US loses $50m to 419 scam from Nigeria in 2011

UNITED States of America (USA) lost about $50.4 million to various forms of scam including the popularly called “419” (Advanced Free Fraud) from Nigeria in 2011.
US Consulate in Nigeria, Michael Bonner, who disclosed this in Lagos at a  workshop on “the dynamics of cashless economy and emerging methods in financial crime for investigators and prosecutors” said on the average, each victim in various 419 scams reported a loss of $8,900 adding that at a rate of 15 complaints received per day, the scams saw daily reported losses of roughly $138,000, or more than $5,700 every hour.  He stressed that mostly, between the ages of 40 and 59 year old people were involved while women were victimised three times more than men.
Commissioner of Police , Special Fraud Unit, Mr Tunde Ogunsakin, said the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) should be more pro-active in ensuring that all operators in the cash-less regime adhere to global security challenges, whilst banks should have a fraud detective department and invest heavily in it.
Tribune