₦airaland Forum

Dear Naira Land Users,

Am Segoye2, I reside in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria and a citizen of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

I read through all the contributions we have on this thread and I want to say a big thank you to Mr. Admin for putting up such a great topic. But when we talk about scam, I believe is not restricted to the yahoo yahoo, as people back here call it, but, has its root in the sand of the most honest men of our country.

Like in the case below, you will discover that almost everything in here is scam, if you don’t accept it now, I believe someone close to you, soonest will make you accept it.

I quite appreciate the great wave the Nigerian immigration has taken into ensuring that Visa, Passport and other immigration issues are tackled easily online, which means every processing would be very fast and easy to make.

I want to report a case that has been given me concern, and as a citizen of this great nation, I felt such shouldn’t be heard or seen, even if heard before, shouldn't be now again. I wish to report to you the Nigerian Immigration Passport Continuous Extortion of money from Innocent Nigerian Citizens.

The fact that International Passport Application can be done on internet, from the comfort of your home or a registered cyber cafe is no more news to an average Nigerian, and is a welcomed development, and we citizens appreciate the brain behind this great project.

A friend of mine, who currently works with the NNPC Medical as a Laboratory Technician is scheming for admission abroad, and as part of the requirement for any international student, we, with the information on online international passport application which can be done at www.immigration.gov.ng, we bought a card from UBA bank which we got at the actual amount spelt out on the immigration site (5,100), and we applied for the international passport online just as advertised / instructed and made the payment and got not only an interview date which was re-scheduled by us because it was too close but got the application payment slip and acknowledgement page alongside. And Asaba Passport office was selected as the Passport Interview Venue.

Below is an extract from the Nigerian Immigration Website;

General Procedures For Passport Application:
1. Applicants go the Immigration Web portal, Click on the 'APPLICATIONS' link.
2. From 'APPLICATIONS' click 'APPLY' under Passport Application Home.
3. Select Passport Type From the Drop down list and select the type of Passport you want.
4. Click The 'Start Application' Button to start the application
5. Fill the Passport Application, check the 'I AGREE' check box then click the 'SUBMIT APPLICATION' Button
6. From 'SUBMIT APPLICATION' Click on the 'Here' Link to view and print the 'ACKNOWLEDGEMENT SLIP'
7. Click the 'Pay Online' button to pay for the Application, Then choose your mode of payment then Click 'CONTINUE'
8. View a summary of your Application, Then Click 'PROCEED' if information is correct, a payment window Opens
9. A message will Appear to show if your payment was Successful or Not
10. If Successful you can view and print the 'PAYMENT RECEIPT'
General Documents to bring along for the interview:
*ACKNOWLEDGEMENT SLIP and PAYMENT RECEIPT Showing Passport must be printed and brought along to the Passport Office
*A letter from the applicant's Local Government
*Applicant's Birth Certificate or Age Declaration
*Applicant submits Two recent photograph (no laser copies), passport size bearing the full face
Standard Passport Application Requirements:
1. A Guarantor's Form signed by a Magistrate or a High Court judge.
2. Parents' Letter of Consent for minors under 16 years.
3. Marriage Certificate, where applicable.
4. Husband's Letter of Consent for wives.
5. Police report in case of loss of old passport.
6. Applicant submits application with supporting documents to Passport Control Officer (PCO).


Contrary to the information supplied above from the Nigerian Immigration Site, when she got to Asaba on 7th of May as was on her Interview date, with the documents she was asked to come along with which cost her lots of stress to travel to her local government to get the documents, she was bounced back by the immigration officers operating the Asaba office, they claimed she would have to pay an Extra 6,000 (six thousand naira only) outside that which she had already paid to the bank, She was played around by not only one immigration officer but about four of them, one even collected her documents and went into the thin air after he promised processing the passport with 5,500 (though she retrieved back her documents + the card she bought at UBA from the supposed immigration officer that collected it from her on 14th).

The officers gave out their number and even some gave their complementary cards, we felt this is unnecessary extortion that needed attended to. And personally, I felt if their is need for more fees to be paid as they claimed, then, it should be spelt out on the Nigerian Official Immigration website and anything outside that is another level of scamming the Nigerian Community and nation at large.

