The fraud 419 (also called scam 419 , or swindles Nigerian because of its origin) is one of the most widespread Escroquerie S and most lucrative on Internet.

Presentation

This swindles is to misuse the credulity of people by using the emails (emails mainly) to tap money to them. One must indicate that the first swindles (Frauds 419) in the beginning seemed swindles in the form of postal delivery.

A scam is generally appeared as a junk email to the often approximate orthography, in which a person explains that it has an important amount of money (several million dollars in heritage, bribes, accounts fallen in déshérence, funds to be placed abroad following a change of political context, etc) and announced her need to use an existing account to transfer this money quickly.

The person at the origin of the scam request of the assistance to carry out this transfer of money, in exchange of what it in general offers a percentage on the sum which will be transferred, by the " diplomatique" sees;. If the victim accepts, it will have to advance many expenses (notaries, undertaken safety, bribes…) before the transfer is effective, except that the transfer will quite simply not take place, the money in question being simply fictitious.

Another alternative of a scam is that claiming to come from an organization managing of the plays of lottery and announcing with the targeted person that it was drawn with the fate, a large amount of money gained and must contact certain people to receive her price. The procedure to recover the price requires the payment of various overheads. And at the end, no price is versed with the victim.

Another alternative of a scam is that which comes from a person or a Entreprise, applicant to offer an offer of Emploi in Africa (Nigeria); this offer of employment does not exist, but the victims are held to pay money for the work permits or the voyage.

The junk emails known as scam come especially from Africa, but also from various countries of Europe.

The Secret Service of the the United States estimates that this type of swindle brings back several hundreds of million US dollars per annum to its authors.

In France, the Court of Bankruptcy of the Roche-sur-Yon pronounced, on September 24th, 2007, of the judgments of five and three years of prison closes, against people judged for swindle in organized band.

Example

Here an example of mail intended to launch a fraud 4-1-9:

Of: Fred Kone

Such: *** - ********

Email: **** @yahoo.com

Hello,

I am called Fred Kone I am 26 years old and I live in Ivory Coast.

Malheureusement as you know it my country crosses one very difficult period what has constrained me to flee my area of dwelling which is Bouaké (in the center of the country). My father was a very rich cocoa merchant in Abidjan, the economic capital of the Ivory Coast.

Before it seriously was wounded by the rebels, urgently led to the hospital he stated to me that he had deposited 5.000.000$ in a case in a company of safety based in Abidjan.

With the advertisement of died of my father I precipitated in his room with an aim of taking all that it had like administrative document, I discovered the certificate of deposit delivered by the company of safety to my father. Once arrived at Abidjan I tried to check the validity of this document.

the director of the company assure me the existence of this case in their establishment. Of fear of losing this money, I request the assistance of somebody in order to only transfer this although my father bequeathed me in a foreign country to invest because the situation in Ivory Coast is always dubious.

Once the transfer carried out I will go over there to recover this money and to make my life there. If you are ready to help me, to send to me an answer quickly so that one can find a secret meeting. In waiting of a favorable continuation receive my greetings and that god blesses you.

PS: Do not forget to contact me directly at my address private: **** @yahoo.com

Fred Kone.

There exist several hundreds of alternatives of this Pourriel.

Dramatic consequences

Several cases of fraud 4-1-9 had dramatic consequences:

• In June 1995, an American was thus assassinated with Lagos, in Nigeria, after having tried to recover its money.
• In February 2003, a Czech killed by ball a diplomat Nigerian whom it took for a person in charge of the swindle.
• In January 2004, a Britannique committed suicide following a depression caused by a swindle by scam .
• In December 2004, a Greek , victim of scam, was kidnapped with Durban in South Africa. A ransom was required but was not paid. It was mutilated then carried out.

Origin of the term

Denomination 419 comes from the number of the article of the code Nigerian sanctioning this type of fraud.

The origin of swindle by mail is quite former to the generalized adoption of the Internet. The first Western case of swindles in mass, almost industrial, goes up with the French revolution and has as a denomination letters of Jerusalem (sending of letters by prisoners).

As of second half of the 20th century, Nigerians took as a starting point the studies of the previous century on the first networks of massive sending of postal mails with fraudulent vocation. The phenomenon Nigerian, with fast propagation, quickly was identified and denounced by the services of State English and American, which led to its penalization with the Nigeria.

Internet produced a true explosion of swindles (at the same time in quantity and effectiveness). One observes since varieties which are not only limited to the Africa and it seems confirmed that swindlers of all countries hide behind these invented identities.

Scambaiters

Certain Net surfers specialized in the fight against these swindle, and in particular the African scam. They are named " crunch-escrocs" or " scambaiters" ( scam being fraud and bait soft food).

Their objective is to occupy and make waste time and money with these swindlers, who connect themselves in general since cybercafés, and which thus pay their connections. There would be currently crunch-swindlers in practically all the countries of the world.

References

Random links:

Stations, telegraphs and telephones (France) | The Saint-Bonnet-on-Gironde | Châteaudauphin | Kathryn Joosten | County of Ningqiang