ECONOMIC RECESSION AND ADVANCE FEE FRAUD IN NIGERIA: SOME THOUGHTS ON THE NEXUS BETWEEN HUMAN NEED AND CRIMINOGENIC THINKING

Philip Ndubueze

Abstract


There is a substantial body of criminological literature that suggests the existence of a nexus between economic conditions and crime. This paper examines the relationship between economic recession and advance fee fraud in Nigeria. The basic premise of this paper is that economic recession may precipitate criminogenic thinking in some otherwise law abiding citizens. Such individuals may ultimately resort to crime like more subtle advance fee fraud as a survival strategy. The paper uses Merton’s (1938) Strain Theory to elucidate its argument. It recommends that during economic recession, apart from introducing palliatives for the poor, the government should develop an effective monitoring/control mechanisms that would ensure that such palliatives are not hijacked by “power mongersâ€, “political jobbers†and “political gatekeepersâ€. Also, the paper calls for some empirical inquiry into the nexus between economic recession and advance fee fraud in Nigeria.

Full Text:

PDF

References


Advance Fee Fraud and other Fraud Related Offenses Act, 2006. Laws of the Federation of Nigeria. Agri, E.M., Mailafia, d. and Umejaku, I. (2017). Impact of economic recession on macro- economic stability and sustainable development in Nigeria. Science Journal of Economics. DOI: 10.7237/sje/130 Beirne, P. &Messerschmidt, J.W. (2015). Criminology: A Sociological Approach (6th Ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.

Claessens, S., and Kose, A.M. (2009). What Is Recession? Back To Basics. Finance and Development. Retrieved June 6, 2017 from: https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2009/03/pdf/basics.pdf Cohen, L. and Felson, M. (1979). Social change and crime rate trends: A Routine activity approach. American Sociological Review, 44, 588 – 608. Cullen, F.T., Agnew, R. & Wilcox, P. (2014). Criminological Theory: Past to Present. New York: Oxford University Press.

Duffield, G and Grabosky, P. (2001). The Psychology of Fraud. Trends and Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice. 199, 1-6. Ekpenyoung, G.D. (1993). The effect of economic recession on university libraries in Nigeria: The case of Kenneth Dike Library. New Library World, 94 (3). https://doi.org/10.1108/EUM0000000002443 Field, S. (1990). Trends in crime and their interpretation: A study of recorded crime in post-war England and Wales. Home Office Research Study 119. London:HMSO.

Glickman, H. (2005). The Nigerian ‘419’ advance fee scams: Prank or Peril? Canadian Journal of African Studies, 39 (3), 460 – 489.

Hale, C. (2005), Economic marginalization, social exclusion and crime. In C. Hale, K. Hayward, A. Wahidin & E. Wincup (Eds.). Criminology (pp.325-343. New York: Oxford University Press. Holt, T.J. and Grares, D.C. (2007). A qualitative analysis of advance fee fraud e-mail schemes. International Journal of Cyber Criminology, 1 (1), 137 – 154. Krambia-Kapardis, M. (2001). Enhancing the Auditor’s Fraud Detection Ability: An Interdisciplinary Approach. Peter Lang: Frankfurt am Main. Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (2016). Steering the Nigerian Economy Out of Recession. Retrieved June 10, 2017 from: http://lagoschamber.com/wp- content/uploads/2016/10/Steering-the-Nigerian-Economy-out-of-Reccession.pdf

Maslow, A. (1945). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50, 370-396. Max-Neef, M., Elizalde, A. and Hopenhayn, M., (1992). Development and human needs. Real-life Economics: Understanding Wealth Creation, 97–213. Max-Neef on Human Needs and Human-scale development (n.d.) Retrieved June 20, 2017, from: http://www.rainforestinfo.org.au/background/maxneef.htm Merton, R.K. (1938). Social structure and anomie. American Sociological Review, 3:672-682. Nikiforova, B. and Gregory, D.W. (2013). Globalization of trust and internet confidence emails. Journal of Financial Crime, 20 (4), 393-405.

Otu, N. (2013). Kidnapping: A variant of Nigerian Advance Fee Fraudsters (419) diversified portfolio. International Journal of Criminal Justice Sciences, 8 (1), 73-87. Psysci.co (n.d.). Yochelson and Samenow: What Makes a Criminal? Retrieved May 28, 2017 from https://www.psysci.co/yochelson-samenow/ Rich, T. (2018). You can trust me: a multimethod analysis of the Nigerian email scam. Security Journal, 31 (1), 208-225. Robbins, S.P. Judge, T.A.; Millett, B. and Waters-Marsh, T.2008). Organizational behaviour (5th Ed.). Frenchs Forest: Pearson Education Australia. Ross, S. and Smith, R.G. (2011). Risk factors for advance fee fraud victimization. Trends & Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice. 420, 1-6. Samenow, S.E. (1984). Inside the criminal mind. New York: Crown Business. Shicher, D. (2015). Financial misrepresentation and fraudulent manipulation: SEC Settlement with Wall Street frims in the wake of the economic meltdown. In G. Barak (Ed.). The Routledge International Handbook of the Crimes of the Powerful (pp. 278 – 288). London: Routledge. Smith, A. (2008). Nigerian scam e-mails and the charms of capital. Cultural Studies, 23 (1), 27- 47. DOI: 10.1080/09502380802016162.

Smith, R.G. (2014). Transnational Cyber Crime and Fraud. In Reichel, P. & Albanese, J. (Eds.). Handbook of Transnational Crime and Justice (2nd Ed.).pp. 119- 142. Los Angeles: SAGE Publications.

Tule, M.K., Bamidele, A., Ezema, C.C., Oboh, V.U., Omoregie,D.E., Ndako, U.B., Okoro, A.S., Adeleke, A.I., Ajayi, O.I., and Oladunni, I. (2012).Understanding Monetary Policy Series: Economic Recession. Central Bank of Nigeria. Retrieved May 26, 2017 from: http://www.cbn.gov.ng/out/2015/mpd/understanding%20monetary%20policy%20series%20no %2014.pdf UNODC (2012). Monitoring the Impact of Economic Crisis on Crime. Retrieved March 17, 2017 from: http://www.undoc.org/undoc/en/fronpage/2012/Febrauray/economic-crisies-cantrigger-rise-in-crime.html

Weatherburn, D.; Lind; B. and Ku, S. (2001). The short-run effects of economic adversity on property crime: An Australian case study. The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology, 34, (2), 134-148.

Wells, J.T. (2011). Principles of fraud examination,3rd edition. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Yochelson, S. (1976). The criminal personality (Vol.1). New York: Aronson.


Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.