We hope this page helps other Small Businesses prevent losses of money and time. We lost time, but no money, thanks to the Export Assistance Office in Boise (part of the Department of Commerce) and to consumer advocate Clark Howard.

This is not one of the generic phishing scams; this is one where they actually corresponded with us for a long time over email, and at each step showed just enough legitimacy to keep us on the hook. We could not figure out what was in it for them, until a check arrived. Then the DOC sent us this: The Department of State Publication on 419 Fraud. It explains the various ways Advanced Fee Fraud manifests. Our experience combined several of these.

Below are details of our experience and correspondence with the Nigerian scammer. Although dry reading, we hope to provide enough info that others in similar situations will find this page and also avoid falling prey to such scams.

Steps in the Scam

We responded to an emailed inquiry from our partner, Thomasnet.com. (Scammers find small businesses the same way legitimate buyers do.)

"Joe Saddler" writes back, from Lagos, Nigeria, interested in multiple units of our product. He claims to be reselling them to the Niger Delta Development Commission. Our products really would be useful for a development project, so we corresponded for some time, being careful to share only information that is publicly available.

The Export Assistance office in Boise forwarded the initial chain of emails to their Nigeria staff. (Find your own assistance office at export.gov.) The DOC told us:

“...our staff in Lagos conducted a thorough research in our trade references and database of legitimate Nigerian businesses registered with us failed to support the existence of HMV Ventures, Inc. A further search in the current Lagos State street map excluded Alade Rhodes Avenue in Ikoyi, Lagos.

“If the Nigeria firm is interested in further conversations regarding potential business with you, they should be directed to register with the U.S. Embassy in Lagos under  the Networking with the USA (NUSA) program. More information on the NUSA program can be found at our website: www.buyusa.gov/nigeria/en. Then click on services for Nigerian firms.  If they are a legitimate Nigerian firm, they will understand and not have a problem doing this in order to continue business dealings with you.  If they balk at registering, it raises additional red flags.”

Well, Joe didn’t balk. He said essentially that registering with the Embassy was a great idea, but IN THE MEANTIME, he would send us a large check to cover the costs of registering with the SON (Standard Organization of Nigeria). We would cash the check and use it to pay the SON. Hence the term, Advanced Fee Fraud!

And much to our surprise, a check did arrive! We opened it in front of the USPS Inspector, as a witness. The envelope was addressed from New York but the rest of the address was illegible.

Upon receipt of the check, the Department of Commerce told us, "Stop all correspondence. Do not reply to emails at all. Hang up if they call!"

Moments after this advice, Joe called us again. We were able to tell him with confidence to contact us again only AFTER registering with the U.S. Embassy. His sense of urgency was of no concern to us the next three times he called.

We warn every small business that this correspondence has, at every step, had a teeny tiny bit of potential legitimacy to it. We try to provide excellent customer service and are mortified by the idea of stepping on the toes of someone who may be a real customer. Luckily, with the help of the DOC, we were able to say, "We will talk with you again only after you register with the U.S. Embassy. Thank you.”

Advice to other Small Businesses

There were many red flags that came up in our correspondence, but we do not want to post them for fear of improving their tactics. If you receive emails from Nigerian companies (or others outside the United States) claiming to be interested in your product, we suggest:

• look for transparency; business with any customer should be completely transparent and verifiable
• use the resources at your disposal, such as the DOC and EAO
• use the Internet to verify information
• use common sense and trust your instincts
• Listen to Clark Howard on the radio!

Call or email Joan for the list of warning signs that kept us from falling victim to this scam. We are happy to share what we have learned with others.

Email Examples

Here are some of the emails so that others may see how legitimate it seems and the types of steps he went through. Samples of Emails from the man in Nigeria:

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you to place my order. the delay is caused by the regulatory agencies who gave many conditions,but i have find the solutions to it and will be proceeding to place order. the agency needs your company(the manufacturer or exporter) to pay a registration and processing fee before certificate will be given and authorization to bring the brand here.I have decided to pay for it myself so should I consider distributorship in future,i will be the lone representative.

I need you to send me the marked up proforma invoice so I can process your payment.The 10% markup is for expensis like unforseen fees and to pay people will facilitate immediate payment.

The name of my company is HMV Ventures,INC. 19924 Alade Rhodes ave,Ikoyi,lagos Nigeria. My billing address is 3498 college st.Toronto,canada. On M5T 3A8. and my phone number is 011-234-7745118.

The items will be shipped to NDDC(Niger Delta Development Council)/procurement Division.The phone number is 011-234-4716975 and the contact person is Prince Raymond Uba.

