Overview

When his mother fell for an 'American soldier' who promised to send gold bars to their Madrid apartment, Carlos Barragan found himself with an unexpected window into the shadowy world of online romance fraud. He set off on a journey to find his mother's scammer, but what he discovered was much bigger: a world of young Nigerian men who drag themselves out of destitution by catfishing lonely hearts in the US and Europe, in the process building a dizzying local economy from their phones. The Yahoo Boys follows four scammers in Ikotun - one of Lagos's poorest neighbourhoods, a scant ten miles from the gleaming heart of the megacity. Through their twisting fortunes, Barragan discovers the psychological tactics they perfect, the economic desperation that drives them, and the moral dilemmas they face. A work of radical empathy, this astonishing narrative nonfiction debut reveals the human face behind a global phenomenon, and shows how isolation in the West and poverty in Nigeria are just two sides of the same screen.

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9781399632188

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Reviews

Carlos Barragán traveled to Lagos, Nigeria in search of the con artist who had romanced his divorced mother. He 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 lonelyheart victims . . . A compellingly readable exploration of the psychology of the romance scam -- BARBARA DEMICK

Carlos Barragán traveled to Lagos, Nigeria in search of the con artist who had romanced his divorced mother. He 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 lonelyheart victims . . . A compellingly readable exploration of the psychology of the romance scam -- BARBARA DEMICK, author of Daughters of the Bamboo Grove and Nothing To Envy I have found few books lately as immediately compelling as Barragán's . . . As an unexpected, fresh take on the bewilderingly quicksilver world we live in, The Yahoo Boys is a tour-de-force -- JON LEE ANDERSON, author of To Lose a War and Che Guevara If Carlos Barragán's The Yahoo Boys were merely a picaresque tour of the world of Nigerian scammers, it would have been worth it for the entertainment value alone. In his 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 -- GIDEON LEWIS-KRAUS, author of A Sense of Direction Fascinating and important. Carlos Barragán has constructed something full of warmth and empathy, both intimately personal and globally relevant -- DIPO FALOYIN, author of Africa Is Not A Country

Carlos Barragán traveled to Lagos, Nigeria in search of the con artist who had romanced his divorced mother. He 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 lonelyheart victims . . . A compellingly readable exploration of the psychology of the romance scam -- BARBARA DEMICK, author of Daughters of the Bamboo Grove and Nothing To Envy Fascinating and important. Carlos Barragán has constructed something full of warmth and empathy, both intimately personal and globally relevant -- DIPO FALOYIN, author of Africa Is Not A Country I have found few books lately as immediately compelling as Barragán's . . . As an unexpected, fresh take on the bewilderingly quicksilver world we live in, The Yahoo Boys is a tour-de-force -- JON LEE ANDERSON, author of To Lose a War and Che Guevara If Carlos Barragán's The Yahoo Boys were merely a picaresque tour of the world of Nigerian scammers, it would have been worth it for the entertainment value alone. In his 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 -- GIDEON LEWIS-KRAUS, author of A Sense of Direction Through four sensitively crafted portraits of young Nigerian scammers, Barragán shows us young men caught between hard luck and hard choices . . . A wonderful accomplishment -- MARK DE ROND, star of Predators 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 the reporter Barragán -- PHILIPPE BOURGOIS, author of In Search of Respect, pioneering ethnographer of underground economies

Carlos Barragán traveled to Lagos, Nigeria in search of the con artist who had romanced his divorced mother. He 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 lonelyheart victims . . . A compellingly readable exploration of the psychology of the romance scam -- BARBARA DEMICK, author of Daughters of the Bamboo Grove and Nothing To Envy I have found few books lately as immediately compelling as Barragán's . . . As an unexpected, fresh take on the bewilderingly quicksilver world we live in, The Yahoo Boys is a tour-de-force -- JON LEE ANDERSON, author of To Lose a War and Che Guevara If Carlos Barragán's The Yahoo Boys were merely a picaresque tour of the world of Nigerian scammers, it would have been worth it for the entertainment value alone. In his 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 -- GIDEON LEWIS-KRAUS, author of A Sense of Direction 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 the reporter Barragán -- PHILIPPE BOURGOIS, author of In Search of Respect, pioneering ethnographer of underground economies Fascinating and important. Carlos Barragán has constructed something full of warmth and empathy, both intimately personal and globally relevant -- DIPO FALOYIN, author of Africa Is Not A Country

Carlos Barragán traveled to Lagos, Nigeria in search of the con artist who had romanced his divorced mother. He 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 lonelyheart victims . . . A compellingly readable exploration of the psychology of the romance scam -- BARBARA DEMICK If Carlos Barragán's The Yahoo Boys were merely a picaresque tour of the world of Nigerian scammers, it would have been worth it for the entertainment value alone. In his 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 -- GIDEON LEWIS-KRAUS

Author Information

Carlos Barragan is a reporter and researcher at the New York Times based in Spain. Raised in Madrid, he earned an MFA in nonfiction writing from Columbia University. The Yahoo Boys is his first book.

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