Release date: Aug. 13, 2002
Source: Sergeant Troy Lane, Investigator, Kansas State University Police Department
phone (785) 532-6412, e-mail police@ksu.edu
Recently, there has been a rash of e-mails attempting to scam the
recipients in another variation of what is known as a "Nigerian Scam" or
"419 Letter" that has been carried out for more than 20 years. The scam
originated in Nigeria where criminal code "419" refers to what are known
as "advance fee fraud" violations, hence the name. This has been
discussed in the past with people here at the university receiving
letters or faxes, but the e-mail version's proliferation warrants another
look at the problem.
Essentially, the scams all follow the same pattern. Some individual -- in
Nigeria, the Congo, or other countries (there are many new versions of
the same old scam from many countries now) -- claims to have access to
large sums of money that they need moved out of the country without the
government's knowledge. The sender promises a hefty payment, usually
millions of U.S. dollars, to anyone who will provide them with a bank
account to "transfer" this money to so it can be accessed from outside
of the country.
The proliferation of the World Wide Web has given these scam artists a
huge new list of potential victims. Finding e-mail addresses, fax
numbers, and business/home addresses to send these solicitations to is
easier than ever -- as many in Kansas are discovering. Generally,
several of these are forwarded to the K-State Police department each month from people here at K-State
who have been contacted. To date, none of those involved anyone who
was actually victimized by the scam.
The U.S. Treasury's site, www.treas.gov/usss/alert419.shtml,
provides detailed information about the scam and includes this information:
4-1-9 schemes frequently use the following tactics:
- 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;
- Other forms of 4-1-9 schemes include: c.o.d. of goods or services,
real estate ventures, purchases of crude oil at reduced prices,
beneficiary of a will, recipient of an award and paper currency conversion.
If you have already lost funds in pursuit of the above described scheme,
please contact the U.S. Secret Service in Washington, D.C. at
202-406-5850 or by e-mail.
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The information below is from home.rica.net/alphae/419coal,
which is another 419 website known as "Nigeria - The 419 Coalition
website" that helps people who have been victimized by these scams.
The Nigerian Scam defined
A Five Billion US$ (as of 1996, much more now) worldwide Scam which has
run since the early 1980's under Successive Governments of Nigeria. It
is also referred to as "Advance Fee Fraud", "419 Fraud" (Four-One-Nine)
after the relevant section of the Criminal Code of Nigeria, and "The
Nigerian Connection" (mostly in Europe). However, it is usually called
plain old "419" even by the Nigerians themselves.
The Scam operates as follows: the target receives an unsolicited fax,
email, or letter concerning Nigeria containing either a money laundering
or other illegal proposal OR you may receive a Legal and Legitimate
business proposal by normal means. Common variations on the Scam include
"over invoiced" or "double invoiced" oil or other supply and service
contracts where your Bad Guys want to get the overage out of Nigeria;
crude oil and other commodity deals; a "bequest" left you in a will; and
"money cleaning" where your Bad Guy has a lot of currency that needs to
be "chemically cleaned" before it can be used and he needs the cost of
the chemicals.
Or the victim will just be stiffed on a legitimate goods or services
contract...the variations are very creative and virtually endless.
At some point, the victim is asked to pay up front an Advance Fee of
some sort, be it an "Advance Fee", "Transfer Tax", "Performance Bond",
or to extend credit, grant COD privileges, whatever. If the victim pays
the Fee, there are many "Complications" which require still more advance
payments until the victim either quits, runs out of money, or both. If
the victim extends credit etc. he may also pay such fees ("refund"
etc.), and then he is stiffed with NO Effective Recourse.
The Nigerian Scam is, according to published reports, the Third to Fifth
largest industry in Nigeria. It is the 419 Coalition view that, in
effect, the elite's from which successive Governments of Nigeria have
been drawn ARE the Scammers - therefore, victims have little recourse in
this matter. Monies stolen by 419 operations are almost Never Recovered
from Nigeria, though there have been some indications of progress in
anti-419 matters under the Obasanjo government.
Most 419 letters and emails originate from or are traceable back to
Nigeria. However, some originate from other nations, mostly also West
African nations such as Ghana, Togo, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast
(Cote D'Ivoire) etc. In most cases 419 emails from other nations are
also Nigerian in that the "Home Office" of the 419ers involved is
Nigeria regardless of the source of the contact materials. But there are
occasionally some "local" copycats trying to emulate the success of the
Nigerians. These folks tend not to last too long, but they do try.
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Bottom line, the old adage "if it looks to good to be true, it probably
is" still applies. There is absolutely no chance anyone who falls for
this scam will ever see any money. On the contrary, their own accounts
will likely be drained, or worse. Rumor has it that some victims have
actually traveled to these foreign countries attempting to complete the
"transaction" and have met with foul play.
If you need further information, or wish to forward any scams you
receive via e-mail, letter, or fax, contact the Kansas State University Police Department at 532-6412
or e-mail police@ksu.edu.
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