October 08, 2007 11:40am
DODGY Nigerian scams are reaping $2.5 million a month from Australians who fall for them, a conference has been told.
Queensland's Police Minister Judy Spence told Australia's first national symposium on Nigerian fraud in Brisbane today she was amazed that people continued to be conned by the long-running scam.
"I guess the old adage that a fool is easily parted with his money is still true in this day and age," Ms Spence said.
"It's estimated that Australians lose $2.5 million every month to Nigeria in this scam."
The scams, which have been circulating since the 1980s, typically involve a letter or email from a person overseas claiming to need help transferring a large sum of money.
They typically offer to provide a significant portion of that money in exchange for bank account details.
Ms Spence said a Queensland police operation set up to investigate the impact of Nigerian fraud in the state had identified 135 victims who had been defrauded of a combined total of $18.2 million.
That was despite repeated warnings on the scam from authorities, and information on the scams being readily available on the internet.
Today's symposium involved stakeholders from Australia, North America, Asia and Africa and is aimed at addressing the spread of the scam.
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