A Nigerian undergraduate has been sentenced to 19 years in prison for obtaining $47,000 (33,382 pounds) from an Australian woman by convincing her over the Internet that he was 57 years old, white, and madly in love with her.
Lawal Adekunle Nurudeen met his victim on the Internet in 2007 and convinced her that he was a British widower called Benson Lawson. He said he was an engineer working in Lagos whose wife and only child had been killed in a car accident.
“The victim, a 56-year-old woman from Australia, told the convict that she wanted a husband and all the men she had met always disappointed her,” said the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nigeria’s anti-corruption police.
“The convict, who is married with three children, instantly replied and told the victim she had met her Mr Right … He sent the picture of a white man to foreclose any suspicions.”
The woman sent Nurudeen money for medical treatment and travel costs to visit Australia. He spent the funds on two plots of land and a Honda Prelude car.
Nigerian confidence tricksters have a long history of extorting money via the Internet through “419” scams, named after the clause that outlaws them in Nigeria’s penal code. Many are never caught.
The EFCC said Nurudeen was ordered to pay around $10,000 immediately and a further $250 a month to his victim until the full amount stolen was returned. She would also receive the proceeds of the sale of his land and car.
Source: Reuters
I know this type of fraud is rotten and needs to be stopped, but 19 years?! That seems a bit excessive. Am I getting too soft in my old age? I’m just thinking about his wife and three kids, not to mention what I only imagine a Nigerian prison to be like.
And the poor lady in OZ. Men continue to disappoint her…
Deborah,
19 years is pretty harsh considering murderers get out in 10.
It never ceases to amaze me how gullible some people are. Personally, I engage in the Internet sport, known as “Scam Baiting”. Google this phrase and you’ll get many hits.
Basically, you correspond with these criminals over the course of days/weeks/months and absolutely waste their time.
Check out ===> http://www.scamorama.com and read some of the escapades of other Baiters.
Make sure you use “throwaway” e-Mail addresses, from Hotmail, Yahoo, Gmail, etc, because this is what these creeps use. Never reveal your true identity or anything related to exactly who you are. Again, the above web-site spells these things out for you.
Educate yourself about these criminals and have fun driving them crazy!
It’s the old saying, a sucker is born everyday.
Keep in mind that in Nigeria, they use dog years. So, 19 isn’t that much.
Joe,
That’s funny!