'Nigerian letter' scammers arrested in Athens

[Sapphire's Strike]

http://digitaljournal.com/article/315848
By Katerina Nikolas
Dec 9, 2011

Read more: http://digitaljournal.com/article/315848#ixzz1iRJBpiTp

'Nigerian letter' scammers arrested in Athens


Athens - Greek police have arrested a gang of Nigerians operating an Internet advance fee letter scam from Athens. The African suspects were in violation of Greek immigration laws.
Nigerian letter fraud is so prevalent in the age of the Internet that it even has its own special FBI moniker of 419 Fraud. It is likely that the majority of people with email have been the recipient of one of the infamous letters offering a share in an obscene amount of money that a supposed Nigerian official is attempting to transfer out of the country.
One Nigerian letter scam ring has been brought down though by the Greek police, working in conjunction with the Department of Financial and Cyber Crime, according to Mediterraneanews. The "advance fee" scam was being operated by immigrants in Athens, rather than directly from Nigeria.
Greek police arrested five suspects on Friday, stating those arrested were from Nigeria, Cameroon and Eritrea. Those arrested were charged with violation of immigration laws, forgery and fraud, and were found to be in possession of forged identity documents and counterfeit euro banknotes, Athens News reported.
Although most people recognize Nigerian letters as scams, millions of dollars are still lost to each year by the gullible. According to the FBI "Some victims have been lured to Nigeria, where they have been imprisoned against their will along with losing large sums of money. The Nigerian government is not sympathetic to victims of these schemes, since the victim actually conspires to remove funds from Nigeria in a manner that is contrary to Nigerian law."
The Nigerian scam operating from Athens was worth tens of thousands of euros.

[Central Scrutinizer]

Wish we could get their names.

http://www.athensnews.gr/portal/1/51282

Five people have been arrested, accused of running an "advance-fee" Internet scam based in Athens, worth tens of thousands of euros.

Police said the suspects from Nigeria, Cameroon and Eritrea were all arrested in Athens, and that the alleged scam was being investigated by money-laundering and terrorism-funding investigators. The suspects were arrested on charges of fraud, forgery and violation of immigration laws.

After searching the suspects apartment homes, police seized €1,700 in cash, mobile phones and computer equipment, as well as counterfeit euro banknotes and forged identity documents from Greece and Belgium.

The scam typically involves fraudulent effort to find an investor to help transfer a large sum of money from an African country to Europe in the promise of a future pay-off. The police cybercrime unit accepts tips from public at ccu@cybercrimeunit.gr and on the 24-hour telephone line at 11012.