Why do Nigerians excel at internet scams? Of all the peoples on earth, it seems that Nigerians are always trying to get over. Is it that Nigerians are lazy or sneaky? I honestly do not understand. Because I have been a victim of Nigerian scams, I can testify that the nefarious reputation that Nigerians have seems well earned.

Nigerian fraudsters excel in email spams not necessarily scams. Check the world ratings on online frauds.

Then please explain why Fedex, eBay, Western Union and many other Western entities specifically and often refer and warn against Nigerian scams (see their websites). While the scams often differ, the fact remains the Nigeria is a country seen by Westerns, many Africans and the world in general as a land of misfits and scam artists. Seemingly, Nigerians need to police themselves in order to ameliorate their public perception.

Have you ever read the incidents that occured in Ebay?

For example, Why would you ship a product to someone when you haven't received the funds? Thats not even the issue right now, we are talking about the occurrence ratings, Credit card frauds from New York alone in a month is much more than what the entire Nigerian fraudsters can boast of in a year.

The issue is how much revenue comes from Nigeria in relative to online transaction to be able to accommodate for the possible risk that would occur in accepting payments from that country, Nigeria?

Its more than just the word BEWARE!! its a precautionary measure.

So you condone thievery, and blame the victims?  Hmm, that says alot about you.

Not only that but you are dealing in relativism, which is very self-serving. Such that, the message I received from your post is that "Its ok for Nigerians to steal, because they do not steal as much." How about condemning all thieves and wrongdoers and stop defending bandits simply because they are your countrymen? Patriotism only goes so far my friend.

misanthrop:

So you condone thievery, and blame the victims? Hmm, that says alot about you.

Quote me, do you really understand english?

What a lot of you sympathizers fail to understand is the basic law of fairness, justice and equality. When someone sends you a spam mail for example, its not scam yet , its an offer for you to participate in a particular deal (Whatever the nature might be), which is not necessarily defined in the content, its a business proposal.

Now the spam mail only becomes a scam, after you are a victim of the deal, and lets say for example, someone offers a deal for a mutual "bank theft", you get involved, when actually that bank nor such activity exist. After a while because the capital you laid down for purchasing the equipment for robbing that particular bank was stolen. You shout SCAM !!. How smart is that?

I do not support scam, dont get me wrong, but I guess we are taking an unfair side in our judgements. The reputation of Nigeria today online, is mainly caused by the ramblings of its own people.

I assume that paltry sentence was your reply. Please stay on the subject discussed. Thanks.

misanthrop:

I assume that paltry sentence was your reply. Please stay on the subject discussed. Thanks.

When you accuse someone without any basis or supporting fact for a crime or a stance, does that mean you are sticking to the subject being discussed? Pardon me?

I think you missed my whole point, so I will use smaller words. Here we go, little fella.

1. Nigeria is known for its scams.
2. Why do not Nigerians crack down on the scams, as the Nigerian government is world reknowned for not cooperating with other countries law enforcement agencies to combat such Nigerian scams.
3. This is more than an accusation, as I am a major seller of electronics on eBay, Craigslist and Ubid. While I have been scamed several times (it happens), over 80% of the scammers/thieves, derive from Nigeria.

misanthrop:

So you condone thievery, and blame the victims? Hmm, that says alot about you.

Such that, the message I received from your post is that "Its ok for Nigerians to steal, because they do not steal as much."

That's not what he meant. You asked why those companies have fraud warnings on their websites. Well let me see if I can explain his reply better. Credit card fraud occurs everywhere i.e. New York but it does not warrant a widely publicised fraud warning simply because the volume/percentage of legitimate transactions from New York makes it profitable despite the fraud risk. The volume of transactions from Nigeria is considerably smaller thus the effect of fraudulent transactions is exacerbated hence the warnings.

misanthrop:

Why do Nigerians excel at internet scams? Of all the peoples on earth, it seems that Nigerians are always trying to get over. Is it that Nigerians are lazy or sneaky?

No Nigerians are not sneaky or lazy, certainly not all of them. It just so happens that the scammers believe they can get away with their crimes and so they continue. I'm not excusing their offences but humans are the same everywhere "give an inch, they'll take a yard", and that has nothing to do with race, creed, ethnicity or nationality.

I'm also sure you can testify about the dangers of generalization and tarring everyone with the same brush. You certainly wouldn't want me to assume you are involved in what ever criminal activity is prevalent in your country of origin.

misanthrop:

Why do not Nigerians crack down on the scams, as the Nigerian government is world reknowned for not cooperating with other countries law enforcement agencies to combat such Nigerian scams.

