Gideon was a young Nigerian entrepreneur, based in the United Kingdom, who got an order that had to be manufactured in China and shipped to Nigeria for delivery to his customer.

It arrived from China in Nigeria on time three (3) weeks ago, but it is still in the port, it has not been released.

The shipper told Gideon that this was because they had not been paid.

Gideon explained that he had transferred the money on receiving the invoice three weeks before.

The shippers did not care, it could not be released until they were paid; so they sent him a copy of the invoice.  When it arrived Gideon had a shock, it was half the price of the one he had received earlier and the bank details were different.  He had paid the original money into a false bank account!

It appeared that someone had tampered with the e-mail and changed the invoice he had received.

He had been tricked and cheated, but he now had a another problem.   You see, if he complained to the police they would quarantine his shipment while they sorted it out, hopefully find the perpetrator and then have a trial. The result would be that Gideon could not be able to deliver the order on time if that happened; and even more importantly, he would not get paid by his client.

Therefore he has decided to take it on the chin, pay the real sum due to the real shippers, get it out, deliver it and finally satisfy his client and get paid.

Gideon, being a young man, has learnt a valuable lesson, but the thing that really gets him worked up is that for perpetrator of this crime, the crime has paid off.

I know this is a simple story, sometimes described as a victim-less crime, as it is a financial one.  It happens every day.  However there has to be a way we can prosecute the criminals without making the victim suffer just for being the victim.