Chinese: The new kingpins of online fraud
On the internet, staying away from Nigerians is the biggest caveat any government will give its people. However, Nigeria is not the worst country when it comes to notoriety in internet fraud. Official data (from internet fraud watch 2009) does not even rank Nigeria among the top ten countries where all most fraud originates; but […]
On the internet, staying away from Nigerians is the biggest caveat any government will give its people. However, Nigeria is not the worst country when it comes to notoriety in internet fraud. Official data (from internet fraud watch 2009) does not even rank Nigeria among the top ten countries where all most fraud originates; but we are made to appear the worst because of our poor government and the hypocrisy of the West. For Nigeria, the people behind these online crimes are supposed to be ‘poorly educated jobless youth’ with varying internet skills (though we have found out that this is far from being the case).
One country that sure outpaces Nigeria in internet fraud and scam (although also not captured among the top ten by official data) is China. The reason for this assertion is the level of sophistication they have put behind their nefarious intention to defraud and willingness to ‘invest some funds’. Their modus operandi is to set up websites where they display mostly electronic products like laptop computers, phones, television sets, motor bikes, digital cameras etc. These products are displayed at outrageously lower prices when compared with the current market price; the kind of price you would call ‘too good to be true’.
The fact that they have a dedicated website or have their domain on B2B websites like alibaba.com and ecvv.com as verified members makes you trust them. They chat with you and even correspond by phone to give you all the assurances, but lo and behold, they are fraudsters. That they are willing to spare some money to set up websites and/or pay to be verified member of B2B sites takes their fraud to another level, an unexpected level for fraudulent intent. This guys cannot be said to be easy to recognize but once you are armed with the necessary knowledge, they will easily appear to you for what they are – fraud. As far back as 2007, firetrust.com merging its list with that of fraudwatchers.com released a list of over five thousand seven hundred (5,700) Chinese websites used for scam. Today, more and more spring up daily; in china, this is an industry. If an institution of state was not involved in this conspiracy, then consider this: one of the basic lessons for a cyber criminal is never to reveal his bank details online (publicly) but is given directly to the intended victim when they are sure he/she has fallen for their trick and is willing to make payments.
The reason for this is that bank details are an easy way to trace perpetrators of scam. But for these Chinese websites, they post their bank details online, of course because of a certain confidence they have that they cannot be caught through it (no thanks to banking secrecy laws in China). In summary, don’t pay any Chinese company until you have seen the goods; not even if the lead is married to your sister.
Sanyaolu Kehinde & Taiwo are Chief Research Analysts with Stakes Capital Ltd