How To Fight Nigerian Scams as an Honest Nigerian?

A Nigerian asks: "As honest Nigerians, it is painful to us that everyone assumes that we are all scammers. We can't use e-payment services like Paypal, 2Checkout.com or make payments online without having the transactions flagged as scams, denied, or our account and funds arbitrarily locked for months or years. We want to make the scams from our country stop so we can be trusted again. We don't want to be left out of the Internet revolution taking place all over the world. What can we as ordinary and honest Nigerian citizens do to fight Nigerian E-mail Scams?"

Comments

Curious.

[hey!]

The first thing I thought of when I read this was this quote from Othello:

He that steals my purse steals trash; its something, nothing,
But he that filches from my good name
Robs me of that which not enriches him,
And make me poor indeed.

Googling enough of the quote to get it right, the first hit in Google was the web site of Atiku Abubakar, the Vice President of Nigeria.

I'm not sure what it's doing there. Hopefully, it is a sign that he realizes the magnitude of the damage these scammers have done to the future of your country. It won't be easy getting your reputation back.

I'd say having democracy, even if it is a bit shaky, is a good first step. But you need more. You need a non-corrupt police force, an independent and impartial judiciary, and far-sighted laws aimed at the good of the nation instead of aggrandizing the the leadership. You scrupulous effort by people of good will in the private sector as well.

When you have largely eradicated the scammers, and when you have brought your political and legal system up to world class standards, I'd say you're still looking at fifteen years of Nigerians being automatically suspect.

Re:Curious.

[bergeron76]

Well lets see:

a) 4 Nigerian officals were killed in a helicopter crash a couple of weeks ago.
b) They were also purportedly selling "Yellow Cake" enriched Uranium to Iraq (which has clearly been proven false).
c) Profit!

As an American, I'd ordinarily recommend moving here and becoming a citizen. Because you could then gain international trust, be part of a democracy, and profit! However, these days I'm not sure that's a great idea. The entire world hates US (probably moreso than Nigeria!) because our so-called leader is an absolute dolt.

*sigh*

Re:Curious.

[Burz]

I think having a government that wasn't bought out by international oil companies would make officials more accountable to the needs of the population.

Re:How Nigerians and Get their Good Name Back

[bcrowell]

Your government needs to start policing the criminals that give your country a bad name.
Their government is the criminals that give the country a bad name.

The answer to the OP's question is that they need to overthrow their government.

Re:You're an honest Nigerian?

[Anonymous Coward]

Mod parent Troll/Flamebait

Re:Aasop's Fable

[dslauson]

You want to be accepted, then stop accepting scum. Simple."

That's an absolutely rediculous response. If we are all to be judged by the actions of the worst of our fellow countrymen, are you prepared to be held up as an associate of Jeffrey Dahmer, David Duke, or Timothy McVeigh? That is very ignorant, overly-simplified, xenophobic, and lame.

Kill the fucking spammers!

[TibbonZero]

This is easy. Help the world. Just go on a vigilante manhunt for any of these people. Take down all of them, one by one. I wouldn't convict you of any crimes. You're make the world (and the virtual world) a better place. Take all of the money they have stolen and give it to the poor that actually need it (i'm assuming that the poor in Nigeria rarely have internet access like these people do).