Unfortunately, the Nigerian entrepreneurial spirit is often used for wrongdoing. Nigerians are known the world over for their creative business scams, frequently done over the Internet. An article published Tuesday on BBC.com described a recent scam: Nigerian conmen posed as scouts for European football clubs, contacted young African football players via email, asked them for a $500 fee to try out for their clubs, and then ran with their money.
Nigerians are keenly aware of how much money can be stolen through internet fraud, and many can tell you about friends who got rich by starting scamming at a young age. A popular Nigerian hip hop song memorializes and satirizes the scam artists, known as “Yahoo boys” or “Yahozees” (“Yahoo” is a general term for the internet). You can check out the "Yahozee" video here.
The song is sung in a mixture of Yoruba and Pidgin English. A Nigerian acquaintance explained some of the lyrics this way:
Ti n ba hammer, first tin na Hummer
If I hit it big (i.e. hammer it), the first thing I’ll buy is a Hummer
One million dollars, elo lo ma je ti n ba se ni naira?
I’ll get one million dollars and exchange it into tons of naira (Nigerian currency)
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, boys dey hustle eh!
Internet scam artists work hard Monday through Thursday
Friday, Saturday, Sunday! Fbogbo aiye!
On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday they party
Champaigne, Henessy oh eh! For evribody eh!
With enough money to buy champagne and Henessy for everyone
