Cheap car hire in Nigeria - Commercial, Financial, and Identity Fraud

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Commercial, Financial, and Identity Fraud

COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, AND IDENTITY FRAUD: Nigerian-operated scams are infamous for their cleverness and ingenuity. These scams target foreigners worldwide posing risks of both financial loss and personal danger to their victims. Scams are often initiated by credit card use, through telephone calls, from use of Internet cafes in Nigeria, and from unsolicited faxes, letters, and e-mails. No one should provide personal or financial information to unknown parties or via Nigerian telephone lines.

A major and continuing problem is the commercial scam or sting that targets foreigners, including many U.S. citizens. Such scams may involve U.S. citizens in illegal activity, resulting in arrest, extortion or bodily harm. The scams generally involve phony offers of either outright money transfers or lucrative sales, or contracts with promises of large commissions, or up-front payments. Alleged deals frequently invoke the authority of one or more ministries or offices of the Nigerian government and may cite, by name, the involvement of a Nigerian government official. In some scams, government stationery, seals, and offices are used.

Expanding bilateral law enforcement cooperation, which has resulted in numerous raids on commercial fraud premises, has reduced the overall level of overt fraud activity, but new types of sophisticated scams are introduced daily. The ability of U.S. Consuls to extricate U.S. citizens from unlawful business deals and their consequences is extremely limited. Since the mid-1990s, several U.S. citizens have been arrested by police officials and held for varying periods on charges of involvement in illegal business scams. Nigerian police do not always inform the U.S. Embassy or Consulate of a U.S. citizen in distress. The Department of Commerce has issued advisories to the U.S. business community on doing business in Nigeria. The Department of Commerce in Washington, the U.S. Consulate General in Lagos, and the American Embassy in Abuja can provide business travelers with further details.

Prior to involvement in any business transaction originating from an invitation from Nigeria or West Africa, you should also contact your local U.S. Secret Service office. The telephone number is usually found in a U.S. telephone directory or by going to the U.S. Secret Service web site and reading the section on Nigerian scams also known as "4-1-9" fraud at http://www.usss.treas.gov.

For additional information, please consult the Department of State's publications, Tips for Business Travelers to Nigeria, "Nigerian Advance Fee Fraud," and Advance Fee Business Scams, available via the Bureau of Consular Affairs home page at http://travel.state.gov or send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to the Office of Overseas Citizens Services, Room 4811, Department of State, Washington, D.C. 20520-4818.