Oil economy is magnet for all types of scammers determined to prey on Guyanese

Jan 30, 2022 News

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By Pat Dial

Kaieteur News – Every society, to a lesser or greater degree, is preyed upon by scammers, often termed ‘con-men’ or ‘confidence tricksters’. Such scammers rob their victims not by open violence as “choke and robbers” do but by subtle and ingenious ways which mesmerise the victims and even the police and other law enforcers find difficult to uncover. Such scams range from stealing public funds to various schemes whereby prospective victims are offered large amounts of wealth by merely “making an investment”, that is, paying a small percentage of it to the scammer. A small percentage of a very large sum is often equivalent to a victim’s life’s savings.
Scammers tend to operate on the international stage and are particularly attracted to small developing countries, which for one reason or another are becoming rich as for example the oil-wealthy Gulf States. Since Guyana has recently become an oil state and promises to grow wealthier and wealthier with each passing year and with a population that is perceived as innocent and trusting, it has become an attraction to scammers who have begun to gradually flock here.
In this offering we will bring to our readers’ three types of scams which have become common in Guyana. The first one is done by letter of various kinds promising large sums of money if the victim sends some money in advance. The second type is ponzi schemes of various kinds and the third is the offer of the solution of all personal problems and the acquisition of wealth galore by the victims of “spiritualists” who collect handsome fees and who sometimes establish a hypnotic hold on their clients.
Examples of the first type of scam: Letters would arrive from all parts of the world ranging from Germany to Australia offering “shares” in the tickets of the world’s richest lotteries such as the ElGordo of Spain or the Irish Sweepstakes. These letters are cleverly written and give the impression that winning millions of dollars is within the easy grasp of the victim who is termed a subscriber. Even letters of congratulations are received. The victim then sends off his/her money and in due course receives a letter saying how closely the victim came to winning the fortune. He/she is encouraged to keep on playing but will never win since the scammer would have embezzled the “subscription”.
Another type of letter scam originates in Nigeria. A very well written letter comes telling the victim that the scammer works in a Government department and has been able to get his hands on millions of dollars and if the victim would permit him to send it to the victim’s overseas account for safekeeping, he would give a 60 percent commission. The victim would have to send him all the details of his account which the scammer would then plunder. Other scammers would ask for an advance payment on the transaction.
Ponzi schemes have been operating underground all over the country but most of the public only knew of them when a Cuban national married to a Guyanese was uncovered running a ponzi scheme which had embezzled millions of dollars of mostly folk from the countryside. A Nigerian national was recently arrested by the police for running a ponzi scheme. The simplest ponzi is done by the scammer taking in “investments” or “deposits” and using some of the deposits to pay the high interest and when news of the lucrative payments spread, the deposits snowball; the scammer then embezzles the other collections. Madoff of New York and Stanford of Antigua are two famous ponzi scammers.
The third type of scam is the offer by “spiritualists” to give their clients wealth galore and the rectification of all their personal problems including getting them foreign visas. The spiritualist gives all these benefits at a hefty fee. These spiritualists advertise in the classified columns of some of the newspapers. We give samples of their fantasy offerings:
One “specialised in all kinds of spiritual sickness and visa problems”; another does “Dutch spiritual work bringing prosperity and success and unites lovers and overseas romances”; yet another promises “permanent protection, healthy love/marriage relationships, job and money problems”; another confidently declares: “Meet me once and change your life. You will solve all your marriage, love and money problems”; finally, one offers “services at your every need including gambling, health, education and removal of Black Magic and 100 percent guaranteed results within days . . .”
These spiritualists prey upon the credulous and the police seem to be unable to deal with them. If the police were to mount sting operations, they may be able to limit the exploitation.
However, the surest protection against being scammed is to live by two rules: First, one must always be aware that one never gets something for nothing; and second, no one must trust in someone else to alleviate or cure one’s personal problems – personal problems must ultimately be solved by one’s self.
(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)

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