Nigeria govt up in arms against e-mail scam

LAGOS: Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo said he would step up measures against his country's notorious junk-mail conmen who swindle people around the world of hundreds of millions of dollars annually.

The so-called 419 scam, named after an article in Nigeria's penal code outlawing it, has been so successful in the past 20 years that campaigners say it is now the third to fifth largest foreign exchange earner in Africa's most populous nation.

"Let me sound a note of warning to all those currently involved in any form of 419, cyber and computer crimes," Obasanjo said while inaugurating a presidential committee on junk-mail scams in the capital Abuja.

"The government will step up measures against these criminal activities," he said.

The fraud swindles people around the world, who respond to junk e-mails promising them a share of non-existent fortunes.

Obasanjo said the committee will recommend urgent steps to deal with the scam and examine existing laws.

He said the committee will also consider setting up a new agency to deal with the crime. The committee, which is headed by Obasanjo's security adviser, has two months to submit a report to the president.

Nigeria's anti-fraud agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has arrested more than 200 people, including a federal lawmaker, since May for junk-mail scams.

Among those being prosecuted are the alleged perpetrators of the biggest ever 419 swindle, a $180 million fraud that brought down a Brazilian bank.

"I am convinced that your recommendations would assist government to design appropriate policies to block all the loopholes...and stamp out all forms of 419 from society," Obasanjo said at the ceremony.

© Reuters