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sherry lee · Aug 3, 2011, 08:22 AM

I am from the US. And I am looking for a phone number of the Government of lagos in Nigeria. Where you pay taxes. I would really appreciate if someone could help me get some info how to contact the office. Thank you. My name is Sherry

ebaines · Aug 3, 2011, 08:29 AM

Perhaps this web site will help - it has contact info for Lagos State Revenue and Taxation:
Lagos State Government EBS-RCM-Home

kcomissiong · Aug 3, 2011, 08:41 AM

Is someone asking you to pay taxes or fees to release or transfer a sum of money?

sherry lee · Aug 3, 2011, 09:00 AM

Yes I am ask to pay amount of funds to help pay on the taxes so he can come to the US. Sherry

Fr_Chuck · Aug 3, 2011, 09:03 AM

It is a scam, there are no taxes to pay.

Visa and passport is 300 dollars or less

There is no requirement for funds in the bank

Nigeria is the largest scam area in the world, on dating.

There are rooms full of people, who do nothing but email and even call people using written scripts, they share photos of men and women.

odinn7 · Aug 3, 2011, 09:11 AM

Trust me, someone is attempting to scam you. Don't let it happen... just walk away and forget it. I could spend hours explaining these scams to you. Just walk away.

sherry lee · Aug 3, 2011, 09:15 AM

I see your from Pennsylvania, why can't I get someone in Nigeria to talk to me?

sherry lee · Aug 3, 2011, 09:18 AM

I do know and read about these scamers there. How can you check out 1 person is everyone there a bad person.

spitvenom · Aug 3, 2011, 09:21 AM

Just Google Nigerian Scams you will find so many links about these scams. The new scam is a romance scam!

Unknown008 · Aug 3, 2011, 09:22 AM

And how can you check that that one out of all those bad person is the good person? :confused:

odinn7 · Aug 3, 2011, 09:52 AM

I do know and read about these scamers there. How can you check out 1 person is everyone there a bad person.

You aren't really able to check out 1 person and be sure. I guess if you wanted to spend the time and money you could but realistically, no.

And also, no, not everyone there is a bad person. There are plenty of good people in Nigeria but unfortunately, that is where most 419 scams originate (hence the name "419" ).

The way to tell if you're being scammed here:
You will make email or chat contact, they will "fall in love with you" within days or weeks. They will want to come see you or marry you but won't have the money. You, of course, will feel that you need to send them money so they can come be with you and they will likely prod you further to do it. You will need to send it in the form of Western Union payments or some such payment service like that (WU is most popular with them). They will talk about how great it will be to be with you and how they can't wait for that time. Usually, after you send the first amount, there will be some relative (usually mother, daughter or son) introduced who is very sick and they needed to use the money for that and they hope you understand... but they still want to come to you. Of course, more money will be sent. This continues until you are no longer able to send money and then that is the end of it. You never see them or hear from them again. There is no legal action you can take to recover your lost money.

I'm sorry if this is what's happening to you. I know it is not an easy thing to hear. But... if any of this seems suspicious to you, just drop them. The pain you will feel from "losing them" will be easier to deal with than the pain you feel from them taking all you have and then losing them.

Fr_Chuck · Aug 3, 2011, 09:57 AM

Seldom will anyone from their Nation be on the interent and sending people bulk emails. They will not lie about costs, about required medicial exam.
So the most they would ever need is 300 dollars for passport and visa.
You have them go by the US embassy and apply for a visa there, have the embassy separately contact you.
You travel there first, visit them, visit their family and so on.

odinn7 · Aug 3, 2011, 10:04 AM

Originally Posted by Fr_Chuck

You travel there first, visit them, visit their family and so on.

I know what you're saying and I understand why you said it but I wanted to point something out for safety. There have been cases in these scams where they get people to come to them and those people then are either robbed or robbed and killed. Ok, so that is not a common way that a dating scam would work, that is more for the lottery and found money scams but I thought I would bring it up anyway. You ALWAYS need to be careful when dealing with these people as you have to remember, they are real criminals and some of them are violent criminals as well.

Safety first!

Sorry Fr_Chuck, I agreed with most of what you wrote (all of it in fact) but I felt I should say that. I wasn't saying you were giving poor advice.

kcomissiong · Aug 3, 2011, 10:25 AM

Ask yourself this... If this person cannot afford to apply for a passport, and pay for a visa (300 as Fr_Chuck mentioned), how in the world are they going to afford overseas travel? It doesn't make sense. Why would they have a ticket purchased for overseas travel with no visa or passport? Why would the Nigerian Government levy taxes on a US Visa?

This is a stranger in another country. A person can say anything through a computer. Would you give a stranger on the street a large sum of money if they told you that they loved you and would give it back as soon as they saw you again? No! Please don't let the online world and some pretty words take away your common sense and self-protection.