The scheme usually works as follows:* An individual or company receives a letter or fax from an alleged "official" representing a foreign government or agency;
* An offer is made to transfer millions of dollars in "over invoiced contract" funds into your personal bank account;
* You are encouraged to travel overseas to complete the transaction;
* You are requested to provide blank company letterhead forms, banking account information, telephone/fax numbers; You receive numerous documents with official looking stamps, seals and logo testifying to the authenticity of the proposal;
* Eventually you must provide up-front or advance fees for various taxes, attorney fees, transaction fees or bribes.
The leading host nation for this form of fraud at present is Nigeria.
| Public Awareness Advisory Regarding "4-1-9" or "Advance Fee Fraud" Schemes - U.S. Secret Service explains this type of fraud, often perpetrated by Nigerian nationals. The scheme involves an offer to allow the victim to share in millions of dollars in return for assisting with its transfer out of the country.
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| Greater Things: Nigerian / 419 Scam - The experience of a businessman fooled by this scam. Contact is initiated via letter, fax, or email offers of millions of dollars in compensation for holding even more millions of dollars in your bank account.
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| Nigerian Fraud Email Gallery - An archive of several hundred scam letters, with date received, names of supposed senders, country where the money is supposed to have originated, and amount.
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| The 419 Coalition - Devoted to fighting the advance money scam, in which victims are offered millions for allowing an even greater sum to be deposited in their bank account, but end up having their accounts drained or being fooled into advancing fictitious taxes, fees or bribes.
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| Nigeria Scam Alert - Details on common scams arising out of Nigeria, usually initiated with a fax or email to the victim, and how the offers that sound too good to be true not only are, but can put you in danger or ruin you financially.
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| I crave your distinguished indulgence (and all your cash) - The author describes the mass of offers he has received from African nations, offering him a share of millions, with a description of how the scam works. [Salon]
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| International Investigation Services, Nigeria Division - Describing the Nigerian advance fee scam, with a searchable database of known names used by persons participating in the fraud, along with an archive of the letters and fake documents they use, and a bulletin board.
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| 419 Fraud.com - Provides information on 419 Nigerian "advanced fee" fraud.
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| Ivory Coast Fraud - About scam letters from the Ivory Coast offering the victim millions of dollars in exchange for helping a refugee transfer money out of the country. The true story of business partners who were fooled. Site includes scans of documents.
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| Nigerian Fee Fraud - A collection of e-mail from various supposed African dignitaries offering millions of dollars to perfect strangers. Also correspondence where the intended victim pretends to fall for the scam.
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| Useful Information on Advance Fee Fraud a.k.a. 419 - Typical 419 come-on letters, and the statement of the Central Bank of Nigeria warning about this fraudulent scheme.
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| Nigerian Scam - Outlines the basics of this con, mentions variations, gives an example of a typical letter, explains how victims are taken in by this long-running scam. Links to further information.
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| Urgent "Nigeria-419" Scam from South Africa - The sender of the e-mail solicitation claimed to be a South African V.I.P., but it was still the Nigerian 419 scam. E.D. Truitt explains why this con game is dangerous.
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| West African Advanced Fee Fraud - What the West African "419" fraud is, how it works, where victims meet up with the criminals operating this scheme, what residents of the UK should do if they receive a 419 letter. From the Metropolitan Police.
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| 419 Advance Fee Fraud Nigerian Scam - An archive of e-mailed solicitations received, how much the web site owner would have supposedly made by now, which scenarios are used (e.g., dead foreigner, or chemically treated money), explanation of how the scam operates, and links.
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| Nigerian Advance Fee or "419" Scam - Profile of one of the longest running scams in the world, and how it works.
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| E-Mail fraud scheme: Despite warnings, Americans continue to lose millions to Nigerian con artists - Those official-sounding letters from someone in Africa are too good to be true. Article includes quotes from victims. Also, a sidebar article on the columnist's correspondence with a Nigerian man who claimed to need help to transfer millions of dollars to Amsterdam. [Detroit Free Press]
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| The 419 Scam/Nigerian Scam - People in academia can be targets of advance fee fraud schemes too. Sample letter, bullet list of common features of a "419" scam, and FAQ. From University of Pennsylvania Computing/Information Security.
