Virus Information: The "4-1-9" Nigerian Scam

The Nigerian Money Scam (also know as the 4-1-9 scam, named after the section of the Nigeria penal code which deals with fraud) is a scam that's been making the rounds for so long that no one can say when it really started. The essence of the scam is that some official-sounding person in an African country (usually Nigeria, but it has included other countries as well) has fallen out of favor, and now they need to get a large sum of money out of the country. They want to solicit your help in moving the funds, and all they need is your bank account number and some other personal information.

Of course, what they're really doing is playing you for the fool, and when they're done your bank account will be empty. This is a variation on a well known scam called "the pigeon drop". The way the pigeon drop works is that the scam artists convince you that they have some "found" money - money that has unclear ownership, and you can gain a share of it if you just do a few things to show good faith. Then, you have to give them some money for " safe-keeping" until the "found" money "clears" the various hurdles. Of course, once you give them your money, they are long gone and you have been ripped off.

In the case of the 419 scam, after you've been sucked in to the scheme, the perpetrators will come up with many reasons why you have to pay fees for attorneys and bribes of officials and other things until all your money is gone. The scam usually involves the victim traveling to Nigeria, sometimes without a visa, which gives the perpetrators leverage over their victim (because it's illegal to be in Nigeria without a visa), and in some cases victims have been murdered after traveling to Nigeria.

There have been so many of these scams that the Secret Service has the following advice:

If you ever receive an e-mail or fax from someone you do not know requesting your assistance in a financial transaction, such as the transfer of a large sum of money into an account, or claiming you are the next of kin to an wealthy person who has died, or the winner of some obscure lottery, DO NOT respond. These requests are typically sent through public servers via a generic "spammed" e-mail message. Usually, the sender does not yet know your personal e-mail address and is de- pending on you to respond. Once you reply, whether you intend to string them along or tell them you are not interested, they will often continue to e-mail you in an attempt to harass or intimidate you. If you receive an unsolicited e-mail of this nature, the best course is to simply delete the message.

Secret Service FAQ #13

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