should i go to the police?

my brother had a Nigerian pay £920 into his bank account and then they told him to take it out of his account and send it baack to them via moneygram...which he did....This sounds to me like money laundering...I made him phone the NIgerian to ask the name of the person who put the money in his account and they told him it was a "friend"....I then mde him phone his bank to get some information..they said the name was ayaisha Bajee but they could not provide details of ttheir account details or country of origion....
im wondering if I should go to the police ? ...

Hi,

Without more info, it's hard to say, but based on what you provided, this doesn't look like an advanced fee fraud.
It does however look similar to the "Flashing" fraud (see here), and the words "Nigeria" and "Moneygram" instantly raise red flags.

Flashing – this can happen in one of two ways, but basically involves the scammer trying to convince the victim that money has arrived in the victim’s bank account to stay, when really it is only paying a passing visit. The first way is when the scammer tells the victim he is making a direct transfer into the account using cash or a cashier’s check or some other secure payment method. The victim will see the proceeds in a couple of days, but actually the scammer has paid in a fake check, and the bank will eventually realise and debit the account again, leaving the victim out of pocket if he has sent on the proceeds. Essentially, it is like the basic check scam (see here but with the scammer depositing the check instead of the victim. The other method requires the scammer to have access to a hijacked merchant account for credit card usage. These are the kinds of accounts any store or shop has, which enable them to make credits and debits to a credit card account with the card owner’s permission, of course. If a scammer has one, he can make a credit into the victim’s bank account with the merchant account, tell the victim the money is there, and later, when he’s got the goods or cashback he was after, debit the account again.

If this is the case, I'm afraid your brother will have lost the 920£. Money sent via Western Union or Moneygram is almost always unrecoverable.

This is almost definitely money laundering - the deposit may have been fraudulent, like the account flashing that ideafix suggests, or the payment may have been made by another victim and processed through your brother's account. Yes, you should report this, both to the bank and law enforcement. Please also explain this to your brother - he should not allow any sort of payments processed through his bank account by strangers he has met online.

This is almost definitely money laundering - the deposit may have been fraudulent, like the account flashing that ideafix suggests, or the payment may have been made by another victim and processed through your brother's account. Yes, you should report this, both to the bank and law enforcement. Please also explain this to your brother - he should not allow any sort of payments processed through his bank account by strangers he has met online.

It's too late to explain to him Jillian.he has already sent the fifty thousand via western union over a period of seven years and its been going on for at least ten years that we know of ..the flashing is just the latest scam....my brother said the scammers had to to it this way because the do have banking facilities in nigera

Jeanie, I'm somewhat familiar with your situation as I know that several of our members here and at our sister site have tried to assist you in the past. I'm sorry that your brother is still involved in this.

While this could be account flashing, if the payment came from another victim and is money laundering, your brother, while a victim, could be held legally responsible. I recommend contacting your local law enforcement for help.

Jeanie, I'm somewhat familiar with your situation as I know that several of our members here and at our sister site have tried to assist you in the past. I'm sorry that your brother is still involved in this.

While this could be account flashing, if the payment came from another victim and is money laundering, your brother, while a victim, could be held legally responsible. I recommend contacting your local law enforcement for help.

my brother is completely under the control of the scammers I actually was behind him in the local post office when he was trying to send £200 via moneygram.he saw me and ran out thepost office with the money and paper work.the woman in the post office said he was in their twice a week sending money. He believes he is dealing with a Christian, Nigerian princess who has a large inheritance she wishes to share with him..I heard the scamer talking to mmy brother over the phone and it sounded like a man not a woman..
He has given them his bank account details his home address his phone number and god knows what else.The local police have listed him on a vulnerable person report ..He recently asked for my deceased fathers bank account details,he has the same name as my brother ,,I believe it may have been to pass on to the scammers
the local police say this is a matter for social work but I believe this is also a criminal matter and the police need to take action against the scammer .. he says he is going to travel to NIgeria to meet this princess and I told him he would come back in a body bag!! you couldn't make this stuff up!!!

Jeanie,

I can only imagine the frustration you are going through, but unfortunately, this is one case in which you are not going to find a solution here.

The majority of victims of the scams we see here are really more uninformed than anything else. Often education (and the support of friends and loved ones) will ultimately get the victim out from under the scam.

But there is a small percentage of victims who are far beyond that. These victims often have mental health issues and/or a history of addiction. These victims may be delusional, or simply so addicted that they are unable to let go of the fantasy.

Your brother clearly falls in the the latter class. Nothing you say or do at this point is going to get through to him. You can show him 200 identical examples of the scam, a signed confession from the scammer, and he is still not going to let go of his delusion. He is addicted to this scam, and he is in far too deep to recognize and accept the facts. Without some serious professional help, it is unlikely he will ever let go. And he's most likely going to have to "hit rock bottom" if there is going to be any chance that he admits to himself that he has a problem.