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| Nigerian Advance Fee Fraud - Pamphlet from the Australian Institute of Criminology. Press release, abstract, information on ordering the print publication.
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| Advance Fee Fraud and Banks - Transcript of a talk on this type of fraud from a banker's perspective. In PDF format.
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| E-Mail Scams: How to Recognize Advance Fee Fraud - The "Nigerian Letter" du jour, interspersed with comments. For the small business owner who might think that just possibly an offer out of the blue for a cut of millions of dollars could be truthful.
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| Crackdown on £8.4m African sting - The idea of the African elite offering untold riches to strangers via e-mail or fax may seem absurd, but the National Criminal Intelligence Service says that victims are losing millions of pounds. [Scotland on Sunday]
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| Nigerian Letter Scam - Detailing how the scam works, wherein victims are contacted by mail, fax, or email with an offer of a share of millions of dollars, to be transferred into their bank account. From the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
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| Scam 419 - An online database of scam 419 letters, explanation of how the scam operates, all the necessary links related to the 419 fraud.
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| Meet the Nigerian E-Mail Grifters - Reporter Michelle Delio investigates who's behind the Nigerian email scams. [Wired News]
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| ISCS Corporation and Receiver Corporation - Info about an alleged employment and job training scam running in Chicago.
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| Nigerian Scams - Describes some variations of the "Nigerian Scam," scam indicators, typical opening lines, phone numbers mentioned, web sites used by the scammers. Names, company names, and e-mail addresses used by the gangsters.
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| FW - Investment Consulting - Examples of business financing fraud (based on advance fees) and other fraudulent schemes.
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| Nigerian Money Scams - Several collected sets of correspondence between Nigerian conmen and supposedly naive recipients of their extraordinary offers.
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| Africanscam.co.uk - Information and links on 419 scams; correcpondence and photographs from some scambaiting projects.
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| Graeme Caselton: Nigerian 419 scam - An explanation of this fraud and why it is dangerous, a running total of how much he has been offered by these spammers, names of the people with millions to give away, excerpts from several 419 e-mails.
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| Re-Quest.net - Nigeria E-Mail Scam aka 419 Scam aka Advance Fee Fraud - Description of the scam's mechanics, history, senders' aliases, ways to easily identify the scam email, and related links.
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| 419Legal - Advance Free Fraud forums, information and links to fraudulent sites.
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| 419 Sport: Scammer Hunting - This site has over 1000 scam letters and other useful information to prevent being taken by internet scams. Its primary focus is on 419 or Advance Fee Fraud.
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| Artists Against 419 - Provides information on fake bank sites and how to distinguish them from legitimate ones, along with announcements of monthly flash mob events aiming to shut down fake bank sites through bandwidth siphoning.
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| Anatomy of a 419 scam - Detailed examination of how an American man fell for a fraudulent scheme operating out of the UK. [The Register]
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| Slate - The Nigerian Nightmare - Who's sending you all those scam e-mails? - Examines the 419 fraud scam as well as its history, going back several decades.
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| Advance Fee Business Scams - Advice for Americans traveling abroad to conduct business, from the U.S. State Department. What to look out for, common types of scams aimed at businesses or nonprofits, case studies.
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| Avoid Nigerian Advance Fee Fraud - The Minnesota Attorney General's office describes how the scheme works, and tells businesses, nonprofits, and individuals what they can do if they receive an offer through the mail to transfer money out of a foreign country.
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| Nation Spotlight: Nigeria - This site discusses the advance fee fraud scheme in Nigeria and touches upon the problems facing that third world country. This page also includes links on Issues affecting that nation.
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| Mugu.info - The aim of the site is to provide information and assistance to unsuspecting potential victims of the 419er (advance fee scammer). Provides articles, a lexicology of terms, links, statistics and anti-scams.
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| Nigerian Roommate Scam - Detailed description of how a person looking for a roomate online found himself dealing with a scammer.
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