Scam victim gets $4.5m back
2005-10-07 15:13
Lagos - Nigeria's anti-graft agency said on Friday that it had returned $4.5m to a Chinese woman who was a victim of an advance fee fraud - perpetrated over a five-year period.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission said the money was handed back to 86-year-old Juliana Ching in Hong Kong on September 26 2005 after it was recovered from a criminal gang.
It said: "The culprits have confessed to the crime and repaid the entire sum."
The commission said the suspects would be prosecuted for advance fee fraud, today known beyond Nigeria's borders as the "419 scam" because of a Nigerian judicial reference to such practices, after thorough investigation.
Hundreds of unsuspecting foreigners were fleeced every year by Nigerian fraudsters who promised them dubious business opportunities, often by e-mail, followed by impostures that persuade the unwary to cough up large sums in hopes of making far more.