British Justice Secretary, Jack Straw, stranded in Lagos with no money and nowhere to stay

It was an astonishing plea for help. A desperate British Justice Secretary, Jack Straw, stranded in Lagos with no money and nowhere to stay. His urgent demand: Please send US$3000 to bring me home.


British Justice Secretary, Jack Straw






To alarmed members of the Blackburn Labour Party who received the email, it seemed strangely out of character for their globetrotting MP to be in sudden and urgent need of a cash bailout.

And so it was.

For Straw, who during his tenure as Home Secretary pioneered a special unit to crack down on internet fraud, had become the latest victim of an online scam.

Straw's constituency Hotmail account was soiled into by what are thought to be Nigerian criminals who bombarded hundreds of his friends, colleagues and constituents with begging messages claiming he was stranded in Nigeria after losing his wallet.

The email, marked The Rt Hon Jack Straw MP, was sent to 200 contacts asking them to help the beleaguered minister. It claimed he had become separated from his wallet while attending a summit called Empowering Youth to Fight Racism.

"I misplaced my wallet on my way to the hotel where my money and other valuable things were kept," pleaded the message. "I would like you to assist me with a soft loan urgently to settle my hotel bills and get myself back home."

One constituent replied, but is believed not to have offered the money.

Straw, who insists he was actually hard at work in Whitehall and oblivious to the demands made in his name, confirmed the emails had been sent to a "significant number of people" in his address book. He denied any security risk.

"I started getting phone calls from various constituents asking if I was really in Nigeria needing US$3000," Straw explained yesterday. "The internet is wonderful in many ways, but these gangs put a lot of effort in because they make money from it. In a lot of cases they do get people to cough up."

© 2009 Newswire

http://odili.net/news/source/2009/feb/25/100.html

Infact, I first heard the news from a Ghanaian colleague at work. And she told me in the presence of other British colleagues as well. I felt so ashamed and embarrassed to be Nigerian!

Nigerian fraudsters at work again

And i say the national disgrace continues!

I think EFCC should use whatever they can even juju to capture these guys. They broke the camels back with this one and someone told me it's already on BBC. One day, they'll hack into Obama's account.

Naija guys no kill me

I cannot stop laffing . . . . this is what tamme was saying last nite

Infact, I first heard the news from a Ghanaian colleague at work. And she told me in the presence of other British colleagues as well. I felt so ashamed and embarrassed to be Nigerian!

Pele. Next time they ask you, tell them you are from Bini/Benin instead of Nigeria.

St.Funmi:

Pele. Next time they ask you, tell them you are from Bini/Benin instead of Nigeria.

If you can deny your country then you are not a true citizen. Besides being a true citizen, don't you think that it can take only one person to change the bad name of a country.As much as it takes Nigeria to have a bad name, I believe if "Pele" maintain a good reputation at his work place, he/she can still change the bad view that some people have for Nigeria.
I still wonder how people come to the conclusion that all frauds are from Nigeria. I'm not arguing about Nigeria frauds but if a teacher can do anything to pleased his students or to be a good teacher, believe me a journalist can say anything to gain promotion. There are many software out there that are capable of changing your IP address and give you another IP from different country(depending on the country you chose).

Let's not jump into conclusion easily.

oh no not again or is this a joke?. 
what is the prove that the folks who did it are nigerians?
they could be using a proxy for goodness sake. ha

in fact this is a joke.

St.Funmi:

I think EFCC should use whatever they can even juju to capture these guys. They broke the camels back with this one and someone told me it's already on BBC. One day, they'll soil into Obama's account.

EFCC?
Must you turn everything into a joke?

Pray, tell me the difference between the EFCC and those yahoo boys?

St.Funmi:

Pele. Next time they ask you, tell them you are from Bini/Benin instead of Nigeria.

For what now? My nationality was already declared before I was employed so won't that make me more suspicious? Besides, I cant deny Naija o, if the boys like, make them soil into Mama Charlie account sef.

Hesperus:

Infact, I first heard the news from a Ghanaian colleague at work. And she told me in the presence of other British colleagues as well. I felt so ashamed and embarrassed to be Nigerian!

roflmao!!

Everyone is so sure its a Naija person responsible. I remember a case in Australia where the person claimed to be Nigerian but when they investigated , the person was actually Australian. He claimed that since people where 'used' to the scams coming from Nigerians, he used it to cover his tracks. Please, some of our people are bad, but lets not throw out the benefit of doubt!

Atimes I wonder if these scammers have brains at all or anything  that looks like it. How could someone like Jack Straw be stranded in Lagos. Their brains could not tell them that there is a place in Lagos called British Embassy where help would come his way. By the way, would the purse have been stolen from Oshodi or Mushin or where exactly.

Another shame even as the tread on Adewale Taiwo is still on. Eeeshh.

Britain is riping what they sow.

Oh God.
These scammers are just foolish; its simple that these people are from Nigeria because they wrote the email and requested that the soft loan be sent to J. Straw in Nigeria. Please, drop all those ip hiding nonsense.
These guys hardly operate from cafes any longer; many thanks to dial up service providers and even the area policemen and bank workers know them when they come for the Western Union and if/when they are caught, its 50/50 with the law enforcement people.
Nigeria this, Nigeria that; this is not an IP address issue but where the request for the money is coming from and will go to. Its our moral turpitude on the line.
Naija; lost wallet indeed!

lmao this is hillarious

But this scam format has been on for a while. See link - http://redtape.msnbc.com/2009/01/post-1.html#posts
Why is it now that a Nigerian did it there is so much noise? Abeg jare, d Nigerian is a corrupt as the rest of the world.
The only difference is dat we do it better - whether good or bad!

But this scam format has been on for a while. See link - http://redtape.msnbc.com/2009/01/post-1.html#posts
Why is it now that a Nigerian did it there is so much noise? Abeg jare, d Nigerian is a corrupt as the rest of the world.
The only difference is dat we do it better - whether good or bad!

Lame excuse for bad rubbish