First, I must solicit your strictest confidence in this transaction. This is by virtue of its nature being utterly confidential and "Top Secret". You have been recommended by an associate who assured me in confidence of your ability and reliability to prosecute a pending business transaction of great magnitude, requiring maximum confidence.
We are top officials of the Federal Government Contracts Review panel who are interested in the importation of goods into our country with funds which are presently confined in Nigeria. In order to commence this business, we solicit your assistance to enable us to transfer into your account, the said trapped funds.
The following represents the source of the funds. During the last regime her in Nigeria, the Government officials set up companies and awarded themselves contracts which were grossly over invoiced in various ministries which informed the setting up of the Contract Review Panel by the present Military Government to advice on the aforementioned. We have identified a lot of inflated contract sums which are presently floating in the Central Bank of Nigeria ready for payment, amongst which is the said sum of US$31,200,000 (Thirty One Million, Three-Hundred and Twenty Thousand United States Dollars) that we solicit with your assistance for the transfer. As we are unable to manage the transfer by ourselves by virtue of our position as civil servants and members of its Panel, I have there fore been delegated as a matter of trust by my colleagues on the Panel to solicit for an overseas partner whose account we could transfer the said sum.
We have agreed to share the money thus:
1. 25% for the Account Owner (you) 2. 65% for us (The Officials) 3. 10% to be used in settling all expenses (our end and your end) Incidental to the realization of this transaction
It is from the 65% that we wish to commence the importation business. Please note that this transaction is 100% safe and we hope to conclude the transaction in at most 10 banking days.
(The above is an excerpt from a frequently used version in 419 fraud. Typographical errors are intended.)
Nigerian letter fraud is thought to have started in the early 1980s. It is often referred to as "Advance Fee Fraud" or "419 Fraud" after the section of the Criminal Code of Nigeria that refers to this kind of crime.
How does this scam work? The target receives an unsolicited fax, e-mail, or letter from a businessman in Nigeria. The letters have several variations. One of the most frequently used versions is seen above. It describes "overinvoiced" or "doubleinvoiced" oil or commodity contracts, and how "The Officials" want to get these funds out of Nigeria. The target is promised a handsome reward for his efforts, 25% of the $31 million sum. The target must hand over some personal information in the process, such as the name of his bank and his account number for the transfer. But in order to facilitate the transfer of funds, the target must pay an "Advance Fee" of some sort, in order to cover transfer taxes, extend credit, grant COD privileges, or some other reason. The fee can be sizeable, but small compared to the millions the target has been promised. If the target pays this fee, there are endless complications which require more money up front until the target quits or runs out of money (or both).
The letters have numerous variations, but the same basic formula. If the target receives a letter, it's easy to see how he might get taken in. The letter is printed on quality paper, with an official looking seal and personal names. The letter immediately appeals to the target's sense of adventure, with its admonitions that this deal is "top secret" and "confidential. " Indeed, Douglas Cruickshank has commented on the literary merits of these letters, noting the rhythm of the language and the pictures painted of unstable governments and desperate men. The exotic names in these letters are straight out of a spy novel, in which the target is now a player: Barrister Momoh Sanni Momoh or Dr. Akeem Biobaky Ph.D. (who, incidentally, sent the letter reprinted above) or, as Cruikshank notes, the "jazzy-sounding Susan Lateef, who claims to be doing business from within the peaceful walls of La Paix Hotel in Abidjan."
The scheme also appeals to something else: greed. A reader's eyes must certainly widen at the $31 million quoted in the letter. Indeed, the writer even spells the figure out in parentheses to underscore the amount. The hope that potential riches lies before him overwhelms the impulse to view the situation with the skepticism it deserves. One interesting side note: the letter above and its $31 million figure is rather old. In recent letters, the con men have wisely adjusted for inflation and offer to transfer between $60-80 million.
Does this letter scheme still snag victims? Absolutely. The scheme has moved online, with e-mail filling millions of people's mailboxes (one study shows that e-mails by 419 scammers grew 900% between 2000 and 2001). Of the 10,000 Americans who reported being the victims of all type of online fraud, 16 fell victim to this 419 scheme. The 16 people lost $345,000 collectively, including two people who lost $78,000 and $74,000, respectively. One must wonder how many never report being victimized out of embarrassment.
The scheme is thought to have netted $5 billion worldwide by 1996. Americans lost $100 million to West African advance-fee scams (of all kinds) from 1999 to 2002. Such cons are, by some estimates, the second largest industry in Nigeria.
Sources: The letter comes from Loss Prevention Concepts retrieved from http://www.lpconline.com; Cruikshank, Douglas. "How Americans Lose Billions to Crime Syndicates Via Internet." Africa News Service, September 26, 2002; Pat Carbonara. "The Scam that Will Not Die." Money, July 1, 2002, p. 106; "Nigerian Letter Fraud Gets New Life Online." USA Today, April 11, 2002; "Nigeria -the 419 Coalition Website." Retrieved from http://www.home.rica/net/alphae/419coal. Data retrieved October 9, 2002.
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