Nigerian have well-earned a dubious distinction of being scammers trying to cheat and phish people out of their money. They are legendary for the well-crafted email seeking assistance for transferring money out of the country. The usual modus operandi is sending an email claiming that they are the blood relative of some deposed leader who has in his lifetime slushed and stashed away some money secretly.
His relative, the sender of the email now needs your assistance namely details of your bank account to transfer the money into your account. For the assistance, you are promised a mouth-watering cut. Of course, in order to earn the windfall a small administrative fee (read a couple of thousand) is required from you.
It is amazing how many people fall for this scam. Recently a foreign broadcast TV station showed a clip of a scene in a cyber caf in Nigeria where Nigerians were at the computer terminals all of them busy executing their scams.
Just how did they come into Malaysia? Some come in as students, just the same way how they enter United Kingdom. Sign up for a course at some downmarket and financially strapped college. Student visa in hand, they arrived to study at leisure while being engaged in crime. Of course, most of these colleges are not bothered about their attendance so long as their fees have been paid.
Another modus operandi is to enter as visitors. Unlike Singapore who prefers and emphasize quality visitors and those with spending power, all the Nigerian need to do is land in Thailand. With enough money to pay for a bus trip to Malaysia and a few dollars in the pocket, a bagful of imitation watches, belts, cigarette lighters and pens and a bottle of coke to quench their thirst, they enter Malaysia masquerading as tourist but in actual fact itinerant traders and petty criminals. In Johor, they are a regular sight every night at restaurants and hawker centres. It is the same in other big cities.
Many years ago while living in Kuala Lumpur, I once called the Immigration Department and informed them of the street where these Nigerians had set up home. Despite my regular calls, the place was hardly raided.
