the goodness of their hearts.

Shameful and embarrasing from both sides of the pond.

I have a very interesting tale to tell ABC News and I would be willing to go on camera without being paid. I t concerns people who are subjected to electronic intrusions on their privacy both at home and in the office.

Americans are idiots to be scammed time and time again. Unless the Nigerian government step up to clean house or the US government should stop all mail and internet connections from Nigeria.

I too did get an e-mail about getting money from someone saying the were from Nigeria. They stated that they needed someone to open an account and I would get a share of money. With the problem of idenity theft theses days it's easy for someone to use information to "clean a person out". So it anymore of you "not so smart" people send money so someone from Nigeria. It's your own loss.

There are lots of scams in the U.S, UK, China, Nigeria, pretty much every where. Do not just single out one country that is not fair. Someone stealing ur identity is a scam, someone telling you to click on something a win a thousand dollars is a scam. The people that believe this things are the ones that are the true scam artist and thief because they want to get something they did not work for. American's are scammer, Chinese are scammers, British are scammer, as you can see its not fair to label a whole country with one word. There are honest people and there are dishonest people no matter what country you come from, so dont label an entire country by just one person.

While i do not condone scamming, I do think the searchlight is being beamed on Nigeria and the scammers. Scamming generally requires two very major factors to work - smartness( on the scammer's part) and most importantly GREED on the victim's).STOP THE GREED AND WE SHALL HAVE NO NEED FOR THIS EMBARRASSMENT.

What's all these noise about Nigerians and 'black money' scams.I think it the greed on the America's side that is causing all this problems...how can you as a person want to claim such amount of money and safe-keep it for the Nigerians that sent you the mail in the first place?..do you think if it's geniue that they will give you such amount to keep for them?..it's all about greed..it's time people in America should be content of what they have and not to be looking for a fast way to be Bill Gates.I want to say too that there are more white scammers than the ones from Africa cos any person who want to collect such amount of money from Nigerians is also a scammer!

Anyone who says they are not sorry for the people duped by such scams is probably running scams of their own.. there are a lot of reasons why people are lured or tempted by the promise of easy riches and the "greed" unsympathetic types speak of could be desperation for very good reason.. consider Katrina.. and don't be so quick to judge.

I was scammed by a man who claimed to have lost his wife in a car accident and he was on an oil rig out in the ocean. He contacted me on my space. He then got to know me and told me about his daughter needed medical attention in Africa. She was staying with her grandma and supposedly fell and hurt her shoulder. Just thinking about the children in Africa and dieing all the time from sicknesses I then fell for his scam . I kept telling him I felt unconfortable about it. And he persuaded me and made me feel sorry for him and his daughter. Finally after a few days I sent money to Nigeria to his so called brother in law So he could give it to the doctor. I finally realized after that he was a scammer and he still tryed to get money. I told him off several times. He then wanted me to get an account in my name so he could transfer money into it. That was the end of the line with me. I know for a fact he is still using other screne names to scam other people. I still have my western money transfer reciepts to prove it. I learned my lesson and will never fasll victim to another person who scams.

I'm shocked and appauled by the unadulterated condemnation of Nigerians as a wholeby such an overwhelming majority of correspondents.
I'm a NIGERIAN who's been in the US for 25yrs. In that time I've been scammed, burglarized and cheated no less than 50 times. Of those 50, only 3 were by Nigerians; the rest were all by Americans.
I have met some wonderful people, and I have met some that I thought were total scums and have found out, in my experiences, that bad; wicked; criminal; or even good behaviours know no NATIONALITIES or SEX or RELIGION or CREDE or SEXUALITY.
NIGERIA is a nation of 130 Million people. To condemn all NIGERIANS and brand us all as crooked because of the greedy, selfish act of a few repeat thousands; is down right ignorant and foolish. I HAVE NEVER, NOR WILL I EVER, CHEAT, CON, STEAL FROM, DO HARM TO AN UNDESERVING PERSON IN MY LIFE. I LIVE A RIGHTEOUS DESCENT LIFE, BUT I'M A NIGERIAN. Most NIGERIANS are good people. The few bad ones are well organized and are serious REPEAT OFFENDERS HAULTED ONLY BY PRISON OR DEATH. Their first and MOST FREQUENT VICTIMS, ARE GOOD, DESCENT NIGERIANS.
BOTTOM LINE: If you grow up poor, destitute and desperate in any inner city on earth, and a criminal gang comes along in your neighborhood offerring you lots of money and financial freedom and all you have to do is rob, cheat and con total strangers; most young people in that situation will bite.
I grew up in a home town/village where we felt a sense of kinship to our neighbors and all human beings. Our up-bringings wereperfect. We were taught to treat others as we would like to be treated and thats how I still live today. THERE ARE MOSTLY GOOD NIGERIANS LIKE MYSELF OUT THERE. YOU ONLY HEAR ABOUT AND SEE THE BAD ONES. DO NOT CONDEMN ALL OF US.
Kevin, "OGASA".

