Multi-billion fraud gangs are nailed

Scambusters across three continents have dealt a hammer blow to Nigeria's No.1 cottage industry - fraud.

Thousands of bogus ID papers and bank documents have been intercepted along with 15,000 fake cheques en route to potential victims in Europe and America.

They could have been used to con tens of millions of pounds through a range of "advance fee" and "cheque overpayment" scams.

Examples of advance fee frauds include bogus lotteries and "I'm the son of a late African dictator with millions in the bank" spam.

Victims are persuaded to hand over large sums of cash in the hope of earning back much more.

The closely-linked cheque overpayment fraud adds a twist where the victim thinks they've already been paid but ends up out of pocket when a cheque bounces.

One victim, Harpreet Smith, advertised her car on a website.

Mario Grima from Malta offered to buy the £650 motor and have it shipped. He sent a cheque for £3,000 and asked Harpreet to forward the difference, less fees, to a shipping firm in Benin, West Africa.

She banked the cheque and waited for it to clear before sending £2,245 by Western Union to "shipper" Tomas Frank.

One week later she plunged £3,000 into the red as the cheque bounced.

"I am already in debt," said Harpreet of Rotherham, S. Yorks. "I am a single mother of three and I've been off work with stress for weeks because of this."

This 419 fraud - named after the relevant section of Nigeria's penal code - is thought to cost the UK over £1billion a year.

Serious Organised Crime Agency detectives flew to Lagos to help local officers tackle the problem.

Together with the US Postal Inspection Service, they examined parcels being sent abroad via the Nigerian Postal Service and delivery companies.

A similar operation a few years ago found that 70 per cent of all Nigerian mail passing through JFK airport related to scams.

This latest Nigerian operation uncovered evidence of a vast fraud industry, churning out fake bank drafts, legal documents, cheques and identity papers and hiding them from scanners between sheets of carbon paper.

Raids on addresses in the US, Canada, Netherlands, Spain and the UK followed.

A source said: "This was aimed at tackling the people at the top.

"There have been a number of arrests in Nigeria and the authorities there have been active in tackling this fraud. We believe we have landed a significant blow on the individuals behind this fraud."