by Mercy Ilevbare

Created on: May 14, 2009

Why do I think I am qualified to write about the Nigerian Internet scams? Let's see, I have been a recipient of the Internet scam mails more times than I can count and most importantly I am a Nigerian.

While the Internet scams have been a source of embarrassment to us as a developing nation, it has also shown that there exist a greedy part in the human nature that makes him susceptible to anything. If you have ever read a mail from a victim you will understand what I mean. While I feel sorry for them, I always wonder why they could not see through it, all the signs were there, could it be that the love for easy money blinded them to it?

These scammers just capitalise on the human weakness for easy money, money you don't have to work too hard for. The sad truth is that some people love money no matter how it comes. How else can you explain someone falling prey to a lottery scam, when he didn't even enter for the said lottery? They send you a mail saying that they need to route some money to a foreign account through yours, the catch is that you will receive 10% of the said money for your effort and without checking them out you proceed to send them your account details including security pins?

There are several ways these scams can be avoided, they include but are not limited to:

Deleting the mails

This is what I do all the time, in other not to tempt myself, any mail announcing I have won money in a competition I didn't enter for, I delete.

Any mail telling me I just inherited money from a relative I know nothing about, I delete.

Any mail giving a "too good to be true bargain", I delete.

Any mail from the Presidency in Nigeria, I delete (Trust me, you don't just receive mails from the presidency).

Doing a grammar and spell check

While these scammers may appear smart they are not quite intelligent as most times the possess minimal educational training.

Always do a grammar and spell check on the mail, more often than not it shows them up for what they are, scams.

Leveraging on other people's experiences

Thank God for the Internet and search engines, when my curiosity kicks in, or my greed wins the running battle against my practicality, I just Google the key message in the mail and most times I discover it's a scam.

Being alert

When they begin to ask for your account details, it's a sure fire sign that it is a scam. Delete the mail and move on with your life.

These are the things I do personally to avoid being a victim, it has worked so far because I have no sad scam stories to share.

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