The man, who asked to be identified only as Eric, told the paper he had lost almost S$330,000 (US$190,751) he made in payments to the Nigerian fraudster who offered him a share in a non-existent $25-million inheritance payout.

"I'm almost 50. This was my only hope of ever getting rich," the father of four told the newspaper. "I was greedy and I have to pay now for my greed."

Nigeria has become notorious around the world as the centre of a massive e-mail fraud industry in which dupes are enticed to part with large sums of money in return for handling large illegal money transfers from Nigeria.

Eventually, the money transfers do not take place and the dupes find they have lost the money they paid out to facilitate the deal. In Nigeria, the operation is known as a '419', after the part of the Nigerian criminal code dealing with fraud. The present government has pledged repeatedly to crack down on the criminal gangs perpetrating the scams but has yet to do so.

Eric told the Straits Times he received an e-mail from a man claiming to be the manager of the Diamond Bank of Nigeria offering him a 30 percent share of a $25 million inheritance payment, in return for which Eric had to transfer first S$17,000 to a lawyer to handle the transaction and then another $18,000 for the attorney's travelling expenses.

He was then asked to come up with more money including a further $129,000 dollars, to facilitate the deal and flew to London where he was shown a large amount of allegedly counterfeit money.

"After seeing the money and coming so close to getting it, I was determined not to give up halfway," said Eric. But he was duped. "My wife said I use the handphone so much that my brain is damaged. I think she's right. She said my eyes can see only the dollar signs," Eric said.

The fraud victim now owes the bank $40,000 and has borrowed $230,000 from his friends and has put up his house for sale.

Eric said he was desperate after his monthly salary was cut in half to $3000 dollars this year.

"I thought I could give my family a better life, but look what has happened now," he said.


                                                      Home