Advance fee fraud
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Other Identifiers
- Work cat.: South Carolina Dept. of Consumer Affairs. Nigerian scam/419 scam, 2002.
- Minnesota. Office of the Attorney General. Consumer Protection Division WWW site, Feb. 8, 2006(/consumer fraud: Nigerian advanced fee fraud; business and consumers continually receiving letters, faxes, emails from Nigerian nationals, outlining a confidential business proposal from which recipient can make large sum of money provided bank account number is shared)
- United States Secret Service. Public awareness advisory regarding "4-1-9" or "advance fee fraud" schemes, via WWW, Feb. 8, 2006(Advance Fee Fraud (AFF), known internationally as "4-1-9" fraud after Nigerian penal code section addressing fraud schemes; most prevalent cases are the fund transfer scams, in which a Nigerian claiming to be government official informs recipient he is looking for a reputable foreign company or person into whose bank account he can deposit funds)
- City of London. Metropolitan Police WWW site, Feb. 8, 2006(/fraudalert/419 fraud: Advance fee fraud or "419" fraud (named after the relevant section of the Nigerian Criminal Code), originally known as the "Spanish Prisoner Letter," has been carried out since the 16th century by postal mail, now associated in public mind with Nigeria due to the massive proliferation of such confidence tricks from that country since the mid-80s)
- "E-mail scam uses Khodorkovsky ruse." Forbes Magazine online, Jan. 17, 2006, viewed Feb. 8, 2006("'419' scams--named after the relevant section of the Criminal Code of Nigeria, where many of the scams originated--are said to have come into existence around 20 years ago, hoodwinking via unsolicited correspondence has been around since the ill-fated Spanish Armada ... These days, confidence tricksters may use the Internet to snare their prey, yet the basic ruse is always a variant of the legendary "Spanish Prisoner Letter", whereby victims are reeled in by promises of a cut of a non-existent fortune if they take the bait.")
- 419 scam: exploits of the Nigerian con man, 2002.
Wikipedia description:
An advance-fee scam is a form of fraud and is a common scam. The scam works by promising the victim a large sum of money in return for a small upfront payment, which the fraudster claims will be used to obtain the large sum. If a victim makes the payment, the fraudster either invents a series of further fees for the victim to pay or simply disappears. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) states that "An advance fee scheme occurs when the victim pays money to someone in anticipation of receiving something of greater value – such as a loan, contract, investment, or gift – and then receives little or nothing in return." There are many variations of this type of scam, including the Nigerian prince scam, also known as a 419 scam. The number "419" refers to the section of the Nigerian Criminal Code dealing with fraud. It is popularly known as "yahoo yahoo" in Nigeria. The scam has been used with fax and traditional mail and is now prevalent in online communications such as emails. Other variations include the Spanish Prisoner scam and the black money scam. Although Nigeria is most often the nation referred to in these scams, they mainly originate in other nations. Other nations known to have a high incidence of advance-fee fraud include Ivory Coast, Togo, South Africa, the Netherlands, Spain, and Jamaica.
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