The Christian retail channel in Nigeria continues to be negatively impacted by e-mail scams that have targeted U.S. evangelical bookstores in recent years, according to a leading member of the industry in the African country.

Sylvester Ejeh--owner of Edysyl, a bookstore, distributor and publishing house in Nigeria--told Christian Retailing "the majority of Nigerians suffer image problems overseas because of few that are involved in scams."

"Sometimes merely introducing myself as a Nigerian turns off prospects," said Ejeh, Christian Trade Association International's (CTAI) vice chairman. "Most of the time we are not given the opportunity to prove ourselves because (we are marked) as fraudsters."

Melissa Mitchell, director of loss prevention for LifeWay Christian Stores, told Christian Retailing the Christian retail channel currently does not have a system in place to report Nigerian scams--which have featured bogus e-mails from there requesting help with Bibles from Christian bookstores in the U.S.

The scam artists typically use fraudulent credit cards to pay for the Bibles, so the retailers end up responsible for replacing the funds. CBA addressed the issue with a workshop on loss prevention during the International Christian Retail Show in 2006.

"Christian publishers in America were the major victims only a few years ago, but they've learned from the experience," said CTAI President Jim Powell.

Read the full report in the July 6 issue of Christian Retailing.

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