Nigeria is it still considered as the email scam capital of the world?

 

Nigeria email scam capital of the world

Nigeria is it still considered as the email scam capital of the world?

You have to decide after you finish reading this, the answer may not be far from the truth. Nigeria, is it still considered the Email Scam capital of the world?

You are reading this because you would want to know if the above-mentioned statement still holds.

Or because of an unwritten force propelling your actions.

It is all about the law of causality…

Whatsoever the reason(s) are, that Nigeria is still considered the email scam capital of the world, we may as well explore our options.

What is the law of causality you may ask?

“Everything that happens presupposes a previous condition, which it follows with absolute certainty, in conformity with a rule... All changes take place according to the law of the connection of Cause and Effect”  Kant 1781 

This is the fundamental background to the idea, the coercion, the unwritten force propelling thousands of Nigerians into becoming what the world knows it for… “Email Scam Capital”

So, what are these previous conditions?

Let me tell you about this:

According to the PUNVHNG.com “Debt servicing: Nigeria pays $1.79bn to the world bank, China in five years ”

Where did the money the Nigerian government got from China go to?

Well, am afraid that I’m not the minister of information... Lai Mohammed .

From this perspective, you all can understand the law of Causality in a country that the government and the people in power cannot be held accountably for their dealings with what they are entrusted with- “Drama as NDDC MD, Pondei Slumps During Reps Committeeinterrogation”.

If you take you time to watch the above video, you will hear the statement “Walahi it is deliberate”.

Does this mean that even Nigeria known as the Email Scam capital of the world is deliberate?

Are the senate and the lawmakers in the country refusing to fix pending issues deliberate?

419 A brief history of Where it all started from

I’m a proud Nigerian, to begin with, your thought of me and my country should be objective with room for me to explain myself.

419 A Brief History

Your opinion of me as a Nigerian does not matter, what matters is how I see myself and what I do.

If I’m not breaking the laws, I think am a good man and should be beheld with virtue!

After all said and done, I don’t have PTSD, I can see the world views of Nigerians.

In Nigeria, we all call “Email Scam” “Four One Nine” (419) and there is no fancy way of viewing it or putting it.

“NIGERIA DO EMAIL SCAM BETTER!”

If you are thinking am faking it, let me enlighten you a little “Nigerian Email scammers are more effective than ever”!

This is not pride speaking, rather a unique characteristic of every Nigeria, we learn, adapt, and conquer.

At the very least, we have a track record of ranking 16^th in the FBI’s global worst affected internet crimes.  

I’m waiting for the time we can satisfy the phrase “Veni Vidi Vici ”

That’s when we are the perpetrators of 419, but you all should know, we did not start it.

The world is getting mad for Nigerians are doing email scams better than other countries that thought them the how!

In the country’s defense, here’s how it all started.

A little research of the first documented history of 419 is with P. Crenstils (Professor of Wonders ), after then, Nigerians picked it up and become good at what we do.

My own experience of email scam as a Nigerian

Years ago, I nearly fall victim to my kin in what is called an email scam.

I needed the money, and I saw where I could get ten thousand dollars. All I need to do is to send just a hundred thousand Naira.

Tempting it is, and since they are preying on my weakness, I nearly fell for it.

But I came to my sense when a researched such unseemingly promise.

I dug up the guy’s address and ask him if he wants to scam a scammer.

That’s when he knows I’m well aware of who and what he is.

Of course, he left me alone and faced other people that do not know him.

He never emails me again.

It does not mean I have not seen several email scam letters in my inbox and spam.

Here’s how my kin do it

An email would be sent to you with the promise of a ridiculous amount of money.

But in return, some amount would be asked. 

The emails carry content like this...

This amount is called advance fees payment.

A quick look at this email would reveal that the ridiculous amount promised to you for no reason is fraud.

If you fall for this, you are doomed.

I was able to ignore and be free from these massive scales of online fraud by my kin known as 419.

Countless others were not as lucky but falls, victim to 419 scams.

The perpetrators

The perpetrators of these heinous crimes are popularly known as yahoo-yahoo boys.

Mostly youths, and most of them with a university degree or in the process of getting a degree.

In the past, they are called yahoo-yahoo boyz.

Although the name may have several variations based on what part of Nigeria one hails from.

The crime remains the same.

This group of email scammers' names and practices has evolved into what is called yahoo plus and yahoo plus-plus where voodoo is used in getting the goal in a short time.

In 2017, Nigeria became famous over the internet for internet fraud and ranked 3^rd with the UK and the US leading the chart.

This ranking is based on the involvement of yahoo boyz using voodoo in controlling their customers to give them what they want. Soon after 2017, a known Nigerian has brought back the country into the spotlight of internet fraud.

This fellow goes by the name Hushpuppies.  

Fortunately enough for him, his nemesis caught up with him and the one and only “Africa Hushpuppi pleads guilty to million-dollar fraud in the US.

Why do we have scammers in Nigeria?

Ever since you have started reading this article, you may be wondering why Nigeria is known for fraud better than other facets of life that the country exile in.

Well the country is under siege by some known and unknown forces

Nigeria as a country is facing overpopulation and a failed system of government that sees development and ingenuity as a threat to its way of life.
We shall come to the in a bit, first; 

One-sixth of the African population are Nigerians, with over 45% unemployed youths, 33. 3% unemployment, 21.0% youths’ under-employment.

That's some statistics for the ages if you ask me though. 

These crazy statistics with over 45% of the country’s youths unemployed and unproductive, what does the government of Nigeria want a total of about 90 thousand youths to do.

