{"product_id":"the-yahoo-boys-love-deception-and-the-real-lives-of-nigerias-romance-scammers","title":"The Yahoo Boys: Love, Deception, and the Real Lives of Nigeria's Romance Scammers","description":"\n\u003ctable align=\"center\" border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"2\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\"\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd class=\"productDetailSmallElements\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"This is nonfiction that reads like a compelling novel . . . Unexpectedly tender . . . What [Barragán has] produced feels miraculous: journalism that is simultaneously funny, devastating, wildly intimate, and righteous without veering into moralism.\" \u003cb\u003e--Kate Knibbs, \u003ci\u003eWired\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Carlos Barragán skilfully navigates this history [of scamming] in his debut, \n\u003ci\u003eThe Yahoo Boys\u003c\/i\u003e, which humanizes both the perpetrators and their victims . . . Barragán's characters are vivid; they inspire sympathy and plumb the depths of wickedness . . . \n\u003ci\u003eThe Yahoo Boys\u003c\/i\u003e puts the lie to our image of technology as a realm of inevitable progress.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--Nicolas Niarchos, \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Barragán's distinction is to tell the story of crimes that are usually narrated from the victim's perspective, asking instead who is on the other end of the phone and what they believe they are doing . . . Barragán's achievement is to make this world intelligible without making excuses for it. He has a reporter's gift for proximity. He lets the scammers talk--at length, often hilariously--but not hide inside their own mythology.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eFeyi Fawehinmi, \u003ci\u003eThe Wall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"[A] deeply reported and richly empathetic account.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--Jessica Loudis, \u003ci\u003eBloomberg\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Engrossing.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eThe Economist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"In \n\u003ci\u003eThe Yahoo Boys\u003c\/i\u003e, Carlos Barragán takes us on a remarkable journey into the world of Nigerian scammers. Written with an astonishing degree of immersive detail, we get to know a group of young Nigerians who adopt false identities online for the purpose of wooing lonely, real-life Americans in order to extract money from them. I have found few books lately as immediately compelling as Barragán's, and as a reader, I could not put it down. As an unexpected fresh take on the bewilderingly quicksilver world we live in, \n\u003ci\u003eThe Yahoo Boys\u003c\/i\u003e is a tour-de-force.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--Jon Lee Anderson, author of \u003ci\u003eTo Lose a War \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eChe: A Revolutionary Life\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"If \n\u003ci\u003eThe Yahoo Boys\u003c\/i\u003e were merely a picaresque tour of the world of Nigerian scammers, it would have been worth it for the entertainment value alone. In Carlos Barragán's hands, however, this is a technically sophisticated, emotionally acute, and sociologically wise exploration of a shadow economy driven by devices, loneliness, and global inequality. It's an enviable feat of reportage and writing--as intrepid as it is sympathetic.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--Gideon Lewis-Kraus, staff writer at \u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker \u003c\/i\u003eand author of \u003ci\u003eA Sense of Direction\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Barragán brings a surprising depth and empathy to \n\u003ci\u003eThe Yahoo Boys, \u003c\/i\u003e to the tin roofs and traffic jams of Lagos, the SIM cards and Apple IDs that buttress this edifice of deceit. He's gone rappelling into the bottomless pit that surrounds desire. The result is a compassionate, elegant, unsettling book.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--Dan Piepenbring, \u003ci\u003eHarper's\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"An empathetic, humanizing deep dive.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eLouisa Ermelino, \u003ci\u003ePeople\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\" \n\u003ci\u003eThe Yahoo Boys \u003c\/i\u003eis a fascinating and important exploration, one that is full of warmth and empathy. Carlos Barragán has constructed something that is both intimately personal and globally relevant.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--Dipo Faloyin, author of \u003ci\u003eAfrica Is Not a Country\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"[An] outstanding debut . . . most noteworthy for its affecting humanization of both the Yahoo Boys . . . It's a remarkably empathetic view of both sides of the con.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly \u003c\/i\u003e(starred review)\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Carlos Barragán traveled to Lagos, Nigeria in search of the con artist who had romanced his divorced mother and found himself submerged in the sleepless, hard-partying world of the Yahoo Boys--a subculture fueled by music, booze, and drugs, as well as poverty and ambition and even love. Barragán writes with impeccable empathy about both the scammers and their lonely heart victims to produce a compellingly readable exploration of the psychology of the romance scam.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--Barbara Demick, author of \u003ci\u003eNothing to Envy \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eDaughters of the Bamboo Grove\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Barragán's immersive narrative is riveting, evoking empathy for victims as well as perpetrators ... \n\u003ci\u003eThe Yahoo Boys\u003c\/i\u003e is a comprehensive account of a little-understood, pervasive and psychologically complex crime, as well as a testament to Barragán's journalistic chops and sensitivity.