The Interview date was re-scheduled for 14th May, after she was turned back to her base which is about 2 hours journey. When she got to the passport office on 14th May 2007, to the shock of my life, she was told that if she doesn't pay 5,500, nothing would be processed she’ asked to go and get someone else that would attend to her. Though I already asked that a receipt should be issued for the 5,500 which I believe / hope they would issue. But, a receipt was not issued, they claim they don't issue receipt, As at 14th May 2007, about 144 paid this undocumented fee, which I believe our great national corruption / scam baiter should probe them for this act, I still asked myself where is this whole money going to? I wonder how some persons / group of persons would be stealing with their conscience on, and above all, I still wonder the authenticity of this whole passport exercise.

I want you to use your good offices, see to it, that this injustice and unecessary exploitation / extortion of our community is stopped, if not on the case of this innocent citizen, but on other innocent citizens that even to raise the 5,100 is already difficult for. And I want to say, as a citizen of this country, we have, I have right to say No to this money extortion. I have right to say, corruption has to STOP!

I later received a call from a friend in far northern part of the country and he made me know that this whole issue is as old as the Nigeria Nation itself and it a nation wide issue. And to me, this whole extortion exercise has to stop, for the sake of our future, our history. And outside this great extortion process, Would you believe that our children and young people are being killed for rituals every minute of the day in Nigeria?


Many of the things going on in Nigeria can only go on in Nigeria. And just as I promised the officers that I will report the case to immigration directly, I hope and which that investigation be done fast and the culprits be brought to book, and in a case where the money they are requesting for is Legal, and then I will urge the Nigerian Immigration to please, include it on their official website and include it to the adverts / jingles to enable the Nigeria community know, how much they would be needing to process each passport and should there be any need to get the cell number of this immigration officers, I would kindly supply them to you.

If Nigeria cannot be saved, then what about the Niger Delta?

Sincerely yours,


Segoye2
Activist / Online Campaigner
Niger Delta, Nigeria.

All we need to say is No to this unecessar extortion and when worse coms to worse, lets setup all the scammers around us and hand them over to the police, and situation where the police is working same line, the International Community would be glad to assist.

Lets say No to any form of Extortion, any form of Scam!

mohadana:
Some of the documents Alalade allegedly forged to facilitate the fraud included ”a document titled Purchase Offer dated November 1, 2007, purported to have been issued by Chamby Corporation Ltd. Of 50 Lapwing Tower, Abinger Grove, Deptford London.”

Printer Friendly VersionTHE BEST OF PUNCH TODAY.

The above address looks like a council tower block. That must be the residence of his accomplice as no reputble company will have an office in a council flat.

I just discovered Paypal does not accept nigerian accounts, accounts are available for small countries like Niger and Togo. I am about to give up my Nigerian citizenship, all this bad boy image don do me

Report them to the authorities ! Preferably the EFCC.

Its good you guys are thinking postive. Im not a Nigerian but i love Nija boys oo! Well i dont support scamming but when other ways are blocked what do you expect them to do?? Why are some people so rich while others are so poor and they cant even get a job after spending so many years in school? Life is not fair i say, itsservival for the fittest. I get what you are saying but its a crazy world we live in, a man gotta do what a man gotta do! peace.

segoye2:
All we need to say is No to this unecessar extortion and when worse coms to worse, lets setup all the scammers around us and hand them over to the police, and situation where the police is working same line, the International Community would be glad to assist.

Lets say No to any form of Extortion, any form of Scam!

Keep on doing your thing guy.With more people like you we go move forward and we will put an end to all this bad image.Nigeria is a great Country dt will rise again

I know how it feels when it comes to scamming especially here in nigeria because i have been there so you need not worry, i'm willing to send my ebook on generally avoiding scams which for free, when i say FREE i mean it!, If you need it just send me an email to iustusinmaria@yahoo.co.uk depicting your interest.My ebook would go a long way to exposing scammers.

The future is bleak for Nigerian who do legitimate business online. When you place orders online with a credit or debit card issued from a Nigerian bank or from a Nigerian IP address you order may initially go through but the order will eventually get cancelled and your fund may be on hold for between 3 days to 3 weeks. The question now is how do we do legitimate transactions when the world refuses to deal with us? We are forced to either order sub standard products and services or look for alternatives (which at most times end up being illegal). Being a web developer i have to make online payments all the time and my experience has made me realize that it takes extra ordinary effort to be a honest Nigerian

http://www.spiralteck.com

Honest Nigerians are just as responsible for the state of things in the country as the criminals are. We sat back for years and allowed things to get to this point. Many of us threw our hands up in defeat and some even accepted that crime happens to be the only way. What we can do now is stand up and do the right thing. Fight for a better Nigeria. This is our own apartheid (I can not believe I actually am typing this) and like those before us, we need to use every tool in our reach to fight this plague till it is no more. We need to speak out and call those criminals out for who they are. We need to bring them all to book, from the youngest to the oldest. Technology and the world is on our side. What is stopping us now??

