"419": The Story of Advance Fee Fraud

The various forms of "Advance Fee Fraud" make up a five-billion-US-dollar (1996 figures, now much more) worldwide scam, which has run since the early 1980s under successive governments of Nigeria. It is generally referred to as "419 Fraud" (Four-One-Nine) or "The Nigerian Connection." This book describes the problem, its origins, extent and various permutations. I have drawn on my own experiences of being defrauded by "419 scammers", as well as those of other such victims. Hopefully it will prevent others from becoming embroiled in these scams. The Advance Fee Fraud is perpetrated by enticing the victim with a bogus "business" proposal which promises millions of US dollars as a reward. Most of these scams involve requests to help move large sums of money from one part of the world to another, with the promise of a substantial share of the cash in return.