So send the Proforma invoice soon so I can aplly for my fees,I learnt it takes about 3 weeks to release the payment. Also I should get the clearance from the regulatory agencies soon.

We want the unit for supply to the Niger Delta Develpoment commision.I want to see if you can lower your price further because we are looking at 100 units.Please let us know if you can match the prices should we forward other quotation to you,so endeavor to give us the best possible discoutn you can.You can reach me at 011-234-805-753-3989 as I am currently out of town sourcing for these contracts,but will be checking my mails.

We are victorious on our bidding last week, infact we will be needing 130 units. Once the generators perform satisfactorily,they will be ordering more in future. Hopefully we will talk about distributorship/representative then. For now I need you to send me an invoice for 130 units. Also I need the product specification to register this model with the Standard organization of Nigeria (SON). This is needed to test the quality and make sure that is what will be coming in as opposed the cheap ones from China. Send the invoice and the product specification either by sacnning it to my email or fax to (708) 393-4852. As soon as I get model and product registered,it will be easier in future and you wouldnt have problem shipping to this part of the world.

Also I dont have a frieght forwarder now,so include the shipping cost EX-Lagos. I would appreciate further discount if possible because my margin is low plus I have to pay for the registration of the product and shipping.

Calculate the discoutn on the side,which is what I will be remitting to you via wire transfer or l/c. to answer your questions,1. Ocean freight will be cheaper,just find out if it will be more than 30 days. The ship to address will be Apapa wharf, Lagos NIGERIA. The billing address is to me in Canada and I want all the units at once.

Most fo the things that are of your concerns are settled issues which we have agreed on. For example,the terms of payment have been settled. We will pay for the full price less 10% of the invioce. I have submitted the invoice for foreign exchange approval and will wire to you as soon as the funds are approved.Additionally,i have assured you that NDDC is legitimate,a government agency.You can check with your embassy for verification,they spend billions of dollars to devolope oil producing area of the country.Before you ship,you will verify all these your self and I may introduce you to a contact there.

What we need to do now is to work on getting this brand of lentry certified by the Standard organization of Nigeria(SON) as a quality product. Without this,all our effort will be wasted and we wont be talking about shipping etc.

The stage now is to pay some fees ranging from $10,000 to $20,000 for registration and processing. As I proposed before,I will provide you with the funds with which to send to the agency as and when needed to give it the air that your company paid the registration as per their rule. I know you will not pay with your money now because you are a new company,but that is the cost of doing bussiness in Africa.

I am glad to know that American embassy here have these networking program.We will register with them soon.Though we are Canadian company doing business in Nigeria, we will find this services very useful,so we will sign up.Hopefully,we will finsh the registration with the embassy and the certification of your brand with SON in time to continue the shipping.

A check in the amount of $45,000 has been disbursed to you. You will contact One Prince Raymand Ubah of Standard organization of Nigeria to pay the required fees and follow his directions thereafter. I will send you his contact numbers and when best to reach him as soon as I meet him today.

I called you this morning beacuse the USPS called to tell me that they are holding your mail(check) because no body was home when they came on the 19th.

So call them to re-deliver the check immediately. This is delaying my registration of your product.You can first track the mail at usps.com. The tracking number is [omitted] so you can know where the mail is.

The amount enclosed is $36,792.53. Once you clear the check,contact Prince Raymond Ubah of Standard organization of Nigeria(SON)011-234-803-069-0968 for the certification and directions of where to pay the money. Meanwhile your invoice have been approved,I am waiting for this registration and the one from American embassy before we wire the funds.

Subject: Dont let this happen

I was shocked by how you are going back on our agreed terms.We both agreed that I must register with the embassy before payment on the invioce and the actual shipment of the [product]. You did not tell me that you will not go ahead with the registration process which i have indicated to you that it is the most important thing to do if business have to continue.I have gone ahead to register with the embassy but it will take 2 weeks to 1 month.Why are you afraid to go through with this certification unless you want to ship sub-standard good to us. I see the reason the Govt demands this.

Please dont make all my efforts become wasted like this. I wish you know what I have been through to this point.You are not being fair and I dont think you understand my position. My position is regardless if my company registers with all the embassies,if I dont get this certification to sell your product here,it useless.

So please send the money for this certification and hopefully by the time we are ready to pay for the invioce and shipment,the registration with American embassy will be through. Look at how long I have been going after this contract and I will be highly angry if I miss it because of you. This is my money and we agreed before. You should know how to make your customers happy. Look at how you insulted prince Ubah,he is the person who determines if I sell this lentry here or not(Not American embassy).Dont disappoint me,I wont be happy Regards Joe Saddler

We hope this page saves someone else from similar irritations! ~ J. Neils Enterprises, Inc.

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