Honest_African
6 April 2009, 20:34
Hello,
I am from Cameroon and very saddened at the scams I have been reading about. This tarnishes the reputation of the entire country.
As so many have said: No matter how nice these people sound, no matter how true the story seems, THERE ARE NO PETS. EVER.
Given the large number of people on this site alone who have reported being scammed, I would suggest that each and every one of you (scammed or almost scammed) contact Cameroon authorities. They might know of some isolated incidents but I doubt they know how widespread the problem is.
This does not mean that they will get your money back since these are probably considered private matters but if enough people contact them, they might be encouraged to go after some of these fraudsters and make examples out of them. Hopefully, you could help in protecting others from being scammed.
I suggest that you send faxes. You can use a service like efax which will cost $1 or so. Be careful about using your own fax or phone unless you have a really cheap international calling plan because it could cost you $4 a minute. You can also use a prepaid calling card for Africa. You can generally find those cards in the same places as you send Western Unions. I do think that a faxed letter will be more effective. You can phone after faxing to ensure the fax was received and to follow up if you want.
Please be very courteous and polite if you write or call. Protocol is very important and insulting or impolite correspondence could make the official angry.
I would call or fax all of the numbers below:
His Excellency Amadou ALI
Vice-Prime Minister, Minister of Justice
Tel: +237 22 22 21 54
Fax: +237 22 23 00 05
Mr. Edgard Alain MEBE NGO’O
Délégué Générale à la Sûreté Nationale --- this is the head of the police for the country
Tel.: +237 22 20 22 80
Fax: +237 22 21 00 69
His Excellency Ephraim INONI
Prime Minister -- he is very sensitive to issues relating to Cameroon's international image --
Tel: +237 22 23 57 60
Fax: +237 22 23 57 65
You might also want to copy the US Embassy. If they receive enough complaints, they could bring this to the attention of Cameroon authorities although I suspect that they are already aware of this.
US Embassy
Tel: +237 22 20 15 00
Fax: +237 22 20 15 00 (extension : 4531)
Best of luck to all of you and apologies from an honest Cameroonian.
I am from Cameroon and very saddened at the scams I have been reading about. This tarnishes the reputation of the entire country.
As so many have said: No matter how nice these people sound, no matter how true the story seems, THERE ARE NO PETS. EVER.
Given the large number of people on this site alone who have reported being scammed, I would suggest that each and every one of you (scammed or almost scammed) contact Cameroon authorities. They might know of some isolated incidents but I doubt they know how widespread the problem is.
This does not mean that they will get your money back since these are probably considered private matters but if enough people contact them, they might be encouraged to go after some of these fraudsters and make examples out of them. Hopefully, you could help in protecting others from being scammed.
I suggest that you send faxes. You can use a service like efax which will cost $1 or so. Be careful about using your own fax or phone unless you have a really cheap international calling plan because it could cost you $4 a minute. You can also use a prepaid calling card for Africa. You can generally find those cards in the same places as you send Western Unions. I do think that a faxed letter will be more effective. You can phone after faxing to ensure the fax was received and to follow up if you want.
Please be very courteous and polite if you write or call. Protocol is very important and insulting or impolite correspondence could make the official angry.
I would call or fax all of the numbers below:
His Excellency Amadou ALI
Vice-Prime Minister, Minister of Justice
Tel: +237 22 22 21 54
Fax: +237 22 23 00 05
Mr. Edgard Alain MEBE NGO’O
Délégué Générale à la Sûreté Nationale --- this is the head of the police for the country
Tel.: +237 22 20 22 80
Fax: +237 22 21 00 69
His Excellency Ephraim INONI
Prime Minister -- he is very sensitive to issues relating to Cameroon's international image --
Tel: +237 22 23 57 60
Fax: +237 22 23 57 65
You might also want to copy the US Embassy. If they receive enough complaints, they could bring this to the attention of Cameroon authorities although I suspect that they are already aware of this.
US Embassy
Tel: +237 22 20 15 00
Fax: +237 22 20 15 00 (extension : 4531)
Best of luck to all of you and apologies from an honest Cameroonian.