An investigation carried out by the National Police, FBI, EU security forces and the UK SOCA has resulted in 18 people being arrested in connection with the so-called ‘Nigerian Emails’.
The network sent out thousands of emails each day to people all over the world advising them that they were recipients of a large inheritance. The letters were mostly sent from Madrid and area and, with one of the scammers being a bank official, it was implied that the inheritance in question was lodged with the Bank of Spain.
All the people had to do to claim their inheritance was to send sums of money to various members of the group in order to expedite matters. Needless to say, no-one ever received their ‘inheritance’.
The group, mainly Nigerian nationals living in Spain, are thought to have made up to €11 million through this (well-known) scam which counts on people’s greed or ignorance.
Raids were carried out on seventeen locations and police seized numerous luxury vehicles, computer equipment, counterfeit money and other items. Police also blocked 114 bank accounts belonging to the detainees.
The investigation began back in September 2009.