What Is A 419 Scam?

The 419 scam, which is also known as the 419 fraud or the Nigerian letter scam, is an example of an advance fee fraud. It is defined as a type of confidence trick. The tricksters persuade their victims to advance relatively paltry amounts of money which would eventually enable them to release a much larger amount of money.

The 419 scam began in the early-1990's, when the economy of Nigeria (which was mainly based on oil) began to go downhill. People who were educated but unemployed began to target businessmen who were based in the western countries to strike shady deals in the oil sector in Nigeria by sending them letters, faxes and even Telex messages. The scam spread worldwide with the advent of the Internet and e-mail. The number 419 refers to the article in the Nigerian criminal code which deals with fraud. The scam was estimated to employ about 250, 000 individuals in Nigeria.