"the Letter:" A Movie About Nigerian Email Scams

By Saleem Rana


Geoff Browne, a film director and cinematographer, spoke to Allen Cardoza on "Answers for the Family," a weekly talk show hosted on L.A. Talk Radio, about the Nigerian scams that are propagating throughout the Internet and financially destroying families in the US and in Nigeria. Geoff traveled to Nigeria to research a script he is turning into a film based on the Nigerian email scams.

About Geoff Browne

Geoff's Browne's career as a film maker spans more than twenty years. He has traveled around the world--from the steaming jungles of Nigeria and Belize to remote provinces in Tibet, India and Malaysia. He has lived in a cave in a remote region and spent long days filming in the fiery-hot deserts of Iran and Saudi Arabia. In his award winning film"Call it Karma," he traveled alone into Tibet and lived in village with nomads and Buddhist monks.

His most recent work was producing "Beyond Justice." It is a film with Misha Barton, Danny Trejo, Vinnie Jones and Luke Goss. Additionally, he was a cinematographer on the National Geographic collection called "Drugs Inc." Browne has also directed PSA's with Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson, Roberta Flack and David Steinberg.

Recently, he has been making a movie in Nigeria on the Nigerian scams. It's called 'The Letter.' In an exciting twist, he tells the story from the Nigerian side of the story. The storyline is about a Nigerian teenager who wishes to move his family members from the Niger Delta. Since he cannot find any work with the regional oil firms, he joins a team of e-mail scammers to pull off a fraud that will certainly alter his life.

"The Letter" A Fascinating New Movie About Nigerian Scams

Geoff Browne's film 'The Letter,' will reveal how scams are the second biggest source of revenue for Nigeria after oil. The country earns over $300 million a year from it and some scammers have personally earned millions of dollars. The scams are done by individuals, groups, and even mafia-like criminal networks. Victims are often educated people, taken in by the use of formal language associated with the correspondence of bankers, military men and government officials.

The veteran film-maker has been to Nigeria twice. He has met with scammers in the Niger Delta, and has a great understanding of the socioeconomic forces perpetuating the deceitful industry and the government officials trying to stop it.




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