|
419 Scam – Woman stuck in a Nigerian hotel
In this common scam from Nigeria, the email sender claims to be a woman from the USA (usually) stuck in a hotel in Nigeria. She will tell the victim that she travel to Nigeria to a meet a boyfriend, only to be disappointed and have her money and passport taken away. Unless she can get cash to pay the hotel bill she won't be able to leave the hotel or the country. This sca has been around for many years. In most cases "she" is actually a guy. Once you wire money by Western Union, that is it: You can never get it back and can't find out who received it either, because in Western Union transfers the recipient essentially remains anonymous. If this situation was real, the person in trouble could contact the US embassy in Abuja or the US consulate in Lagos. They would provide emergency travel documents and an airline ticket back home, which would have to be repaid later. There is no legitimate reason to ask a total stranger to provide funds by Western Union in this situation. Never send money to anyone you don't know personally by Western Union. Assume any situation that involves both Nigeria and Western Union (especially if it also involves the Internet) to be a scam, unless you can prove otherwise.
Examples:
Anna Scott (antianna_whitehair@yahoo.com)
It's really nice to hear from you again, I really appreciate your mail....I would Love to tell you a little more about myself, I am Anna Scott single lady seeking for the right person to share my life with, I'd like to start by saying thanks for contacting me,and i most confess when i went through your profile it seem we have alot of common... The following scam was sent from a hijacked Gmail account:
I am in hurry writing you this short message, i traveled to Nigeria and i got my self stranded.I am really stranded in Nigeria because I forgot my little bag in the Taxi where my money, passport, documents and other valuable things were kept on my way to the Hotel am staying, I am facing a hard time here because i have no money on me. I am now owning a hotel bill of $ 1950 and they wanted me to pay the bill soon else they will have to seize my bag and hand me over to the Hotel Management. I need this help from you urgently to help me back home, I need you to help me with the hotel bill and i will also need $2800 to feed and help myself back home so please can you help me with a sum of $4,700 to sort out my problems here.I am sending you this e-mail from the Hotel i am staying and I only have 30 min, I will appreciate what so ever you can afford to send me for now and I promise to pay back your money as soon as i return home, so please let me know on time so that i can forward you the details you need to transfer the money through Money Gram or Western Union.
|