An international scam known as ‘black money scam’ that has affected countless people around the world, is hitting local residents in Addis Ababa, according to police officers The Reporter spoke too.
The scam involves the introduction of chemicals that turn dyed notes that need chemicals to be cleaned and turned into bank notes and asking victims for large sums of money upfront to get more of the chemical. The alleged fraud artists from Western African nations such as Nigeria and Liberia are said to walk in pairs in the capital to recruit their victims.
“I was shopping in the China market area when they approached me and asked me to help them with a small amount of money since they were stranded. As soon as I handed them some money, they quickly started to say they were rich people in need of navigating the local system and flashed some United States banknotes and asked for my number,” a woman who has a boutique in Bole told The Reporter.
“Our conversation progressed and they said I would be rich if I invested 30,000 Birr in a chemical that would clean a pile of bank sized papers. Before I knew it, I was out of more than 60,000 Birr in total and they stopped answering their phones and disappeared,” she said.
The woman, in her late 20’s, believes there are many victims but they are afraid their money would not be returned to them if they report what they had experienced to police officers.
According to the Olympia branch of the Addis Ababa Police, they have apprehended a few of these alleged fraud artists and have transferred them to the Kirkos Sub-City Police Department, Kazanchis, for further investigations.
Nigeria has been attempting to change its reputation as one that harbors scam artists with its so-called Nigerian 419 scam that targets people with a promise to turn them into instant millionaires via unsolicited emails. Most of the victims are said to be from Western nations, including the United States.
“Be skeptical of individuals representing themselves as Nigerian or foreign government officials asking for your help in placing large sums of money in overseas bank accounts,” the United States Department of Justice warned.
Within Ethiopia, there has been other ongoing investigation by authorities on segments of the Western African community in Ethiopia involved in various crimes. This includes recruiting vulnerable young people from poor backgrounds to act as drug mules and help in the shipment of drugs to mainland China, in which a conviction carries the death penalty.
With public pressure mounting, the Chinese Embassy started to hand out a letter of warning to anyone who receives a visa to China, not to fall victim to such gimmicks and the consequences of their actions.
