SFO urges victims of 'Nigerian e-mails' to come forward

The serious Fraud Office is urging victims of internet fraudsters to come forward, amid an upsurge in e-mails purporting to offer a cut of an illegal fortune in return for access to the victim's bank account.

Although an e-mail promising instant wealth from an unknown sender in a far away country may sound to many like the stuff of dreams or con tricks, people in the UK fall for the "Nigerian letters" fraud every day, the SFO says.

The appeal comes after the office last week won two convictions against fraudsters who conned victims in the US and UK out of £500,000.

A whole industry has grown up generating fake letters and e-mails sent by people pretending to be relatives of deposed African leaders who say they are in urgent need of financial help to move secret fortunes away from their countries.

The details vary but detectives say those orchestrating this type of crime offer their victims a cut in the money they claim to have. Then usually, after a few letters or e-mails about the proposition, they ask for the victim's bank details, for the money to be transferred to them. But instead of the transfer, the fraudsters then clean out the victim's account.

A spokesperson for the SFO said: "It is sometimes difficult to get people to come forward if they are victims of this type of crime, because the money is usually illegal in the first place."

Last week's convictions were against two men who claimed they were victims of political persecution in Nigeria. George Agbinone and Ovie Ukueku were sent to prison for three and a half years and 12 months respectively, and were ordered to pay compensation to their victims.

They pleaded guilty to persuading more than 10 people to part with thousands of pounds which they said would help facilitate the transfer of millions of pounds from Nigeria.

The victims were promised a share of the money once it was out of the country. One woman lost so much money that her bank has threatened to foreclose on her mortgage.

The SFO and the National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS) are being deluged with examples of the con by members of the public. NCIS said that since January last year, one British person lost £1.4m and another more than £400,000, while three people were cheated out of £300,000 each and five lost £250,000 each.

Two e-mails that were sent to journalists at The Independent last week purported to come from Mercy Korumgba, the wife of the former military head of the Central African Republic, and from Moshood Seko Mobutu, the son of Mobutu Sese Seko, the former president of Zaire.

Ms Korumgba's plea is for a "person of great integrity" to help her access $18m (£12.7m) of funds in a private account she could not access. She offered to pay her helper $180,000 for handling the money.

Mr Seko said he wanted to access $50m from his father's estate and asked for his correspondent's passport or driving licence number.