• Advance Fee Fraud

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• The Central Bank of Nigeria is very much concerned that in spite of the various efforts made in the past through press statements to combat the advance fee fraud/telex scam, it has continued, unabated, with increasing sophistication the bank is also worried by the reckless abandon with which names of some top Central Bank of Nigeria officials are often fraudulently used by the fraudsters to lend credibility and respectability to the spurious transactions.

• Given the frequency with which some gullible peoples still fall victim to the business scams, the Central Bank of Nigeria deems it necessary once again, to re-issue this press statement (first used in 1991) to alert the international business community, of the increasing spate of attempts by an international syndicate of fraudsters to defraud them.

• The fraudulent attempts take the form of circular letters, unauthenticated fax and telex messages relating to purported approved transfers of funds running into millions of U.S. Dollars arising from alleged foreign contracts. The "Business Proposals" should ordinarily have put any respectable individual on inquiry, however, driven by greed and the urge for quick money, many have ignored the warning by the Central Bank of Nigeria. The authors of the circular letters who bear Nigeria names are part of an international syndicate who are out to dupe gullible overseas recipients who are themselves both villains and victims in the bogus "business" deals.

• The Central Bank of Nigeria, therefore, wishes once again, to warn all recipients of such fraudulent letters, etc., that they do not emanate from the bank and has no knowledge or records, whatsoever, of the purported claims or transfers or even the related alleged contracts. Recipients should, as such, exercise caution and immediately contact their local law enforcement agencies or the international police organisation (Interpol) nearest to them in order to help track down the international crooks and swindlers.

• The Bank will NOT bear any responsibility for any loss sustained by any person or corporation that fails to heed this warning.

CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA

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