Man loses $48,000 in Nigerian e-mail scam
In this present day, there are still some gullible people falling for such scams.
This scam has been around since those days whether instead of prospecting via spam, they actually do mass faxing and slotting the scam letter into letterbox.
It was particular rampant in Sim Lim Square in the 90’s where they target mainly the business owners there.
Nowsdays, the one that gets swindled are those that are new to the Internet that does not know the amount of tricksters and cons on the net. (where the men are the women and the women are the men..)
June 13, 2006
One con artist arrested, sentenced to three years’ jail; others still at large
By Elena Chong
BUSINESSMAN Ng Yong Ngee responded to an e-mail that sounded too good to be true - a 30 per cent share of US$8.5 million (S$13.6 million) for his help in transferring the money out of Britain.
The 30-year-old owner of an interior design firm parted with about $48,000 - and became yet another victim of Nigerian con artists.
Yesterday, Nigerian undergraduate Ronald Emmanuel Emeka, 30, cried as District Judge Bala Reddy packed him off to jail for three years for conspiring with one Dr Kenneth and others to cheat Mr Ng in March.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Hwong Meng Jet said Mr Ng responded to an e-mail in March seeking help in transferring the US$8.5 million.
The author of the e-mail claimed to be 26 and said the funds belonged to his father, who was killed by business partners in Africa.
After communicating with a man over the Internet, Mr Ng was told a British ‘diplomat’ would bring the US$8.5 million to Singapore and that Mr Ng would receive 30 per cent as his commission. All he had to do was pay US$8,500 in administrative fees to the ‘diplomat’.
The ‘diplomat’, Dr Kenneth, contacted Mr Ng and said he had brought the money, and an assistant would come by to collect the fees.
Mr Ng met the assistant, Emeka, at a Geylang hotel on April 3, and handed over $13,650, the equivalent of the sum asked.
Dr Kenneth then visited Mr Ng’s hotel room and showed him a safe containing black paper. He took out three pieces, washed them with some solution, and they were revealed as US$100 notes.
Dr Kenneth and Emeka then spun a web of elaborate lies over the next couple of days to con another $33,780 out of Mr Ng.
Most of the cash, they said, was needed to rent a machine to process the black notes into US currency.
Mr Ng scrambled to meet the men’s demands, borrowing $2,000 from his mother and $3,000 from one of his friends. He also withdrew $26,000 from his account.
The same day, Dr Kenneth told Mr Ng the money had been cleaned but that he had to cough up another £40,000 to verify the funds were legal.
Mr Ng said he had no money, and soon after suspected the deal was a scam. He went to the Commercial Affairs Department on April 6. Emeka was arrested when he turned up to collect the money. Dr Kenneth remains at large.
Mr Ng is the latest in a string of Singaporeans and other victims worldwide who have been conned in similar scams.
Five people lost sums ranging from $900 to $300,000 last year when they sent varying amounts in response to e-mail messages, in the hope of receiving a share of millions purportedly in dormant bank accounts.
Nearly all the cases started with an e-mail that would say something like: ‘My father left me US$40 million but I need to bribe a government official to release the money. ‘Wire me US$10,000 and I’ll give you US$20 million in return.'’
In 2004, seven people lost between $1,000 and $30,000, and in 2003, five people lost close to $2 million.
About 15 con artists have been dealt with by the courts here for such scams since 1997. Most were Africans who flew in to meet their victims.
Globally, more than US$5 billion has been swiped in such scams, which are believed to have originated in Nigeria several years ago.