Madras HC cautions people about Nigerian 419 scam

Chennai: Cautioning the general public not to fall prey to criminals like Nigerian scammers, who induce them to advance money with a false promise to return huge sum of money, the Madras high court has observed that people must be vigilant in not falling prey to such criminals and they should not send money or give credit card details, online account details or copies of personal documents to anyone.

The Thanjavur police registered a case based on a complaint alleging that by using the current account and the OD account of the complainant, fraudulent transactions were done by the accused persons, who had got sufficient knowledge about the complainant’s username and password in respect of his internet banking transaction. Suspecting the connivance of two bank officials into the alleged transaction, the police called them for enquiry. Apprehending arrest, the two bank officials filed the present anticipatory bail petitions.

Closing the petitions for want of jurisdiction, Justice S. Vaidyanathan said this type of offence is generally called as “Nigerian 419 scam”. The criminals, who indulge in such activities, are generally regarded as Nigerian scammers and 419 refer to Article 419 of their country’s (Nigeria) Criminal Code, concerning fraud. Scamsters use the electronic communication mode to lure greedy people who fall for this lure.

According to a report, losses from individual scams range from $200 to $12 million, based on what the perpetrator enacts.  “It should always be remembered that there are no get-rich-quick schemes if it sounds too good to be true it probably is”, the judge added.