Nigerian scammers now aided by a better grip of cyber technology have taken their art to a whole new level.I was looking through today's Guardian and I happened on a similarly titled article by Ruben Abati, the object of a cleverly woven scam. Note that social networking sites like this is a heaven for scammers.

http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/editorial_opinion/article02//indexn2_html?pdate=090109&ptitle=The%20scam%20that%20failed

I have always read stories about different kinds of scams that Nigerians have turned into an emergent symbol of the Nigerian national character much to the dismay and discomfiture of the more decent and civilized majority. Professor Pat Utomi's name was once used by some people to solicit for funds. I was one of the concerned friends who quickly drew his attention to the scam. The Punch website was also once hacked into.

The newspaper had to quickly alert its readers. When a story was put out on President Yar'Adua's alleged resignation from office, through the News Agency of Nigeria's official e-mail, it was an astonished nation that was told that this was the handiwork of Naughty Boys. The scammers caused so much furore and discomfort. Yesterday, it happened to me too. This is clearly a case of knowing where the shoe pinches only when you wear it. It is not funny at all.

When fraudsters try to tarnish your image, cause you undeserved distress and malign you, you are forced to wonder why Nigerians are so cruel. There is so much cruelty in the hearts and hands of many of our compatriots. Too many sadists in this land. I was on my way to the office when my phone began to ring. The caller had stated clearly that she suspected that some people had hacked into my e-mail. I kept asking her: are you sure? How? It turned out that she had received an e-mail asking her to contribute a sum of N250, 000 to help save Reuben Abati's daughter. It is pointless paraphrasing this e-mail that went round to nearly all my contacts yesterday morning. Titled "Emmergency" (sic), it is reproduced as follows unedited:

Hello,

This is an emergency , i seriously consider you to help me with sum of 250,000 Naira which i will pay immediately i get back, i am on a Conference in India , I will be back on the 15th of January 2009. My Daughter is seriously in need of medical attention after he was involved in an accident in Lagos , she is now at a private hospital waiting for medical solution and she has been asked to make payment the same above amount before further medical treatment will be continue,

i don't want to loss her. Hope to hear a positive news from you . I

don't want other to know about this, do keep it to yourself, all i need at

the moment is 250,000 as a loan for her medical deposit so that the Doctor can save her life, i can not send money from where i am now.

I am very confused and desperate and i don't seem to understand why this thing is happening to me, i promise to refund you your money immediately i get back home .Please kindly contact the doctor via email

dr.ojolowoonline@googlemail.com or call 070411505005 to know who and where to send the money. I am trusting you that you will do the needful immediately

Regards

Mr Reuben Abati

The first phone call that I received was followed by an endless stream of calls. I practically couldn't do much yesterday other than explaining to people that "i am not on a Conference in India", and that my daughter is not involved in any accident, so she is not in need of a "medical solution." Yes, I don't want to "loss" my daughter, but I am not by God's grace in any "confused or desperate" situation. Concerned friends who immediately saw through the scam reported to me later that they told the scammer to go to hell. They had great fun condemning the grammatical howlers in the solicitous mail.

One very nice guy sent a mail later in the day telling me that he was sure I lack the capacity to write such pathetic prose that flowed from the pen of "Mr Reuben Abati". Thank you sir. But some other friends decided to take on the fellow. They called Dr Ojolowo's line, only to hear some muffled sounds in the background: a kind of indistinct "hello; listening". Others sent mails to Dr Ojolowo expressing concern and offering to help. Such persons were given a bank account number, with a name and address. Dr Ojolowo. What a name! Translated, it means money is like rainfall.

The full name in Yoruba is actually: "Ojolowo ko mo enikan" (Money is like rainfall, it can fall on anyone). Dr Ojolowo and his accomplices wanted a Naira Rain using my name and expressing negative thoughts about my daughter. They wanted a rain of foreign currency too. Their e-mail traveled as far as Senegal, Canada, the United Kingdom, Tanzania, South Africa, indeed all over the world. In an age of technology, the new media of the internet has closed all spaces, and so much good or evil can be transported worldwide within an instant.

