A major anti-corruption crusade has taken shape in Nigeria, formed in the hopes of cracking down on Internet scammers throughout the country. The campaign recently shut down 800 scam websites and busted 18 networks used by email fraudsters.

According to Farida Waziri, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) boss, "Over 800 fraudulent email addresses have been identified and shut down. There have also been 18 arrests of high profile syndicates operating cyber-crime organizations." (Source: com.au)

Epicenter of Email Scamming

Nigeria carries the undesirable reputation of being the epicenter of email scamming. In recent years, these online deviants have wreaked havoc on international web users.

While scammers have long experienced a relatively safe buffer zone in Africa, combined with previous "laissez-faire" enforcement officials, now anti-corruption police have responded to a worldwide call to action in an effort to stamp out cyber crime. If everything goes according to plan, within the next six months, "operation eagle claw" will have forewarned a quarter of a million potential victims.

Nigerian Scammers Caught in Spain

Last March, police in Spain arrested 23 (mostly Nigerian) scammers accused of running an email and letter ring. The operation was believed to have defrauded 150 people across the U.S. and in Europe. (Source: yahoo.com)

This particular operation operated by submitting thousands of letters each day to prospective victims, claiming that these people had just received millions of dollars in inheritance funds.

The scam turned to criminal behavior when these people were asked to pay a "small" processing fee and/or supply their bank account information so that the funds could be deposited into their accounts. Of course, the victims never inherited their fortunes, but were the recipients of dry bank accounts and hefty credit card statements.

In recent years, scammers have become much more brash in choosing their prospective targets. Some operations were even known for sending out emails to certain celebrities and other prominent personalities, pretending to be helpless and stranded people asking for emergency cash.

The Nigerian anti-corruption police hope to change that.