Well hoping we can have the hot line to the president so we can call to ask him.

Thus far, President Muhammadu Buhari has said it all, Nigerians are uneducated and want to sit home to enjoy free money and utilities….

So it seems, because we are uneducated and need free money, we turn into crime, internet crime of sorts.

Let’s consider the 45% unemployed Nigerian youths

Let’s consider why we have so many Nigerians as internet scammers.

There is the problem, over 90 thousand Nigerians are unemployed.

 The government of Nigeria asked the youths to go back to the farm but neglect to handle the farmers and herdsmen crisis.

Farmers are well aware that the government of the people is not ready to dialogue and resolve “herder-farmer conflicts inNigeria”.

Without these measures put in place, the percentage of Nigerians getting involved in yahoo-yahoo will gradually increase.

The Nigerian government is not interested in public opinion and doesn’t care about its youths.

For starters, “Under Buhari livesof cattle are protected more than humans” 

Image credited to accord.org.za

It does not just stop there, “FG has no more job vacancies, Buhari tells youths” the government are not ready, nor have interest in creating jobs.

They have made it clear “Why the governmentcannot create jobs” .

This teaming mass of unemployed youths cannot stay idle because “ it feels like there’s no hope” and they have bills to pay, people looking up to them, and family to support.

This problem is not particular to the unemployed youth, because even the employed Nigerians are not saved.

They are hanging by a thread “85mNigerians may lose jobs”.

Amidst this crisis, the government of Kaduna state decided to expedite the process by sacking about70,000 workers starting from 2016.

There is no certainty that when push comes to shovel, the youth will not result in violence for survival.

Nigeria email Fraud information from 2009

To this day, Nigeria is still ranking pretty well when it comes to email fraud also known as 419.

As a country, Nigeria is not just focused on 419 scams.

There are other endeavors in life that Nigerians excel in.

And let us focus on how Nigeria is doing on the subject of Email fraud.

Don’t be fooled, but ever since Nigerians came into the game of 419 scams, they excel!

Internet crime complaint center(IC3) of 2013 shows that internet-related crime became pronounced in the year 2009.

Looking into the report “Fraudaffects 25 million people: Recognize anyone you know ” shows that the rate is growing.

That’s why after a dwindling name of Nigeria on the list of an email scam or internet-related fraud.

Hushpuppi brought us back into the spotlight in the year 2020.

How has this affected the young and upcoming Nigerians on how to make money and live a better life?

First;

Email fraud in Nigeria: a menace or lifestyle?

Nigerian prince popularly known as 419 scams is it a menace or an urban lifestyle in Nigeria?

There are no two ways about it,

“poverty is Nigeria's order of the day, the streets are hard, the government is corrupt, no job vacancies without paying for it, but money needs to be made, thus we turn into the life of email scam”

I was born and raised in Nigeria and I have seen my fair share of what poverty can do to people. 

Staving Nigerian Children 

But to the few of us that has gone to school, we are no different from the other guy that has not been to school.

To our surprise, Email fraud in Nigeria is both a menace and a lifestyle…

why?

We are desperate to make money, by hook or crook!

Since the government cannot provide us with jobs after school, we need to pay bills-thus the life of crime.

After turning into the life of crime-life will become hard.

Yahoo-yahoo boyz do celebratesuccess, like every successful businessman, 419 guys also feel the need to celebrate life.

In Nigeria therefore,  419 scam is no longer seen as a menace or societal problem, rather a lifestyle.

As we now have “Mothers ofyahoo boys association ”.

Thus, is the 419 scam a menace to Nigerian society, the world or is it just an urban lifestyle?

Is there any salvation for a country like Nigeria?

Nigeria can salvage its situation

The lingering deeds of a few are preposterous and the end does not justify the means.

The actions of our government, the fight between herdsmen and farmers, the rise of Nigeria to fame-email scammers of the world were because of an underlying problem we inherited.

At first, we could not see it, because it was embedded in the “Chaos Theory”, thus gradually, the pattern emerges and we could tell it is all about Causality.

Now putting ourselves like consciousness, we can see our problems to be continuum.

We could emerge a family built-in diversity which is our greatest strength and weakness to which my kin would not want to adequately put it in its terms and principles… that’s choice.

Nigeria is not bad; there are other things we are known for

Nigeria as a country is known for its population and vast ethnic groups in the world.

We have strength in diversity and that is why we remain as a country.

Even though some may disagree with me on the above strongly, some may wish to strangle me, you can’t deny that we have a Nigerian-made car factory owned and powered by a Nigerian-Innoson.

We are leading the music, some of these collaboration has won awards in different categories with Nigerians. And we are not left in the movie production industries in Africa.

Not to be too full of self, Nigerians are not just scammers, but they are good in other fields of endeavor in life.

Nigeria’s strength as a country

Contrary to the make-believe of the world that Nigeria is divided into the following languages, Hausa, Yoruba, and Igbo-that’s s skewed belief.

The country is blessed with over 560 languages. We drive our strength from our diversity. Something a country like the USA lacks, we have in abundance, strength in diversity.

Nigeria’s problem began with the adoption of foreign practices which are not favorable to our country’s way of life and traditions. This in turns breeds nepotism, favoritism, and my favorite term of the year “my oga at the top”

On a final note

It is an unquestionable truth, that the actions of a few, have to spawn forth the bad name for all Nigerians. For the little faithful ones, I think you can do better and revert the name Nigeria to where its glory is.