First of all, crime in any shape or form is a crime, these crimes have no color or nationality. I do no support any form of crime but remember it takes two to tango. I was born in Nigeria and I am an Engineer and an American citizen. My point is there are lots of honest, educated and hardworking Nigerians in Nigeria and I wouldn't dump everyone in the same basket. America is the capital of drug consumption but not all Americans are on drug, most violent crimes are committed in USA but not all Americans are killers, remember there is always Judas in every twelve. Someone tells you that there are millions dollars to shipped to you and you readly agreed to accept without working for it, common think about it. Let us face the fact and stop castigating others. America needs to educate the people about these kinds of fraud, Nigeria should work hard to educate people about it too. For that scammer called Eric, he should go ahead and make a serious effort to refund those victims their money if he is genuinely sorry, he should take the FBI, CIA, EFCC to those scammers he claimed to know and have them arrested then I will believe him. The worst part of these circus is that some other nationals get involve in these crime but claim to be Nigerians. I have recevied similar emails from Europe,Asia, and middle east.

I am glad this is grabbing greater spotlight. I have warned people against falling for these schemes only to have them not believe me. Then, they lost tens of thousands behind these schemes. I am hoping that with this greater exposure people won't have to learn from experience.

I have got a lot of stamped mails with my correct names on envelopes stating that I had won lotteries in Las Vegas or elsewhere; lotteries I never ever played at all. The simple common sense restrains me to take any action for something I did not invest in, let alone a simple effort. I would like ABC to investigate this scam and many others that are ripping many americans and immigrants their poorly earned 20$.

If it sounds to good to be true- it probably is. By the way if you look at the line where it says "TO" (i.e. your recepient address) and your email address isn't there- it should set off an alarm

I as well was almost a victim of this internet scanning. I had several people from Nigeria email me telling me this story about how they lost their wallet or got robbed and their son/daughter was in the hospital and that they needed money to be able to get their child out of the hospital. One of them went as far to say that his daughter was beat up by the robbers. These people should be behind bars. These people are good at what they do and make you feel sorry for them. But, I did not fall for their game.

Brian Ross, going after the lowly 419 scammers is not worth the time and effort. Your time is better spent by investigating the Leaders of Africa and the American banks that help them stash away stolen funds, or the Big Oil companies that fund these theives!

Brian Ross, do these scams honestly affect you? it would be best if a man like yourself would investigate how (and why) americans should help nigerians, instead of teaching your average well fed american citizen how to isolate the factors that are caused by the desperate situation in nigeria.

I don´t condone scamms, but everything is done for a reason...and yours is not good enough.

i fell for a job scam where they send you money orders tell you to kept 10% then deposit them into your account, withdraw the cash send cash by western union. then they bounce. your left with owning the bank the full amount of the money deposited and bank fee plus western union even take down your ss# for amount over $1000. plus i think you'll owe taxes on that money?. i even waited for the bank to release the funds, i just didn't wait long enough until the next bank rejected them leaving my account
$3848 in the hole.my best advice is never answer e-mail you don't know who they are from period.also you can check post office money order online or by calling the toll fee number. turn them over to thr post office if the money orders don't match there record.

On Saturday I received and email from one of these scammers. He stated he was an auditor from Bank of America in Burkinafaso (Africa)and his name is Tom Ougar. Apparently he doesn't watch TV (or 20/20)! I watched the show a few nights ago and am very glad you are bringing this to the public attention. Even though I would never fall for this I can see why some people could be vulnerable. Like the saying goes-"If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is."

My local library hired someone from Nigeria around the time of the 04' elections. People can file their voter registration here. I wonder if this person took advantage of a job here in order to get information to scam others?

Employers beware.

This guy is a complete idiot.
He got caught & feels little remorse I hope his public embarassment makes up for his lack of empathy for all the people he ripped off.

I have just been SCAMMED out of $3800 by cashing and transfering funds. Please help me I can't pay my mortgage this month! From New Jersey

Hi my name is jennefer and Im from Montreal canada 2020 couverd a story called Exclusive: Confessions of an Internet Scammer
well funny as it is iv gotten about 10 email from people from that country asking me to help them bring money to canada they claimed all i need to do was email them with my acount info along with my adress and some other info.. well i almost feel right into there trap.. I had to run to the store i said i would email them as sone as i got home. then that night your story aired.. I wanted to thank you for airing it with out you guys i would have been on of the victomes of the frod scam
thank you one again 2020

I have some information about the nigerian scamers on ebay. I even have a check from them. There is no one to give this to.