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eBookPage\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Carlos Barragán has nailed it, capturing the mystery of internet romance scamming. He is a remarkable ethnographer, filled with empathy for both victimizers and victims: impoverished Nigerian adolescents full of dreams, and his own mother, who yearns for love and companionship. Most importantly, we learn that both sides of this tragic global equation suffer deeply. I wish all anthropologists could write as grippingly, empathetically and clearly as does Barragán.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--Philippe Bourgois, author of \u003ci\u003eIn Search of Respect\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eBiographical Note\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eCarlos Barragán\u003c\/b\u003e is a reporter and researcher for \n\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times \u003c\/i\u003ebased in Madrid. He was formerly a reporter at \n\u003ci\u003e El Confidencial \u003c\/i\u003ebefore receiving his MFA in nonfiction writing from Columbia University. \n\u003ci\u003eThe Yahoo Boys\u003c\/i\u003e is his first book.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher Marketing\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA \u003ci\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/i\u003eMost Anticipated Nonfiction Book of 2026\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA \u003ci\u003ePeople \u003c\/i\u003eBest Book of June A \u003ci\u003eUSA Today \u003c\/i\u003eMost Anticipated Summer Read\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"What [Barragán has] produced feels miraculous: journalism that is simultaneously funny, devastating, wildly intimate, and righteous without veering into moralism.\" --Kate Knibbs, \u003ci\u003eWired \u003c\/i\u003e(Book Club Pick) \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cb\u003e\"I have found few books lately as immediately compelling as Barragán's, and as a reader, I could not put it down . . . \u003ci\u003eThe Yahoo Boys\u003c\/i\u003e is a tour-de-force.\" --Jon Lee Anderson\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAn astonishing work of immersion journalism about four young romance scammers in Lagos, Nigeria, exploring how and why they scam, and the moral dilemmas they face \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWhen his mother started emailing with a handsome American soldier who promised to send gold bars to her Madrid apartment, the journalist Carlos Barragán came face to face with the human toll of online romance fraud. After tracing the emails to an IP address in Nigeria, he set off on a journey to Lagos to find his mother's scammer, where he stumbled on a much bigger story. There, in a crowded and impoverished neighborhood in the midst of Africa's largest city, he encountered thousands of young men engaged in romance scamming. They call themselves \"Yahoo Boys,\" and each year they catfish millions of dollars from lonely victims overseas, building a dizzying local economy from their phones. \n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn this astonishing work of immersion journalism, Barragán takes us inside the lives of four of the Yahoo Boys of Lagos. We meet Biggy and Chibuike, each struggling with the temptations of fast money; Azeez, a tailor's apprentice caught between the lure of crime and Nigeria's economic crisis; and Richie, who is convinced that he's responsible for the death of a woman in Kentucky he manipulated online for years. Some Yahoo Boys attain the status of folk heroes, buying houses and cars with the money they make, while others become dependent on drugs and \"cash out\"--successfully scam a victim--only to lose it all. \n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThrough the Yahoo Boys' twisting fortunes, Barragán discovers the psychological tactics they perfect, the brutal economic realities that drive them, and the moral dilemmas they confront. A work of radical empathy, this book reveals the human face behind a global phenomenon, and shows how loneliness in the West and poverty in Nigeria are two sides of the same screen. \n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations:\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003eBooklist\u003c\/span\u003e 04\/01\/2026 (EAN 9780374609306, Hardcover)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/span\u003e 04\/06\/2026 (EAN 9780374609306, Hardcover) - *Starred Review\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/span\u003e 05\/01\/2026 pg. 125 (EAN 9780374609306, Hardcover)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/span\u003e 05\/15\/2026 (EAN 9780374609306, Hardcover)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eContributor Bio:\u003c\/strong\u003eBarragán, Carlos\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eCarlos Barragán\u003c\/b\u003e is a reporter and researcher for \n\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times \u003c\/i\u003ebased in Madrid. He was formerly a reporter at \n\u003ci\u003e El Confidencial \u003c\/i\u003ebefore receiving his MFA in nonfiction writing from Columbia University. \n\u003ci\u003eThe Yahoo Boys\u003c\/i\u003e is his first book.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e\n","brand":"Farrar, Straus and Giroux","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51496248082710,"sku":"9780374609306","price":34.8,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0857\/9910\/8886\/files\/9780374609306.jpg?v=1783058175","url":"https:\/\/lusper.myshopify.com\/products\/the-yahoo-boys-love-deception-and-the-real-lives-of-nigerias-romance-scammers","provider":"Lusperbooks","version":"1.0","type":"link"}