West Africa takes lead in fighting 419 scams

The Vice President  of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Arch. Namadi Sambo, GCON,  at the jus concluded  first West Africa Cybercrime summit held in Nigeria last week  addressed  how the public and private sector must work together to eliminate cybercrime and foster legitimate economic opportunity for West Africans.
Hosted in a region with some of the highest number of cybercrime incidents in the world,  the summit is focused on the theme, “The Fight against Cybercrime: Towards Innovative and Sustainable Economic Development,” by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in collaboration with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and Microsoft.

“Cybercrime is a cross-industry and international phenomenon, and takes full advantage of the opportunities provided by the Internet,” the Vice President said  in his keynote, adding that, . “Cybersecurity is not only something difficult to tackle, but also which requires creative thinkers, talented policy makers who will understand and make people understand why and how a strong cybersecurity framework is a must for the creation of a vibrant national economy.”
With over 200 people in attendance from across the world, the summit focused on how to:
* Position the fight against cybercrime as a national priority to help the economic development in the region
*Provide a platform to develop capacity building with scalable and sustainable resources
*Strengthen trust by developing partnerships among various stakeholders at the national and international level; government, civil society, academics, industry and international organizations
Showcase best practices and case studies of partners organization in combating cybercrime
As co-sponsors of the summit, Microsoft Nigeria and the Microsoft Digital Crimes Unit are also actively working with international stakeholders, including the EFCC of Nigeria, on programs to fight Internet fraud in West Africa, a problem that continues to victimize people around the world.
One form of cybercrime that has become especially associated with the region is the advance fee fraud, collectively known as “Nigeria” or “419” scams.
Through schemes such as fake lotteries, bogus inheritances, romantic relationships, investment opportunities or – infamously – requests for assistance from “officials,” scammers promise an elusive fortune in exchange for advance payments.
According to Microsoft’s Security Intelligence Report volume 9, advance fee fraud accounted for 8.6 percent of the spam messages blocked by Microsoft’s Forefront Online Protection for Exchange (FOPE) in the second quarter of 2010 alone.
For example, Dr. Amadou Thidjane Cisse, a retired medical doctor from Nigeria, recalled how he received an email which appeared genuine, announcing that he had won the “Microsoft Lottery” and was due a prize of 250,000 Naira. When Dr. Cisse contacted the senders, they insisted he fill in a number of documents and open a bank account in the Ivory Coast to deposit the winnings. Dr. Cisse became suspicious and reported the issue to his bank, Microsoft Nigeria and the EFCC, taking along copies of the documentation mailed to him – which even included a forgery of Bill Gates’ signature. He says that since he reported the scam, the criminals have not made contact with him again.
“I am glad to know that Microsoft and the EFCC are working together to protect innocent people from these crooks,” said Dr. Cisse.
419 scams, known locally as “yahoo-yahoo,” have also taken root in Nigeria’s popular culture. Scammers’ reputations in Nigeria are popularized in songs and music videos celebrating their exploits, while 419 scam victims, or “maga,” are often stigmatized as naïve or gullible, which discourages many from coming forward and reporting cybercrime.
To help address this issue, the Microsoft Internet Safety, Security and Privacy Initiative for Nigeria (MISSPIN), EFCC and Paradigm Initiative Nigeria collaborated with the highly respected Nigerian music producer, Cobhams Emmanuel Asuquo, and popular local musicians, Banky W, MI, Modele, Omawumi, Rooftop MCs, Bez and Wordsmith, to release the song “Maga No Need Pay.”  Challenging young Nigerians to resist the temptation of “yahoo-yahoo,” the song title translates as “You don’t have to scam to become successful.”  The song’s video has already been viewed nearly 200,000 times on YouTube since its release in February 2010.
“Advance fee fraud, particularly 419 scams, has plagued West Africa and damaged the region’s reputation; this summit demonstrates and showcases how West Africa is stepping up to address the impact of fraud, helping to break the cycle through greater economic opportunity,” said Dr. Jummai Umar-Ajijola, citizenship lead for Microsoft Anglophone West Africa.
“Microsoft is committed not only to protecting Internet users from scammers and cybercriminals, but to working with West Africa to combat this problem. We believe this summit is a great opportunity to fight advance fee fraud and help challenge existing attitudes about fraud.”