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Nigerian Scams are also known as "Advance Fee Fraud", "419" or "4-1-9" Scams.

SPECIAL NOTE: "Nigerian Scams", "Advance Fee Fraud", or 4-1-9 Scams come in a variety of wording and formats, and from various countries.

Technically, I, personally, consider the Inheritance Scams and Lottery Scams to be the same, since all are offering you lots of money, if you send them your information.

 

The Scam

Someone or some group with a LOT of money (personally wealthy, ill-gotten gains, government money, etc.) has been removed from their position of power, is in jail, died (quite often with their whole immediate family), etc.

They themselves, their lawyer, or someone else who has access to the (usually) MILLIONS of dollars in some account they control, wants to transfer that money from their country to the US.

They found your name searching for relatives (and not finding them, went with last names only and you were the LUCKY one), randomly picked your name from the internet (somehow), etc. They also target charities and (usually small) businesses.

They offer you a huge flat fee or a percentage of the money (usually multiple millions, but don't be surprised if they get smart enough to offer a smaller amount) for your help.

They want you to send them your information. (This could be simple contact information to start with, or they want access to a bank account into which they will deposit the whole amount of money they have access to.) Sometimes they even say they'd rather this be a new account - making you think this will be safer for yourself. You would then need to send them the bank account information, (including password) for them to deposit the money into it. Remember though, with this information, they now have access to at least your contact information (other than the email address to which the original email was sent), and many banks show all your accounts in one place under the one password. In this case, access to new one gives them access to the others.

If they don't take immediately empty the money from your account(s), somewhere down the road, they will need money from you for bribes, to complete a transaction, as earnest money (proof you will not rip THEM off), etc. If/when you send them this, they will need more. This will keep up until your bank account is empty, you have no more money to put into the account, you "get wise".

AND, apparently, they've also added requests for you to travel to the area to help "complete the transaction". NEVER ACCEDE TO THIS. They will tell you that your passport or visa is not required, and bribe customs and airport officials to let you into the country. HOWEVER, it's a serious offense in Nigeria to enter the country without a valid passport/visa. The scammers use this as leverage to blackmail you into paying even MORE until your money is gone. BE AWARE that it's been reported that AT LEAST one person has been killed, and scores of others are missing after making a trip pursuant to this scam. (Once they have your money, you are no longer "useful", now are you?) It's also been reported that many government officials are "in on" the scam. These officials may or may not be "real", and if the trip IS made, they may or may not lead you on a tour of government or bank offices. (Real or not... would YOU know?) After all, it brings millions... no BILLIONS ... into their economy, worldwide.

I, personally have received over 30 different "Nigerian Scam" emails and have many relatives who have also received versions. While some were duplicates with different names, most had different names, different places, different wording, different amounts.

External Nigerian Scam-Specific Links

"Baiters"

These are some of the people who "play" with these scammers, leading them on for fun. As one site says: "The basic idea is to be the biggest pest to the scammer and waste as much of their time as possible and have a bit of fun along the way as well!"

Do not read one of these, think it sounds like fun, and immediately start baiting these scammers. Remember, people have already disappeared and/or died, just by "visiting the country" pursuant to the scam. They (still) make a LOT of money with this scam, and I, personally, am NOT willing to put myself or my family/friends in danger by pissing them off any more than this page and its links already have and will. Be sure you understand possible consequences, NEVER use your or anyone else's REAL names, addresses, account numbers, phone numbers or email addresses (no matter how much you may hate them). And BE CAREFUL, if you insist on doing this.

BE AWARE: These sites contain language and may contain images not suitable for young and more sensitive readers.

While not a "baiter", in February, 2006, I found a site that has monitored the emails of a number of these scam artists. He hacked into their email accounts (foreign country, on computers they don't own, etc), figured out their password, and monitored incoming and outgoing emails until they changed the password, from 2000-2005, posting them to his site. On my original site, I said, "It's amazing the number of "Nigerian Scam" emails he's listed." Since then I found all of the above.

Examples

Following are links to some of the numerous versions of this scam I have received, or that was sent to me to "check out". I will try to "reproduce" the actual "look" of the email in my examples. Please note that the numbers are simply to keep them separate, they are NOT meant to suggest chronology if any type.

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