Software to curb 419 scam

2004-06-03 14:41

Maputo - Nigeria plans to launch software that would help catch fraudsters who send scam letters via e-mail, known as the 419 advance fee fraud, a meeting on the sidelines of Africa's World Economic Forum has heard.

The new technology, which would identify key words used in such letters, is likely to be made available to internet service providers and government departments, Mustafa Bello, executive secretary of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission said.

"The introduction of new software, currently under discussion within the Nigerian parliament, will scan e-mails originating in Nigeria to look for keywords commonly found, especially relating to banking and the country's petroleum industry," Bello said late on Wednesday.

"This will then be removed from the system and even traced back to where it originated, (to) allow police to arrest the culprit," he said.

The e-mail scams, often from "the widow of and African dictator" or a "bank official", promise untold wealth in return for helping to transfer millions of dollars out of Africa. Many originate in Nigeria.

Victims of the scam have lost tens of thousands of dollars, and in some cases been attacked and robbed. They frequently fail to report their losses to the police out of shame and because they have been planning to act illegally.

South African Interpol spokesperson Mary Martins-Engelbrecht told AFP last year that in South Africa alone some 60 cases of advance fee fraud were reported every day.

The message from the "widow" or the "official" will ask for a name, address, bank details, passport and telephone numbers and a promise that in exchange, a major cut from the deal will be received.

The 419 scam - named after the section in Nigeria's criminal code on fraud - works on a simple principle: the victim is kept on the hook for as long as possible, paying money, with the carrot of a huge return at the end.

The cash never materialises and the scammer eventually disappears into thin air. In some cases, victims are lured into a trap, kidnapped and held hostage for ransom.

Bello said however that Nigeria was also trying to address the underlying cause of the advance fee fraud which was "not greed but poverty", Bello said.

- AFP