How to know Nigerian online scammer: Code word uncovered will surprise you

A group of internet sleuths claim to have uncovered a code word Nigerian scammers supposedly use to rinse unsuspecting victims of their money online, a report by Mail Online said.

Reddit is awash with information about the term ‘Alaye’ and how it roughly translates to ‘area boy’ or ‘thug’ in Yoruba.

It also means kingpin or someone who is smart and street-wise.

In internet chat rooms professional scammers use the term to identify their own kind and quickly move on to a new person if they are found to be speaking to a scammer themselves.

‘It has been used by scammers as a sort of code word to determine if someone they are talking to is also a scammer, so as not to waste their time,’ one man wrote under ‘ProLifeTips’ on Reddit.

‘If someone you are talking to online slips in an Alaye at any point, it doesn’t necessarily mean they are a scammer. But it means the person is probably Nigerian, so if their profile picture is not consistent with this than it should raise red flags.’

Experts recommend replying to the word with an ‘Alaye’ yourself, to trick the scammer into thinking you already know what they’re up to.

‘They will stop bothering you if you say it back, and if they do, you will know you’ve dodged a potential scam,’ a user by the name of CryptoCurrency said.

Example conversations had between regular people and scammers show how seamlessly the term ‘Alaye’ is inserted into conversation.

Sometimes it’s the supposed name of a friend and other times it’s ‘where they live’ but each time they are working to gain your trust and expose weak points.

One woman replied to Alaye with: ‘What does that mean? I’m not good with acronyms haha I had to look up “smh” the other day.’

A scammer replied to her by saying ‘lol that’s a Somalia language’, to which she said: ‘What does it mean? Did you learn it in the army?’

‘It means babe. Yes I learned it in the army,’ he said.

In this instance the conversation continued because the scammer realised his victim didn’t know what ‘Alaye’ meant, and therefore could be manipulated.

In other conversations where the term ‘Alaye’ was used, and the person replied with a thumbs up, the scammer aborted the conversation without further trouble.

There are various version of the ‘Alaye’ phrase, each more sinister than the next.

‘Alaye is similar to tipping your hat to a fellow scammer but if they add “Mi” it literally means ownership of that person,’ one man wrote online.

‘Also worth noting if they add “Ma4” it means they are in danger and/or being held against their will and are about to suffer the consequences of scammer trolling.’