Black magic
Sir: Christopher Fildes (City and suburban, 17 September) says that Nigerians have written to him offering to cut him in on money exported out of their country in return for 'full details' of his bank account. He assumes that his correspondents' ability to quote an overseas account would help them raise credit in Nigeria.
So it may, but for once the Suburban may have triumphed over the City in Mr Fildes' reasoning. Had he complied with his cor- respondents' wishes, he presumably would have sent with the 'full details' of his bank account a signed covering note. Shortly afterwards, he is likely to have found his bank account mysteriously run dry. That is the scam as described to me only days ago by a saleswoman of offshore financial ser- vices.
As I know from only too direct personal experience, it is unnecessary to write to Nigeria or to collude in one's own robbing to be parted from one's money by enter- prising thieves from that country. I would advise anybody who has standing orders at a bank regularly to review payments made out thereby: my bank recently sent me a copy of a new standing order instruction because they were not satisfied that the sig- nature was genuine. How right they were: the instruction was for a monthly payment of the same amount as my salary to the account of somebody I had never heard of who had a Nigerian name.
The detective who interviewed me said that associates of these Nigerian crooks now work in the Royal Mail where they find useful leads by intercepting the let- ters addressed to banks and building soci- eties by punters as unsuspecting as I used to be.
Ross Davies
125 Fentiman Road, London SW8
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