The so-called Nigerian 419 Scam is
the only scam to have a whole section of a National
Criminal Code devoted to it and takes its name from
Section 419 of the Nigerian National Criminal Code.
It is also the only widespread scam on record as
having been the cause of abduction, kidnapping
blackmail and even murder!
It is one of the oldest frauds around! This type of
scam, originally known as the "Spanish Prisoner
Letter", has been carried out since at least the
sixteenth century via ordinary postal mail. (The
Spanish Prisoner was a nobleman "unjustly imprisoned
in Spain" who needed help in releasing funds for his
ransom and who would richly reward assistance.) The
scam was given a new lease of life through Fax
communication in the 1990s as the oil-based economy
of Nigeria went downhill. Several unemployed
university students first used this scam as a means
of manipulating business visitors interested in
shady deals in the Nigerian oil sector before
targeting greedy businessmen in the west, and later
the wider population.
The spread of email and easy access to
email-harvesting software made the cost of sending
scam letters through the internet extremely cheap.
While various figures have claimed that the 419 scam
employs as many as 250,000 people in Nigeria, in
reality it has often been linked to small organized
gangs often working in concert in western cities and
in Nigeria . Everyone in the locality of the
InterNet cafe seems to be upset, therefore
involved?). There are also apocryphal stories that
the police in Nigeria mainly turn a blind eye or are
actively involved. It has also been alleged that the
same privileged classes that form successive
governments have themselves made their money (and
continue to benefit) from the proceeds of 419 scams
and therefore are unlikely to back any serious
attempts to stop the frauds.
Although it is true that most 419 letters and emails
originate from, or are traceable back to Nigeria,
some originate from other nations, (mostly other
West African nations such as Ghana, Togo, Liberia,
Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast ( Cote D'Ivoire ) etc.) In
many cases scams seemingly from other nations are
also of Nigerian origin in that the 'Home Office' of
the perpetrators involved is Nigeria regardless of
the source of the contact materials. (There are
however, copycats trying to emulate the success of
the Nigerians, generally not very successfully.)
Because of the Nigerian scam reputation, some recent
cases (allegedly originating in Sierra Leone) have
made a point of denying any relationship with
Nigeria in their early contacts! In recent years,
the 419 scam has spurred imitations in various
trouble spots in Africa and Eastern Europe and in
European cities with large Nigerian populations,
notably London and Amsterdam.