Please join the queue of those waiting for the Nigerian government i.e. politicians to get its act together.

Thanks Mochafella for answering my questions. I may indeed be guilty of generalizing, but maybe because the scams happen so frequently and are publicly known. So much so that, I no longer conduct business with anyone in Nigeria, even though there are honest Nigerians.

@mochafella
Thanks for putting it in more explicit terms for I can't still get to understand how I can relate her so called shops or internet prescence with her experience in regards to understanding the basics of online scams or frauds.

misanthrop:

Over 80% of the scammers/thieves, derive from Nigeria.

That does really speak for your knowledge and understanding

My percentages were based on my own online selling experiences.  Utilize context, as it would really help your understanding.

misanthrop:

So much so that, I no longer conduct business with anyone in Nigeria, even though there are honest Nigerians.

I can only hope you change your mind in the future, 'cause not everyone is a crook.

kazey:

@mochafella
Thanks for putting it in more explicit terms for I can't still get to understand how I can relate her so called shops or internet prescence with her experience in regards to understanding the basics of online scams or frauds.

Well people tend to get pissed when they are cheated. Can't blame misanthrop he/she lost money I guess, we didn't.

misanthrop:

My percentages were based on my own online selling experiences.

@misanthrop
Was I suppose to assume that?

misanthrop:

And please use spellcheck, as your misspelling are appalling and embarrassing.

Thank you for the sentence of caution, for I never realised that I was making mistakes in regards. To err is human, besides whats embarrasing about spelling mistakes? Are you less guilty of such? Dont you know the difference between Spell check and Spellcheck? Or rather let me guess, you forgot to press the space bar. My bad.

Did I strike a nerve? Get over it.

Thanks for your understanding Mochafella. I am indeed trying to get past my mistrust.

misanthrop:

Did I strike a nerve? Get over it.

You really don't fail to amaze me You are very predictive. Let me give you a word of advice, for it seems this is your first time in a forum, when someone is trying to say something, calm down, read carefully and surely you wouldn't need to start trying very hard to provoke that person, to win an argument. If it is really something to fight for. Peace.

Your attempts at patronizing are laughable. Get on with your life, as there are other things besides this website and in particular this post. You have my permission to comment again, as I am sure you will.

misanthrop,

Of course being in Africa, "the dark continent", nothing good will ever come out of it. There are probably more scams coming out of my state of residence, Georgia, than in Nigeria as a whole.

One question I always ask pple like you is this: If Nigeria were that bad, why are companies like Coke, Mobil, Chevron, etc still there? Why are companies like McDonald's planning to be there?

I have been reading an edition of "The Economist" magazine. They supposedly carry economic news from around the world. Interestingly, when it came to Africa this week, they carried a news item about "Voodoo in Benin". Of course, I am smart enough to know that Benin, even though I have never been there, isn't all about voodoo, but I caught the subliminal message - there is no economic news when it comes to Africa. Sad indeed.

The US and other "first world countries" are bad for things too - when I turn on my 6pm news here, the first 15 minutes are devoted to killings, 99% of which are carried out by african-americans. Does that mean I should conclude that all african-americans are mass murderers? Come on now misanthrop. Don't fall for the sole aim of the american media, which is turn your brain into mush. I bet you couldn't mention one positive thing about nigeria but would no what style Brad Pitt used to impregnate Angelina Jolie.

I would strongly recommend broadening your horizon. Perhaps a visit to "the dark continent" wdnt hurt.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0tVY3OJQzM&feature=youtu.be


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XH38k91dL8&feature=related

I would like to add my own view on the laziness part

I would like to say that Nigerians are smart. I have a guy who came to my office needing a webhosting for his site. Guess what, his site is a bank. He would send mails (Spam) to people telling them they have some millions of dollars unclaimed and that the money was about been sent to the person's agent. They were to confirm the transfer or block it to be redirected to their own accounts.

Now these mugus will of course ask them to block the transfers and redirect it to their accts. Thats were the deal starts. Blah blah blah. The story is very log

Now I call that smartness, not laziness. But of course misdirected smartness. It is the scammed victims that are lazy because they want easy food

What Nigerians go through to put food on their table, if you put any white monkey through it they would die in a few weeks -

Now am I supporting scam? Of course not. But the whole ramble about Nigerian Scam is a misjudgment arrived at by the conclusions of its own citizens. You go to asia and see what scam really is and its volume