Nigerian Internet Scammers Now Operate From Homes

Nigerian Internet Scammers Now Operate From HomesTo escape from the long arms of the law, the notorious Nigerian Internet scammers, popularly known as ‘Yahoo -Yahoo!’ have moved from cyber cafes to the privacy of their homes.After an investigation by a reliable news reporter who visited Lagos in the last week of June, he found out that the “Yahoo -Yahoo!” boys have gone underground since the Nigerian Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) swooped on the cyber cafes frequented by the Internet scammers. They now use laptops to contact their ignorant targets in the United States and other developed countries.The successful “Yahoo -Yahoo!” guys are well known on the campus of the University of Lagos in South western Nigeria, where they cruise about with their fair-weather girlfriends in their flashy cars and bling bling fashion, while their admirers and hangers-on cheer them on.“There is always a greedy Maga online who will fall for any of their various methods of Internet scams,” said an investigator. Most of the “Yahoo-Yahoo!” boys are located in both the densely populated urban areas in major cities in Nigeria, with the largest numbers in the mega city of Lagos.“In Surulere, Fadeyi and Ikeja areas of Lagos,” the investigator said. He could identify many of them in his neighborhood.“Some of them even go about with their laptops concealed in their shoulder bags,” he said. He noted that one of them nicknamed ‘small jesus” made millions from Internet scams, spent part of the money on helping the poor and the needy in his locality and returned to school and he has stopped his life of crime after graduating from the university. But only few of them have stopped Internet scams. Thousands of them are still using their laptops to hunt and scam every Maga who would be willing to believe their cock and bull stories of money laundering, oil contracts, romantic relationships, etc.If you do not want to be the next Maga of the notorious Nigerian Internet scammers, delete their unsolicited e-mails as soon as you see them in your in-box.By Ekenyerengozi Michael ChimaShomolu, Lagos, Nigeria.June/September, 2008.