The so-called "Nigerian 419 Scam" is a five billion US Dollars (as of 1996,
probably much more now) worldwide scam which has run since the early 1980's under
successive governments of Nigeria. It is also referred to as "Advance Fee
Fraud", "419 Fraud" (Four-One-Nine) after a formerly relevant section of the
Criminal Code of Nigeria, and "The Nigerian Connection" (mostly in Europe).
However, it is usually called plain old "419" even by the Nigerians themselves.
In brief, 419 is a sub-classification of advance fee fraud crime in which the
perpetrators are West Africans, primarily Nigerians, operating mainly from
Nigeria but not exclusively.
The Nigeria 419 scam operates as follows: the victim receives an unsolicited email
(or in some rare cases a fax or a letter) usually originated in Nigeria or another African nation
containing either a money laundering or other illegal proposal. Sometimes the
victim will
receive a legal and legitimate business proposal via email, fax or letter. Common
variations on the scam include "over invoiced" or "double invoiced" oil or other
supply and service contracts where somebody wants to get the overage out of
Nigeria; crude oil and other commodity deals; a "bequest" left to the victim in a will; "money cleaning"
where somebody has a lot of currency that needs to be "chemically cleaned"
before it can be used and needs money for the cost of the chemicals; "spoof banks" where there is supposedly money in
the victim's name already on deposit; "paying" for a purchase with a check
larger than the amount required and asking for change to be advanced; a
communication of winning a lottery prize; chat room and romance, usually coupled with one of the other
forms of deception; employment, including secret or mystery shopper; and ordering
items and commodities off "trading" and "auction" sites on the web and then
cheating the seller. The variations of the Advance Fee Fraud are very creative and
virtually endless, so the above list is not an all-inclusive one by any means.
At some point, the victim is asked to pay up front an
advance fee of some
sort, be it an "Advance Fee", "Transfer Tax", "Performance Bond", or to extend
credit, grant COD privileges, send back "change" on an overage Cashier's Check
or Money Order. If the victim pays the fee, there are often many
"complications" which require still more advance payments until the victim
either quits, runs out of money, or both. If the victim extends credit on a
given transaction etc. he or she may also pay such fees ("nerfund" etc.), and also
stiffed for the goods or services with no effective recourse.
The Nigerian 419 Scam is, according to published reports, the
third largest industry in Nigeria. It is our view that the elites from which the
governing classes of Nigeria are drawn contain 419 scammers; this makes it
difficult for victims to seek recourse in these matters. Monies stolen by 419
scammers are very rarely recovered from Nigeria, although the Nigerian Economic
and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has made some welcome progress in that regard
over the last few years.
Most 419 letters and emails originate from or are traceable back to Nigeria.
However, some originate from other nations, mostly West African countries
such as Ghana, Togo, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, etc.
In most cases 419 emails from other nations (even European countries like the
UK, the Netherlands, Spain, etc. ) are also Nigerian because the "home office" of the
scammers involved is in Nigeria regardless of the apparent source of the contact
materials. There are some "local" copycats trying to emulate
the success of the Nigerians, generally not very successfully.
United States - Country Specific Instructions
The United States Secret
Service continues to be tasked as the primary US law enforcement agency
in dealing with Advance Fee Fraud (419) matters.
NOTICE: EFFECTIVE 20 JUN 2007 THE SECRET SERVICE HAS TERMINATED ITS
LONG-STANDING CENTRALIZED 419.fcd@usss.treas.gov NO-LOSS REPORTING ADDRESS.
If you want to complain to USSS about this, here is their Public Affairs Section
Comment Form, that might be useful. There is no point in hassling
us about this situation. We ourselves are very upset about this matter
and have already tried to get the centralized no-loss reporting address put back
into service, to no avail.
American citizens concerned that they may be the victims of an
international scam may also call the U.S. Department of State at (888) 407-4747
or the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate.
Nigerian 419 Scam News, Links, Information &
Analysis
Additional data and analysis on the Nigerian 419 Scam, plus
LATEST NEWS and Other Information follows. PLEASE READ EVERY PAGE to get a
comprehensive view of the Nigerian 419 Scam and the efforts of public and
private agencies to combat it. Links to other scam fighting websites are also provided
below for your convenience.
NATI, TQM!
