Nigeria to wage war on junk-mail scams

Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo says he will step up measures against his country's notorious junk-mail conmen who swindle people worldwide of hundreds of millions of dollars a year.

The so-called 419 scam, named after an article in Nigeria's penal code outlawing it, has been so successful in the past 20 years that campaigners say it is now the third to fifth largest foreign exchange earner in Africa's most populous nation.

Obasanjo said the Government would step up measures against these criminal activities.

A presidential committee would recommend urgent steps to deal with the scam and examine existing laws.