Three men have been arrested in Toronto, Ontario, as the result of a police investigation into the Nigerian letter scam. The investigation, code-named Canadian Eagle, has been operated jointly by the RCMP, the FBI and the U.S. Secret Service, and in the last two years has led to the arrests of between 30 and 40 people in relation to cross-border telemarketing schemes.
According to the RCMP there were more than 300 victims, mostly Americans, of this international letter scam working out of Toronto. The scam has been operating in Toronto for nearly a decade. The shut-down of this Toronto group is only one small part of a large, sophisticated international operation, and the fraud will undoubtedly continue.
There were no Canadian victims in this version of the scam. The RCMP says that scam operators usually do not target victims in the host countries. Canadians are victimized by letter scams that come from New York City or the United Kingdom.
With the Nigerian letter scam, con artists usually get names and addresses from corporate directories, trade and financial publications and professional associations. The letter is sent by mail, fax or email. A typical letter asks for help in transferring money out of Nigeria into financial institutions in the victim's country, and offers to pay a percentage in cash for administrative fees. The con artists then ask for more and more money.
None of the victims in the Toronto case received any money from the business arrangements that were set up. None had their investments returned either. The losses to individuals from the scam were staggering - from $52,000 (U.S.) to more than $5 million (U.S.).
The RCMP acknowledged the help of the new government of Nigeria and the Central Bank of Nigeria in fighting this fraud.
