The Nigerian Scam (419)
One of the most prolific and dangerous of internet scams has been the Nigerian scam, also called the 419 scam. Advance fee fraud has been around for a long time, usuallly via mail letters and fax to businesses, but this scam has hit unprecedented targets thanks to the popularity of the internet and availability of spamming software.
While the fraudsters involved in this scam were originally isolated to Nigeria, they now populate areas all around the world. The scam preys on those victims who believe they will gain an unbelievable amount of money for doing nearly nothing.
To make the story more plausible and gain the confidence of the reader, the letter-writer states that something went terribly wrong, millions of dollars are locked up somewhere, and only YOU can help them retrieve it. There’s the appeal to help a kindly figure and a sense of excitement of participating in but still being safely removed from international intrigue – especially if it is to help the beautiful daughter or the weeping widow of a deposed leader!
It all started with a letter similar to this:
Recently, my father was sentenced to five (5) years imprisonment for misappropriation… Before his ordeal I successfully get hold of a sum money… I have being making arrangement of how to transfer this money which is ($25,500,000.00) Twenty Five, Million five hundred thousand United States dollars to a foreign account…
It may be a widow/daughter/princess of a deposed leader or a millionaire who died in a plane crash (so you get the “damsel in distress” angle), or it could be anybody else that may look like a sympathetic figure. The scam goes on to offer the recipient a share (usually 30%) in the millions. You just need to send a little money to cover a tax or bribe a bank manager or something similar. The names and places change and the story is modified a bit each time. To some people it immediately smells like an obvious scam, to others it is the financial opportunity of a lifetime they have been praying for.
This scam is nothing new. For hundreds of years, scams similar to this have been catching people out, such as the “Spanish Prisoner” scam in the early 1900’s. However, scams such as the Nigerian Scam have never been so pervasive as they are today. As awareness of the Nigerian Scam spreads, the delivery methods are changing. Any offer to share in wealth that seems too good to be true should be avoided, no matter where it comes from.
Origins of the Nigerian Scam
The 419 scam emerged in the 1980s as the Nigerian economy bottomed out. University students used the scam to manipulate visitors to their country before targeting the west via letter, fax, or telex. The spread of email-harvesting software made the cost of delivering the scam via the Internet extremely cheap.
419 is the article of the Nigerian Criminal Code dealing with obtaining money by false pretenses. The scam is moving to other countries, although the perpetrators are usually still Nigerian. The scammers not only use email, but also lurk in chat rooms and dating sites on the internet.
As the scam builds momentum, the victim is asked for more and more money. It might start with a request to pay some transfer tax or simply bribe the bank manager. $250 is nothing when the gain could be $25 million.
The requests for money grow and soon the victim has invested thousands of dollars. There could even be an invitation to go to Nigeria or some other place. From there the scam could turn into kidnapping and ransom.
It all Starts with Spam
Spam is something we all know by name, but few people know its workings. Spammers get your email address a number of ways. “Dictionary attacks” hit mail servers with constant queries for specific addresses. Alternatively, they might simply purchase your address as part of a package deal from another fraudster.
Taking the Fight to 419
Authorities are now taking the Nigerian Scam very seriously. However, money transferred to developing countries becomes a tangled web of legal, financial and jurisdictional problems.
People have commenced there own fight backs, sending the scammers requests to join obscure religions or forward a cheque for them to open a bank account here, turning the hunter into the hunted. Do not do this!
It might be something to giggle about, but you are effectively sounding your presence and willingness to communicate to a dangerous criminal. The next correspondence they send you could contain a virus allowing them access to your computer, or a phishing scam. Simply delete the message and move on.
December 31st, 2007 at 3:05 pm
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