December 26, 2006
A Nigerian scam is targeting job seekers in the
United States, tricking them into cashing phony
travelers checks.
The scam gains a whiff of legitimacy by using the name of an Irish research center, but officials at the center say they have no involvement in the scheme.
The scammers placed ads in California newspapers, pretending to hire bookkeepers. The phony jobs involved doing experimental work for the Agricultural Research Institute of Northern Ireland.
The bookkeepers are instructed to accept British traveler's checks, deposit them, and wire the money to Africa -- allegedly to pay researchers.
An ARINI spokesman said the institute had sought legal advice about what they could do to stop the scammers.
"However, we have been told there is little we can do because it is happening outside the UK jurisdiction," he said.
Victims who fell for the scam have deposited the phony checks and wired their own money to the scammers before the counterfeit checks were discovered.
Police in southern California are investigating reports that some victims had lost up to $6,000 in the scheme.