Your story seems to have had at least one effect. The 419 scam stories that have been hitting my computer are now using South Africa and Great Britain as the scammers home address.

I, have been contacted through email, form one of these scam artist, they have requested that I relieve an insurance of 9 million dollars for a deceased member of my family, which is not really a member, the person just has the same last name as I. They also informed me that they would provide the documents to prove that the deceased is a member of my family. These scams are still going on. Instead of Ghiana, it was Malaysa and someone with and asian name. I do not know who is doing this but it needs to be stopped asap.

And I have been to Ghana too when I was in Africa; and the first thoughts I had when I saw the clip was 'but this guy is Ghanaian!' I actually came to this site to say so but found an already going conflagrastion. Yes Nigerians commit fraud and scams and so do people in the UK, Amsterdam, USA who do it more professionally through web sites especially these work from home ones. They tell you to buy a package and when you do it all turns out to be a whole package of grammar and jargon without the purported genius idea that they wanted to teach you! Are those not scams too or is this one special because it has an African hint? Americans go to Africa and dupe Africans of their Gold and natural resources too but nobody hears anything about it. Here one is not trying to glorify the scammers but it is a worldwide phenomenon. It even originated from the west. Now they seem to be on the receiving end. All in all scams of any nature is bad stuff and should not be encouraged. I too get these same scammy e-mails, but why I am I not complaining, simple, I am not as greedy as most Americans are. And I do not think that Africans are foolish and stupid people who could easily be duped out of their resources or money as many people from the west do! This scam is rudimentary but the scams that Americans and Europeans do through tv, radio, lottery etc are too sophisticated so for that they are overlooked for what they truly are. A scam is a scam. This one even plays on your greed but the western scam a ripoff

When an e-mail is received has anyone noticed that it does not have any originating address? Except when you are computer savvy and check the IP address. As I post this article I have stopped to send myself an e-mail, have gone to check it, and since I did not sspecify where it was sent from, there is no way I could tell the origin! So how do we really know that all these purported Nigerian e-mails are really Nigerian. Is someone somewhere not cashing in on a very easy plot here and ripping people off, posing as Nigerians as Nigeria already has a bad name? I remember sometime ago when some Africns, especially Ghanaians were always being rounded up ith original Nigerian passports which bore fictitious name that they use to commit fraud. Oner person was actually bold enough to ask me how he could obtain a Nigerian passport. When I asked him what he needed a Nigerian passport for, he said he loves Nigeria and would really want to be Nigerian. But I knew better! There is a lot here than meets the eyes. Almost every black person would say he is a Nigerian when the going gets tough so as to save his htrue identity. Some Nigerians also have been known to claim other citizenships especially in Europe when they need Un papers during asylum. So even though THIS fraud might have originated from Nigeria, it has taken an international nature. Only true investigative journalism would eradicate this phenomenon and the bad name it gives Nigeria.

I receive at least 5 of these emails every day. I have tracked some of them and most of them are originating from a yahoo email account. I have emailed and tried to contact yahoo about all of this. It seems to me that they should be as intersted in stopping this as everyone else is. It is definately giving their site a bad name. Even though these emails are obviously scammers it sounds like many people are falling for it. I hate to say it but it has to be because they are all looking for the "easy buck". The only adivce I can offer is that "if looks to good to be true........it isn't real" and there are "NO FREE RIDES". Most of these emails start off with an offer of giving you someone else's inheritance! How much integrity can any business have that is making an offer like that? Either Americans (and I am one) are just too greedy for their own good or we're all too gullible, either way it's time to get smart! The internet is as safe as any other media but everyone needs to use common sense and stop looking for the "get rich quick" brass ring on it!!

Egwu, i liked your comment about all this. It really does involve some element of greed between both parties. How can you help someone claim funds that you know does not belong to niether you or that person. I'm also sick of people trying to play those that fall for the scams as victims. There are lots of crimes everywhere especially her in the US, why can't it just be that people are getting scammed, why label them (Nigerians. But let me guess, a certain race are getting scammed and now its something to cry about when the knowingly and willfully participated in something they knew was a scam. For the records, im a Nigerian, born and educated in the states, i do not support scamming people of their hard earned money, but i do have a problem when you try to make it seem like only these group of people are scamming "Americans".

what is so special about scam scam scam and linking scams with nigeria? the americans are more involved in scam n drugs. they should think of how to re shape them selfs b4 condeming others. what about spywares and internet virus 99percent coming from americans, the whole world is bad, america is saint, rusbish!!!