The fact about Internet Scams is that the more the rate increases, the more it leads to a blackmail of the image of the country and its people.

So we all must fight against this in our respective capacities and rise up to the task.

These are suggestions of what we can do:
- Advice our family, friends and colleagues who are into scams
- Report the stubborn ones to EFCC
- Launch campaigns online to fight scams (see www.dontgetdupped..com)
- Preach about this in our respective churches and mosques
- And so on

Together we can fight against NIGERIAN INTERNET SCAM

To your success

www.netserveafrica.com

So-called honest Nigerians need to learn and understand that the world is watching and they are not looking to us to 'tell' them we are not the same old Nigeria; they want to see things change.

I was having dinner downtown with a couple of friends and was surprised when one of the guys at the table, a 23-old blond punk dude started to tell of all he learnt of Nigeria online. We went on to tell us of what he knew of '419' scammers ( First time I ever met any caucasian who actually used the code '419' and knew what it meant) and how there were tons of Nigerian rap songs glorifying these acts.

My jaw dropped, I was speechless. He went on to explain how 419ers are mostly Nigerians and consist of small groups scattered all over the country who spend their time online at internet shops looking for prey and how law enforcement down there is not as effective as it should be. He described how many of the 419ers live out in the open and build big houses and live large on the money they steal from people all over the world.

I sat through the whole, unable to defend myself as I do realize all he narated was the truth. He even dared me to deny all he said was true. You should have seen me, I was still stunned that he knew of the rap songs on Ytube and the way these scammers work. And he learned all this by watching Nigerian movies online and watching videos of Nigeria on Ytube.

Action Speaks Louder than words and unless the honest Nigerians start to act, no amount of talking, no amount of cajoling people to think happy thoughts of Nigeria is going to helpo salvage our image or rid us of these scammers.

We all have killed our country's image.

When i maintained a silent protest, refusing to dance to the song yahoozee, people thought i was just being too goody-goody.

How the heck do songs glorifying theft like 'Yahoozee' and 'I go Chop your Dollar' become chart toppers if we aren't a nation of thieves?

Other Eastern European countries,some asian and middle eastern nations go through the same ordeal when they want to do online deals.

On the issue of credit card transactions, I suggest the banks that issue the cards come up with a reputable indigenous third party company like Paypal that should be able to absorb the risks the international world is afraid of for a small fee. They can easily zero in on scammers that try to rip somebody off either through the law enforcement or through a concise application that requires a deposit not less than your maximum international transaction per week in case of any fraudulent activity.

RedHotChic:
Other Eastern European countries,some asian and middle eastern nations go through the same ordeal when they want to do online deals.

On the issue of credit card transactions, I suggest the banks that issue the cards come up with a reputable indigenous third party company like Paypal that should be able to absorb the risks the international world is afraid of for a small fee. They can easily zero in on scammers that try to rip somebody off either through the law enforcement or through a concise application that requires a deposit not less than your maximum international transaction per week in case of any fraudulent activity.

I am not going to say this is a bad idea but it still does not help solve the problem or salvage our image. At the end of the day, it is still up to individual Nigerians to turn these scammers in and see to it that they are prosecuted.

Thank you guys for creating this thread. Your contributions are very helpful.

There is no such thing as honest Nigerian. If you have seen one, show me!!
I haven't seen an honest Nigerian, he is honest because opportunity to cheat hasn't presented itself. Honesty is not all about Naira and kobo, it includes attitude and behaviour. Have you seen them at airports round the world trying to smuggle a coffin size luggage into an aircraft cabin as hand luggage? Jumping cue at every given opportunity? Giving a bribe even when he wasn't asked? sarcastic name calling if refuse to join the bandwagon of bribe giving.

I am an honest Nigerian o!

Instead of focusing on the problem, how about we talk about the root causes of this problem.

Na condition now make them so.

I propose asking the government to provide JOBS FOR UNIVERSITY GRADUATES.

These scammers have nothing else to do with all the knowledge they have obtained in UNI.

madamkoko:
Instead of focusing on the problem, how about we talk about the root causes of this problem.

Na condition now make them so.

I propose asking the government to provide JOBS FOR UNIVERSITY GRADUATES.

These scammers have nothing else to do with all the knowledge they have obtained in UNI.

