Those nonstop scam emails from Nigeria that attempt to swindle people will face new law enforcement efforts aided by Microsoft.
Microsoft, which has helped various law enforcement departments in the US and abroad to fight computer crime, has signed an agreement to extend that help to Nigeria. PCWorld.com reported that this would be the first time Microsoft has signed such an agreement with an African nation.
The continual stream of financial scam emails have become something of a running joke. They all follow a similar format: a minor bureaucrat in a foreign country claims to know of your good reputation and needs your help in spiriting a large sum of cash out of his or her nation.
(Apparently your good reputation doesn’t extend to matters of financial fraud.)
To take advantage of this generosity, the sender only requires some personal information from you to facilitate the transfer of the money and get you your cut of the proceeds. Sometimes a small sum of upfront money is requested to grease the wheels of progress.
Needless to say, the promised money never materializes. Nigeria has been the country most associated with this criminal practice, and it has had enough. After creating an Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the nation has charged about a thousand people with various online crimes and convicted 17.
Microsoft has aided the effort so far by identifying ISPs responsible for sending out these messages. Three have been shutdown by the Nigerian government for their roles in moving millions of messages to recipients.
David Utter is a staff writer for murdok covering technology and business. Email him here.
