Tears, Losses, as IT Fraudsters Milk Nigerians

One in ten adults in Nigeria has been the victim of mass marketing fraud, Nigeria CommunicationsWeek investigations have shown.
At least 14 million Nigerians have handed cash and other valuables to fraudsters after being approached by scammers by email, letter or telephone.
It is hard to estimate the total cost of the scams but the pains and tears of the crime is so touching.
Some victims experience such high degrees of shame, or fear about the loss of personal and professional respect and credibility, that they choose not to disclose their victimization to family members, friends, or professional colleagues.
Some feel their losses are not large enough to report, do not want to get involved, think law enforcement agencies will not take the crime seriously, or think nothing will result from reporting the crime. Sadly, they are often right.
Mass marketing fraud uses mass communication tools such as phone, internet or mail to reach large numbers of people cheaply and easily.
Fraud deceives a person by unfairly misrepresenting truth. It also restricts the freedom of its victims as it robs them of their money.
Nigeria CommunicationsWeek gathered that the scams centre on an advance fee, whereby prizes or large sums of money are offered, but to access them, the victim is asked to pay a small fee.
Check a typical mass market fraud “Good day, am Mr. Frank Mike Fubara, I work with (MTN) Abuja, send HUNT to 77777 to win N1 million and I will help you by working it for you so that you will win the money from treasure hunt promotion, bye”
This obviously not from MTN and no staff of the GSM Company will associate himself with so plot.
But while these fraud schemes may take a wide variety of forms, they share a common theme: the use of false and/or deceptive representations to induce potential victims to make advance fee-type payments to fraud perpetrators.
Police authorities in Nigeria said that such scams are increasingly being operated by organised criminals who see the potential for large profits.
Fraudulent telemarketers often target women, the elderly as potential victims, not because they are greedy, but because they are more likely to: have money, property, savings, and investments; be receptive phone solicitations; and remain on the phone longer to hear fraudulent sales pitches (due to loneliness).
But there is no typical profile for swindlers, neither is there one for their victims. Virtually anyone can fall prey to fraudulent crimes
A senior policeman who does not want to be named said that there are serious inter-agency enforcement efforts to combat mass marketing fraud.
He particularly singled out MTN Nigeria which he said has set up subscriber fraud unit that is responsible for preventing, detecting and managing incidents of fraud by MTN subscribers.
To avoid mass marketing fraud, experts advised that if you receive a letter, email or telephone solicitation from another country asking you to send personal banking information, do not reply in any manner.