by Ben Tasker

Created on: December 03, 2008

The 411 scam is generally known to most of the world as Advance-fee fraud, or a 419 Scam. Traditionally 419 scams originate from Nigeria, and the name refers to the section under the Nigerian criminal code that such a crime applies to. Quite when the term 411 scam became popular is unclear, but the American Dialect society has traced the term '419 Fraud' back to 1992.

A 419 Scam is a confidence trick intended to persuade the mark to part with money in order to reap greater rewards. The original 419 scams were sent by Letter, Telex and Fax as a result of the Nigerian Oil Crisis in the 1980's. The original marks were businessmen wishing to make money from illegal deals, but this soon expanded to include Western Businessmen. With the advent of wider E-mail use came a new form with which a scam could be executed, the target audience also grew to include the population as a whole.

Although there are many forms of 419 scam, a popular incarnation includes a message about a trapped dignitary who requires your help in escaping the country. Should you reply to this message, you are likely to receive either an e-mail asking for your bank details, or a note to state that money is needed to speed things up.

The amount requested is scarcely large, however repeat requests come though, especially once the scammers realise that the mark is willing to pay. If the mark provides their bank details, the scammers move quickly to empty the account and any credit facilities attached.

Although the initial correspondence changes, sometimes it is a letter informing the mark that they are the sole beneficiary of a will, the Modus Operandi scarcely changes. The scammers want you to pay a 'Handling Fee', and once they have drained your resources they disappear.

There are other scams that are often confused with 419 scams, some offer huge payments for goods on auction sites, and then fake a payment to receive the goods.

However, it is important to understand that not all Nigerian e-mail is fraudulent, some mails are genuine. The simple rule of thumb to apply to any unsolicited offer is that if it sounds too good to be true then it probably is. Ask yourself why you have been singled out, what do you have to offer that dignitary, why are you a beneficiary in the will of someone you didn't know, and why have you got to pay to receive the estate?

There are rumours online that a much more sinister style of scam is being perpetrated, allegedly people are being convinced into travelling to the scammers

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