4 ms·

what is really sad is that the whole reputation of a country is being dragged down the crapper just because of these emails. Which leaves me to ask, is the Nige

by morphir 16y ago

what is really sad is that the whole reputation of a country is being dragged down the crapper just because of these emails. Which leaves me to ask, is the Nigerian government doing anything about this?

Bjoern 16y ago
I am not an expert on the field but as far as I heared from my friends who do business down there the country has a huge problem with corruption. It goes through all levels of the entire system.
- patrickk 16y ago
  I heard anecdotally that a Nigerian guy was trying to raise money on Dragon's Den for a new venture in Nigeria (http://www.bbc.co.uk/dragonsden/ http://www.bbc.co.uk/dragonsden/) and that he had like £5000 per month down for "Bribery Expenses". The dragons laughed but admired him for his straight up attitude (they didn't invest). See the Excel sheet here: http://www.doingbusiness.org/documents/Simulator_2010.xls http://www.doingbusiness.org/documents/Simulator_2010.xls Nigeria is ranked 125th in the world for ease of doing business. One of the requirements for a good business environment is stable, largely non-corrupt government, which is obviously lacking in Nigeria.
mseebach 16y ago
I can't find any of the these scams in my mail (and I'm not really sorry), but I seem to recall that they "come from" many other places than Nigeria. It's a shame, PR-wise, for Nigeria that they've come to be known as Nigerian scams, but even if the Government would, there isn't much they could do about it.
pbhjpbhj 16y ago
>Which leaves me to ask, is the Nigerian government doing anything about this [the 419 scammers]? To be cynical for a while: It's actually quite possible this is a net benefit to the country. The money coming in obviously "drips down". Officials maybe also take bribes, I don't know. It may even raise the profile of Nigeria for aid - "look how desperate Nigerians are to stoop so low, if we address poverty there then it will also address this problem" (squeaky wheel gets the most oil, etc.). Of course 419 refers to the article of Nigerian law that prohibits such actions.

by morphir 16y ago

Bjoern 16y ago

I am not an expert on the field but as far as I heared from my friends who do business down there the country has a huge problem with corruption. It goes through all levels of the entire system.

patrickk 16y ago
I heard anecdotally that a Nigerian guy was trying to raise money on Dragon's Den for a new venture in Nigeria (http://www.bbc.co.uk/dragonsden/ http://www.bbc.co.uk/dragonsden/) and that he had like £5000 per month down for "Bribery Expenses". The dragons laughed but admired him for his straight up attitude (they didn't invest). See the Excel sheet here: http://www.doingbusiness.org/documents/Simulator_2010.xls http://www.doingbusiness.org/documents/Simulator_2010.xls Nigeria is ranked 125th in the world for ease of doing business. One of the requirements for a good business environment is stable, largely non-corrupt government, which is obviously lacking in Nigeria.

mseebach 16y ago

I can't find any of the these scams in my mail (and I'm not really sorry), but I seem to recall that they "come from" many other places than Nigeria. It's a shame, PR-wise, for Nigeria that they've come to be known as Nigerian scams, but even if the Government would, there isn't much they could do about it.

pbhjpbhj 16y ago

>Which leaves me to ask, is the Nigerian government doing anything about this [the 419 scammers]? To be cynical for a while: It's actually quite possible this is a net benefit to the country. The money coming in obviously "drips down". Officials maybe also take bribes, I don't know. It may even raise the profile of Nigeria for aid - "look how desperate Nigerians are to stoop so low, if we address poverty there then it will also address this problem" (squeaky wheel gets the most oil, etc.). Of course 419 refers to the article of Nigerian law that prohibits such actions.