In reality you only have a few possible options here:
1) continue to try to talk to your brother and convince him it is a scam. With his history, your chances of success are almost zero, and your efforts will only serve to further stress yourself. Honestly, it's not a very effective solution.
2) Contact the police and report what is going on, including the latest transactions, in hopes that they will investigate the financial transactions. You need to be aware, though, that it is your brother they will investigate, and probably not the criminals that are outside of their jurisdiction. It is possible they could charge your brother with money laundering as well. Contact the fraud department of his bank also. It's impossible to say if this will help you any, but it is possible that this will at least start to wake him up to the reality that something is wrong with this. And, it is possible that this will lead to further restrictions that may stop him from being able to do this as easily. As far as them arresting the scammers (again they can't anyway) it still wouldn't solve the problem. As long as he is caught up in this delusion, there WILL be another scammer waiting to pick up where this one left off.
3) Contact an attorney and find out if there is any way you can have him legally declared incompetent, and have yourself or another person assigned as guardian over his finances. Again, this won't stop him completely, but cutting back his access may slow him down quite a bit. If you can't have him declared incompetent, get advise from the attorney on how to protect your share of any inheritance (and shares belonging to any other family members.)
4) Cut off his access to any money that does not belong to him, block his access to your home and the homes of family members (a victim this addicted is likely to steal if he can't get money any other way) and do the best you can to move on with your own life without getting pulled in any further. Simply let him know that you can't watch him do this to himself, but you will be there if and when he is ready to face the truth. It's not easy to do but sometimes it is necessary.

Jeanie,

I can only imagine the frustration you are going through, but unfortunately, this is one case in which you are not going to find a solution here.

The majority of victims of the scams we see here are really more uninformed than anything else. Often education (and the support of friends and loved ones) will ultimately get the victim out from under the scam.

But there is a small percentage of victims who are far beyond that. These victims often have mental health issues and/or a history of addiction. These victims may be delusional, or simply so addicted that they are unable to let go of the fantasy.

Your brother clearly falls in the the latter class. Nothing you say or do at this point is going to get through to him. You can show him 200 identical examples of the scam, a signed confession from the scammer, and he is still not going to let go of his delusion. He is addicted to this scam, and he is in far too deep to recognize and accept the facts. Without some serious professional help, it is unlikely he will ever let go. And he's most likely going to have to "hit rock bottom" if there is going to be any chance that he admits to himself that he has a problem.

In reality you only have a few possible options here:
1) continue to try to talk to your brother and convince him it is a scam. With his history, your chances of success are almost zero, and your efforts will only serve to further stress yourself. Honestly, it's not a very effective solution.
2) Contact the police and report what is going on, including the latest transactions, in hopes that they will investigate the financial transactions. You need to be aware, though, that it is your brother they will investigate, and probably not the criminals that are outside of their jurisdiction. It is possible they could charge your brother with money laundering as well. Contact the fraud department of his bank also. It's impossible to say if this will help you any, but it is possible that this will at least start to wake him up to the reality that something is wrong with this. And, it is possible that this will lead to further restrictions that may stop him from being able to do this as easily. As far as them arresting the scammers (again they can't anyway) it still wouldn't solve the problem. As long as he is caught up in this delusion, there WILL be another scammer waiting to pick up where this one left off.
3) Contact an attorney and find out if there is any way you can have him legally declared incompetent, and have yourself or another person assigned as guardian over his finances. Again, this won't stop him completely, but cutting back his access may slow him down quite a bit. If you can't have him declared incompetent, get advise from the attorney on how to protect your share of any inheritance (and shares belonging to any other family members.)
4) Cut off his access to any money that does not belong to him, block his access to your home and the homes of family members (a victim this addicted is likely to steal if he can't get money any other way) and do the best you can to move on with your own life without getting pulled in any further. Simply let him know that you can't watch him do this to himself, but you will be there if and when he is ready to face the truth. It's not easy to do but sometimes it is necessary.

I think you are right..he needs some type of medical help. And I think today I will make an appointment to see his doctor as this is unsustainable...and watching him be asset stripped by a Nigerian is driving me insane
I would lock him out of the house but he lives with my elderly mother who is. a victim too as she suffers because my brother gives all his money to the Nigerians and he lives off her meagre pension...my mother can't even have a land line phone in the house because the Nigerians were calling ten times. A. Day frightening her....the cost of the Nigerians scam is far reaching and affects everyone in the family...Thanks for your advice it is greatly appreciated