A Nigerian cyber-cafe owner has reportedly been arrested for attempting to bar a 419 scammer from operating in his premises. Despite Nigerian government claims to be cracking down on advance fee fraud scams some local police are said to be more interested in collecting protection money, according to postings on a Nigerian bulletin board.

So when cyber-cafe owner Bani took issue with a local scammer, the fraudster was able to turn to the police for help and it was the cafe owner who ended up getting his collar felt. Bani, the cyber-cafe owner, writes: "I had a case with a customer who was into '419' for excessive spamming since my ISP had mailed me his email account details, and do you know the guy had the guts to call the police because he settles them regularly and they actually arrested me for trying to throw the guy out of the cafe."

As Techdirt.com notes, this account is not backed by any solid supporting evidence. Even so it does serve to illustrate that bringing 419 gangs to heel might take more than weighty government pronouncements on the subject. ®