(Image: AP Photo/Sunday Alamba/PA)
Anyone
with an inbox knows about "419 scams". They are the messages from
mysterious strangers in possession of vast wealth and in need of a bank
account to transfer it into. The senders are often assumed to be
Nigerian, hence the name - 419 is a
section of the Nigerian criminal code pertaining to fraud.
Read more: "
Happy spamiversary! Spam reaches 30"
But
what about the people behind the scams? They are known locally as
"Yahoo Boys", a nod to their preference for Yahoo email accounts.
Journalist Sarah Lacy tracked a few down and reported that
times are hard,
in part because westerners have become suspicious of emails that offer
them massive lottery wins. Yet, beyond the occasional encounter with an
intrepid journalist, we know little about a group of people who seem
intent on trying to scam the entire planet.
Thanks to Joshua
Oyeniyi Aransiola, a sociologist at Obafemi Awolowo University in
Ile-Ife, Nigeria, the 419ers are now a little less mysterious. He and
colleagues spent six months earning the trust of a group of Yahoo Boys,
eventually managing to
conduct detailed interviews with 40 of them.
In
some senses, Aransiola reveals the Yahoo Boys to be much as expected.
They tend to be in their 20s and, since the scams often require computer
skills, have an undergraduate education. They are also showy, noted for
driving flashy cars, playing loud music and wearing expensive clothes.
Given Nigeria's endemic levels of corruption -- the anti-corruption organisation Transparency International rates the country
143rd out of 182 worldwide -- it is no surprise that the Yahoo Boys
have to grease palms in order to get goods through customs and move
money between bank accounts.
Bribes are even paid to members of the
Economic and Financial Crime
Commission (EFCC), which is tasked by the Nigerian government with
stamping out 419 scams. According to one interviewee: "Police,
EFCC...bank officials and postal and courier agents in this part of
Nigeria are all aiding us. In Lagos, one might find it difficult, especially
with the EFCC. But it all boils down to settlement with money."
Those unfamiliar with Nigerian culture might find one of the study's findings particularly surprising - scammers make
regular use of voodoo. As one Yahoo Boy put it: "The Voodoo thing
exists for real, I have used it but I have stopped because of the fear
of repercussion. With the aid of Voodoo the money comes faster. I have
friends that still use it, they can collect money twice or thrice a week
and it helps. I have a friend that uses a calabash filled with black
substance; he hides it in his room and says incantations."
