A Nigerian man has used social media to shed light on the roots of Internet fraud in Nigeria, tracing its origins as far back as 1998.
This man, going by the username @samson_at on X, shared a picture of a newspaper clipping on his account. The clipping reported that Nigerians had swindled American citizens out of over ten billion Naira, with authorities intercepting around two million 419 scam letters from entering the United States.
According to the newspaper report, "Nigeria's image came under severe bashing yesterday following startling revelations by the United States postal inspectors that they have seized and destroyed two million 419 letters from Nigeria at New York's Kennedy airport, this year alone."
To further bolster his argument, the man shared another newspaper article from 1995. In this article, a 22-year-old youth corps member at the time sought advice from the newspaper counselor, Aunty Temi, regarding her boyfriend's mysterious source of income, suspecting him of being involved in Internet fraud.
Netizens had their say:
@Tharraleos231 remarked, "The Elders always say 'Nothing is new under the sun'."
@_DuroJaiyeJnr humorously quipped, "So even our forefathers dey bomb? 😂"
@Tito_Aina playfully connected the historical dots, stating, "This is where the word Bomb was derived from 😂😂😂😂 in terms of scamming."
@mxyzzyxM pointed out the cyclical nature of such activities, commenting, "Old takers, you think all the big old men you hear about nowadays made their money legitimately?"
@am_juelz observed the role of the Internet in amplifying these activities, saying, "It didn't start today, the Internet only amplified it…"
@nzekiev reflected on the lessons of history and skepticism, stating, "Now, this same generation are saying that we don't value honest work. I'm glad to love reading history cos I learned to never take them serious. 😂😂"