Being Scammed by Nigerian Scammers

When we deal with a certain problem, it is normal for us to first understand it before dealing with it. The same thing applies with online frauds, phishing, malware and any kind of cyber attacks, before the incident response or even the attack could even happen; the experts would research and further understand each threat. However, no one knows about these Nigerian scams, thus it is hard to defend against this kind of fraud and predicting its movements is almost impossible.

We may ask ourselves, are these people really located in Nigeria? What do these scammers really want and how will they obtain it? What are the strengths and weaknesses of these scammers? Are they getting better on their scam or is there no way they can improve? What can we do so that we can protect ourselves from these scams?

According to one expert, most Nigerian scams and fraudsters who interacted with victim; they wanted to deliver or ship the merchandise to a certain address that can be found in Nigeria. Knowing this fact may help even just a little bit in designing countermeasures against these frauds, whether it is in legal law enforcement or technical like incident handling and better scrutinizing against scams.

Luckily, most scammers use PayPal thus it is easier for experts to trace them. Sometimes they even send their victims with an email that almost look exactly like a payment notification from PayPal. However, scammers do not spoof the emails. If they were able to spoof the emails, then without a doubt, it is possible for them to increase their profit.

Other Nigerian scammers pay via Western Union. After that, they will send the confirmation code, which will let the seller to pick up the cash – unfortunately, some digits on the code are starred out. They would ask victims to send the tracking number of the cargo before they will send the missing codes before they can get the said payment. Soon victims will realize that they have been duped because the Scammers will not send the remaining codes or that the codes weren’t the right one.

Some scammers pay via credit cards. These Nigerian scammers will request the details of the victim’s credit card so that they can transfer the money to the victim’s account; however, it doesn’t happen and instead, victims will compromise their private information.

These Nigerian scammers know how to bully victims. When the victim is having second thoughts with the transactions; the scammer will then threaten the victim. Scammers will send angry emails and all the texts are in caps, telling the victim in rage that the victim has been reported or blacklisted. The scammer will send notifications from the payment provider that says that the victim’s account was revoked. Scammers will tell the victims that the only way to undo the revocation is sending important details like the password of the account. Unwitting victims who are afraid to lose their accounts would comply and send the password. But unknown to them, these victims have just compromised their accounts.

These scammers know the particular things that they want. These scammers want cameras and laptops, of course the fancy ones only. They do not want anything regarding bulky and large electronic appliances like televisions and refrigerators. Somehow, it is sensible because the merchandise will be shipped to these scammers and these items will be resold once again in Nigerian markets.

Since these Nigerian scammers are still in business, then we can definitely say that their business has been successful. In fact, Nigerian scams have become more common nowadays. Therefore we can say that there are a lot of individuals who are gullible or not too careful and that the bullying of Nigerian scammers really works. Sadly this is about people who are not really using their minds and assessing every thing before them. There is no such thing as technological skills, tools or incident response training in avoiding Nigerian scammers. The only thing needed is awareness and a proper educational campaign against Nigerian scammers will do the trick.

Somehow, Nigerian scams and frauds aren’t limited to certain websites. And also, these scammers aren’t limited to fanciful cameras only. What’s important is that Internet users must think everything carefully before giving in to the demands of Nigerian scammers.

The International Council of E-Commerce Consultants (EC-Council) is a member-based organization that certifies individuals in cybersecurity and e-commerce. It is the owner and developer of 20 security certifications. EC-Council has trained over 90,000 security professionals and certified more than 40,000 members. These certifications are recognized worldwide and have received endorsements from various government agencies. They also offer trainings in incident handling.

More information about EC-Council is available at www.eccouncil.org.