Scams and the Love-struck American Mugun .

In a previous piece titled The Gullible Victims of Scams, I discussed the culpability of the victims of the Nigerian scams in regard to greed. They are called "muguns" (The dumb). Here I would like to discuss the issue of prejudices/stereotypes as the second major contributory factor.

Nigerians are highly educated people and, by virtue of their education, a typical Nigerian can be very smart and intelligent. This is the reason why, unlike many other African immigrants, Nigerians will always hold their heads high, carry themselves with pride and go about with confidence.

However, it has been proved that a majority of the American victims of the Nigerian scams were the prejudiced who stereotyped Africans as a people. Ironically, this is the knowledge used by the Nigerian scam artists while they “stoop to conquer” their potential victims.

There was the embarrassing case of Robert Brown (not real names). Eager to settle down again, a once-divorced Brown resolved to do away with American women. When he told me about his relationship with a Nigerian woman and the plan to bring her over here, I asked him:

“And what do you know about Nigerian women?”

“Not much.” he admitted. “But I know that a typical Nigerian woman is submissive and not smart enough to give me any drama.”

“Really?” I glared at his ignorance.

In a bid to show off, Brown invited me to come take a look at the online pictures of his “fiancée” while the two “chatted”. She was indeed a very pretty woman. But…wait a minute! Here was a guy who, at the age of 35, had allowed a poor lifestyle and a gluttonous eating habit to let his body go. He was not just fat, but totally shapeless. How could he attract such a pretty woman?

Knowing me for my brutal manner of speaking out my mind, he was not surprised when I asked if the woman knew what he looked like? Brown said the woman had no problem with his poor physical appearance. He went on to say rather arrogantly that any woman from the Motherland should be grateful that an American man showed interest in her. “Hey…” he concluded. “It’s the same reason that some white guys are going for Russian women…”

When Brown revealed the thousands of Dollars and gifts he had sent to the woman so far, I shook my head in pity. And, to his shock, I declared that he might be a victim of scam. His initial reaction was that of anger, directed toward me, for being so negative.

But as a test of the situation, I told the man to inform his so-called fiancée that I would be visiting Nigeria in a couple of days. And she should provide an address so that I could come deliver some gift items to her on behalf of her American future husband.

In a nutshell, the result was dreadful. Among other things, the woman’s reactions were so evasive and suddenly antagonistic as to arouse the suspicions of even a love-struck guy like Brown. Then I got on the computer to reveal my identity as a Nigerian and was able to exchange certain information with the woman. Finally, in the process, Brown discovered the scam.

In my subsequent online discussion with the Nigerian woman, she was very respectful toward me but very sarcastic in the ridicule of her victim:

“Excuse me sir.” she said to me. “Don’t you see the way those Americans look down on us Africans? Just look at that disfigured, fat pig thinking that a ‘whole me’ would marry him…all because I’m a Nigerian? We really need to teach those people some lessons. So, please don’t pity him. He is a mugun!”

That was it! Robert Brown’s victimization by the Nigerian scam artist fell under the category of “The love-struck American mugun”.