This summer, on a rainy afternoon in Lagos, I sat in a living room with a 24-year-old man who has been scamming people for 12 years. Twelve years. He started when he was 12 years old.
The rain was coming down so hard on the tin roof that I lost some of his words, but I could tell very clearly he was completely comfortable describing his line of work the same way you would explain your job to a neighbor.
The Yahoo Boys are part of a loosely connected fraud culture that has existed in Nigeria for decades. Some work alone, others in small groups, using social engineering to target victims around the world. For some, the practice also incorporates spiritual rituals, such as charms or incantations, they believe can make victims more susceptible to manipulation.
