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Algarve |
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Letters from Nigeria
• 25 May 2007 •
 PEOPLE in the Algarve continue to receive letters in which huge rewards are offered to help in withdrawals of large amounts of money from bank accounts. The Austrian consul in the region told The Euro Weekly News he has recently had several of these letters on the Consulate’s email.
The Judicial Police (PJ) said they have been following these letters since the early 1990s. Police authorities have named this correspondence as “Letters from Nigeria”. Originally, they largely consisted of letters and faxes, but more recently they have been mostly received in Portugal by email.
The police said these letters, which are written in bad English, are usually addressed to people in high positions in the business sector, as well as in politics and other influent sectors in society. The sender says he is a high-ranking government officer, or a relative of one, coming from a given African country. According to the information, the sender claims to possess a large sum of money which he obtained through his privileged position in the government of his country. He further states that due to its origin, he cannot be publicly associated with that money, and the only thing he can do is transfer the money abroad.
He then asks the recipient of the communication to accept the money at their bank account, subject to a compensation ranging between 20 and 35 per cent of the total amount being paid. People are then asked to provide detailed personal information as well as their bank account details.
Usually money is asked for in order to support expenses or other necessary procedures with a view to obtaining the visa the foreigner needs in order to travel to Portugal to discuss business details. The PJ are strongly advising people receiving this kind of letter not to answer it as there is no money at all to be transferred, and the only thing the sender wants is to access data to carry out all sorts of fraud at international level (which have already occurred) by using others’ financial data.
The PJ added that there have been cases in Portugal in which people have complained that they have been conned and sent money for travel or other expenses. The PJ added that they have been trying to raise awareness through communication with a view to preventing other people from being caught out. |  Return to Top
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