I was lucky I got to know about the scam early. So I was told. Friends later regaled me with stories about how others have had either their mobile phones or e-mails compromised. One old man sent N800, 000 to an account when he received a text message telling him that his son had been involved in an accident and money was needed urgently to save his life. There was nothing wrong with his son. Mobile phones and e-mails are used in other parts of the world in a constructive and positive manner. A growing population of Nigerians has turned these into tools of crime and abuse.

We continue to argue about how increased penetration of telephony and the computer could help raise literacy and communication standards in Africa. But the Nigerian is busy in front of the computer using it to naughtyrize into people's mails and bank accounts. Yes, such things happen in other parts of the world too, but the growth of cyber crime in Nigeria is frightening. It is even more so as there isn't in place a proper legal framework yet, or technology, for tracking and dealing with cybercrime in Nigeria. The only "medical solution" that we all need is to beware of the fraudsters in our midst. They cause us so much heartache. They destroy the image of our country. They draw attention to the failure of values in our society. We must render their trade unprofitable by becoming vigilant. Individuals yes. But corporate establishments also, especially banks which may become special targets soon.

I wanted to access my e-mail to assess the extent of damage. Doing so was difficult. The mail box kept telling me that my password was wrong. I eventually managed to access the mailbox after admitting that I had problems with my password. I followed the yahoo prompts. The Naughty Boys had tried to clean up their act a bit. Although their mail was sent to virtually everyone in my mail list, I met only about five of such mails in the sent folder. Further checks revealed an alert from Yahoo indicating that my password was changed at 7. 04 am on January 8, 2009.

I also later discovered that a special bank account was opened around 10 am, the same day, specially for the exercise? And the criminals went to work on my friends and associates soon after. But who knows how many account numbers they actually opened for the purpose. And how many banks they used. And whether anyone has sent money into those accounts believing that I was truly in need. I didn't realize I was so marketable until yesterday. Those guys wanted to turn my name into a cash cow. The idiots. They can't even compose a successful paragraph in English. They can't even spell e-m-e-r-g-e-n-c-y.

But I confess I was rattled. I was shivering, panicking, and trying all possible means to stop people from parting with their hard-earned money. I ended up with instant diarrhea. My cousin, Tunji, who was with me when the news broke had to stay with me for the better part of the day. He left only when he was sure I had calmed down a bit. To survive in Nigeria obviously requires super-human skills and effort. The Naughty Boys had suggested that I wanted a loan. They were going to borrow money in my name from thousands of people. And they used my exact e-mail. The message was sent from my box not a look-alike. There is nothing I hate like taking a loan. My wife thinks that there is nothing wrong with it. But whenever I got persuaded to take a loan to sort out anything, I would immediately lapse into a prolonged bout of insomnia. So, the word "loan" is not a very important word in my private dictionary.

The sad end of this story is that some friends took the scam mail seriously. One of them wrote saying he is "deeply sorry about this matter". He volunteered to "source funds from his friends in high places." Please don't. But the happy side of it all, I guess, is nipping the scam in the bud before much damage was done. My daughter and I also received so many prayers from well-wishers and family relations. "God will forbid any such thing as a motor accident in your life." "God will protect you and your family". "God is on your side, my brother." That God was brought into the matter should not be surprising. God must have heard the name Reuben Abati so many times yesterday, He must have wondered: who is this fellow?

I claim all the good wishes with gratitude. In the nature of things, all the positive thoughts flowing from those illumined souls who responded to the suggestions of the evil-doers, with prayers, had cancelled out the negative thoughts in the scam mail. In the presence of light, darkness melts into nothingness. Tonight, when voices become echoes, I shall pray for those scammers,  And for our leaders that God will touch their hearts so that we can avoid the conditions that have created this army of scammers: Yahoo Yahoo boys and girls.