Some Nigerian Prince victims start getting restitution from Western Union over its role in scam



Americans duped by the infamous Nigerian Prince scam that swindled thousands of dollars from households with alluring emails of lucrative returns are finally hoping to receive some of the money they thought was gone forever.

Western Union has earmarked $586 million for victims over the role some rogue employees played in the email scheme, which often told people they’d receive millions from a trapped prince if they sent him money to escape captivity.

That includes $110,000 that Wichita resident Fred Haines sent to scammers through Western Union. He was repeatedly told between 2005 and 2008 that his $64 million inheritance was being moved around the world, and he’d have to keep paying to cover the costs of transferring the money.

“It got to the point where they were showing me that the President of Nigeria had sent me a letter. It had his picture on it and everything,” Haines said to the Kansas City Star. “I looked it up on the computer to see what the Nigerian president looked like, and it was him.”

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Another phony missive supposedly came from then-FBI Director Robert Mueller, which referred to Haines under the codename “B-DOG.” The note, with shoddy grammar, promised the money was real and he should cover the costs of getting it stateside.

Western Union settled a lawsuit levied by the Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department that alleged it didn’t properly respond to the fact that employees worked with the overseas con artists to scam people.

Middlemen were a common practice in the Nigerian Prince scam. Michael Neu, a southeast Louisiana man, was arrested in January on more than 250 wire fraud and money laundering charges for acting as a conduit between unsuspecting citizens and offshore swindlers.

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Cops in Slidell, La., said Neu was first contacted by Nigerian scammers under the pseudonym Maria Mendez, and started helping them, ABC affiliate WGNO reported. He reeled in a Dodge City, Kan., resident to mail him money, which he then shipped to the swindlers, authorities said.

Neu was eventually banned from Western Union because he used their money orders so frequently, WGNO reported in January.

Victims impacted between January 2004 to January 2017 were able to file a claim through Western Union until May 31 if they had sufficient records. State attorney general offices worked with the FTC and Department of Justice to let possible victims know they might qualify.

New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood’s office estimated more than 30,000 New Yorkers lost roughly $35 million because of the Nigerian scammers. It’s unclear how many of those victims submitted claims – but many of those swindled may have failed to act on any mailings they received due to wariness about being duped again.

https://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/ny-news-nigerian-prince-payback-20180611-story.html