Nigeria's Latest Plan To Stop 419 Scams: Spy On Internet Cafes
from the further-underground dept
Every year or so, the Nigerian government announces that they plan to crack down on all those 419 scams, which many have said form a significant part of the Nigerian economy. However, the crackdowns never seem to get very far. The latest, though, is that they're actually looking to amend the "419 Act" (after which the scam is named) to finally take into account the fact that this scam has moved onto the internet (you mean, they just noticed?). Of course, the amendment requires all internet providers, cybercafes, mobile phone providers and financial institutions to register with the government and provide detailed records of who is using them for what purposes. Considering the extent to which the scammers go for these scams, all this is likely to do is drive them further underground. They'll just create "unlicensed" underground versions of all of these services instead. Rest assured, those emails from Nigerian princesses in distress will keep showing up in your email box.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
ever thought about it ?
What WOULD the GNP of Nigeria be without the 419 scam ?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: ever thought about it ?
Nigeria should consider sending their spams ... err I mean emails to Italy if they want assistance in money laundering
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: ever thought about it ?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Latest news release ....
Regretfully, the economy of Nigeria has fallen apart due to the with drawl of the Nigerian 419 scam. At one point in the history of the Nigerian 419 scam an average American dolt could support 500 Nigerians from just ONE scam ! Nigerians are confident their economy will rise once a new and improved scam is invented & Americans continue to support such stupidity through their greed.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
glensimon
thank`s
[ link to this | view in thread ]
help
[ link to this | view in thread ]