Jail for victims on online scammers

Wed, 27 Aug 08

Australians still lose at least $36 million a year to online scams such as the Nigerian scam despite years of expert warnings about online security. A Nigerian scam is a letter or typically an email purporting to be a former government official with millions of dollars in embezzled funds looking for a partner to assist them. There are many story variations. People who are fooled and ripped off by Nigerian scams are just as guilty as the fraudsters and should be jailed says the Nigerian High Commissioner to Australia. Australians had repeatedly ignored warnings about dealing with shady characters on the internet he said. Professor Olu Agbi said it was not in the nature of Nigerian people to be involved in scams. He said the Nigerian government is constantly tracking the people involved because the scams had given his country a bad image and made business partners suspicious of doing deals with Nigerians.