They are both fraudulent people, but the modern realities of pop culture mean setting them apart matters.
The global wealth generation system of illegality and illegally obtained wealth will forever hold a staple across the world.
As such, the global wealth obtained from drugs, prostitution, trafficking, counterfeiting, bootlegging and other forms of illegality will forever be in discussion.
In Nigeria, asides the drug boys, cross-carpeting countries with kilograms of powders and minute liquid substances in vials, and the corruption of highly placed politicians, fraud is the more accessible and easily perpetrated illegality that births money by the masses.
In the 70s and 80s, the term “419” was coined as a descriptive for the old fraud boys, off the section that punishes fraud under the old criminal laws of of Nigeria. The term became a staple of Nigerian expression and pop culture forever.
Internet birthed 'Yahoo boys' and 'G boys'
The emergence of the internet as a positive would also birth a negative — it abridged the gap of accessibility to the custodians of dollars, euros and pound war-chests across the western hemisphere.
The narrative was to change forever, and youth culture would never remain the same.
While 419 took courage and greater meticulousness and higher costs, yahoo — its internet-afforded offspring was easier and only needed negative influence, cheap internet accessibility and indirect peer pressure to increase its followers.
Since the turn of the millennium, more Nigerians under 30 than we care to admit have gone the dark part of Yahoo, but through it all, 419 has remained steadfast, albeit in underground hushed tunes, perpetrated by the courageous under the rebrand, 'fraud boys'.
Thus, there is a difference. While Yahoo and 419 are under the big umbrella of ‘fraud,’ Nigerian pop culture refers more to 419 activities as ‘fraud’ than ‘Yahoo’ or ‘G’.
ALSO READ: This is how Yahoo boys dress
So what is the difference?
Yahoo or G is more the internet based scamming arm of fraud. Though it might require some identity theft or faux images and even phone number foul play, it is mostly internet based.
Though yahoo boys might have now exceeded the usual standards of establishing fake relationships and cooking up sad stories online to outright military pension and entitlement theft, there’s still a difference.
419 or fraud is slightly more complex. It usually involves the face-to-face conversations that sell fake oil deals, undertake white collar crimes, classic art — that runs in 7 figures — theft or even straight digital bank robberies.
Let's just say fraud is slightly riskier.
Where a Yahoo boy is trying to convince some 62-year old white woman to ‘give it up,’ a fraud boy is chatting face-to-face with a 26-year old Dubai capitalist as an oil baron from Angola.
He is also showing his depth of knowledge and vast ideas to convince whoever is before him that he’s 'the real deal.'
In more pop culture friendly manner, if you want a strict difference; Danny Ocean from the Ocean’s Eleven or Neal Caffrey from White Collar would be fraud boys.
Whatever movie Odunlade Adekola plays a yahoo boy would be the example of a yahoo boy.
Fraud is far riskier than Yahoo and it requires greater depth and intelligence whereas, most Yahoo Boys can’t construct a simple, correct English sentence.
Asides the not-so-visible differences between a Yahoo boy and a fraud boy, there are the visible differences between them.
The shared, yet unspoken ideas in each faction is actually very baffling.
But before we examine them, we have to admit that sometimes, they can overlap.
Asides fundamental difference from their respective fields, here are the visible differences in appearance, culture, and character;
1.) Fraud boys nor dey shout like Yahoo Boys
80% of the time, you can pick a Yahoo boy out of a crowd. It seems there’s a standard they all adhere to from some mystical general mentality they all have in what is, ‘good’.
Where a Yahoo boy might dress in a very conspicuous way with gold chains, flashy props, most fraud boys are more of chameleons.
Part of his job description is the requirement to blend into crowds. Thus, fraud boys might also spend in clubs, but they don’t make blog news and attain social media notoriety like their G brothers.
Fraud boys also enjoy the flashy lifestyle, but they understand the gifts of minimalism. They’re also more polished.
This begs the question of why the general realities within each of these two factions share similarities. While Yahoo Boys adhere to a standard, Fraud boys also have theirs.
Fraud boys might also use crazy cars, but they give off the impression of noblemen than most Yahoo Boys.
On matters of character, fraud boys tend to be more laid back. You barely see a fraud boy with tinted hair or crazy jeans.
Fraud boys are usually more Frank Lucas than Nicky Barnes.
Is it a part of the job description? Nobody knows.
ALSO READ: How Internet fraud has taken over Nigerian music
2.) Fraud boys are generally richer than Yahoo Boys
Fraud boys might only make money three times in a year or even one time, but that payday off stealing people’s sweat and blood, throwing generations of their victims into penury shake banks or vaults.
Some Yahoo Boys, however, make money daily or even weekly, but theirs are usually under one thousand dollars. Fraud boys tend to cash 8 figures in Dollars, Euros or Pounds at one go.
3.) Fraud boys are more unknowingly accepted in the society than Yahoo Boys
Fraud boys usually blend in and have cover jobs for when the ‘gods of fraud’ halt their rain of mercy. Society thus tends to be unsuspecting, at least till they’re seen blowing money fast in a strip club.
Due to how easily they can be discerned from regular people, Yahoo Boys are always perceived with cynicism, at least until people want money from them.
4.) Fraud boys are more vicious and vengeful than yahoo boys
To don’t want to cross a fraud boy.
While Yahoo Boys settle differences over cold drinks and even share same women and drink from the same cup, fraud boys are more like drug dealers when they’re offended.
They take disrespect and betrayal very seriously. They could also land their vicious gavel of gruesome deaths on whoever offends them.
A Yahoo boy does not even want to cross a fraud boy. When you think about a fraud boy in this light, think Pablo Escobar.
5.) You barely see real fraud Boys doing Yahoo, but Yahoo Boys dabble in fraud
For a Yahoo boy, fraud money is the ultimate. You could even retire early on one fraud payday. That is why Yahoo Boys dabble in fraud.
Fraud boys, on the other hand, see yahoo money as beneath them. What is $1000 to someone who has made $12 million at one go? Nothing.
Most fraud boys really don’t entertain the concept of Yahoo due to ego, but it’s mostly a human thing.
It’s like telling someone who has enjoyed Coutinho to manage Ozil in 2018. It’s not going to happen.
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