Those guys cant be graduates. The kind of grammar I read in some of their mails are outrageous

what can honest nigerians do? hmmmmmmmmn, anyone with an idea better than shooting the igbos?

Yeeeepa.

I thought its mostly yorubas dominating this thing.

madamkoko:
Yeeeepa.

I thought its mostly yorubas dominating this thing.

u thot wrong.

DRANOEL:
what can honest nigerians do? hmmmmmmmmn, anyone with an idea better than shooting the igbos?

i even kow an hausa in da game, besides, all nigerian leaders are fraud.
anyone that cld inflate the price of something for their own gain are fraud, so now, if you are without sin, cast the first stone.

Yoruba dey dominate for DRUGS

Odd how specific tribes specialize in different kinds of crime. Oh well, to stop scamming I guess we have to kill off all the tribes.

am doing that NOW (Details later)

I would love to help Nigeria regain the integrity that is lost to the new trend of scams and crookedness. At this moment, my soul hurts so bad I cannot even breathe. My love is not really my love. Yes, I am a victim of the 419. I met him on a dating website. I never thought that I would become a victim, yet I stand accused today. When I discovered that he might be into some crookedness, I reached out to him to turn and get out. I desperately wanted to help him build a future with his life because I understand what he will eventually face if he doesn't end the scamming. He knows that I know. I really believe that somewhere inside, he wants to do right. I told him that I still see good potential in him, even though he does what he do. I hurt excruciatingly for him! I don't want him to destroy his life! I was even willing to stand by his side as he get his papers (visa, permits) in order. He lives in another country illegally because his visa is expired. He doesn't want to return to Nigeria because he says it's too hard to live there right now. I know that I must bear the shame of being a victim of simply allowing myself to love him. He never asked for money. I guess he didn't have the time. He knows I am not financially able to give him anything. He did, however, implored that I go to Italy to be with him. He said it would be cheaper and more easier for me to travel to him because it wold be difficult for him to get a visa to the US. My friends, I am American woman who deserves the love and respect of a man because I am a good person. I should not be broken as I am tonight. My Lord, I hurt,

whatever you do will not deter those involved. They wont even feel your effort. It lies with govt to solve the problem and that is by making life conducive for everyone. Let there be provision for all whether you have an income or not. If you ever found yourself in a hopeless situation having no one to turn to, you will understand why these guys are into it. They lost moral aptitude because they have to survive and there is no moral way of doing it. It is easy to condemn them until you move close and ask them questions.

So many of us asked why our image has been so battered by these guys? But have we asked why CEOs of banks were living large with depositors money and they have collaborators in key people positioned to cover them up until Sanusi Lamido Sanusi came? Why there is so much rot and corruption in the power, agric, oil & gas, et al sectors of the economy and we cannot fight those perpetrators? The so called "Nigerian Scam" is the direct function of the corruption committed by our leaders past and present. The resources they have siphoned and converted to private accounts over the years was supposed to be our collective wealth. They were supposed to be used for the overall welfare of the Nigerian people which include these guys we are talking about.

As long as there are no standard, consistent and sustainable plans for the less privileged on the part of govt, expect the status quo. Unfortunately, the real thieves are oppressors. They use our money to oppress us living like they are better than the rest of us. What do you want this guys to do? Its not all of us that can see beyond our nose or that can say "good name is better than silver or gold". Some simply want to enjoy life and when the system frustrates them, they cave in.

I dont blame them. I blame our leaders who refuse to make provisions for all. It will even get worse because more will join them as parents can no longer take care of children. Ladies are doing it too.

The solution as per your question is to mobilize against and compel government to copy the social security system and provide for everyone then clamp down on the perpetrators. Take a cue from the amnesty programme in the Niger Delta.

The Yahoo boy gets arrested by the corrupt police who wants a cut, maybe 50% of his take. He's cleared and he goes back to it.
And if it is the EFCC, they want 75%, he also pays it, and he's back online.
And if he goes to court, the judge who has some financial problem will also demand a cut, or 90% and the law is sold, sealed and signed. He's back at home and back to his Yaoo. And whoever reports him can either scram or disappear as he will be coming for your blood. I know about 2 cases like this. 2 big boys in my area in Ikorodu. One relocated from Festac, and there was a night he was drunk and boasted about him and his boys killing someone along Lagos Ibadan express way for leaking him. That is Nigeria for you. Its very messy down here. Yahoo boys are a big problem, but the law system wont catch up with them since its filled with great defects.

.

little did you guys know it would only get worse....



14+ years and counting

Now it can’t even get worse